After Ella Enchanted, A Tale of Two Castles is arguably one of Levine’s best works. The recent sequel Stolen Magic, however, fails to live up to the standard.
 |
| Image via Goodreads |
Elodie returns to her home, the island of Lahnt, in company with Meenore the dragon and Count Jonty Um the ogre. As they are traveling to reach Elodie’s home, they visit the Oase, which is the home of the High Brunka Marya, the guardian of Lahnt and the Replica that protects it. They are quick to discover, however, that the Replica has been stolen. Unless they find the thief and its hiding place, the volcano Zetrum will erupt and destroy part of the island.
Unlike A Tale of Two Castles, Stolen Magic shifts perspectives between Elodie, left behind at the Oase, and Meenore and Jonty Um, who are travelling to other parts of the island to investigate. Elodie’s perspective mostly views the tension between the guests and the servants (“bees”) at the Oase while the refuge is in lockdown mode, and unfortunately it’s not very interesting to read. On the other hand, the perspectives of the Count and the dragon are fascinating because we get to explore their characters more in depth.
I felt like Levine sprang the brunkas on the reader too quickly. Brunkas are magical creatures of her own invention, short and humanoid and able to create rainbows with their hands. On the isle of Lahnt they and their assistants help out the inhabitants. They refer to their enlisted servants as “bees”, which is really a confusing term since other than being in a brunka’s service they aren’t really remarkable. Stolen Magic is definitely a well-constructed mystery but not that engaging of a book.
No comments:
Post a Comment