Unnatural Magic

by C. M. Waggoner

A “brilliant and terrifically fun”* debut novel brings an enchanting new voice to fantasy.
 
Onna can write the parameters of a spell faster than any of the young men in her village school. But despite her incredible abilities, she’s denied a place at the nation’s premier arcane academy. Undaunted, she sails to the bustling city-state of Hexos, hoping to find a place at a university where they don’t think there’s anything untoward about providing a woman with a magical education. But as soon as Onna arrives, she’s drawn into the mysterious murder of four trolls.
 
Tsira is a troll who never quite fit into her clan, despite being the leader’s daughter. She decides to strike out on her own and look for work in a human city, but on her way she stumbles upon the body of a half-dead human soldier in the snow. As she slowly nurses him back to health, an unlikely bond forms between them, one that is tested when an unknown mage makes an attempt on Tsira’s life. Soon, unbeknownst to each other, Onna and Tsira both begin devoting their considerable talents to finding out who is targeting trolls, before their homeland is torn apart…



 
*Kat Howard, Alex Award-winning author of An Unkindness of Magicians

• ISBN10: 1984805843
• ISBN13: 9781984805843
• Publish Date: 5 November 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Pamela Dorman Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781984805843

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Unnatural Magic is a standalone fantasy by C. M. Waggoner. Released 5th Nov 2019 by Penguin on their Ace imprint, it's 400 pages and available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

This is a deliciously robust standalone fantasy in contrapuntal themes and, delightfully, with two unapologetically strong, intelligent, and appealing female leads.The disparate plot threads intertwine more closely as the book progresses until they merge about 3/4ths of the way through. The beginning of the book was slow for me because of the necessary framework-building and setup. It more than repaid my diligence for sticking with it and has been one of my best reads for 2019. The world building and magical system along with the racial interactions and societal background (troll vs. human, town vs. rural, magic class vs. mundane, emotional intelligence vs. logical intelligence, etc.) are all on point and well rendered. One of the biggest standouts for me with this book was the expert way the author managed to explore perception. Motivation from one character's perspective which seems perfectly logical to -them- may not appear so to characters from other classes or backgrounds and the author's ability to highlight both viewpoints was exemplary.

This is a BIG book in terms of themes and narrative reach. There's a lot to unpack and process, and I don't doubt it will stick with me a long time. It's also a very very well written book and an enjoyable read.

Strong language warnings apply. There's a fair bit of no-nonsense non-smutty sex in the book along with themes of gender identity, androgyny, some body horror (in context), non-sexual violence, gender roles, and more. This is a very comprehensive book. I sincerely hope there's more. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for this author in future.

Five stars. Superlative fiction. I sincerely wish I'd managed to finish it earlier in the year, it deserved a strong consideration for the goodreads choice award in the fantasy class and compares quite favorably with any of the winners.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.