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Rough Magic

Caryl Cude Mullin

3.13 · Rating details · 39 ratings · 14 reviews

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

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Paperback, 264 pages

Published September 1st 2009 by Second Story Press

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Rewriting Shakespeare (YA Edition)

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· 39 ratings · 14 reviews

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Aug 26, 2009 Jennifer Wardrip rated it it was amazing

Shelves: trt-gold-star-award-winner, trt-posted-reviews, read-by-other-reviewers

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

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Jul 20, 2009 Steph Su rated it did not like it

Shelves: did-not-finish

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 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 several decades and lifetimes; as a result, important, character-defining events are merely glimpses that poke in and out within one chapter, never to be mentioned again. Additionally, nearly every chapter tends to awkwardly explain in flashbacks the life-altering events that occurred since the last chapter. This skipping-stone method of narration ensures that we readers never feel as if there is any action going on, since everything important seems to have happened invisibly between the chapters!

All of the characters are weak because they did not have the time and room within the book to develop. I had immense difficulties connecting with and understanding the motivations of any character, so either vaguely or lumberingly were they when they took up space on the pages. ROUGH MAGIC reads more like an extensive character study of four very different characters rather than an actual story.

That being said, the world that ROUGH MAGIC creates for us is a rough-and-tumble, fantastical one. I enjoyed the idea of the island’s wildness being almost a character in itself. While the enormous task of developing four characters over a period of several dozen years was ultimately unsuccessful, the storyline did bring up a number of interesting “mini-stories” that I would’ve perhaps liked to see in short story format—in particular, Sycorax’s development from reckless sorceress to repressed courtwoman under her husband’s hand.

Unfortunately, ROUGH MAGIC was not very successful in telling a clear and intelligible story, but that doesn’t mean it’s without its attractions. Readers and writers may do well in considering this book as an example of what not to do with one’s own writing: overly ambitious and directionless saga-stories will drag a perfectly intriguing idea down to its death. ...more

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Feb 08, 2011 Heather Pearson rated it really liked it

Shelves: canadian

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

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Jan 18, 2011 Debra rated it liked it

Shelves: retelling, ya

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

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Jun 21, 2020 Ria Bridges rated it it was amazing

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

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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

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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

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Oct 11, 2012 Leslie Preddy rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: grades 8-12

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

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Sep 02, 2009 catherine james rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, kids-tweens-teens, 2009, trt-reads, arcs-galleys-review

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

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Feb 24, 2012 Kimikimi rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: No one

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

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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.

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