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Mar 02, 2011

Miss Clark rated it:

Reissue of Magic & Malice (Mairelon the Magician / The Magician's Ward)

3.5 stars

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 13, 2010

± Colleen of the Crawling Chaos ± rated it:

This book actually contains a duology - "Mairelon the Magician" and "The Magician's Ward".

The first in the set, 'Mairelon the Magician', is more about the mystery aspect and a bit of the social conventions of the time, but not much in the way of romance. It was interesting and a fun, though it was slow to start and, overall, just a touch above average.

My biggest complaint about this part was the number of people involved. The mystery surrounds the More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Feb 16, 2011

Kingsgrave rated it:

While there was nothing actively disappointing to it, the sad fact was that I found not a lot to this book that really excited me, either. The end of the first book was a confusing name salad, with a big load of exposition at the end seriously dragging down the tension of the scene, and the romance of the second book was a bit told-not-shown for my tastes -- a bit too Regency Romance in the bad way. And that's speaking as one who rather enjoys historical fantasy, and the Regency period in parti More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 22, 2011

Debbie rated it:

A Matter of Magic takes place in a Regency-with-magic world similar to Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Chocolate Pot books with Caroline Stevermer. It's actually two novels, Mairelon the Magician and The Magician's Ward. Both stories involve mysteries that I don't bother to follow - it's the setting and the characters that make the book so enjoyable.

The book is like a Georgette Heyer, complete with earls, reticules and romance, with the addition of magic. Kim is an orphan who has been li More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 20, 2010

Simcha rated it:

I've been a fan of Wrede's books ever since I discovered her Enchanted Forest Series when I was fourteen. I also recently read her book, Sorcery & Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot which delighted me just as much as her other books. So when I heard about the publication of A Matter of Magic I immediately added it to my wishlist and waited impatiently until I finally got a hold of it. Unfortunately though, A Matter of Magic ended up being rather disappointing and not at all the kind of book More...

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Nov 15, 2010

Lia rated it:

Patricia Wrede was one of my favorite authors as a child, and though I've kept up with her later works (Sorcery and Cecelia, etc), none of them have had the same impact Dealing with Dragons did so many years ago. While the plotline (a mystery) is well done and well thought out, the constant inner thoughts of Kim were not something I needed to hear. The first mystery is easy enough to put together if you are able to keep the large cast of secondary characters straight (and after reading so many More...

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Oct 05, 2010

S. rated it:

I was disappointed to learn that this is a compilation of two earlier novels by Patricia Wrede. Then I realized that I had not read these in years, and I had a wonderful time reading them again.

The first one is Mairelon the Magician (copyright 1991), in which Kim, the child thief, encounters Mairleon the Magician. They work together to solve a mystery. I like watching Kim grow up as she and Mairelon learn more about each other. Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist certainly inspired t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 22, 2010

Terri rated it:

Well I did tell you I’d be back. It says a lot that I fully intended to do other things tonight and the book sucked me back in so thoroughly that I did not do those things.

“A Matter of Magic” is a squashing-together of two of Wrede’s books, “Mairelon the Magician” and “The Magician’s Ward.” It has the added benefit of having beautiful cover art. (See it? See the pretty, pretty cover art?)

In “Mairelon” we meet Kim, a thief who takes a job breaking into a street magician’s More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 05, 2010

Kristin rated it:

This story reminds me strongly of a Nick and Nora mystery, where clues and leads are followed culminating in a gathering of suspects and riddle solving. Even the interaction between Kim and Mairelon has similarities. The only thing i could have asked for is more: more detail and enhancement. The story is wonderful and the characters shine but it's over too fast. Of course this is a YA novel, but I found the mystery more complex than i would have expected, even in the second reading as an adult ( More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 30, 2011

Lee Anne rated it:

A simple job, that’s all it was supposed to be. Look around some cove’s wagon, and report back; an easy job for a street urchin and thief like Kim. But no one told her his magic was real. Caught by Mairelon, the performer, Kim quickly realizes that not only is he a true wizard, but a toff (a.k.a. a gentleman) as well, and on the run from, well, pretty much everybody. But he offers her a chance to get out of London, and Kim takes it, little knowing what adventures lie ahead.

Wrede does More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 11, 2010

K. rated it:

A Matter of Magic is a reissue of two books Patricia Wrede wrote a long time ago, but truthfully, they stand up well against anything out there today.

