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A Handful of Magic #1
A Handful of Magic
It is nineteenth century London, and magic and science are at war. Queen Victoria is on the verge of replacing Dr. Stixby, her witch doctor, with royal superintendent of scientific progres, Stafford Sparks. Dr. Stixby's son, the wizard Kit, seems an unlikely candidate to save magic's good name. So far, turning silverware into frogs (not very successfully) and traveling on his flying carpet to meet his friends, including the queen's grandson, Henry, for a grand old time of throwing magic soot bombs down chimneys are the only kinds of things he's been doing with this powers.But when through Kits reckless actions Henry is bitten by a deadly werewolf there are dire consequences. And when a friend's betrayal finds Kit, Henry, and the rest of the gang slaves to the evil Sparks, whose horrifying plot is finally revealed, Kit must find a way to use his powers reponsibly and well if he is to save his friends, magic itself -- and the world....
- GenresFantasy
199 pages, Paperback
First published July 6, 2000
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63 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 30, 2019
Kit is full of mischief and unruly vandalism, until his misconduct results in his best friend, Prince Henry being bitten by a werewolf. As Kit works to save Henry from the werewolf's poison, he uncovers a deadly plot to cripple all of England while children are used as slaves to work in underground mines. To save his friends, Kit must learn to use his magical abilities for good, instead of for foolish pranks.
Full of steampunk magic and mythical creatures, this book creates a world where magic is at war with new scientific discoveries like the electric light and telegraph. Kit's father, a prominent wizard-adviser to Queen Victoria, worries that magic is becoming obsolete in the face of new scientific inventions, and Kit is determined to prove that magic is just as relevant and necessary as it ever was.
I didn't quite like Kit and his friends at first, because of their foolishness and vandalism, but they began to grow and learn, and their good hearts and generous spirits began to show through, so in the end, I liked them all and was cheering for them through their adventures.
I wish that there had been some explanation for why Kit and Henry, two boys from wealthy and influential families, were hanging out with ragamuffins from poor families on the London streets. I would have loved a backstory about how that gang became friends, but the reader is plopped down in the middle of the story with no explanation for these unlikely friendships.
I loved the world-building and the wonderful magic. I loved the strained relationships between Kit and his father and aunt, and how they patch things up later on. I loved the character development that Kit goes through. I enjoyed the plot and the little details of the story that gave it a special something.
Full of steampunk magic and mythical creatures, this book creates a world where magic is at war with new scientific discoveries like the electric light and telegraph. Kit's father, a prominent wizard-adviser to Queen Victoria, worries that magic is becoming obsolete in the face of new scientific inventions, and Kit is determined to prove that magic is just as relevant and necessary as it ever was.
I didn't quite like Kit and his friends at first, because of their foolishness and vandalism, but they began to grow and learn, and their good hearts and generous spirits began to show through, so in the end, I liked them all and was cheering for them through their adventures.
I wish that there had been some explanation for why Kit and Henry, two boys from wealthy and influential families, were hanging out with ragamuffins from poor families on the London streets. I would have loved a backstory about how that gang became friends, but the reader is plopped down in the middle of the story with no explanation for these unlikely friendships.
I loved the world-building and the wonderful magic. I loved the strained relationships between Kit and his father and aunt, and how they patch things up later on. I loved the character development that Kit goes through. I enjoyed the plot and the little details of the story that gave it a special something.
July 5, 2022
I remembered starting this book as a child at school and absolutely loving it. I've been searching for it for at least the last decade and finally found it a couple of weeks ago. I'd describe it as Harry Potter meets Downton Abbey. I thoroughly enjoyed it and feel it's worthy of more attention than it gets. I will definitely check out the other books in the series.
August 19, 2022
This was so much fun. I would have loved it when I was a kid!
