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Elemental Masters #4
The Wizard of London
The fourth novel in Mercedes Lackey's magical Elemental Masters series reimagines the fairy tale The Snow Queen in a richly-detailed alternate Victorian England
The letter that introduced twelve-year-old Sarah Jane Lyon-White to Isabelle Harton, who ran the Harton School in central London, seemed quite simple and straightforward. Bat it was what was not written in the letter that resonated to Isabelle's own finely tuned "extra" senses: "Sarah has gifts we cannot train," the letter whispered to her, "nor can anyone we know. Those we trust tell us that you can...."
And it was true, for the Harton School was far from ordinary. It was Isabelle's job to train children who possessed the odd types of magic that could not be trained by London's powerful Elemental Masters: clairvoyants, telepaths, those with the ability to sense hidden danger, the vision to see into the past, and even that rarest of all talents: the ability to see and communicate with the dead.
But Isabelle was uneasy, for though she knew that Sarah Jane had a touch of telepathy, there seemed to be something else about the girl--something that had not yet manifested.
And Isabelle was right to be worried, for as soon as Sarah's full talents became evident, there was an attempt made on her - life. For Sarah was that rarest of magicians: a true medium, and for some reason, a powerful Elemental Master wanted her dead.
Isabelle knew that to protect her ward she would have to seek help from the Elemental Masters of the city. That meant she would also see Lord David Alderscroft, the man she had once loved, but who had inexplicably chilled toward her and broken her heart long ago--for he was the leader of the city's Elemental Masters, the man who was now called the Wizard of London.
The letter that introduced twelve-year-old Sarah Jane Lyon-White to Isabelle Harton, who ran the Harton School in central London, seemed quite simple and straightforward. Bat it was what was not written in the letter that resonated to Isabelle's own finely tuned "extra" senses: "Sarah has gifts we cannot train," the letter whispered to her, "nor can anyone we know. Those we trust tell us that you can...."
And it was true, for the Harton School was far from ordinary. It was Isabelle's job to train children who possessed the odd types of magic that could not be trained by London's powerful Elemental Masters: clairvoyants, telepaths, those with the ability to sense hidden danger, the vision to see into the past, and even that rarest of all talents: the ability to see and communicate with the dead.
But Isabelle was uneasy, for though she knew that Sarah Jane had a touch of telepathy, there seemed to be something else about the girl--something that had not yet manifested.
And Isabelle was right to be worried, for as soon as Sarah's full talents became evident, there was an attempt made on her - life. For Sarah was that rarest of magicians: a true medium, and for some reason, a powerful Elemental Master wanted her dead.
Isabelle knew that to protect her ward she would have to seek help from the Elemental Masters of the city. That meant she would also see Lord David Alderscroft, the man she had once loved, but who had inexplicably chilled toward her and broken her heart long ago--for he was the leader of the city's Elemental Masters, the man who was now called the Wizard of London.
377 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
About the author
Mercedes Lackey
473 books9,098 followersMercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts & Music, a small recording company specializing in science fiction folk music.
"I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as 'my job'. My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of 'story pill' -- they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the 'folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not.
"I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't 'not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a 'high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL ['There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the 'evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes.
"I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water:
"There's no such thing as 'one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good -- they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race."
Also writes as Misty Lackey
Author's website
"I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as 'my job'. My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of 'story pill' -- they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the 'folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not.
"I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't 'not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a 'high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL ['There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the 'evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes.
"I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water:
"There's no such thing as 'one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good -- they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race."
Also writes as Misty Lackey
Author's website
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 282 reviews
September 13, 2009
Oh God, I'm so ashamed of enjoying this at all.
This book was extraordinarily scattered; it couldn't fix on a protagonist, a storyline, or even on a personality for any character which could be maintained for longer than a few pages without contradiction. Everything was entirely predictable except for one possible twist in the ending which I was really hoping for and, alas, did not in the slightest receive.
Really, the best part of this book was that I was reading a library copy into which some previous poor soul had inked margin notes such as "dictionary!" and "I wish you understood English titles -- is this fellow a younger son?" and "well, you know your Kipling, anyway".
(What? Yes, of course I'm going to keep reading this series. What? Shut up.)
This book was extraordinarily scattered; it couldn't fix on a protagonist, a storyline, or even on a personality for any character which could be maintained for longer than a few pages without contradiction. Everything was entirely predictable except for one possible twist in the ending which I was really hoping for and, alas, did not in the slightest receive.
Really, the best part of this book was that I was reading a library copy into which some previous poor soul had inked margin notes such as "dictionary!" and "I wish you understood English titles -- is this fellow a younger son?" and "well, you know your Kipling, anyway".
(What? Yes, of course I'm going to keep reading this series. What? Shut up.)
June 12, 2010
This book is the perfect example of what Mercedes Lackey does to me. She makes constant errors in spelling and grammar. She apparently can't remember what she wrote in the last book and contradicts herself. She is very sloppy with minor characters. She sometimes puts speeches into the wrong major character's mouth. Her books are unpredictable in quality, some great, some awful, some patchy. This one is very patchy, zooming ahead and then dropping you awkwardly. I don't agree with her morality at all, and I don't care for the magical styles and techniques her fantasies contain. And yet.... I absolutely adore it, I have read it over and over since it came out, I even bought this one in hardcover, which I almost NEVER do. (It is easier to move and store thousands of paperbacks than thousands of hardback books.) She knows what I like. She knows what a lot of us like, judging by her sales record. How is it that I can forgive her so much transgression of my pet peeves? They are often funny, which is totally atypical of fantasy, the characters tend to be wonderful, the plotting is often hair-raising, and I just can't help it, alright? This book is one of my favorites of hers for several reasons, one of which is a single scene fairly early on that involves bare knees and the ancient Irish language. I won't say more. :) But above all, this book is a love letter to Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill, a book that everyone should read who loves fantasy or history or England or magic, and that hardly anyone does. Sometimes I wish I'd stayed in college and written a thesis on Kipling's effect on sci fi and fantasy. It would have had to be whole book in itself.
March 1, 2018
I only went and read this one as I discovered it introduced the characters of Sarah and Nan (and Grey and Neville) to the stories.
I'm glad I read it. The story is, ostensibly, about how Lord Alderscroft, known as the Wizard of London, was saved from his own stupidity and the machinations of an evil female Elemental Master. Mostly, though, the book gave us the story of how Sarah and Nan came to be at the Harton School, meet Puck, and develope their Gifts.
A good workman like read, with some facets revisited years later. 10 Berkeley Square reappears in "A Study in Sable" for instance.
I particularly liked the story of have Neville stopped being a Tower of London raven (with the conivence of the Ravemaster) and became Nan's companion instead.
Lots of fun if you love this area of the Elemental Masters series.
I'm glad I read it. The story is, ostensibly, about how Lord Alderscroft, known as the Wizard of London, was saved from his own stupidity and the machinations of an evil female Elemental Master. Mostly, though, the book gave us the story of how Sarah and Nan came to be at the Harton School, meet Puck, and develope their Gifts.
A good workman like read, with some facets revisited years later. 10 Berkeley Square reappears in "A Study in Sable" for instance.
I particularly liked the story of have Neville stopped being a Tower of London raven (with the conivence of the Ravemaster) and became Nan's companion instead.
Lots of fun if you love this area of the Elemental Masters series.
September 14, 2021
An entertaining and fairly straight forward entry in the Elemental Masters series. The avian familiars are a hoot!
January 17, 2022
9/30/14 - this time of listening I heard a lot of mispronunciations, bobbled/transposed words, and a couple of places where the text repeats/stutters. I guess I'm a more-experienced listenter, or less accepting of this sort of mistakes.
From my Audible (audiobook) review, 2010:
Much as I love these tales, this is the weakest of the Elemental Masters novels. Most of the story involves Sarah and Nan, young, magically-talented girls who come to live at the Harton School in London, run by the also-talented Isabelle Harton and her husband. Sarah has been sent home to England "for her health" from her parents' hospital in Africa, along with her remarkably wise and capable African Gray parrot, simply called Gray. Nan is taken in from the streets, where she has been living a tenuous life with her drunken and drug-addicted mother, and she becomes a valued friend to Sarah and an asset to the School, even as she begins to learn how to manage her ordinary and extra-ordinary talents.