The story of reformed street-waif (cracking lay) Kim who hooks up with Mairelorn the Magician (toff frogmaker)is lovely, full of intrigue, and extremely readable.

Kim's use of thieves cant throughout the book was extremely interesting to read, and the way Mairelorn tried to reform her language believable and funny.

More...

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Jul 26, 2010

Danielle rated it:

A Matter of Magic was a nice, quick read that fulfilled my desire for both fantasy and historical fiction. Originally published as two separate books, Mairelon the Magician (published in 1991) and The Magician’s Ward (published in 1997), A Matter of Magic gives you both for the price of one.

The stories in both books are not directly related, but it makes sense to offer the reader’s the full tale of Kim and Mairelon in one book. The first part of the book, originally Mairelon the Mag More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 02, 2011

Selin rated it:

Quite immersing, and gripping. Loved the conversations and the difference of language between the classes. Kim was quite a feminist for her time and a very strong character. Mairelon, even though he was the second most important role in the story, wasn't as materialized as I would have liked. I wish the story was longer and we could have a view point from his side as well. A little more description of the appearance of the main characters would be nice as well. But most of all I wish there was m More...

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Apr 07, 2011

Phaedra rated it:

I have always enjoyed Patricia Wrede's books, so even though this didn't sound like my cup of tea I picked it up anyways. The story is very engaging, I like the first book better than the second, but over all it's an entertaining little story. I found the love interest to be a bit thrust upon us, but otherwise I thought it was well crafted. The first book was more a comedy of errors that happened to work out for Mairelon, his mysteriousness works well for his role, and the animosity between K More...

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Oct 18, 2011

Haya rated it:

RATING: 4.5 HARRY POTTER SCARS!

When a stranger offers her a small fortune to break into a traveling magician's wagon, Kim doesn't hesitate. Having grown up a waif in the dirty streets of London, Kim isn't above a bit of breaking-and-entering. A hard life and lean times have schooled her in one lesson: steal from them before they steal from you. But when the magician catches her in the act, Kim thinks she's done for. Until he suggests she become his apprentice; then the real trouble More...

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Aug 03, 2011

Rhiannon rated it:

First off this is two books in one new addition.

The first book, Mairelon the Magician, would have ranked about a 3 in my mind. It was significantly harder to read due to all of the slang that Kim uses. After about 100 pages or so you can get past it a bit faster, but even after having been used to celtic, italian and other dialects this was difficult. The store itself was fantastic. A young girl taken from the streets and pulled into the most unsuspecting family on the basis of s More...

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Aug 19, 2010

Angela rated it:

A Matter of Magic is actually an omnibus re-release of two books: Mairelon the Magician and The Magician’s Ward. I’m only a third of the way into The Magician’s Ward, but I quite enjoyed Mairelon the Magician. It’s a YA alternate-history fantasy set in Regency England. In this case, magic is a huge part of the culture of England, and magician’s not a secret at all but living as part of society. In fact, if you’re a magician, you can be part of Society (capital S) even if you’ve come from the gut More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 10, 2011

Annie rated it:

This is a collection of two books written by Wrede back in the nineties. Our local library only had the second book, "The Magician's Ward," which I read a couple of times as a teen. It has disappeared from the shelves since then, I think.

So, I looked forward to revisiting an old favorite and finally reading the first book.

"Marelion the Magician" wasn't as exciting as "Ward" — besides an explosive start, the main character Kim becomes more of a pa More...

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Oct 24, 2010

Kathleen rated it:

This one took me awhile to get through. I thought that Kim was unrealistically portrayed in her acquiescence to the role of fashionable lady and her ability to pull it off. I know there were a few mentions of gaffs, but it would have been nice if some of the things she did wrong were ones she didn't realize she was doing, instead of her just deciding to talk in street cant. Her "street" speech also struck me as off. And I had a hard time accepting her falling in love with the wizar More...

