The Gossamer Mage

The system of magic is truly interesting. The daughters are the only ones who can speak Her Words and live, but the mages are the only ones who can use intentions to create living magics. Those magics take the form of living things; so for example, magic cant heal directly, but it might be used to create a plant which can be distilled into a healing potion. Elements such as the quality of the pen, ink, and parchment used can have varying effects on the magics. Since mages have to spend their youth and life to work magic, their magic is highly valued and compensated. But the inhabitants of Tananen are used to having nearly every aspect of their lives enriched by magic, so mages live fleeting lives. There did seem to be some inconsistency in how much of a mages life magic took. When the characters are throwing around magics later in the book, it seemed from the descriptions like each use took, if I had to guess, probably 1-3 years off of the mages life. Yet Mal started out with 300 bells, so obviously that cant be true, even if he did have an unusual number. There was another mage depicted who was absolutely mired in the results of his magics, so again, a year or two for each use couldnt possibly be the case. If the aging effects had just been subtler at the end the whole shebang would have made perfect sense. It also would have made the extravagant uses of magic more believable. Especially when mages apparently use magic so ubiquitously that even no mage scribe used sparks to start fire.

I really love the characters. Kait, one of the daughters, is a back-woods woman transplanted to a city hold as a potential successor to the Hold Daughter. Shes out of her element, but seems to have an unusual gift to detect certain types of evila gift thats going to be needed! Shes concerned, however, because she no longer hears the Ladys Voice in her mind. (I would have liked a little more information about what that was like before it vanished. I never got a handle on, say, whether it was a two-way or one-way communication, or what sorts of things the Lady talked about.) Mal is also a great character. Hes determined to find a way to destroy the Lady so that shell stop draining the lives of mages, even if it means no more magic in the world. He has interesting history with many of the incidental (and not-so-incidental) characters, and he has a whole lot of depth. There are plenty of intriguing, enjoyable characters to accompany the reader on her journey.

I found the narrative a little confusing at times. Some of the geographic description was hard to get a handle on. And there was just something about the wording in places that forced me to read sentences twice in order to figure out what exactly was going ona kind of awkward wording here and there.

I really enjoyed this book, and I think almost any fantasy fan would. It does get a bit dark and bloody in places, so just be aware.

Im quite addicted to Czernedas other novels, including the two fantasies, A Turn of Light and A Play of Shadows, but by the time I really got into this book it ended. My first thought was that it should have been a novella, and as I read the after-material I found that it had originally been written as one. My other thought was that it was a prequel or origin story for a new series, but Im kind of hoping not. I have re-read ALL of her other novels several times, but cant see myself doing that with this one. While many characters were intriguing, it seemed like mystery and plot were the drivers, whereas in her other novels, characters and plot always seem like equal co-pilots. Also, while I dont mind having to comprehend a world while in the middle of it, the first 5-10% of the book can be more confusing than most because of the naming conventions and number of characters.

I DID appreciate the unique magic system and its rules/penalties. Ms. Czerneda also has a great appreciation of nature, beauty, and love, and wonderful ways of describing the way they can touch humans. (Also good at the creepy/dark side, too.)

Summary: I didnt feel like I wasted my time or money reading this book, but still felt a bit let down that it wasnt the more that Ive come to expect from the authors novels. I only discovered her work with A Turn of Light, and devoured all of her other books since then. (I just re-read all of them to keep me going through our awful current political scene.) I dont feel like that about this book. Id certainly encourage anyone to read her other books first, then this one can be appreciated for her strengths. For instance, Im anxiously awaiting the next installment in Esen and Pauls story in the Search Image (sequel) series, and would beg Ms. Czerneda for another Marrowdell book hers are some of my most cherished books.

I am a huge, huge fan of Julie Czerneda. Her sci-fi stories are among the best I have ever read the Webshifter stories of Esen in particular. Her forays into fantasy also captivate me. TURN OF LIGHT was a game-changer for me as a writer. It proved that audiences really do have a hunger for deep world-building with slowly, patiently, delicately revealed facets.

There are plenty of summaries already, so let me highlight the things about GOSSAMER MAGE that delighted me the most.

The magic is beautiful described, and has caustic limitations. Staying true to those constraints is always the sign of a masterful storyteller. There are no easy outs here; Ms. Czerneda stays true to the rules she builds.

Exceptional world-building self-contained, deep, and wholly accessible.

The craft that goes into the writing is amazing. Every sentence is so painstakingly shaped; sometimes I found myself just re-reading passages and marveling at the turn of phrase. The author isnt afraid of experimenting with different styles, which is why every story from her seems so fresh, in my opinion.

The final third up-ends all your expectations, and rewards close reading.

Its epic literally the very definition of epic. Storylines & their characters race forward, cross, split off — each a powerful narrative voice on their own.

I loved the time I spent in Tananen, and look forward to keeping Julie Czerneda on my must-buy list of authors!

The cover is wonderful and I have enjoyed books by this author but this is not a good book , I found it to be almost unreadable and I read lots of fantasy and science fiction. The characters were interchangeable – always a problem especially when there were more and more and the names were silly. X-ray would have been welcome. Some of the sentences were so odd and poorly written that I needed to almost break them down to see what was meant . Needless to say I could not finish this sad example of a “pretty face” of a book.

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