Also living in London is Lord Alderscroft, the so-called Wizard of London and a Fire Master, head of the Elemental Masters group. However, Alderscroft has come under the influence of Cordelia, a secretive and powerful Master. She has gradually cut him off from all of his ordinary enjoyment of life and his friends and surrounded him with a crowd of the politically influential, since she hopes to accompany Alderscroft as he rises to political power and influence. And then she begins to crave even more power, power beyond the usual reach of women in this Edwardian era.
This is a weak adaptation of the Ice Queen tale, with Alderscroft as the stricken boy, and while the adventures of Sarah and Nan are interesting, the story really hasn't got the weight of Ms Lackey's usual plots. The narrator does a creditable job with slightly different voices and reads at a reasonable pace.
From my Audible (audiobook) review, 2010:
Much as I love these tales, this is the weakest of the Elemental Masters novels. Most of the story involves Sarah and Nan, young, magically-talented girls who come to live at the Harton School in London, run by the also-talented Isabelle Harton and her husband. Sarah has been sent home to England "for her health" from her parents' hospital in Africa, along with her remarkably wise and capable African Gray parrot, simply called Gray. Nan is taken in from the streets, where she has been living a tenuous life with her drunken and drug-addicted mother, and she becomes a valued friend to Sarah and an asset to the School, even as she begins to learn how to manage her ordinary and extra-ordinary talents.
Also living in London is Lord Alderscroft, the so-called Wizard of London and a Fire Master, head of the Elemental Masters group. However, Alderscroft has come under the influence of Cordelia, a secretive and powerful Master. She has gradually cut him off from all of his ordinary enjoyment of life and his friends and surrounded him with a crowd of the politically influential, since she hopes to accompany Alderscroft as he rises to political power and influence. And then she begins to crave even more power, power beyond the usual reach of women in this Edwardian era.
This is a weak adaptation of the Ice Queen tale, with Alderscroft as the stricken boy, and while the adventures of Sarah and Nan are interesting, the story really hasn't got the weight of Ms Lackey's usual plots. The narrator does a creditable job with slightly different voices and reads at a reasonable pace.
August 19, 2015
This tale in the series is very loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen.
Again I enjoyed this very much as it provided background on David, Lord Alderscroft, who has been a supporting character in other books in the series. Unlike the last book this was very vague on when it was set aside from the fact that it was during Queen Victoria's reign and The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was in existence making it likely mid 1890s. Aleister Crowley is also mentioned and his involvement in the London occult scene was a bit later as was his notoriety. Still one could argue this is an alternative history or that Mercedes Lackey research into the real life occultists of the period was not that detailed.
Again Mercedes Lackey does seem to misstep on the actual climate of England. Snow is rare especially in urban areas whereas I think she assumes we have the same kind of weather as North America. The ending also felt a little rushed. Still aside from these minor points it was a fun tale with some quite tense moments and a little Shakespearean cameo that proved a delightful surprise.
Again I enjoyed this very much as it provided background on David, Lord Alderscroft, who has been a supporting character in other books in the series. Unlike the last book this was very vague on when it was set aside from the fact that it was during Queen Victoria's reign and The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was in existence making it likely mid 1890s. Aleister Crowley is also mentioned and his involvement in the London occult scene was a bit later as was his notoriety. Still one could argue this is an alternative history or that Mercedes Lackey research into the real life occultists of the period was not that detailed.
Again Mercedes Lackey does seem to misstep on the actual climate of England. Snow is rare especially in urban areas whereas I think she assumes we have the same kind of weather as North America. The ending also felt a little rushed. Still aside from these minor points it was a fun tale with some quite tense moments and a little Shakespearean cameo that proved a delightful surprise.
March 30, 2017
The story just never grabbed me. I gave it 100 pages and while I can't say it was bad, I just never really cared about the characters or what happened. So I put it aside....
November 9, 2011
I know that Lackey has a very well-respected reputation as an early young-adult author, but I consider her works as books that can be primarily enjoyed by adults. Her books might be a little sweet, yes, and shades of grey might not wander too far away from black and white, and protagonists will more often than not be later-year teenagers completing their schooling (in the first volume at the very least), but she doesn't coddle any reader and she routinely tackles broad and complex issues in her books and she's extraordinarily good at tying all her myriad character subplots into the main plot's cohesive goal.
And that's exactly why this book was so frustrating. Lackey set nine- and twelve-year-old girls as the primary protagonists, except that these particular nine- and twelve- girls where not sufficient to carry the narrative, so she framed it with the perspective of an adult female headmistress and brought the headmistress in to move the plot along every time it stalled. The headmistress would have been a much more enjoyable character to set the story around, but nooooo. Lackey wanted sweet littleSara Crewe, sorry, Sarah Jane and tough little Mary Sue, sorry, Nan to sally forth and save the day from shyster con-artist fake-psychics and several kidnappers all with the power of their forthright honesty and kindness and love of birds.
We get it, Lackey. You love birds. Wooooooo. You used this affection to far greater effect in your Gryphon trilogy, remember?
Then we have the big bad, the wizard of book's title, who isn't so much bad as misguided and ill-trained and who has a slight romantic past with the headmistress precisely so that the plot has some reason for the two of them to be aware of each other's existence but this detail is hardly important enough for anything but a bare mention, and besides the headmistress is married by now and blissfully happy (so there).
After a long and winding story scattered around small plots of British boarding schools and mediums and ghostly possessions and the radical educational philosophy of promoting healthy eating habits and not letting children freeze and the proper care and feeding of birds and the ruin of excessive passion and other such ilk, we have the climax of the book. Where Sarah Jane and Nan save the big bad from himself by hugging him and literally declaring themselves to be his friends. Awwww.
Oh my god. 400 pages of reading for that?
Fairy Tale Connection
Nominally based on the Snow Queen.
And that's exactly why this book was so frustrating. Lackey set nine- and twelve-year-old girls as the primary protagonists, except that these particular nine- and twelve- girls where not sufficient to carry the narrative, so she framed it with the perspective of an adult female headmistress and brought the headmistress in to move the plot along every time it stalled. The headmistress would have been a much more enjoyable character to set the story around, but nooooo. Lackey wanted sweet little
We get it, Lackey. You love birds. Wooooooo. You used this affection to far greater effect in your Gryphon trilogy, remember?
Then we have the big bad, the wizard of book's title, who isn't so much bad as misguided and ill-trained and who has a slight romantic past with the headmistress precisely so that the plot has some reason for the two of them to be aware of each other's existence but this detail is hardly important enough for anything but a bare mention, and besides the headmistress is married by now and blissfully happy (so there).
After a long and winding story scattered around small plots of British boarding schools and mediums and ghostly possessions and the radical educational philosophy of promoting healthy eating habits and not letting children freeze and the proper care and feeding of birds and the ruin of excessive passion and other such ilk, we have the climax of the book. Where Sarah Jane and Nan save the big bad from himself by hugging him and literally declaring themselves to be his friends. Awwww.
Oh my god. 400 pages of reading for that?
Fairy Tale Connection
Nominally based on the Snow Queen.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 3, 2013
I thought the premise was good, and there were a few interesting characters I like enough to keep me going. At first, Nan; I love how she is street-wise, resourceful, and exact. And then, Grey and Neville. I love Isabelle Harton, although she seems too perfect to be true. To me she represents an ideal as she embodies equality, harmony, motherly and unconditional love, maturity and a down-to-earth attitude towards life.
Okay. Other than that, I honestly don't know what the point of the story is. It's not horrible, but it's all over the place, and it gets horrendously boring and time and time again, confusing. For one, I thought Sarah was going to be the protagonist, since she is introduced first as the primary character, and she's even on the back cover, for Goodness' sake. But instead, the story is entirely focused on Nan, though I'm not sure how the story evolves around her anyhow. The book is titled Wizard of London, but he does not appear until halfway through the book. There isn't a clear sense of conflict, because the villain doesn't appear after the midpoint. There's a bunch of random things happening and none of it have anything to do with the story (what story?) I have no idea what the characters arcs are, and the plot is too thin to hold the characters together in one narrative. And omg, don't get me started on the back stories. Pages and pages of them. I was just like, why? This is absolutely irrelevant!
Anyway. I could not finish the book because I could not see the point anymore. I wanted to push a little bit further because I love the two birds and I want to see what happens to them, but why are they in the story?
To be fair, I didn't hate the book. I just lost any incentive to continue. So I guess, that's that.
Okay. Other than that, I honestly don't know what the point of the story is. It's not horrible, but it's all over the place, and it gets horrendously boring and time and time again, confusing. For one, I thought Sarah was going to be the protagonist, since she is introduced first as the primary character, and she's even on the back cover, for Goodness' sake. But instead, the story is entirely focused on Nan, though I'm not sure how the story evolves around her anyhow. The book is titled Wizard of London, but he does not appear until halfway through the book. There isn't a clear sense of conflict, because the villain doesn't appear after the midpoint. There's a bunch of random things happening and none of it have anything to do with the story (what story?) I have no idea what the characters arcs are, and the plot is too thin to hold the characters together in one narrative. And omg, don't get me started on the back stories. Pages and pages of them. I was just like, why? This is absolutely irrelevant!
Anyway. I could not finish the book because I could not see the point anymore. I wanted to push a little bit further because I love the two birds and I want to see what happens to them, but why are they in the story?
To be fair, I didn't hate the book. I just lost any incentive to continue. So I guess, that's that.
August 4, 2011
Oh Ms. Lackey, where do I start?
Basically, besides nothing happening, the biggest problem is the re-telling of 'The Snow Queen' forgets that at its heart is the story of a person willing to go to the ends of the earth and go through hell to rescue someone she loves. In this case, the woman just happens to be next door when the guy is in danger, and rescues him almost as an after thought to her day.
Edit:
Two things worth mentioning:
One: A very minor character is described as having parties where friends challenge each other to read really bad books outloud with a straight face. Having been to parties like that a time or three, and the epsidoe clearly something she threw in based on real life, I salute Ms Lackey as a fellow geek.
Two: She manages to fit in the line "I ain't afraid of no ghost." without it sounding anachronistic. Gods bless Cockney English.
Basically, besides nothing happening, the biggest problem is the re-telling of 'The Snow Queen' forgets that at its heart is the story of a person willing to go to the ends of the earth and go through hell to rescue someone she loves. In this case, the woman just happens to be next door when the guy is in danger, and rescues him almost as an after thought to her day.
Edit:
Two things worth mentioning:
One: A very minor character is described as having parties where friends challenge each other to read really bad books outloud with a straight face. Having been to parties like that a time or three, and the epsidoe clearly something she threw in based on real life, I salute Ms Lackey as a fellow geek.
Two: She manages to fit in the line "I ain't afraid of no ghost." without it sounding anachronistic. Gods bless Cockney English.
March 20, 2015
The Wizard of London is the fifth of Mercedes Lackey’s stand-alone novels in her ELEMENTAL MASTERS series of fairytale retellings. It’s so loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” that you probably won’t even notice the few similarities. There’s an ice queen, but the theme of The Wizard of London (if there is one, which I doubt), has nothing to do with the theme of “The Snow Queen.”
The story starts when a little girl named Sarah arrives from Africa (where her parents are missionaries) at a London boarding school that is known to educate and train the children of Elemental mages. There she finds an ethically and religiously diverse cast of excellent teachers and attendants. She also befriends a young street urchin named Nan whose mother is a neglectful drug addict. Together Sarah and Nan... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
The story starts when a little girl named Sarah arrives from Africa (where her parents are missionaries) at a London boarding school that is known to educate and train the children of Elemental mages. There she finds an ethically and religiously diverse cast of excellent teachers and attendants. She also befriends a young street urchin named Nan whose mother is a neglectful drug addict. Together Sarah and Nan... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
June 3, 2017
3/5
A nice story overall, to fill the spaces in between on the subway. I always enjoy the meandering pace and characterisation of Lackey. The friendship of Sarah and Nan is nice to see, Nan herself is the more interesting of the characters with her street origins. Memsaab was a delightful character..if a bit too perfect and I wanted to have more on her past and her personal motivations.
As another reviewers said the author seems confused on who the protagonist was here, and the children while fun to read weren't always the best eyes to look through.
The parts for David Alderscroft were pretty damn unsatisfying, how the hell did he not suspect his mentor Cecilia one bit? He seemed so oblivious..why was he such a dickbrain?
And that ending was an anti climatic bullshit copout. Just a complete disappointment. There could have been a more fleshed our and better executed ending.
A nice story overall, to fill the spaces in between on the subway. I always enjoy the meandering pace and characterisation of Lackey. The friendship of Sarah and Nan is nice to see, Nan herself is the more interesting of the characters with her street origins. Memsaab was a delightful character..if a bit too perfect and I wanted to have more on her past and her personal motivations.
As another reviewers said the author seems confused on who the protagonist was here, and the children while fun to read weren't always the best eyes to look through.
The parts for David Alderscroft were pretty damn unsatisfying, how the hell did he not suspect his mentor Cecilia one bit? He seemed so oblivious..why was he such a dickbrain?
And that ending was an anti climatic bullshit copout. Just a complete disappointment. There could have been a more fleshed our and better executed ending.
February 13, 2008
A Victorian England setting for the Snow Queen. Interesting in that it's set in the same "world" as the rest of the Elemental Masters series, but deals with the "Warriors of Light"; disappointing in that it never really explores what being a such a warrior entails, nor does it explore in any great depth the conflict between those warriors and the mages.
Read
May 27, 2022My high hopes dashed--this is only incidentally a Snow Queen retelling. Yes, many of the tropes are there (brave little girl and the black bird that befriends her; cold-hearted magic; trek through frozen world; mirrors; a stolen sweetheart). But the Kai figure first appears on p. 144, pre-frozen, and this reader never felt any desire to thaw him.
If you're a fan of the Elemental Masters (as I am), do ignore my crankiness and sample the story for yourself--it may have all the ingredients you like the best about Ms Lackey's books.
If you're a fan of the Elemental Masters (as I am), do ignore my crankiness and sample the story for yourself--it may have all the ingredients you like the best about Ms Lackey's books.
March 25, 2022
The title is Wizard of London , but that person is almost a side character, who is basically an idiot for giving up the love of his life at the urging of his evil magical mentor. The real heroes of this fantasy novel are Sarah and Nan, a pair of psychically gifted children at a school for children with psychic or magical powers. The story is mostly told from their point of view, with childhood treats playing as big a role as their fight against magical threats. But this is definitely not Harry Potter in disguise; no-one in the school has it out for Sarah or Nan, and all the teachers are their allies. The threats are all external, and they have all the magically talented adults of the school backing them up. I liked that the main characters of the novel were female.
June 8, 2008
This is one of Misty's Elemental Master's series, where she rewrites fairytales into a real world, historical setting. The Wizard of London is based on "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Anderson, and is set in Victorian London.
First, a little background is needed. Generally, the characters are elemental masters, able to command supernatural creatures of fire (salamanders, lyons), water (nymphs, selkies), earth (fawns, brownies) or air (sylvans, dryads). In addition there are people with psychic abilities, clairvoyants, telekinetics, and mediums. The last is the rarest ability of all, to communicate with the dead. They live among regular people, keeping their abilities secret, although they have formed secret societies, in order to govern and police themselves. There are even schools dedicated to educating young elemental mages and psychics, with a healthy mix of regular children as a front to stave off suspicion.
One such school is The Harton School for Girls and Boys, run by Isabelle and Frederick Harton. It's a poor school, in an unfashionable district of London, that caters to the children of officials and soldiers who serve in India. It was believed at the time that Western children were not able to tolerate the warmer climates of India and Africa, so at young ages they were sent to boarding schools in England. The Harton School also has some "special" students. Among them are Sarah Jane Lyon-White from Africa, the daughter of a doctor and missionary, who has some minor telepathic abilities, but more importantly, is a true medium, and Nan Killian, a street brat and the daughter of an alcoholic, who would have been doomed to either an early death or to follow the same self-destructive path as her mother, if not for her clairvoyant talents that earned her a place at the Harton School. Sarah and Nan have for some reason have been graced with the attention of "guardian spirits"; Sarah's in an African Grey parrot, named Grey, and Nan's is a raven named Neville. Girls and birds are inseparable.
Sarah Jane was instrumental in uncovering a fraud ring, headed by a woman who pretended to be a medium and fleeced grieving mothers and widows. So, when Sarah Jane and Nan are attacked, it is assumed to be the work of other false mediums, trying to stay in business, or friends of the one that Sarah exposed trying to get revenge. Isabelle and Frederick step up their vigilance, and appeal to the Elemental Masters for assistance in locating the ones responsible for the attack, but their efforts are lukewarm, and when their limpid investigation reveals an Irish anarchist to be the one who arranged the attack, and that he is already conveniently dead, they loose what little interest they had. Of course that is just not good enough for Isabelle and Frederick, who feel that there is much more going on than meets the eye. So, they arrange for the entire school to take a summer holiday at the country estate of one of their psychic acquaintances. While being in the country has given the girls a bit of a respite, the one who is bent on getting rid of Sarah Jane isn't about to give up that easily.
Most of you know I'm a Misty fan, and for the most part I was very pleased with this book. I've said it before and it still holds true, she's great at creating characters who are compelling and utterly sympathetic. I also love that she puts a lot of ambiguity in her characters, they're not all good and perfect, or bad and diabolical. It's just a bit more difficult to pull that off in this series, since they're all based on fairy tales and the story just has to happen a certain way, and it's to her credit that she was still able to make the villain, who casually murders children and turns their ghosts into her servants, a little sympathetic. And you can sort of see how she might have been a decent person under different circumstances. And the protagonists make mistakes, get angry, hold grudges, and suffer from self doubt and self consciousness. There's just one way that I was disappointed, and that was when I realized that there was only about seventy-five pages left in the novel, and none of the storylines were anywhere near resolved. This worried me. And for good reason. The ending was very...anticlimactic. Very disappointing. I was, I'm not ashamed to admit, hoping for a huge climactic battle scene, and what I got was, well, not a climactic battle scene. The ending was only ten pages long, and the very ending only three pages, counting the epilogue. That's just not satisfying. And I've come to expect better of Misty, as far as satisfying endings go. But, that's my one gripe. It's a pretty big gripe, but only one.
First, a little background is needed. Generally, the characters are elemental masters, able to command supernatural creatures of fire (salamanders, lyons), water (nymphs, selkies), earth (fawns, brownies) or air (sylvans, dryads). In addition there are people with psychic abilities, clairvoyants, telekinetics, and mediums. The last is the rarest ability of all, to communicate with the dead. They live among regular people, keeping their abilities secret, although they have formed secret societies, in order to govern and police themselves. There are even schools dedicated to educating young elemental mages and psychics, with a healthy mix of regular children as a front to stave off suspicion.
One such school is The Harton School for Girls and Boys, run by Isabelle and Frederick Harton. It's a poor school, in an unfashionable district of London, that caters to the children of officials and soldiers who serve in India. It was believed at the time that Western children were not able to tolerate the warmer climates of India and Africa, so at young ages they were sent to boarding schools in England. The Harton School also has some "special" students. Among them are Sarah Jane Lyon-White from Africa, the daughter of a doctor and missionary, who has some minor telepathic abilities, but more importantly, is a true medium, and Nan Killian, a street brat and the daughter of an alcoholic, who would have been doomed to either an early death or to follow the same self-destructive path as her mother, if not for her clairvoyant talents that earned her a place at the Harton School. Sarah and Nan have for some reason have been graced with the attention of "guardian spirits"; Sarah's in an African Grey parrot, named Grey, and Nan's is a raven named Neville. Girls and birds are inseparable.
Sarah Jane was instrumental in uncovering a fraud ring, headed by a woman who pretended to be a medium and fleeced grieving mothers and widows. So, when Sarah Jane and Nan are attacked, it is assumed to be the work of other false mediums, trying to stay in business, or friends of the one that Sarah exposed trying to get revenge. Isabelle and Frederick step up their vigilance, and appeal to the Elemental Masters for assistance in locating the ones responsible for the attack, but their efforts are lukewarm, and when their limpid investigation reveals an Irish anarchist to be the one who arranged the attack, and that he is already conveniently dead, they loose what little interest they had. Of course that is just not good enough for Isabelle and Frederick, who feel that there is much more going on than meets the eye. So, they arrange for the entire school to take a summer holiday at the country estate of one of their psychic acquaintances. While being in the country has given the girls a bit of a respite, the one who is bent on getting rid of Sarah Jane isn't about to give up that easily.
Most of you know I'm a Misty fan, and for the most part I was very pleased with this book. I've said it before and it still holds true, she's great at creating characters who are compelling and utterly sympathetic. I also love that she puts a lot of ambiguity in her characters, they're not all good and perfect, or bad and diabolical. It's just a bit more difficult to pull that off in this series, since they're all based on fairy tales and the story just has to happen a certain way, and it's to her credit that she was still able to make the villain, who casually murders children and turns their ghosts into her servants, a little sympathetic. And you can sort of see how she might have been a decent person under different circumstances. And the protagonists make mistakes, get angry, hold grudges, and suffer from self doubt and self consciousness. There's just one way that I was disappointed, and that was when I realized that there was only about seventy-five pages left in the novel, and none of the storylines were anywhere near resolved. This worried me. And for good reason. The ending was very...anticlimactic. Very disappointing. I was, I'm not ashamed to admit, hoping for a huge climactic battle scene, and what I got was, well, not a climactic battle scene. The ending was only ten pages long, and the very ending only three pages, counting the epilogue. That's just not satisfying. And I've come to expect better of Misty, as far as satisfying endings go. But, that's my one gripe. It's a pretty big gripe, but only one.
October 11, 2020
3.5, rounded up to 4.
Second read through review: This made a LOT more sense, and was a lot better, on my second read. First, since I was paying better attention, I realized almost immediately that this was a prequel to the other Elemental Masters books—a prequel by several decades, because Lord Alderscroft is the Young Lion here, when in the others he is always described as “the Old Lion.” Also, he references Queen Victoria, while the others reference Kings Edward and George. I can’t really explain how I missed that the first time, other than, since it was a first read, I went so quickly that I missed some of the details. The previous three books in the series had intertwining characters and had referenced each other, so when I read this one I was in such a hurry looking for other people I knew that I missed the timeline completely. I complained about this in my first review, and now I realize that it was entirely my fault.
After establishing that early on, I was able to enjoy the book much more. The shift in emphasis from the elemental mages to the Gifted and Talented brought a fresh perspective, and an entirely different viewpoint to how the supernatural is handled in this world. The closest we’d gotten before was Sarah the village witch in Phoenix and Ashes, and she was a supporting character, not the lead.
I’m glad I kept this book after my first disappointing read through, and it will now enter the regular rotation with the rest of the Elemental Masters books I have for periodic re-reads.
—-
First read review:
Although this is 4th in Lackey's Elemental Masters series, it really is more of a prologue, if it's anything at all--it doesn't seem to really fit with the 3 books written before it. One of the characters if the same, but it explains more of his backstory. The rest is decent enough (although not as engaging as Phoenix and Ashes or The Serpent's Shadow), but I kept getting distracted by its lack of cohesion with the rest of the series.
Second read through review: This made a LOT more sense, and was a lot better, on my second read. First, since I was paying better attention, I realized almost immediately that this was a prequel to the other Elemental Masters books—a prequel by several decades, because Lord Alderscroft is the Young Lion here, when in the others he is always described as “the Old Lion.” Also, he references Queen Victoria, while the others reference Kings Edward and George. I can’t really explain how I missed that the first time, other than, since it was a first read, I went so quickly that I missed some of the details. The previous three books in the series had intertwining characters and had referenced each other, so when I read this one I was in such a hurry looking for other people I knew that I missed the timeline completely. I complained about this in my first review, and now I realize that it was entirely my fault.
After establishing that early on, I was able to enjoy the book much more. The shift in emphasis from the elemental mages to the Gifted and Talented brought a fresh perspective, and an entirely different viewpoint to how the supernatural is handled in this world. The closest we’d gotten before was Sarah the village witch in Phoenix and Ashes, and she was a supporting character, not the lead.
I’m glad I kept this book after my first disappointing read through, and it will now enter the regular rotation with the rest of the Elemental Masters books I have for periodic re-reads.
—-
First read review:
Although this is 4th in Lackey's Elemental Masters series, it really is more of a prologue, if it's anything at all--it doesn't seem to really fit with the 3 books written before it. One of the characters if the same, but it explains more of his backstory. The rest is decent enough (although not as engaging as Phoenix and Ashes or The Serpent's Shadow), but I kept getting distracted by its lack of cohesion with the rest of the series.
July 24, 2015
I'm not really sure why I finished The Wizard of London. It wasn't particularly horrible, but it doesn't really seem to fit in with the rest of the series. While it does take place in the same universe as the Elemental Masters, it mostly doesn't involve Elemental Masters (the two who are major characters aren't really present until the end of the book). Instead, it is about three characters who have psychic powers. Two of them are young girls who have animal companions (and, fitting with most of the tropes, the animals are good, wise, impossibly smart, psychically active, and don't behave at all like animals). I don't really care for the trope (although, to be fair, I sort of loved the horse version of it when I was younger).
Also, as far as I could tell, this didn't have elements of any fairy tales (Puck is present, but it doesn't have the elements that make it recognizable as a particular fairy tale).
Also, as far as I could tell, this didn't have elements of any fairy tales (Puck is present, but it doesn't have the elements that make it recognizable as a particular fairy tale).
May 20, 2017
This book was definitely better than 'Gates of Sleep' and I can appreciate the Snow Queen associations - it was a very creative idea and I really enjoyed it - but compared to the other books within this series, is just not as interesting. While gifted children certainly have their place in this universe that Ms. Lackey created, I was disappointed when so much of the focus was on them rather than the Masters. I'm hoping that after this book and 'Reserved for the Cat' we'll go back to a female Elemental Master as the protagonist/main character in the next Elemental Masters book, I'd hate to see this series deteriorate as some series inevitably do.
April 7, 2014
As always I find myself drawn to this series time and time again. I would suggest it to those who are pro-fantasy and stories of heroine girls (who just happens to possess a magical parrot and is an accomplished medium). Sarah and Nan end up meeting on the edge of London's out of sight Boarding School. They grow into their powers and find themselves in the midst of a great evil that yearns to capture the world under it's claw. The only thing I didn't appreciate was the drone of politics in the novel.
June 23, 2019
I liked the concept, and the two little girls, but the book as a whole was poorly balanced and needed editing. The tone was too self-righteous and didactic, and the bulk of the pages were devoted to set-up and criticism of Victorian society (merited, but hardly requiring a lengthy exposition in a modern fantasy novel). When conflicts/dangers occur they get handled too easily to create much tension.
January 9, 2011
Mercedes Lackey is hit and miss with me. I usually enjoy her books that have hints of old fairy tales in a different setting. The Wizard of London contained hints of The Snow Queen, but I missed some of the more direct correlation. I enjoyed the young characters of Sarah and Nan--a change for Lackey to have some of her main characters be children. The story was interesting, but nothing gripping or unique. I enjoyed the read, but it wasn't really remarkable.
September 10, 2009
This series blends historical settings and events with fantasy: magicians who draw their powers from the four elements and use them to promote or fight evil that influences world events. Really fun, though plenty dark! Positive
August 8, 2017
3/12/14-3/13/14
February 4, 2017
Felt like re-reading, not listening. The best part of this story is the bits about Sarah and Nan. See my longer review on the audible edition
September 19, 2024
Fifth in the Elemental Masters historical paranormal fantasy series and revolving around the magic of Masters, Mages, and Talents. There is a double focus that introduces us to the Hartons and their school with two of their students, Nan and Sarah, and introducing the ambitious Lord Alderscroft. This story is based on The Snow Queen, and she is COLD.
My Take
It's a clash of good vs evil, men vs women, upper vs lower class, of which these last two will disgust you.
The story introduces the Harton School, a caring place that puts its emphasis on providing the kids with a warm, loving environment where they are encouraged to think and ask questions. Where pets are welcome and the foods the kids are familiar with are what they get here. They will also be protected. Heh, heh, heh . . .
Even better, the adults listen to the children. Of course, the children are expected to obey the rules and young Tommy finds out the hard way. Memsa'b's approach to punishment makes her very popular with the Highleigh parents.
The story does start with an endorsement of Professor Emerson from Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series regarding the horrors of the English public schools! Lackey includes a nasty poke at those letters home the kids write.
I do like that Sarah's parents are more into medicine than conversion. They're also open to other ideas, which leads to the cooperative relationship they have with the Africans. I suspect international relations would benefit from this attitude.
Frederick has an interesting back story and has contributed to his desire to pay it forward. The prideful Isabelle has a good and bad backstory as well as with an interesting character arc. There's also a brief glimpse into how Isabelle met Frederick.
More history includes the rules that "should" govern those with magical abilities. It is freaky how nasty being cold can make you. Manipulative, controlling . . . obsessed with the hypocrisy of politics, and the politicking for one's own interests. And it's all part of Alderscroft's character arc. Whew. His plans for that Ministry of Esoteric Sciences are dang scary with that possibility of forcing people to register their abilities and be subject to restrictions and . . . To be honest, they sound like Trump's plans for the US.
I had to laugh at the various descriptions of the little ones running about naked after a bath. I could see them running and laughing and waving their arms about, lol. Those accounts of Nan's appreciation for her new "family" are poignant and make me feel warmer for how much better her life is.
Oh, ya gotta love Grey. She is a crack-up. Then you'll meet Neville, lol.
Oh. Man. Cordelia. Definitely a person I would never want to meet. Cold. Callous. Beyond merely manipulative. The ambitious Cordelia has no qualms about how she gets what she wants. She really creeped me out!!
This is the story that confused the heck out of me, time-wise until I went back over past notes AND realized that Lackey had said in The Wizard of London, that Alderscroft has resurrected the old magic Circle. Phew. Good to know. The idea of the circle is a good one, but oy, it's so misogynistic! Their ignorant assumptions about women's priorities made me sick. More confusion came when there was no reference to World War I, as if it hadn't happened yet, but in Phoenix and Ashes , 4, the war has come to an end.
Lackey is using a third person global subjective point-of-view from so many perspectives. It's a great way to listen in on all those plans, thoughts, and emotions!
Oh lordy! Lol, the fun the kids have at Highleigh Park! Although Nan and Sarah do have their own mean encounter, and Isabelle must confront her past. It's part of the relaxed lessons that causes Isabelle, Nan, and Sarah to confront that haunted well.
Isabelle manages a nasty little poke at Alderscroft when she challenges him about Sarah and Nan's safety! That's not the only jab, as Alderscroft keeps sticking his foot in his mouth.
It does amaze me that the bad guys never learn, although it does provide lots of action and excitement with a range of characters from great to awful.
Wanting to know what happened had me flipping those pages as fast as I could.
And remember, never bargain with the Ice Lord . . . and keep your friends.
The Story
It's a terrifying place, that back gate for the Big House and the scary black man who comes there. Yet he is also rumored to come with a huge basket of food. It's worth waiting, taking a chance, especially when you're as cold and hungry as Nan.
It's a wait that results in Nan meeting the chatty Sarah and progresses to their Talents and their selves being valued.
The Young Lion's cold ambitions find him planning to expand Her Majesty's government. A plan that may depend upon his encounter with Isabelle, the lady he threw away . . . and the anger of Robin Goodfellow.
The Characters
Victoria is the queen of England.
Nine-year-old Sarah Jane Lyon-White has unexpected gifts — receptive and projective telepathy. Grey is the female gray parrot she had to leave behind. Her parents, Dr Lyon-White and her mother, a nurse, are Protestant missionaries in Africa; he is an Earth Master and she is an Earth Mage. M'dela is an African shaman who's been working with Sarah. M'luko is M'dela's apprentice
The young but motherly Nan Killian, a street arab, may be psychic, for she can sense a person's intent. Aggie is her mother, a drug addict and alcoholic, only interested in money to support her habits.
The Harton School is . . .
. . . a boarding school for the children of people working abroad and/or with magic abilities. Isabelle Helen Harton neé Carpenter, a.k.a. Memsa'b and Shining Star, runs the school while her husband, Frederick Harton, a.k.a. Sahib, works as an advisor to an import firm after his military service left him with a bad knee. Sahib's Talent is in clairvoyance and clairaudience. Agansing is a Gurkha from India. Selim is a Muslim. Karamjit "Lion" is a Sikh. All three are warriors who guard the school, the Hartons, and the children. The five of them can transform into Warriors of the Light.
The servants include Vashti the cook; Maya, Mala, and Nadra who are ayas; Sia; and, Mustafa, who also came from India with the Hartons. The teachers include Professor Hawthorne, Madame Jeanette, and Miss Payne. Students include Tommy Carpenter, Amanda Truitt, Anna Thompson, Mary Dowland, and Henry Tailor.
Highleigh Park is . . .
. . . an estate out in the country to which the Hartons and their students are invited to spend the summer by Mr Benson who also owns the house in Berkeley Square where the twisted Earth Wight is haunting the building, the existence of which is traced back to Connor O'Brian, a rogue Talent. Mr Thackers is in charge of the farm and greatly enjoyed the revenge of the geese. Gaffer Geordie is brilliant with animals. Flash is the pony bought for the children. Lord Matthew had been a previous owner of Highleigh and was obsessed with archeology.
Robin Goodfellow, a.k.a. Puck, is the Guardian of Logres, the Oldest of the Old Ones.
The White Lodge is . . .
. . . a.k.a. the Master's Circle of Elemental Masters, and is based in Alderscroft's club, the Exeter. It was created to self-police their own kind. No women allowed. Stewart is the doorman. The Founder's Suite is on the top floor. Atherton Crey; Thomas Markham, who is a viscount; Nigel, Lord Lytton; and, Scaithwaite, who may be old but still has a keen mind and an agile body.
David, Lord Alderscroft (his father, Trevor, died two years ago), a.k.a. the Wizard of London and the Young Lion, is a cold Fire Master who dreams of revealing the existence of Masters and Mages to the government. Harwinton House is his ancestral home. James is his secretary. Colin Foxward is his estate manager.
The snooty Lady Cordelia Bryce-Coll, an Air Master who deals in COLD and with some Fire ability, is Alderscroft's mentor. Graves is one of the maids. Mrs Talbot is the housekeeper. Peggoty is a child, dying, brought to one of Cordelia's "shelters". Robert and Albert are the poor orphans Cordelia chooses for her latest experiment.
The Tower of London is . . .
. . . home to the ravens without which England would fall. Hollis is the Ravenmaster of the Yeomen Warders who is in charge of the care of the ravens. Neville is a particularly feisty raven, who intends to get his way.
Katherine Broughmont is a good friend of Isabelle's who lost her son, Edward. I think Laurie is their daughter. Lady Harrington is a friend of Katherine's. Lord Babington is the one who persuaded the Broughmonts to send their son to Overton. Madame Vronsky is a medium with a good scam. Paganini, a master violinist, is her spirit guide.
Beatrice DeLancy had been a schoolmate of Isabelle's; she's Lady Nigel Lytton now. Nigel's Talent is in Earth. "Doomsday" Dainwrite is the head of the import firm where Sahib works.
Nigel Pettigrew was a nasty passenger in with the other children being escorted to England. Nkumba had been clawed up by a lion. Beatrice Leek, a witch, has disdain for Aleister Crowley. An Ice Wurm is the Elemental opposite of a Salamander. Mrs Venhill is an ambitious guest at a house party at Mansell Hall.
The Cover and Title
The cover is primarily a soft teal with snowflakes falling down the right side of the cover and Big Ben in a faded white on the left side. There's an inset bordered in a wide brown with a thinner white mat border, framing Lord Alderscroft with black top hat, cane, black coat, and a cream shirt and vest. Behind him is a deep teal Ice Wurm. At the top is the author's name in an embossed gold with a white shine. To the left and in the middle is an epigraph in black. Flying up at the lower left edge of the inset are the black Neville and the gray Grey. At the very bottom right is the title in black. There's no series info. Dang it.
The title is all about Lord Alderscroft, The Wizard of London, although most of the story revolves around Nan, Sarah, and the Harton School.
My Take
It's a clash of good vs evil, men vs women, upper vs lower class, of which these last two will disgust you.
The story introduces the Harton School, a caring place that puts its emphasis on providing the kids with a warm, loving environment where they are encouraged to think and ask questions. Where pets are welcome and the foods the kids are familiar with are what they get here. They will also be protected. Heh, heh, heh . . .
Even better, the adults listen to the children. Of course, the children are expected to obey the rules and young Tommy finds out the hard way. Memsa'b's approach to punishment makes her very popular with the Highleigh parents.
The story does start with an endorsement of Professor Emerson from Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series regarding the horrors of the English public schools! Lackey includes a nasty poke at those letters home the kids write.
I do like that Sarah's parents are more into medicine than conversion. They're also open to other ideas, which leads to the cooperative relationship they have with the Africans. I suspect international relations would benefit from this attitude.
Frederick has an interesting back story and has contributed to his desire to pay it forward. The prideful Isabelle has a good and bad backstory as well as with an interesting character arc. There's also a brief glimpse into how Isabelle met Frederick.
More history includes the rules that "should" govern those with magical abilities. It is freaky how nasty being cold can make you. Manipulative, controlling . . . obsessed with the hypocrisy of politics, and the politicking for one's own interests. And it's all part of Alderscroft's character arc. Whew. His plans for that Ministry of Esoteric Sciences are dang scary with that possibility of forcing people to register their abilities and be subject to restrictions and . . . To be honest, they sound like Trump's plans for the US.
I had to laugh at the various descriptions of the little ones running about naked after a bath. I could see them running and laughing and waving their arms about, lol. Those accounts of Nan's appreciation for her new "family" are poignant and make me feel warmer for how much better her life is.
Oh, ya gotta love Grey. She is a crack-up. Then you'll meet Neville, lol.
Oh. Man. Cordelia. Definitely a person I would never want to meet. Cold. Callous. Beyond merely manipulative. The ambitious Cordelia has no qualms about how she gets what she wants. She really creeped me out!!
This is the story that confused the heck out of me, time-wise until I went back over past notes AND realized that Lackey had said in The Wizard of London, that Alderscroft has resurrected the old magic Circle. Phew. Good to know. The idea of the circle is a good one, but oy, it's so misogynistic! Their ignorant assumptions about women's priorities made me sick. More confusion came when there was no reference to World War I, as if it hadn't happened yet, but in Phoenix and Ashes , 4, the war has come to an end.
Lackey is using a third person global subjective point-of-view from so many perspectives. It's a great way to listen in on all those plans, thoughts, and emotions!
Oh lordy! Lol, the fun the kids have at Highleigh Park! Although Nan and Sarah do have their own mean encounter, and Isabelle must confront her past. It's part of the relaxed lessons that causes Isabelle, Nan, and Sarah to confront that haunted well.
Isabelle manages a nasty little poke at Alderscroft when she challenges him about Sarah and Nan's safety! That's not the only jab, as Alderscroft keeps sticking his foot in his mouth.
It does amaze me that the bad guys never learn, although it does provide lots of action and excitement with a range of characters from great to awful.
Wanting to know what happened had me flipping those pages as fast as I could.
And remember, never bargain with the Ice Lord . . . and keep your friends.
The Story
It's a terrifying place, that back gate for the Big House and the scary black man who comes there. Yet he is also rumored to come with a huge basket of food. It's worth waiting, taking a chance, especially when you're as cold and hungry as Nan.
It's a wait that results in Nan meeting the chatty Sarah and progresses to their Talents and their selves being valued.
The Young Lion's cold ambitions find him planning to expand Her Majesty's government. A plan that may depend upon his encounter with Isabelle, the lady he threw away . . . and the anger of Robin Goodfellow.
The Characters
Victoria is the queen of England.
Nine-year-old Sarah Jane Lyon-White has unexpected gifts — receptive and projective telepathy. Grey is the female gray parrot she had to leave behind. Her parents, Dr Lyon-White and her mother, a nurse, are Protestant missionaries in Africa; he is an Earth Master and she is an Earth Mage. M'dela is an African shaman who's been working with Sarah. M'luko is M'dela's apprentice
The young but motherly Nan Killian, a street arab, may be psychic, for she can sense a person's intent. Aggie is her mother, a drug addict and alcoholic, only interested in money to support her habits.
The Harton School is . . .
. . . a boarding school for the children of people working abroad and/or with magic abilities. Isabelle Helen Harton neé Carpenter, a.k.a. Memsa'b and Shining Star, runs the school while her husband, Frederick Harton, a.k.a. Sahib, works as an advisor to an import firm after his military service left him with a bad knee. Sahib's Talent is in clairvoyance and clairaudience. Agansing is a Gurkha from India. Selim is a Muslim. Karamjit "Lion" is a Sikh. All three are warriors who guard the school, the Hartons, and the children. The five of them can transform into Warriors of the Light.
The servants include Vashti the cook; Maya, Mala, and Nadra who are ayas; Sia; and, Mustafa, who also came from India with the Hartons. The teachers include Professor Hawthorne, Madame Jeanette, and Miss Payne. Students include Tommy Carpenter, Amanda Truitt, Anna Thompson, Mary Dowland, and Henry Tailor.
Highleigh Park is . . .
. . . an estate out in the country to which the Hartons and their students are invited to spend the summer by Mr Benson who also owns the house in Berkeley Square where the twisted Earth Wight is haunting the building, the existence of which is traced back to Connor O'Brian, a rogue Talent. Mr Thackers is in charge of the farm and greatly enjoyed the revenge of the geese. Gaffer Geordie is brilliant with animals. Flash is the pony bought for the children. Lord Matthew had been a previous owner of Highleigh and was obsessed with archeology.
Robin Goodfellow, a.k.a. Puck, is the Guardian of Logres, the Oldest of the Old Ones.