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Aug 06, 2011

Amy rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Nov 22, 2010

Kricket rated it:

a volume combining "mairelon the magician" and "the magician's ward." i found it to be a bit of a mixed bag from book to book-

mairelon the magician: kim is a street thief who passes as a boy to protect herself. she is hired to break into a street magician's wagon, discover if he owns a particular bowl, and report back. the titular magician, mairelon, catches her in the act and convinces her to work as his apprentice after falsely reporting that he doesn't have the More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Aug 30, 2011

Colleen rated it:

This is actually two books, Mairelon the Magician and The Magician's Ward, both by Patricia Wrede. She's a great kids/YA fantasy author, but I found both of these books a little rushed towards the end. While the farces and scrapes are plenty and fun, the endings both required too much verbal explanation by one character to another. Don't tell me, show me. ::sigh:: Aside from that flaw, they were both a lot of fun, very lighthearted, and even with the "Regency Romance" touch at the end More...

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Jun 03, 2011

Karen rated it:

MAIRELON THE MAGICIAN
Almost 17 (at least as near as she can tell), Kim has spent all of her life on the streets of London, living disguised as a boy and struggling just to survive. An orphan with no other means to support herself, Kim once belonged to a family of thieves but an unfortunate run-in with the law has left her more alone than ever, her taste for 'the cracking lay' utterly destroyed. Now she gets by as best she can, so she doesn't hesitate to take a commission to break into a st More...

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Oct 03, 2011

Sarah rated it:

I really think I would give it 3.5 stars but alas there is no such thing. It is a good clean youth book. Here for the entertainment. This is book one and two. it is nice that they are both together. I think I liked one more for the witty humor and situations. the end really just made me laugh. But also, book two has the romance in it, it reminded me a lot of another serious of books I read (a poison season#2 of the series. Although this series has nothing to do with magic I felt that they were s More...

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Feb 24, 2011

Evie rated it:

I just finished mairelon the magician, it was ok! in the beginning i found the book quite tiring because it had many names that needed remembering coz u couldn't know who was important for the story! also with the way that kim and hunch spoke i had quite a difficulty in the translation and i had to refer to a dictionary quite a few times! not that the words were there of course:p but i liked the placement of the story and i liked that mairelon was teaching kim how to act proper and how to be a m More...

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Mar 21, 2011

Tracy rated it:

I loved it! Patricia Wrede,The Enchanted Forest Chronicles: Dealing with Dragons / Searching for Dragons / Calling on Dragons / Talking to Dragons series is a well-loved favorite from middle school, writes Regency England with a magical twist. Fun times. This isn't Austen--Wrede writes in a modern voice, except when her characters use street cant--but it is romantic (more in the sense of Keats & Shelley than of bodice-rippers). For the most part it was relatively fluffy, but the main character, More...

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Dec 16, 2010

Nurlely rated it:

This book has astonishingly shocked me. When I started reading it, I had to struggle with so many names, and to memorize them. As the chapter moved, I found out that I could not even put this novel down. The novel is so fascinating.
I love the way Patricia writes the relationship between Kim and Mairelon, how it is progressing between their practices as magician and apprentice or a gentleman and his ward. I was also left with curiosity at the end of each chapter, unable to stop myself from More...

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Jan 08, 2011

Ann rated it:

Enjoyed this more than I've enjoyed a fiction book in a while. The characters behave intelligently, make mistakes...listen to each other about those mistakes... Maybe I've just read too many romance novels where the hero tries to control the heroine and never learns better. And best of all, the second book actually gives a reason that magic should be incantations of foreign words.

I'd wanted to read Patricia C. Wrede's other Regency/Fantasy books after reading Sorcery & Cecelia, whic More...

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Jan 07, 2012

Shelby rated it:

This is actually 'Mairelon the Magician' and 'The Magicians Ward' put together, and although I counted those two as seperate, this is the real format I read it in (what can I say? I'm in the Goodreads reading challenge! I'm not marking this as being read in 2012, so you don't have to worry about me getting THREE books, but two is totally fair).

I must say, it was simply amazing. The plot was stupendous and mysterious, and the romance (which granted is only in the second book) was w More...

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Dec 30, 2010

Holly rated it:

I really enjoyed this! Regency and/or historic novels are not usually my thing, but the premise of both of these books were really good*. I enjoyed Mairelon's character - he reminded me a bit of Valek from the Study Series, which I also loved. The dialog was fun to read and I did find myself laughing while reading which is always nice. As one reviewer pointed out, it is an unconventional Cinderella story - where Cinderella is street-smart, witty and has a sharp tongue.

I gave this book More...

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