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Brendan Vetch has always had a way with plants, and that is why the ancient wizard Od asked him to come to her wizards' school in the city of Kelior. When Brendan journeys there, he finds that Kelior is ruled by a king who fears magic, and the cold-hearted wizard Valoren. Any magic they don't approve is immediately outlawed, and strict rules are wound around the wizards' school.
As Brendan arrives, other things begin to happen -- rebellious Princess Sulys finds out that she's been betrothed to Valoren. A mysterious masked wizard and his ever-changing daughter arrive in the forbidden Twilight Quarter. And when Brendan's powers suddenly show themselves, he flees to a strange mountain -- where the most powerful magic of all is hiding.
"Od Magic" follows the basic template of McKillip's past novels: Rich prose, primal and exquisite magic, and several storylines that don't seem to be connected, but come together by the end. And while that end seems a bit too easy, it's a glorious ride to finally get there.
The wizards' school is only a setting for magic that many fantasy writers can only dream of -- a magical maze, a girl who does illusions, and the veiled wildness of the Twilight Quarter. McKillip's velvety prose softens up the royal intrigues, with smoke, mirrors, ribbons, word games and illusions. Calling it intoxicating isn't much of a stretch; writing this lush and dreamy is something you can get drunk on.
There are a few flaws -- the stuff about the "faces of magic" comes in rather late in the story, and the ending seems rather sudden and a bit too neat. It's a relief from endings that cannot be understood, though. However, she'll keep you guessing about what's going to happen until the very last pages. She even harkens back to her classic Riddlemaster series, with those ancient magical shapeshifters.
Though "Od Magic" has the odd flaws (od flaws?), Patricia McKillip's enchanting writing and imaginative story make this a thing of beauty. Beautiful, deep and rich.
Cover:
Brenden Vetch has a gift. With an innate sense he cannot explain to himself or describe to others, he is able to connect to the agricultural world, nurturing gardens to flourish and instinctively knowing the healing properties each plant and herb has to offer. But Brenden's gift isolates him from people - and from becoming part of a community.
Until the day he receives a personal invitation from the wizard Od. She needs a gardener for her school in the great city of Kelior, where every potential wizard must be trained to serve the Kingdom of Numis. For decades the rulers of Numis have controlled the school, believing they can contain the power within it - and punish any wizard who dares defy the law.
But unknown to the reigning monarchy is the power possessed by the schools's new gardener - a power that even Brenden isn't fully aware of - and which is the true reason Od recruited him.
And so the adventure begins.
If you have been a fan of Harry Potter and are wondering what to read next this may be the book for you. This novel, like those books, is about a school of magic, however, unlike them, it is written for adults and deals with the lives of the teachers, other staff, patrons, and adult family members.
The story's main theme is conformity, and it describes how authorities, like governments, force people to act in limited, predictable ways, so they will not disturb order or threaten power. Many of us feel that schools should be places which encourage the imagination and creativity, but more often than not they are places that limit the horizon and crush the spirit. Individualism is of course at odds with all this, but to be true to ourselves we may have to live in fear.
A second, but related, theme is the change that come over an individual at critical times of their life, such as marriage or mid-life. We can be one person for a period of time, then find ourselves behaving and thinking quite differently.
McKillip is very talented in characterization and this book has a small group of people that we get to know and like considerably. Both males and females are main characters, so the book can be enjoyed by both sexes. The plot mainly takes place over three or four critical days. Unfortunately one effect of this is that we feel we have just gotten to really know these people when the book ends. Another 50 to 100 pages could have helped solved this, especially as the ending is quite condensed. There is, though, plenty here to catch the imagination and entertain and McKillip has certainly written yet another successful fantasy novel.
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