The Wizard of London – Mercedes Lackey

[grassangel]

I do like the Elemental Mages series, but there hasn’t been any book as good at the first, The Serpent’s Shadow. I love the world, set in a Victorian England, and its magics but neither The Gates of Sleep nor this book are as good as that first.

Part of my partial dislike of this book is because it has a rather flimsy storyline and switches focus too many times. First it’s about Sarah and Nan, then Isabelle, then Cordelia and David, finally ending in a mish-mash of all five of them. The epilogue, as always, is not quite satisfying enough but the actual ending is still rather weak.
Oh and there are surface inconsistencies like paragraphs not ending with a full stop and people switching between ‘Ashcroft’ and ‘Alderscroft’.

Mostly I was disappointed by the focus hopping as it didn’t mean any of the characters were developed sufficiently for my tastes. I’m most disappointed with Sarah and Nan, as they’re children and they’re introduced to them right at the beginning. By the end of the book, all that’s happened is that they’re aware of and can kind of use their abilities. Nothing matching up to the amount of attention at the beginning. (Although you could say that it was all a giant set up for the villainess.)
Isabelle I’m okay with, as there was some character growth on her part. (In the last fifty pages, but still.) David is alright too, though his character growth is in the last ten pages and really shallow to boot. (My frozen heart has melted, yay! I’ll donate my country estate to the Hartons so they can have the school there. I can has friends nao?)
Cordelia was pretty fail-ish though and her story pretty much ran like this: Oh, I’m going to be a snotty teenager not interested in gossip. Oh hey! Ice dragon. You’re cool and I want to be cold and aloof just like you. If you teach me and give me power, I’ll do anything you want me too. *is a cold bitch for the next twenty years* But I want more power so I’m gonna plot to posses my protégé and become a man because women don’t have power. Also, this is totally my idea, not the Ice dragon’s. Oh no! I’ve failed the dragon! *dead*

I did quite like the change from Elemental Magicians to the psychically (her word, not mine) Talented though. Even if they haven’t had memorable appearances in the other two books that I’ve read. Which tells me that continuity doesn’t really exist for this series. Which makes me sad somewhat, as I would love to see Maya again and perhaps Isabelle in other stories set in the same universe.

There was one interesting comment made and that was about choosing the right hand path. This is the second book that I've read recently that had a comment about that. But I'll save the ponderation for when I talk about that other book.

My verdict on this is that it’s a junk food read and only if you’ve read other books in the series. I would recommend the Joust series if you wanted to start something by her. *wants to re-read it now*

And heh, I tend to read second book first with Mercedes Lackey. The Serpent’s Shadow is technically the second book and I read Alta before Joust.

Comments

[shadowsinfire.livejournal.com]

Phoenix and Ashes is in the same universe as those. It's after/during WWI, a cinderella story with a fire girl as cinderella and the prince as a air master who got shot down from his plane during the war... it's not too bad.

[grass-angel.livejournal.com]

There's a couple other books out in the series, one based on Puss in Boots and one that wasn't declared to be part of the series but is and is based on Beauty and the Beast.

[shadowsinfire.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, Reserved for the Cat which is both quite good and made of crap at the same time. I don't think I know the other one, though... Unless. No, I have seen it, I just don't remember what it's called.

[grass-angel.livejournal.com]

Sounds like what The Wizard of London was. Win and fail.
*cheats and looks it up* The Fire Rose

You know, I think she likes fire masters too much and I would love to see a water master. Also, some had better have written an Avatar crossover fic with this universe.

[shadowsinfire.livejournal.com]

That's the one.

Well, there are water masters in The Serpent's Shadow, and I think there's one in Reserved for the Cat, but the main is a fire amster ( hamster?) there too. The Gates of Sleep has no fire masters that I can think of...

[grass-angel.livejournal.com]

But none of them are main characters. Which is my main issue.

[shadowsinfire.livejournal.com]

The main characters are a earth master (mistress? adept) and a what? I don't remember The Gates of Sleep very well...

[grass-angel.livejournal.com]

I think it's air and earth and I get the vague feeling that there was a water master only in the background or something.

[shadowsinfire.livejournal.com]

Or her adopted aunts and uncles who got taken out of the picture early on...