A prep-school boy blackmailed for shoplifting, a classmate involved
in alchemy, and a vampiric magician collecting other people's
powers are embroiled in a test of wills and powers that threatens
their very lives. Quando the Magician, like Carmody Braque in
Mahy's The Changeover (1988), wants to suck the life and power out
of his victims to enhance his own power, and Roland Fairfield, age
17, is his pawn. Roland, initially only concerned with saving his
relationship with his beautiful girlfriend and protecting his
reputation as prefect at Crichton Academy, ends up falling in love
with Jess Ferret, fighting evil forces, and learning something
about friendship, family, and the value of everyday life. Jess
lives by herself in a big, mysterious house frozen in time. An
alchemist, but not the turn-lead-into-gold kind, Jess urges Roland
to learn the alchemists' intuitive way of apprehending the everyday
world-appreciating the ordinary, overlooked pleasures of colors,
sounds, books, flowers, ice cream, and the lovely messiness of
family life. Jess and Roland have powers not fully tested, and it
is in their alliance that they are able to hold off Quando and,
like alchemists, make something new out of their lives. The
elements of Mahy's best young-adult novels are here-the
supernatural presence, the young protagonists with untested powers,
the tribute to love and everyday family life, and rich language-but
too much is explained and the resolution is quick after a carefully
developed plot. Still, as a tale with likable protagonists, a
ghastly villain, and ghostly special effects, it offers a thrilling
ride. (Fiction. YA) (Kirkus Reviews)
"I am Quando the Magician!" the man cries.
"I work enchantments. But never forget – it
is your job to work out just where the trick
leaves off and the true magic begins."
Roland had everything a young man could wish for – good looks, enough money, a ready wit, sexy girlfriend and a perfect school record. So the fact that he committed a petty crime is something he can hardly explain to himself, let alone anyone else. Worse still, Mr Hudson, his teacher, knows all about it, and uses this knowledge to blackmail Roland into befriending misfit Jess Ferret. But when Jess doesn't respond to Roland's confident advances, he becomes intrigued with the girl for his own reasons. Roland discovers Jess's dark secret and also finds that he has one of his own…
Self-empowerment meets the supernatural in this astonishing new novel from internationally acclaimed, multiple award-winning novelist, Margaret Mahy.
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