Mairelon the Magician by Patricia Wrede
Mairelon the Magician. What can I say about it? Well, it’s by Patricia Wrede, which almost guaranteed that I’d like it, even if I hadn’t, you know, liked it. It’s Fantasy. But it’s Regency. Well, it’s a Mystery, though. Oh, and also Adventure. Comedy. Did I mention it’s a Regency?!
There aren’t that many Fantasy/Regency blends out there–well, not many GOOD ones, anyway–so when I find one that’s good, I tend to enjoy it a great deal and re-read it often. Mairelon the Magician (and its sequel, The Magician’s Ward) are no exception to that rule. They’re two of the best Fantasy/Regency books you’ll find, and are even more enjoyable than the rather better known Fantasy/Regency blend Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer.
“What have you done with the Sacred Dish?” Jon grated.
“Lost it in a card game,” Meredith said.
Things I like about Mairelon?
Well.
There’s a street urchin boy who is actually a girl. That’s always a winner with me. (It’s not a spoiler, you know in the first page–relax). Maybe it’s because I wanted to be a boy when I was a kid, or maybe it’s because I always wanted to be a street urchin: whatever the reason, I’ll almost never say no to an MC street urchin girl-pretending-to-be-boy.
There’s a plump-faced, magician, main character (Mairelon himself, in case you were wondering) who is delightfully irritating and deceptively ineffectual. He is SUCH a fun character. He has me laughing the whole way through every re-read.
Oh. And Mairelon has a henchman called Hunch. I’m not sure why I find this so incredibly satisfying, but I do. I find it even more satisfying that his henchman called Hunch has a mustache–and I can only hope it’s a handlebar one (we are told that he frequently chews the ends of it, so I’m gonna believe what I want to believe).
Avid Heyerites will recognise many familiar words, phrases, and themes. Even the structure will be familiar. Despite that, the whole thing has an original feel to it that is very hard to achieve with anything that can (and will always) be compared to Heyer. It’s madcap and ridiculous and just outright FUN. You should definitely read it.
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