February 24, 2009

"Healing Magic" by Cindy Davis and John Richters

I just finished reading Healing Magic by Cindy Davis and John Richters, the first book of the Desert Magic trilogy. It’s a newly-published piece of Young Adult fantasy, and a good read.
This book is about a young man, a mage, on a coming-of-age journey in the desert, and a young woman, a healer, who was left behind when a caravan was attacked by desert bandits. Together, they set out to find her family and free them.

This is not, though, one of those stories in which the children suddenly become powerful enough to defeat adult villains. The authors did a great job of making the story plausible. The kids are able to pick off a few of the minor villains, but it’s clear that they’re in no position to attack the wizard who commands the marauders.

Part of the cleverness lies in the use of magic. For one thing, the authors have devised a fairly detailed system of how magic operates. They also gave the young man two spells to command: HALT, a spell which freezes enemies, and LIFT, a levitation spell.

Along the way, the characters discover that their powers are able to interact in a way that magic and healing powers are not supposed to be able to do. More of that, surely, will be explored later in the trilogy.

It is by freeing other adults that the main characters are able to begin to fight the marauders. This gives the heroes both an adventure and a heroic role, but a believable story.

I’d encourage that you check out Healing Magic. It’s fun, exciting, and the characters are well-developed and interesting. As I said, well worth the read.

1 comment:

  1. I have read several reviews on here for young adult fiction that adults get into, so I might just have to check these out! I am getting tired of chick-lit these days and am looking for new genres.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for joining our discussion of this book!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...