Daughter of Magic

I know, I’ve been AWOL for a while (again), and it would have been nice to come back here saying that I seized the time to come up with another book, but alas, it is not so. Fact is, over the past months even the thought of writing was enough to send me plunging into some deep hole filled with ‘It’s all crap’ and other fine sentences of self-doubt. There simply wasn’t a story in my head that demanded to be written in a loud enough voice to out-yell the good old impostor syndrom. After a while I decided that if I can’t write, I can do other things, which I did, and which I’m totally going to show off at some point, but not now, because I’m actually not here to talk about me.

I’m here to talk about Karen Eisenbrey. If you’ve been following my blog for some time, that name should be familiar. Karen published a book a while ago, about a teenage garage punk superhero, and I secretly covet her hat collection. Well, maybe not entirely secretly. Whatever.

Yesterday, Karen had another book published – Daughter of Magic. As regards genre, it would probably sit squarely in YA epic fantasy, but don’t expect your usual classic sword and sorcery thing. If you’re looking for dragons, dungeons, handsome princes, damsels in distress and the whole shebang, this book is not for you. If you’re willing to sit down next to the fireside and let a writer tell you a story, a fantastic story, so realistically woven it might as well be real, you will love this gem Karen has created.

Karen Eisenbrey is the sort of writer who doesn’t do twists and turns for effect or drama – all the twists and turns in her stories happen naturally, caused by the characters’ decisions, which are precisely as logical or emotional, as mature or adolescent, as clever or dumb as the characters themselves. If that sounds now like her stories are completely predictable – let me assure you, they’re not. Karen’s characters are complex, like real human beings, as are their decisions. And they even talk to each other, influence one another, which is, sadly, a rare thing in fantasy literature.

Daughter of Magic is the tale of Luskell, a girl who believes herself powerless in terms of magic. Daughter of two rather powerful magic wielders, she’s as disappointed as she is relieved – she won’t have to try to tread in her parents’ huge footsteps. Little does she realize that just because you couldn’t perform any magic tricks as a child, doesn’t mean you won’t grow wings as a teenager – maybe even literal ones. And once you know the power is yours, you’ll quickly consider yourself invincible…

By now you should absolutely want to read this, so I’m going to shut up and leave you to it. Enjoy, and do Karen the favor of writing a review, no matter how brief. Writers love to hear what people think about their books. Oh, and there’ll be an official launch party on 26th May, one of those online come-as-you-are things where you don’t have to leave the house to go there. I hear there’ll be fun to be had and books to be won. See you there.