Marielon the Magician

Marielon the Magician written by Patricia Wrede in 1991 is a delightful read set in the imaginary world of a magical Regency England. Our heroine, Kim is a young girl posing as a boy in order to survive the grim world of a street urchin in 19th century London. Kim has been given the task of obtaining information about the whereabouts of the silver bowl that might be in the possession of a traveling magician named Marielon. Little does she know that her encounter with this man will change her life completely.

While in pursuit of the silver bowl, Kim is caught by Marielon and his servant Hunch. Much to her surprise, Marielon realizes that she is a girl and decides to keep her in his employ for her skills in thievery. In exchange for teaching him how to pick locks, he promises to teach Kim how to read and write in addition to learning various tricks in his magical act.

When asked about the importance of the silver bowl, Marielon reveals his part in the story surrounding it. The silver bowl is one of a group of magical objects called the Saltash set, which when grouped together allows the owner to cast a powerful truth spell. It was given to the Royal College of Wizardry at the request of the previous owner. There is remained until it was stolen. Unfortunately, all the evidence points to Marielon as the thief. He flees to France, changes his name to Marielon, and starts a traveling magic show with the sole object of retrieving all the Saltash objects and clearing his name.

Without ruining the entire story for those of you who would like to read it, Marielon, Hunch, and Kim travel to Essex to discover the location of the Saltash platter, which is rumored to be in the possession of the Sons of the New Dawn, a druid group.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves Regency-era England with a twist. I was hoping to find a copy of the sequel Magician’s Ward at my local library, but my luck ran out! There are very few Patricia Wrede titles at my local libraries. I will have to search on eBay or Amazon for a copy!

Until next time ^___^