Sorcery and small magics by Maiga Doocy

Students at The Fount Sorcery Academy fall into two distinct groups, those with a talent for writing spells, ‘scrivers’ and those who enact the spell magic, ‘casters’. Leovander Loveage is a powerful but often misdirected scriver from a prominent Meindor family and Leo’s best friend is Agnesia Quest, whose hard-won brilliance as a caster ensures she will do well at the upcoming autumn trial where the Coterie selects graduates for recruitment. Leo is a talented musician who is satisfied with charms and cantrips, avoiding grandmagic; the only reason for persisting with the academy is that the family inheritance will be withheld unless the fifth tier of study at The Fount is successfully completed. Sebastian Grimm is a fellow student, a hardworking caster whose serious application to study has brought out the worst in Leo’s mischievous nature in the past to the extent that they are separated in most classes. When Phade, one of their teachers, shuffles partners in class they find themselves paired and Grimm mistakenly casts a powerful control spell on Leo. The search for a counterspell takes them into the monster infested Wilderlands where they need to cooperate to survive. While bound together the two are forced to learn more about each other than either of them thought possible, leading to greater understanding of how their complementary talents can work together.

This is a delightful debut novel with an interesting system of magic requiring a pair to enact creatively composed spells which come at a cost and with sometimes unpredictable outcomes. The growing relationship between Leo and Sebastian is subtly developed and will no doubt be explored further in the coming sequels.

Themes: Fantasy, Magic, Same sex relationship.

Sue Speck