A series of books which gets better with each volume,
The Magic Thief trilogy is a rare gem. I enjoyed both of Sarah
Prineas' previous
The Magic Thief books, so when I noticed
Found on a shelf in the fantastic Woodstock Bookshop (well worth a visit - see comments & link below) I picked it up at once.
It's been a while since I sat down and read with total absorption for hours, but this book made me do just that.
We've got to know
Connwaer the
gutterboy-turned-wizard well through the previous two books, as well as
Nevery,
Ro, Benet and a string of other characters. Conn has a talent for magic, and an equal talent for getting into trouble.
At the beginning of
Found, Conn is on the run from prison, but this is a small
concern compared to the threat approaching his home city of
Wellmet in the form of a predatory magic known as
Arhionvar.
Without his 'locus
magicalicus', a powerful wizard's stone, Conn's link to his own friendly magic is weakened, but he has been given a book containing a finding spell. With
Nevery's help he casts the spell, but the finding of his new locus
magicalicus proves far more difficult and time-consuming than expected - even with help from a surprising and frightening (not to mention supposedly extinct) ally - and while he searches, the threat to
Wellmet increases. A threat which will soon demand great risks and greater sacrifice...
A wonderful book with an unexpected and moving ending. And the dragons are superb! Although this trilogy is now complete, I really hope that Sarah
Prineas writes more about
Connwaer (and Pip) in the future.
Price: £9.99
ISBN: 9781849161916
Published by: Quercus
Available through any good bookshop or online
Mini 'shop review':
The Woodstock Bookshop is well worth a visit for anyone who enjoys good independent bookshops. A little shop, it nonetheless has a great selection of books across a wide genre of subjects. Despite a pressure of space lots of books are face out - hence my seeing
Found and buying it as a result. I'd actually gone in to buy a book on gardens. There are some tiny single copy display shelves utilising otherwise 'dead' wall spaces. It also has a couple of seats - adult & child sized so that you can relax and browse properly!
See
www.woodstockbookshop.co.uk for more details.
My little courtyard space is filled with geraniums, lavender and clematis. They are mostly blue and white flowers, yet in the middle of these is a single pink rose plant. When I moved in and the garden was a sea of mud and rubbish, that valiant little plant was still stubbornly carrying a pink bloom and I could never bring myself to remove it.
