Mairelon the Magician (The Magician) | Patricia C. Wrede

Mairelon the Magician (The Magician) | Patricia C. Wrede | Something refreshingly new...

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Mairelon the Magic...

	Mairelon the Magician (The Magician) Patricia C. Wrede Starscape, 2002 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 43 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Kim doesn't hesitate when a stranger offers her a small fortune to break into the travelling magician's wagon in search of a silver bowl. Kim isn't above a bit of breaking-and-entering. Having grown up a waif in the dirty streets of London-disguised as a boy!-has schooled her in one hard lesson: steal from them before they steal from you. But there is something odd about this magician. He isn't like the other hucksters and swindlers that Kim is used to. When he catches her in the act, Kim thinks she's done for.Until he suggests she become his apprentice. Kim wonders how tough it could be faking a bit of hocus pocus.But Mairelon isn't an act. His magic is real.

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hilarious!

Patricia C. Wrede has yet to write a boring book!

Mairelon the Magician tells of a street girl, Kim, who gets caught up in the adventures of Mairelon, a ridiculously funny wizard, and his cranky henchman, Hunch. They are trying to recover a stolen magical platter(yes, as in a big plate). Their biggest problem in doing this seem to be that half of the countryside thinks that Mairelon stole the platter himself, there are half-a-dozen OTHER interested parties ALSO trying to find it, someone may or may not be following Kim, and the platter has somehow ended up in the hands of a very affluent nobleman who is unaware of the many people who are interested in it. The book has an absolutley hilarious ending.

This is one of those rare gems that just about everyone will enjoy. I (a teenage girl) love it, and my dad got ahold of it and loved it also. The language may be a little boring for some young readers if they are not very advanced(although if you are a young reader and you are bothering to read this review, you will probably enjoy the book). It is not quite as down-right ridiculous as Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles. The humor here is a little dryer.

There is one book that follow this one: Magician's Ward. I personally like Magician's Ward even better, because it has a dash of romance.....but that's just me. I highly recommend Mairelon the Magician to anyone who wants a good book and a good laugh.

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Something refreshingly new...

Kim is a street thief asked to spy on a "frogmaker" down in the marketplace for a few coins. This casual job turns Kim's world upside down as she is swept away into a world of conspiracies, illusions, the London gentry, grouchy men, magic, and silverware worth more than it's weight in gold. This book was something refreshingly different, what with Kim blurting thieves' cant whenever she lost control. The cant is quite clever in itself, and if you read it, you can make connections between the language and origins of certain words. Or maybe that was just me. In any case, a great read that I'd thoroughly recommend.

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Best Book Ever

It's a great book about an orphan, Kim. She happens upon a "magic show" performed by Mairelon, and while he is busy doing the show, she tries to steal from him. He catches her and ends up teaching her what isn't just slight-of-hand tricks, but actual magic. It's a great alternate-earth book filled with adventure and excitement. I highly recommend it to all teens, because it is just one of those "great books."

Annoying but entertaining

It's getting so I can't read a Regency novel without becoming irritated by the author's attempt at thieves' cant, fake French accents, and high-class drawls. Most of the authors seem to borrow from Georgette Heyer and Joan Aiken, so we have Regency toffs, coves, sharps, and trulls as filtered through at least three generations of authors (I'm assuming Heyer and Aiken got most of their patois from authors who actually lived during England's Regency period). It's hard on the ear and should be as dead as a Vaudeville sketch of some beleaguered minority.

Americans are particularly bad at trying to fake English speech patterns two hundred years dead. I wish they'd stop trying, especially the good ones like Patricia Wrede who can actually tell a story.

So, other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?

"Mairelon the Magician" is an amusing comedy of manners--more dialogue than magic, and you have to memorize long lists of characters who keep showing up at the most inconvenient moments, such as in the midst of a burglary or an attempted elopement. The two main characters, Mairelon the magician and the street waif, Kim are sharply drawn and likeable. Everyone else is distinguished by a funny accent, or some sort of annoying habit such as chewing on the ends of their mustache. I was minded to lean across the campfire and club Hutch with a piece of firewood the next time he put his mustache in his mouth.

Other than that Mrs. Lincoln....

Well, I did actually enjoy reading this confection and now I'm reading the sequel. What can I say? It's cute and there is a modicum of plot, plus a happy ending. I love happy endings, but I do hope that Hutch shaves off his mustache for the sequel.

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