The White Lodge is . . .
. . . a.k.a. the Master's Circle of Elemental Masters, and is based in Alderscroft's club, the Exeter. It was created to self-police their own kind. No women allowed. Stewart is the doorman. The Founder's Suite is on the top floor. Atherton Crey; Thomas Markham, who is a viscount; Nigel, Lord Lytton; and, Scaithwaite, who may be old but still has a keen mind and an agile body.
David, Lord Alderscroft (his father, Trevor, died two years ago), a.k.a. the Wizard of London and the Young Lion, is a cold Fire Master who dreams of revealing the existence of Masters and Mages to the government. Harwinton House is his ancestral home. James is his secretary. Colin Foxward is his estate manager.
The snooty Lady Cordelia Bryce-Coll, an Air Master who deals in COLD and with some Fire ability, is Alderscroft's mentor. Graves is one of the maids. Mrs Talbot is the housekeeper. Peggoty is a child, dying, brought to one of Cordelia's "shelters". Robert and Albert are the poor orphans Cordelia chooses for her latest experiment.
The Tower of London is . . .
. . . home to the ravens without which England would fall. Hollis is the Ravenmaster of the Yeomen Warders who is in charge of the care of the ravens. Neville is a particularly feisty raven, who intends to get his way.
Katherine Broughmont is a good friend of Isabelle's who lost her son, Edward. I think Laurie is their daughter. Lady Harrington is a friend of Katherine's. Lord Babington is the one who persuaded the Broughmonts to send their son to Overton. Madame Vronsky is a medium with a good scam. Paganini, a master violinist, is her spirit guide.
Beatrice DeLancy had been a schoolmate of Isabelle's; she's Lady Nigel Lytton now. Nigel's Talent is in Earth. "Doomsday" Dainwrite is the head of the import firm where Sahib works.
Nigel Pettigrew was a nasty passenger in with the other children being escorted to England. Nkumba had been clawed up by a lion. Beatrice Leek, a witch, has disdain for Aleister Crowley. An Ice Wurm is the Elemental opposite of a Salamander. Mrs Venhill is an ambitious guest at a house party at Mansell Hall.
The Cover and Title
The cover is primarily a soft teal with snowflakes falling down the right side of the cover and Big Ben in a faded white on the left side. There's an inset bordered in a wide brown with a thinner white mat border, framing Lord Alderscroft with black top hat, cane, black coat, and a cream shirt and vest. Behind him is a deep teal Ice Wurm. At the top is the author's name in an embossed gold with a white shine. To the left and in the middle is an epigraph in black. Flying up at the lower left edge of the inset are the black Neville and the gray Grey. At the very bottom right is the title in black. There's no series info. Dang it.
The title is all about Lord Alderscroft, The Wizard of London, although most of the story revolves around Nan, Sarah, and the Harton School.
Read
February 1, 2021After reading about a quarter way through this book, I realized it was actually book #4 in a series called The Elemental Masters. Now, this is pretty good, since I never got much of a feeling that I had missed "what has gone before," and was able to enjoy it as a stand-alone novel. I'll probably pick up the earlier books in the series at the library one of these days, just to catch up on things.
I do, however, remember now why I quit reading Lackey's books a few years ago. She had reached that point in an author's career where, in my opinion, she had nothing really new to say. I first noticed this phenomenon in the works of Heinlein about five years before his death, and later in the works of Eddings, which up to that point had been delightful.
The story is about a young girl, Sarah, whose parents are missionaries in Africa. For her safety, they send her home to England to a boarding school run by Isabelle Harton and her husband, Frederick. Many boarding schools are horrible places, run by misers and bullies, but this one is full of loving care, and has the added benefit of helping psychically gifted youngsters learn to use and control their talents. Isabelle and Frederick, and several of their staff, are Warriors of the Light, and when they manifest their avatars, do battle with the forces of darkness wherever they are found.
Isabelle also rescues a street waif named Nan, who possesses psychic ability, and a considerable portion of the book details her integration (a la Eliza Doolittle) into the school. Sarah and Nan, of course, become the best of friends, and eventually fall into some misadventures discovering and defeating, with the help of the Warriors, several evil minions.
Ok, here's a couple of things I consider to be the downside to this book. First, Lackey seems to have fallen into that same rut which Heinlein fell into in his latter days, that all of the good guys in the books are simply "too good to be true." When most of the surrounding culture is horribly prejudiced against the foreign, they are not only tolerant, but embrace other cultures. Three of the "servants" in the school are a Sikh, a Gurkha, and a Moslem (they also are extremely wise and filled with the spirit of brotherhood).
While the majority of the marriages in their culture are arranged, political and loveless, Isabelle and Frederick's union is blissful, loving and *gasp* enjoys the "carnal" relations. In the household and school, disputes are always rationally discussed, children are lovingly disciplined in creative ways (rather than resorting to crude corporal measures), students and servants cheerfully do their chores...et cetera, et cetera, et-freakin' cetera. The word that came to mind when I was considering the characters in this book (and upon reflection, in Lackey's recent works) was "insipid."
In the plot, the tension slowly (agonizingly so) builds. There is a certain nobleman, David Alderscroft, who was a former beau of Isabelle's, winkled away from her in the past by Cordelia, the ice princess incarnate. Cordelia, not so surprisingly, has an ancient evil ally, some sort of ice dragon locked in a glacier, and appears to have a goal of -dare I say it - world domination. Over the course of the book, her plot slowly works its way to fruition. David has been influenced over the years to go along with her scheme, by appealing to his sense that aristocrats surely must know best how to govern the masses. However, at the climactic moment, when good and evil must surely battle, our intrepid heroes manage to TALK THE ENEMY INTO GIVING UP! Is that exciting, or what? Of course, the enemy was merely duped in the first place so, of course, love is all you really need. Why can't we all just get along?
I do, however, remember now why I quit reading Lackey's books a few years ago. She had reached that point in an author's career where, in my opinion, she had nothing really new to say. I first noticed this phenomenon in the works of Heinlein about five years before his death, and later in the works of Eddings, which up to that point had been delightful.
The story is about a young girl, Sarah, whose parents are missionaries in Africa. For her safety, they send her home to England to a boarding school run by Isabelle Harton and her husband, Frederick. Many boarding schools are horrible places, run by misers and bullies, but this one is full of loving care, and has the added benefit of helping psychically gifted youngsters learn to use and control their talents. Isabelle and Frederick, and several of their staff, are Warriors of the Light, and when they manifest their avatars, do battle with the forces of darkness wherever they are found.
Isabelle also rescues a street waif named Nan, who possesses psychic ability, and a considerable portion of the book details her integration (a la Eliza Doolittle) into the school. Sarah and Nan, of course, become the best of friends, and eventually fall into some misadventures discovering and defeating, with the help of the Warriors, several evil minions.
Ok, here's a couple of things I consider to be the downside to this book. First, Lackey seems to have fallen into that same rut which Heinlein fell into in his latter days, that all of the good guys in the books are simply "too good to be true." When most of the surrounding culture is horribly prejudiced against the foreign, they are not only tolerant, but embrace other cultures. Three of the "servants" in the school are a Sikh, a Gurkha, and a Moslem (they also are extremely wise and filled with the spirit of brotherhood).
While the majority of the marriages in their culture are arranged, political and loveless, Isabelle and Frederick's union is blissful, loving and *gasp* enjoys the "carnal" relations. In the household and school, disputes are always rationally discussed, children are lovingly disciplined in creative ways (rather than resorting to crude corporal measures), students and servants cheerfully do their chores...et cetera, et cetera, et-freakin' cetera. The word that came to mind when I was considering the characters in this book (and upon reflection, in Lackey's recent works) was "insipid."
In the plot, the tension slowly (agonizingly so) builds. There is a certain nobleman, David Alderscroft, who was a former beau of Isabelle's, winkled away from her in the past by Cordelia, the ice princess incarnate. Cordelia, not so surprisingly, has an ancient evil ally, some sort of ice dragon locked in a glacier, and appears to have a goal of -dare I say it - world domination. Over the course of the book, her plot slowly works its way to fruition. David has been influenced over the years to go along with her scheme, by appealing to his sense that aristocrats surely must know best how to govern the masses. However, at the climactic moment, when good and evil must surely battle, our intrepid heroes manage to TALK THE ENEMY INTO GIVING UP! Is that exciting, or what? Of course, the enemy was merely duped in the first place so, of course, love is all you really need. Why can't we all just get along?
