154 books
—
199 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “Rough Magic” as Want to Read:
Rough Magic
by
Follow the interwoven stories of two girls and one woman, their lives all tied to the enigmatic figure of Caliban, the character first introduced by Shakespeare in The Tempest, his famous play of love, loyalty and magic. Rough Magic forms both prequel and sequel, telling the stories of the sorceress Sycorax, Caliban's mother; Miranda's daughter Chiara, who becomes like a d
...more
Get A Copy
Paperback, 264 pages
Published
September 1st 2009
by Second Story Press
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
Rough Magic,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about Rough Magic
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of Rough Magic

Reviewed by Cat for TeensReadToo.com
Forget everything you know about THE TEMPEST, 'cause Caryl Cude Mullin's ROUGH MAGIC ain't your mama's Shakespeare.
Born of a corrupt king and power-hungry sorceress queen, raised in complete isolation on an island stripped of its magic, Caliban - previously portrayed as a nonsensical, gibbering rapist - takes center stage. In contrast, this Caliban is a quiet, gentle soul, subject to the whims of a magic-maddened mother, angry island spirits, and a pompous, se ...more
Forget everything you know about THE TEMPEST, 'cause Caryl Cude Mullin's ROUGH MAGIC ain't your mama's Shakespeare.
Born of a corrupt king and power-hungry sorceress queen, raised in complete isolation on an island stripped of its magic, Caliban - previously portrayed as a nonsensical, gibbering rapist - takes center stage. In contrast, this Caliban is a quiet, gentle soul, subject to the whims of a magic-maddened mother, angry island spirits, and a pompous, se ...more

ROUGH MAGIC will appeal to lovers of ambitious fantasy chronicles, but not those looking for Shakespeare-related literature or well-written characters. Indeed, I was more than disappointed especially as the premise sounded interesting and promised the discussion of issues such as feminism. Unfortunately, it is a poorly written and narratively overdone tale.
ROUGH MAGIC was difficult to swallow because it tried to tell four characters’ stories in the course of about 200 pages. The story moves over ...more
ROUGH MAGIC was difficult to swallow because it tried to tell four characters’ stories in the course of about 200 pages. The story moves over ...more

Love, power and revenge form the basis of the various relationships in this story. The love of a parent for a child, the quest for the ultimate power over all, and the revenge for perceived wrongs. Caught up in all of this from the moment he was conceived is Caliban. Son of a great sorceress, who herself succumbed to her endless quest for power.
After the death of his mother, Caliban grows to adulthood isolated on the remote island on which he was born. He lives there un-eventfully for about ten ...more
After the death of his mother, Caliban grows to adulthood isolated on the remote island on which he was born. He lives there un-eventfully for about ten ...more

An interesting take on Shakespeare's "The Tempest"--although I know only vaguely the plot of the original; I haven't read it--and because it's a quick read, it manages to pull you in. The characters all have their strengths and faults, and Mullin manages to make you feel for all of them, even the supposed "bad" characters (in Mullin's version, not Shakespeare's). It's not a deep book, but it's a good way to pass the weekend.
...more

This is a YA fantasy that spans multiple generations, all of them important to each other and none that could be glossed over without missing some essential element of the tale as a whole. Not an easy task to accomplish, yet Caryl Mullin carries it off with grace and style.
The GoodReads description, I find, does not do this novel justice. With mentions of “earth’s power” and “evironmental responsibility”, one could almost expect a book filled with heavy-handed preaching and obvious neo-pagan ele ...more
The GoodReads description, I find, does not do this novel justice. With mentions of “earth’s power” and “evironmental responsibility”, one could almost expect a book filled with heavy-handed preaching and obvious neo-pagan ele ...more

Jan 27, 2017
Alid De
added it
Rough Magic is about a girl named Sycorax who was born with powerful magic.When she turns 18 she gets married and has a daughter.Later on in the story she falls in love with another man who her dad has kept prisoner.Sycorax ends up running away with him and leaves her daughter behind.
Overall i did not think the book was good.It had too many characters too keep up with. Her plot took too long to get into. In my opinion Caryl Cude Mullin does not do a great job at introducing the plot. She takes t ...more

Jun 21, 2010
Kate
rated it
liked it
Recommends it for:
Fantasy Fanatics
Recommended to Kate by:
Second Story Press
Shelves:
2010
While I hate to admit it, I've never read Shakespeare's The Tempest, (*hangs head in shame*) so I can't comment on this story from that perspective. However, I freely admit that Shakespeare was always somewhat complex, confusing, and (*gasp*) too boring to keep my attention. All that poetic mumbo jumbo and "Shakespearean" English was hard to follow when his works were introduced to me in high-school; I never did try any of his works again...erm, I mean yet!
Rough Magic is quite an interesting sto ...more
Rough Magic is quite an interesting sto ...more

Carol Cude Mullin’s epic novel told in five acts and spanning the lifetimes of Sycorax, her son, and her granddaughter, is inspired by Shakespeare’s ‘Tempest’. As a child, princess Sycorax was mostly ignored until it was realized she was the most powerful magic user ever known and thought to be the kingdom’s protector. As her live progresses, with magic she murders her first husband, abandons her child, and escape to a new land to marry a new King. Her new husband quickly grows to distrust her a
...more

Forget everything you know about THE TEMPEST cause Caryl Cude Mullin's ROUGH MAGIC ain't your mama's Shakespeare. Born of a corrupt king and power-hungry sorceress-queen, raised in complete isolation on an island raped of it's magic Caliban - previously portrayed as a nonsensical, gibbering rapist - takes center stage. In contrast, this Caliban is a quiet, gentle soul, subject to the whims of a magic-maddened mother, angry island spirits and a pompous, self-important alchemist-king. Caryl Cude M
...more

W.T.F? That's pretty much how I felt about this book. I may have understood it better if my knowledge of the Tempest was better but I'm not sure. The book speaks in about four or five distinct voices, and kills some of those voices off, and spans about three generations, so you never really know what's going on. Big passages of time disappear and relationships never really get the chance to form. No one is really likeable and I pretty much didn't care about anybody. That's pretty rare for me. Ev
...more

Sep 24, 2013
Marie
added it
I started this book but did not have enough interest to finish it. I am sorry to say I did not find any characters to connect with and the loose story surrounding them was not anything I wanted to spend more time reading.

Same characters as in Shakespeare's The Tempest, COMPLETELY different storyline. Worth the read.
...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Related Articles
The coming season is a big one for the science fiction and fantasy genres, with the release of some of 2021's most anticipated speculative...
52 likes · 52 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »