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If you’ve been hearing Kate Elliot’s praises for quite some time, but haven’t yet managed to pick up one of her books, Cold Magic is an excellent place to start. In an alternate England where Rome failed to conquer, Africa’s empires have spread wealth and knowledge throughout Europe, and powerful Magic users are facing an industrial revolution, Elliot weaves a rich tale that pits progress against tradition.
Good fantasy writing places an idea outside of our cultural context and allows us to look at it from angles we might otherwise ignore. In Cold Magic the protagonists struggle against bondage – to family, to state, to slavery – but there are no facile struggles, and even the most ostensible villainy is motivated by understandable, if not laudable, reasons.
Our heroine, Catherine, is as new to the problems her world is facing as the reader is. As her understanding grows, so does ours, and Cat is a great character to follow. She’s clever, but not superwoman. She gains strength and knowledge, but she still has to face her own fears and learn who and how to trust. The only trouble with Cold Magic is that it’s the first in a trilogy, which means we have to actually wait to get the rest of the story. A cruel twist, indeed. -- Sarah L. |
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