September 28, 2021
This episode in the Elemental Masters series moves away from the Elemental Masters themselves to another group of people who have various psychic powers. Isabelle Harton was a vicar's daughter raised around those of a higher social class than her own. When her upper class beau - David Alderscroft - dropped her with no warning, she travelled to India where she learned about her own unique powers, married a man with similar powers, gathered friends, and returned to London to open a school for ex-patriot children who have Talents and powers.
Sarah Lyon-White was nine when she came to the Harton School from Africa. Her parents, both Earth Masters, know they can't train Sarah in her different gifts. Sarah looks to be growing into a true medium. Sarah does have a guardian and protector in her African Gray parrot whom she names Gray.
Nan Killian is a street kid who comes to the door of the Harton School for the daily handouts. She has a way of knowing when someone presents a danger to her. When she is almost snatched by men her gin-soaked mother has sold her to, Nan and Sarah run and are rescued by some of Isobel Harton's friends who are guards at the school. Nan is taken in at the school and becomes Sarah's new best friend. Nan also wants a bird like Sarah has, and a trip to the Tower of London finds her bringing home one of the Queen's ravens who becomes her friend and guardian Neville.
Unmasking a fake medium brings the children to the attention of an Elemental Master who has gone to the dark side. A trip to a house inhabited by an ancient evil spirit is arranged by that Master, but intervention by the Hartons and their friends, and an early onset of Nan's Aspect, manages to save them from disaster.
The disaster does manage to result in the transfer of the school to a country home for the summer where Isabelle meets David again and finds him much changed. He has fallen under the influence of the dark master and it will take everyone's efforts to free him from that influence and save him. Isabelle isn't certain that she can forgive him for what he did to her as a girl, and isn't sure she wants to save him now. But the girls, especially Sarah, sees some good in him and knows that he must be saved if the future is not to turn very, very bad.
The story is lushly told and very vivid. The characters, including the Puck, add depth and richness to the tale. The setting in a pre-World War I England, but one infused with magic, is well-imagined and drawn.
Fans of fantasy and alternate history and stories with fairy tale influences will really enjoy this book and this series.
Sarah Lyon-White was nine when she came to the Harton School from Africa. Her parents, both Earth Masters, know they can't train Sarah in her different gifts. Sarah looks to be growing into a true medium. Sarah does have a guardian and protector in her African Gray parrot whom she names Gray.
Nan Killian is a street kid who comes to the door of the Harton School for the daily handouts. She has a way of knowing when someone presents a danger to her. When she is almost snatched by men her gin-soaked mother has sold her to, Nan and Sarah run and are rescued by some of Isobel Harton's friends who are guards at the school. Nan is taken in at the school and becomes Sarah's new best friend. Nan also wants a bird like Sarah has, and a trip to the Tower of London finds her bringing home one of the Queen's ravens who becomes her friend and guardian Neville.
Unmasking a fake medium brings the children to the attention of an Elemental Master who has gone to the dark side. A trip to a house inhabited by an ancient evil spirit is arranged by that Master, but intervention by the Hartons and their friends, and an early onset of Nan's Aspect, manages to save them from disaster.
The disaster does manage to result in the transfer of the school to a country home for the summer where Isabelle meets David again and finds him much changed. He has fallen under the influence of the dark master and it will take everyone's efforts to free him from that influence and save him. Isabelle isn't certain that she can forgive him for what he did to her as a girl, and isn't sure she wants to save him now. But the girls, especially Sarah, sees some good in him and knows that he must be saved if the future is not to turn very, very bad.
The story is lushly told and very vivid. The characters, including the Puck, add depth and richness to the tale. The setting in a pre-World War I England, but one infused with magic, is well-imagined and drawn.
Fans of fantasy and alternate history and stories with fairy tale influences will really enjoy this book and this series.
November 15, 2020
Although part of the Elemental Masters series, this one is so loosely connected with the fairy tale (it's The Snow Queen) that it might as well not even be considered. Readers are introduced to some characters that have taken on major importance in the later books in the series: Sarah Jane and Nan with their companions, Grey and Neville, along with Sahib, Memsab with the other residents and adults of the Harton School. Also introduced is the title character - the Wizard of London, David, Lord Alderscroft who plays the part of Kai. Oh, and there is Robin Goodfellow too.
Oddly enough, it is the children, Sarah Jane and Nan, that are the heroes and protagonists of the story with the title character being the one needing saving. When first introduced to the character of Cordelia, she seems almost like a throwaway especially since she came into David's life even as he changed enough to discard Isabelle (memsab Harton who was a vicar's daughter and not of the same social level) in order to learn more about his Elemental abilities. But she isn't. She's been teaching him just as she was taught by an Ice spirit? elemental? other-worldly creature who is in turn using her and her own doubts to remake England into an ice realm.
It is literally a last minute save - not telling - a bare handful of pages from the end of the book itself. And it gives a bit of a moral about burning bridges with friends - that true friends will be there. That sometimes, you need to be a friend and sometimes the other person just needs one. An interesting point of view and life lesson.
If you have enjoyed the later books in the series but haven't had a chance to read this one your certainly need to since a great deal of background information is given that sheds a different light on some of the characters interactions later on.
2020-229
Oddly enough, it is the children, Sarah Jane and Nan, that are the heroes and protagonists of the story with the title character being the one needing saving. When first introduced to the character of Cordelia, she seems almost like a throwaway especially since she came into David's life even as he changed enough to discard Isabelle (memsab Harton who was a vicar's daughter and not of the same social level) in order to learn more about his Elemental abilities. But she isn't. She's been teaching him just as she was taught by an Ice spirit? elemental? other-worldly creature who is in turn using her and her own doubts to remake England into an ice realm.
It is literally a last minute save - not telling - a bare handful of pages from the end of the book itself. And it gives a bit of a moral about burning bridges with friends - that true friends will be there. That sometimes, you need to be a friend and sometimes the other person just needs one. An interesting point of view and life lesson.
If you have enjoyed the later books in the series but haven't had a chance to read this one your certainly need to since a great deal of background information is given that sheds a different light on some of the characters interactions later on.
2020-229
October 14, 2018
Snow Queen retelling. This volume of the Elemental Masters introduces Sarah, Nan, Isabelle and Frederick Harton and their school, and also Peter Alderscroft at greater length. It follows Sarah and Nan being accepted into the Harton's school and learning their abilities, while solving a bunch of ghost-related mysteries first in London and then in the country. Also features Robin Goodfellow, a lot of Shakespeare references, and I guess a plot about an Ice Master trying to kill Alderscroft and turn him to ice.
Issues:
-The plot arrives more than 100 pages into the book. Alderscroft and Cordelia don't show up for ages, and even when they do it takes forever for them to intersect with everyone else.
-The writing is occasionally pretty flat. Stuff happens very quickly and you don't really see much of it - just vague descriptions that Sarah and Nan are doing schoolwork and that Nan can already read after about two pages of her being in school, or the mention that they're doing Midsummer Night's Dream and then suddenly they already know all the lines and it's tomorrow. Also Sarah's perspective just vanishes immediately.
-It's still really colonial despite purporting to not be colonial because the white people are friends with the brown people they employ and also met while stationed on military missions in their countries.
- Feminism = evil? I know that's not what Lackey is going for, because in the Gates of Sleep that's a whole plot point about how Maya should totally be in on Alderscroft's little in-group. But uh yeah, totally legit to be an angry feminist, don't really buy how that would lead to selling your soul to the ice man.
- Could not take the description of the Gifted and Talented people seriously without thinking about the Princess Diaries.
Issues:
-The plot arrives more than 100 pages into the book. Alderscroft and Cordelia don't show up for ages, and even when they do it takes forever for them to intersect with everyone else.
-The writing is occasionally pretty flat. Stuff happens very quickly and you don't really see much of it - just vague descriptions that Sarah and Nan are doing schoolwork and that Nan can already read after about two pages of her being in school, or the mention that they're doing Midsummer Night's Dream and then suddenly they already know all the lines and it's tomorrow. Also Sarah's perspective just vanishes immediately.
-It's still really colonial despite purporting to not be colonial because the white people are friends with the brown people they employ and also met while stationed on military missions in their countries.
- Feminism = evil? I know that's not what Lackey is going for, because in the Gates of Sleep that's a whole plot point about how Maya should totally be in on Alderscroft's little in-group. But uh yeah, totally legit to be an angry feminist, don't really buy how that would lead to selling your soul to the ice man.
- Could not take the description of the Gifted and Talented people seriously without thinking about the Princess Diaries.
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