March 2, 2025
Yo lo tenía a este libro, me lo había regalado mi mamá, este fue mi Harry Potter jjjsjsjs, y me gustaba mucho
December 31, 2014
Kit Stixby, the son of the Queen's witch doctor, is bristling with magical talent---and bored out of his mind. This leads quite naturally to trouble, although trouble of a worse sort is looming over him. As the Queen has begun favoring newfangled science like electricity over magic, it looks like magic is on its way out and science is on its way in, which could put Kit's father out of a job and leave Kit himself with no future. Far more important to Kit, however, is the prank that spiraled out of control and landed Henry---the Queen's grandson and Kit's closest friend---sick from a werewolf bite. Without magic, Henry won't get well. Kit doesn't know what he can do, but he's determined to try.
Right from the start, Kit shows himself undisciplined, irresponsible, arrogant, and childish. It was a little hard to take him seriously throughout the story because of that; some of the things Kit interprets as bad events are merely discipline he's been long overdue. Kit and Henry are the only characters reasonably fleshed out, and even they're pretty one-dimensional.
The plot dives into an alternate steampunk London where magic, not science, is applauded. The enemy is Progress, exemplified by Kit's personal battle against electricity. (One woman, amusingly enough, even tells a friend that coal dust is good for the lungs) The person at the forefront of this electricity movement has ulterior motives, of course, but the book never attempts to give a reason why things ought to stay the same and not move forward (or alternately, what's so much better about magic than electricity).
It's not a bad story, overall, just rather thin. The characters are thin, the plot is too straightforward, the setting seems to be typical London with the exception of flying vehicles and a few strange critters, and the book raises some bigger issues it never explores. Younger readers will probably appreciate this more than older ones. I rate this book Neutral.
Right from the start, Kit shows himself undisciplined, irresponsible, arrogant, and childish. It was a little hard to take him seriously throughout the story because of that; some of the things Kit interprets as bad events are merely discipline he's been long overdue. Kit and Henry are the only characters reasonably fleshed out, and even they're pretty one-dimensional.
The plot dives into an alternate steampunk London where magic, not science, is applauded. The enemy is Progress, exemplified by Kit's personal battle against electricity. (One woman, amusingly enough, even tells a friend that coal dust is good for the lungs) The person at the forefront of this electricity movement has ulterior motives, of course, but the book never attempts to give a reason why things ought to stay the same and not move forward (or alternately, what's so much better about magic than electricity).
It's not a bad story, overall, just rather thin. The characters are thin, the plot is too straightforward, the setting seems to be typical London with the exception of flying vehicles and a few strange critters, and the book raises some bigger issues it never explores. Younger readers will probably appreciate this more than older ones. I rate this book Neutral.
August 27, 2012
I had never heard of this, but we all loved it. A great story for children, featuring Wizards, flying carpets, broomsticks, Queen Victoria, her Grandson, St Paul's Cathedral, the Bank of England, the Tower of London.
So much more than Harry Potter, but also a great London book. We did a tour around where it was set afterwards which was equally fun.
Thoroughly recommend this. I only docked one star for it being slightly too reverential about Eton at the end... it may have been a fantasy Eton (a magic Academy) but its still a booby prize for me, and although I like the Young James Bond novels also set there - they cast it as the petty, Conservative and at times cruel place that it is/was.
So much more than Harry Potter, but also a great London book. We did a tour around where it was set afterwards which was equally fun.
Thoroughly recommend this. I only docked one star for it being slightly too reverential about Eton at the end... it may have been a fantasy Eton (a magic Academy) but its still a booby prize for me, and although I like the Young James Bond novels also set there - they cast it as the petty, Conservative and at times cruel place that it is/was.
March 5, 2008
British kid wizard fantasy, 2001 by Oxford University Press. It was okay, kept to one point of view mostly, and the prose (in translation, anyway), was all right. A few details that were very Potteresque (the bat that carries messages, for example), but overall, fulfilled the entertaining purpose it had. I could have been more emotionally engaged and enjoyed it better.
October 17, 2012
This was a great book to read to my seven-year old boys, set in a magical version of Victorian London, with goodies, baddies and all sorts of strange flying contraptions. We really enjoyed it.
March 6, 2014
Start 15/03/2010
Starring Queen Victoria's grandson, Prince Henry of Prussia
Starring Queen Victoria's grandson, Prince Henry of Prussia
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews