Magic of Wind and Mist

The Hanna Duology #1-2

by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Taking place in the world of Cassandra Rose Clarke’s Magic of Blood and Sea, this is the story of a would-be witch who embarks on an adventure filled with intrigue, mystery, mermaids, and magic.

Hanna has spent her life hearing about the adventures of her namesake Ananna, the lady pirate, and assassin Naji, and dreams to have some adventures of her own.

One day when Hanna is with her apprentice—a taciturn fisherman called Kolur—the boat is swept wildly off course during a day of storms and darkness. In this strange new land, Kolur hires a stranger to join the crew and, rather than heading home, sets a course for the dangerous island of Jadanvar. As Hanna meets a secretive merboy—and learns that Kolur has a deadly past—she soon realizes that wishing for adventures can be deadly…because those wishes might come true.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Pirates, Young Adult Fantasy, Mermaids, Witches, Science Fiction Fantasy

560 pages, Hardcover

First published October 24, 2017

About the author

Cassandra Rose Clarke is a speculative fiction writer living amongst the beige stucco and overgrown pecan trees of Houston, Texas. She graduated in 2006 from The University of St. Thomas with a bachelor’s degree in English, and in 2008 she completed her master’s degree in creative writing at The University of Texas at Austin. Both of these degrees have served her surprisingly well.

During the summer of 2010, she attended the Clarion West Writers Workshop in Seattle, where she enjoyed sixty-degree summer days. Having been born and raised in Texas, this was something of a big deal. She was also a recipient of the 2010 Susan C. Petrey Clarion Scholarship Fund.

Reviews

[majo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Magic of Blood and Sea is one of my favorite books, and I had this novel, its companion, on my TBR for years. I guess I didn't have too many expectations, but I was hoping for something different.

[Esmay · Rating 3 out of 5]

“As he hummed, a glow brightened inside of him, and he was illuminated like a magic-cast lantern, pale blue light competing with the Mists brightness.”

3 Stars.

While I really enjoyed this book it was nowhere near as good as Magic of Blood and Sea was. I liked the story itself yet the ending was rushed and quick. It was enjoyable and had potential, but lacked some depth for me.

[mith · Rating 4 out of 5]

you can find this review on my blog!
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I was not sure if I would like this book considering what I felt about Clarke's other series set in this world. So imagine my surprise when I found myself liking it better.

I will admit that this duology didn't intrigue me as much as Blood and Sea. For one, there weren't any pirates or assassins. I was worried I would be bored, but something I noticed almost immediately was how different the writing was!

Part of what bothered me about Ananna's series was that her voice was so annoying. It got under my skin so often it was a miracle I managed to finish those books as soon as I did. Not only that, but there was this... lack of emotional connection to whatever was happening, it felt like.

Anyway. Hanna's voice was so different! It was refreshing and it was easy to like her. Hanna herself was a great character. I hated how often she'd be left in the dark by various people on her adventure—she's part of it, so she should know exactly why and what the hell was happening! It infuriated me and I'm glad that Hanna dealt it the best she could. She went her own way and she was smart about it! At times I thought she'd just endure it, wait until they offered her bits of information, but I'm so glad that didn't happen.

Hanna's story wasn't... as adventurous as Ananna's. At least, not the first book, The Wizard's Promise. The beginning was exciting but everything after was very lowkey. It was a different pace and I was surprised, but I think it worked really well for this series. But, at the same time, there was no urgency to Hanna's situation? She's so far from home and everything she's been doing was to get enough money to sail home, but she also had to deal with the Mists coming after her/her old captain. But... I just never really felt that supposed deadline her old captain (Kolur from the synopsis) had.

I liked the romance! Must of it happened in the second book, and there wasn't really any buildup in book one, so everything was sort of left to happen in The Nobleman's Revenge. But it was so sweet! I liked the love interest, Isolfr. He was so different than typical love interests! Hanna had constantly called him a coward—and for good reason—and seeing a guy love interest in that aspect rather than the protector/fighter was so refreshing.

(Also, considering Isolfr was one of the people who kept things from Hanna, it was amazing to have Hanna not deal with that bs.)

I can't help keep comparing this to Ananna's story. Where in Blood and Sea we had two very capable people handling things, Wind and Mist was not like that. Isolfr and Hanna have magic but they're not accustomed to fighting for their lives. And having them be the stars of book 2 was a refreshing take.

Well! I guess that's it for me. Overall, 4 stars! I'm glad I gave this one a chance!

