I read this many years ago, close to when it was first written but I didn't continue with the series (since most of it hadn't been published yet) and I was curious as to how it turned out. I think the London setting was to allow elements like suffragettes, class hierarchy and the prejudice against women in exclusively male enclaves of society to be worked into the story. This was a decent adventure, not absolutely gripping at the beginning though it picked up towards the end. But Maya's unknown enemy has followed her to London and has another agenda - which deeply concerns the Exeter Club. She has magic of her own, too, but has never been taught so her inexpertly crafted shields attract the attention of the Exeter Club where the (upper class, English, male) Elemental Masters of magic, who defend the country, gather. She grew up in India but both her parents died and, after discovering that her family had an enemy who commanded dark magic, Maya fled to London where she overcame the odds to be registered as a doctor and continue practicing medicine. Set in Edwardian London on a parallel Earth where magic exists Maya is a half Indian, half English female doctor and has had to fight hard for her rights in a male dominated world. (The library I borrowed this book from has it listed as the first in the series, possibly because The Fire Rose was written several years before this and was apparently published by a different publisher.)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |