City of Broken Magic, by Mirah Bolender (Tor)
In this fairly
recognizable post-Industrial Revolution world, magic is both friend and foe.
Enchanted amulets are useful in all sorts of ways, but let one become empty or
damaged, and an infestation of vicious magic, taking the form of a
jellyfish-like “monster” will erupt, consuming everything in its path. In the
city of Amicae, as elsewhere, Sweepers clear out such infestations, but they
are few in number. Two, to be precise, the notorious, irascible, scoundrel-with-a-heart-of-gold,
Clae Sinclair, and his apprentice, Laura. Soon they acquire a third, one of the
very few humans to possess innate magic. But the situation in Amicae is unstable,
with government propaganda proclaiming that there is no infestation problem and
Sinclair’s team fighting an increasingly desperate battle with the odds stacked
against them.
I have mixed
feelings about this book. On the one hand, the system of magic and its evil
manifestations is reasonably fresh, and I liked the characters a great deal,
especially how their relationships evolved over time. On the other hand, I
found much of the magical terminology vague and confusing. “Monster” could mean
anything from a tyrannosaur to Cookie Monster to a serial killer to a
thing-that-goes-bump-in-the-night. I never got a clear visual of these, and I
really wish they had a better, more descriptive name. Amorphic, toxic ink-squid
would do, amorphs or ATIS for short. Likewise, “Gin” and “kin” (don’t ask me
why one is capitalized and not the other; I haven’t a clue) and a host of other
terms for magical energy.
My biggest disappointment,
though, was that I thought the story was setting up for a romance between Laura
and Clae. She’s beset by other people in her life who want her to be less than
her potential because of her sex, except
for Clae, who consistently demands her best and refuses to coddle her. A
dozen subtle moments make clear her growing tenderness for him, her compassion
for his tortured past, and her maturity within their relationship. Perhaps the
author saw that as an easy, predictable outcome, but I relish stories where
characters force one another to grow, and then to grow in love.
The usual disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book, but no one bribed me to say anything in particular, either way, about it.
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