[Cee · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF @ 25%

I was a bit disappointed with this. I just can't handle the keeping information from the main character trope anymore. She asks continuously what is going on-- told it is so adult, only for it to be so silly. The main character walks off and is like starting a life... I just got a bit bored with it :/

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This duology was as good as the Magic of Blood and Sea one with The Assassin's Curse and The Pirate's Wish. It was great rereading an updated and revised version of The Wizard’s Promise and finally being able to read the unreleased The Nobleman’s Revenge in this Magic of Wind and Mist.

Everything fell into place while I was reading and I found myself liking the characters and the adventures even more this time around, and I was happily surprised to see a small cameo from Ananna and Naji! I wanted more of them in this series, but at least there was a glimpse of them.

The story was interesting and different than in Magic of Blood and Sea, but they were once again trying to stop Lord Foxfollow from going into the world and destroying it, this time around with Hanna, a fisherman's apprentice who wants to train as a witch, Isolfr, a spirit of the North Wind and other characters that helped in the adventures and defeat of Lord Foxfollow. I thoroughly enjoyed the new magic and spells introduced and even the romance that showed up between Hanna and Isolfr.

Overall the two books were great, although I would have liked for the ending to have show us Hanna being a witch and more of Isolfr too, but still it was a fitting ending. Maybe we'll get another companion series or novellas set in the same world again.

[Jacqie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book seems charming enough, but I don't have the patience for it right now.

It's a thick book. At 80 pages in, this is what has happened: Hanna, our main character, has been taken by her fisherman mentor to an island. He did this without consulting her or letting her know what's going on. At this island, they picked up another person. Now they are sailing again. No one will tell Hanna where they are going or why, because .... I don't know. Hanna has also made contact with a beautiful boy who can swim and keep up with the boat in a frigid sea. He wants to be her friend, but also won't tell her anything about himself, where they are going, or why he can't tell her anything.

So, this is the dreaded trope: the protagonist is kept in the dark because everyone else thinks it's best! I hate this authorial ploy, and 80 pages in, I am not in suspense about the mystery but pissed off at most of the characters for essentially kidnapping this girl and then acting like she's unreasonable when she wants to know what's going on. Boooooooo. It's well written enough and the world might be interesting once we're off this damn boat, but too slow and not enough information.

[KristaLyn A. Vetovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been waiting for this book for four years since I read The Wizard's Promise. I loved the Assasin's Curse books by Cassandra Rose Clarke and I couldn't wait to see how this new duology in the same universe would end.

In Magic of Wind and Mist, Hanna is a fisherman's apprentice with dreams of becoming a skilled witch and having adventures like the ones her mother had as a pirate. She gets what she asked for when a normal fishing trip turns into something much more dangerous, but it's nothing like she expected.

I enjoyed the individual tones of each character, but Isolfr is the one that intrigued me four years ago and had me keeping a keen eye out for the duology when it finally released. I especially appreciate how much Isolfr struggled to find and keep his courage in dangerous situations.

If I could change one thing about the story, I'd have it dig even deeper into the relationship between Hanna and Isolfr. They went through a lot and I would have liked to see even more development for them.

I would definitely recommend this book to fantasy readers. It was an easy and entertaining read.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book in this duology, The Wizard’s Promise, made me so nostalgic. A teenage girl who dreams of adventure gets accidentally dragged into a sea-faring quest to save a queen. Well, I was that teen girl, desperately wishing that something like that would happen to me. (I mean, I still do, but I did then too). It was so fun to see her experience life on her own, battling sea monsters and finding friends in new cultures, all while practising magic. It was a delightful return to youthful escapism.

The second book, The Nobleman’s Revenge, left me a little less impressed. While the adventures do continue, they’re soaked in a teenage romance that, like most first forays into love, is quite awkward. The small glances and nervous kisses and slippery hand-holding were just not what I’d have liked in an adventure myself, so without the nostalgia, I was left without the rose-coloured glasses and saw more of the flaws in the plot, pacing, etc. For example, I thought the motivations and machinations of the Big Bad could have been more fleshed out, as his evil never felt all that far-reaching. Perhaps that’s revealed more in the duology before this one.

Unfortunately, I also noticed a large number of typos and doubled-up words, words out of order (e.g., “…I that said” instead of “…that I said.”). The most glaring was probably the main character’s surname being misspelled multiple times.

This is a 3.5/5 for me, I think. 4/5 for Book 1 and 3/5 for Book 2, so 3.5/5 for both and rounding it up to 4/5. I would definitely recommend this to readers who are young or want to feel that spark of teenage adventure again.

[Scot Eaton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is surprisingly unconnected to "The Magic of Blood and Sea", though they are set in the same world and only a couple of decades apart. If you were expecting this to continue the story of Ananna and Naji, then know that you'll only get extensions of their story thirdhand.

The book starts in a very interesting way, with Hanna getting the proverbial "call to adventure" and rejecting it. Unfortunately, the author doesn't do a good job of having her come around to it and accepting the call. As a result, the first book in this 2-book set follows a fairly unlikeable protagonist who doesn't become more likeable. The other characters don't fare much better, with her mentor figure taking the "gruff old man" trope way too far, and the other 2 characters playing the "mysterious wise person" trope too straight.

One really good thing that comes out of that though is a conversation between the protagonist and one of the mysterious characters, talking about how she can't figure out what she needs to do based on his instructions. The character's response? "Yeah, I made a mistake. Sorry." Such a simple explanation that I haven't seen done before!

The 2nd book is much better than the 1st, so there is a reward for sticking with it. All in all, I'm glad that I read this series, but they won't be staying on my shelf.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the first half of this duology years ago and really liked it, though I didn't actually remember anything more about it than...boats? by this point. Still, I really liked the first book again, and was very excited to get the rest of Hanna's story, only...eh. The second book felt rushed and clunky and...like it lost itself somewhere along the way. I couldn't feel the romance (though I can appreciate the role reversal there in an academic sense), and Trystan...I didn't totally get him, or Ankia, and I feel like the final conflict was just...sort of too easy? The whole thing ended up feeling so anticlimactic. And I really wanted to see Hanna's fishing friends from the Annika again, but they just sort of disappear forever. And also a bunch of stuff just seemed too convenient and not thought out ahead of time. Four stars for The Wizard's Promise, and two stars for The Nobleman's Revenge. :/

I dunno. I kind of felt the same way about the Ananna sequel when I originally read it, and then my second time through I absolutely loved it, so who knows? Maybe that will happen with this one too. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it. In any case, I still love Cassandra Rose Clarke and will look forward to her next one no questions asked!

[Lysda Smythe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Je ne l'ai pas fini.
Je me suis arrêtée après ce qui m'a semblé être le cinquantième revirement de l'héroïne, une ado en espèce de stage dans un bateau avec un pêcheur dans un royaume fantastique, et qui se retrouve plus ou moins obligée de suivre ce pêcheur après une tempête pour qu'il retrouve son premier amour, une reine d'un pays lointain.
L'ado en manque d'aventure est censée être tiraillée entre son désir de vivre une aventure et l'envie de rentrer chez elle. Et du coup elle passe la moitie de son temps à engueuler le pêcheur qui ne lui dit pas grand chose sur leur destination et à essayer de se barrer. Et l'autre moitié à faire de la magie et à parler avec un homme sirène dont personne ne se souvient( sauf elle) car magie! Un sort lui permet faire en sorte que personne sauf elle ne s'aperçoive qu'il existe sous prétexte de la protéger!
C'est bourré de répétitions, de personnages qui ne dévoilent rien aux autres et qui font genre " si tu connaissais la vérité tu serais en danger ". C'est relou et gonflant.

[Drucilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book does a great job of expanding this world and I really liked Hanna as a character. She was so practical and every decision she made was met with my "yasss". Hanna acts the way I would in this situation which was very gratifying. However, I was ultimately disappointed in this book. I felt like it didn't live up to the amazingness that was The Assassin's Curse and The Pirate's Wish. That could also just be me because Naji and Ananna were so great it was hard to live up to them, even though we get a cameo from them which turns out to be really shitty. It was like a slap in the face to people who loved the other books. Clarke should have just left it out. Final word: I really hope that she writes more in this world, but I hope Hanna is left behind.

[Mackenzie (mackenziespocket) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't fall in love with this one like I did Clarke's first duology but I still liked it a lot! The beginning third was a bit frustrating, because everyone was keeping things from Hanna and they claimed it was better that way, even though that never works out well for anyone. It did get better though. I liked that this book explored a different part of the world than the first duology; it was really cool to see what the Mists are actually like. The main characters were okay, I just didn't feel as strong a connection with them. I think it could have been a bit shorter, but overall I enjoyed this a lot.

[Regina Tam · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was years ago that I read the Wizard's Promise when it was under a publisher called Strange Chemistry? i think. Hannah's story was unfinished when the publishers went out of business, so I was super excited when I found out Magic of Wind and Mists was the continuation and combination of the previous story in one. I loved the story and the world then and after finishing this book, I kind of miss it already. It was great seeing a cameo of the characters from Assassin's Curse. Though some criticism I have for this book would be that the pacing was a bit odd in spots, like the final battle and conclusion seemed rushed.

[Tia Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exceptional character development and world building, and I very much enjoyed the main protagonist and agreed with her choices and feelings. The pacing of the story, however, is what ruined it for me. The story was very slow (which can be ok) until the end, at which point it felt like all of the action in the entire story was crammed into 100 pages. Further, the great villain anticipated throughout the book was defeated with relative ease... which is always quite a let down.
Overall, worth the read, a good idea, but not executed as I would have liked!

[Gillia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and it kept me reading through to the end. However, it felt a little cobbled-together, like three books in one. It also started quite slowly, as if it was trying to figure out where it wanted to go. As someone who's started writing and then come back to a lot of stories, it felt a bit like the author began the book and it evolved on her through writing. I'm not sure I'll read anymore in the series, but the overall feeling of the book was calm, fresh, cool, and interesting - a good mash up of fairy lore and sea-journey story, which was refreshing.

[The Writer's Shelf · Rating 2 out of 5]

My initial impressions from the other duology are long gone. But I expected more from this story. The synopsis provided me with a in depth look into...the first bit of book one and all of book two. I feel like there's a huge gap between what the book promised, and a combination of everything received when I read it.

The story was very slow. And the romance, considering the amount of time the couple spent together, felt rushed. I would've loved to have seen it develop a little more before it blossomed.

[Susie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good young adult fantasy book. (A rare find). I didn't even think of it as YA until I was half way through when the main character did something unusually stupid. I enjoyed the world building although there were times when I think the story could have moved more quickly, but perhaps this added to the texture of the story.

[USOM · Rating 3 out of 5]

I so wanted to love this, Hanna is such a great character and I loved the relationship between her and Isolfr and their friendship, but I felt that they were not deep enough. We found out about the details we had to, but not enough extras that made them come to life. Additionally, the plot was long winded for the first part of the book, so releasing this as a duology was a necessity in that respect. There were parts of the books where I felt it was a long tangent that was important for Hanna's character, but were confusing at the time reading it.

Disclaimer: I was sent this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/revi...

[Smallfry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent connecting side story/follow-up to Magic of Blood And Sea (The Assassins Curse + The Pirates Wish). Though I cant honestly say that I personally enjoyed it as much as I did Magic of Blood and Sea.

[Edith0817 · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

* Hero(s) - 2/5
* Heroine(s) - 2/5
* Secondary Characters - 2/5

* Plot -3/5
* Romance/Steam - 2/5
* Drama/Conflict/Angst - 3/5

* Writing Style - 3/5

I really liked the other series but this spin-off just wasn't for me...

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give this book a solid 3 stars. I did enjoy the story, but it didn't captivate me like the previous duology by Cassandra. I kept finding myself missing the excitement. There were also a bunch of typos, almost like it wasn't looked over carefully.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good enough to make me read it when I don't usually read science-fiction, well written, l but I stopped around page 164 and didn't continue

[Leigh]

I chose this as my prize book for SRC because it seemed up my alley. With the rate I’m going I’ll finish it in two years 😭😭

[Miss Ginny Tea]

I tried and tried but just couldn't get into it.

[Stacey Lowe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as the first series but worth a read

[Beth Dettman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read the first half of this duology several years ago and really liked it. So I reread it along with the second. It was just as good the second time.

[Stefan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great develop of story and characters.
Felt the resolution at the end was rushed, but still satisfying.

[Kristi Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is boring as heck. 10 chapters in and still nothing is freaking happening and all Hanna does is whine "This isn't like the adventures my mom told me about"

[Madeline O'Rourke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really don't have any strong feelings about Magic of Wind and Mist... it's just fine. It keeps a small cast and explores different areas of this world than its companion, Magic of Blood and Sea, both of which were aspects that I enjoyed. The magic system is interesting, especially the nature of what Isolfr is—I've certainly never come across something like that in a book.

A key gripe is that Clarke relies heavily on characters constantly concealing information from the main character because she's young or they think it unimportant or they just don't want to share the information. It happens constantly and is an incredibly annoying way to stagger reveals. More generally, I suppose I just didn't really care about the crisis that was driving the story's events. It made for a completely fine but dispassionate reading experience.