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It's All Relative
It's All Relative, ABCs of Spellcraft 14, by Jordan Castillo Price
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The entire series is available in the KU catalog. It's a fun, fluffy and enjoyable series to read.
By Jordan Castillo Price
JCP Books, 2022
Five stars
Is this the last of the series? I don’t feel I’m done with Dixon Penn or his large grown-man friend, Yuri.
The twist in this episode is the sudden appearance of Vano Shirque’s long-missing father – who challenges Dixon’s role as Hand for the local community of Scriveners. All the anxiety caused by this threat to Dixon’s happiness (because it’s more about Yuri’s work visa than Dixon’s need to feel important) brings the focus of the book right onto Dixon, and how Yuri sees him.
What we really learn about in this book is Dixon’s big heart – his soft spot for stray dogs and people in trouble; his love for his family above all things (except Yuri). We are reminded of Dixon’s great gift as a Scrivener, both his ability to create good, strong magic, and his skill at de-fusing bad scribing. He is impulsive and giddy and every bit as irresponsible as the rest of his family is; but he’s really the best of them, even if he doesn’t know it.
The strange community of Pinyin Bay is full of eccentrics and characters. The ridiculous adventures that Dixon and Yuri encounter in their quest to meet the challenge really serve just one purpose: to make it clear just how strong a couple this man-boy and his looming Russian friend really are.
Like all the books in this series, it’s absurd; but there’s a gentleness that comes to the fore as Dixon desperately works not for himself, but for the man he loves.
I dunno about what could come next; but even though Scriveners seem to disregard the customs of the Handless community around them, I think a wedding would be a great way to guarantee Yuri’s green card.