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Frontier Magic #2
Across the Great Barrier
From New York Times #1 bestselling author Patricia C. Wrede, the second in the series of magic on the western frontier.
Eff is an unlucky thirteenth child - her twin brother, Lan, is a powerful seventh son of a seventh son. And yet, Eff is the one who saved the day for the settlements west of the Great Barrier. Her unique ways of doing magic and seeing the world, and her fascination with the magical creatures and land in the Great Plains push Eff to work toward joining an expedition heading west. But things are changing on the frontier.
There are new professors of magic for Eff and Lan to learn to work with. There's tension between William and his father. And there are new threats on the frontier and at home. To help, Eff must travel beyond the Barrier, and come to terms with her magical abilities--and those of her brother, to stop the newest threat encroaching on the settlers.
With wit, magic, and a touch of good pioneer sense, Patricia C. Wrede weaves a fantastic tale of the very wild west.
Eff is an unlucky thirteenth child - her twin brother, Lan, is a powerful seventh son of a seventh son. And yet, Eff is the one who saved the day for the settlements west of the Great Barrier. Her unique ways of doing magic and seeing the world, and her fascination with the magical creatures and land in the Great Plains push Eff to work toward joining an expedition heading west. But things are changing on the frontier.
There are new professors of magic for Eff and Lan to learn to work with. There's tension between William and his father. And there are new threats on the frontier and at home. To help, Eff must travel beyond the Barrier, and come to terms with her magical abilities--and those of her brother, to stop the newest threat encroaching on the settlers.
With wit, magic, and a touch of good pioneer sense, Patricia C. Wrede weaves a fantastic tale of the very wild west.
284 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2011
97 people are currently reading
3027 people want to read
About the author
Patricia C. Wrede
66 books4,010 followersPatricia Collins Wrede was born in Chicago, Illinois and is the eldest of five children. She started writing in seventh grade. She attended Carleton College in Minnesota, where she majored in Biology and managed to avoid taking any English courses at all. She began work on her first novel, Shadow Magic, just after graduating from college in 1974. She finished it five years later and started her second book at once, having become permanently hooked on writing by this time.
Patricia received her M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1977.
She worked for several years as a financial analyst and accountant, first with the Minnesota Hospital Association, then with B. Dalton Booksellers, and finally at the Dayton Hudson Corporation headquarters.
Patricia finished her first novel in late 1978. In January, 1980, Pamela Dean, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Steven Brust, Nate Bucklin, and Patricia Wrede -- all, at that point, hopeful but unpublished -- formed the writer's group that later became known as "The Scribblies." Several years later, they were joined by Kara Dalkey. In April of 1980, Patricia's first novel sold to Ace Books. It came out at last in 1982, which is the year she met Lillian Stewart Carl (who introduced her to Lois McMaster Bujold by mail).
In 1985, shortly before the publication of her fifth book, she left the world of the gainfully employed to try winging it on her own.
Her interests include sewing, embroidery, desultory attempts at gardening, chocolate, not mowing the lawn, High Tea, and, of course, reading.
She is a vegetarian, and currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her cat Karma. She has no children.
Patricia received her M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1977.
She worked for several years as a financial analyst and accountant, first with the Minnesota Hospital Association, then with B. Dalton Booksellers, and finally at the Dayton Hudson Corporation headquarters.
Patricia finished her first novel in late 1978. In January, 1980, Pamela Dean, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Steven Brust, Nate Bucklin, and Patricia Wrede -- all, at that point, hopeful but unpublished -- formed the writer's group that later became known as "The Scribblies." Several years later, they were joined by Kara Dalkey. In April of 1980, Patricia's first novel sold to Ace Books. It came out at last in 1982, which is the year she met Lillian Stewart Carl (who introduced her to Lois McMaster Bujold by mail).
In 1985, shortly before the publication of her fifth book, she left the world of the gainfully employed to try winging it on her own.
Her interests include sewing, embroidery, desultory attempts at gardening, chocolate, not mowing the lawn, High Tea, and, of course, reading.
She is a vegetarian, and currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her cat Karma. She has no children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 558 reviews
February 6, 2012
Eff is growing older and practicing her blend of magics more, as well as working part-time at the university in her alternate-history American Frontier. When she is given the chance to accompany a scout who's a friend and an irascible female professor on a biological research mission across the magical barrier that keeps the terrifying magical creatures on one side of what might be our Mississippi and Missouri, she jumps at it. There she and her companions discover a mystery: animals frozen in stone down to their blood vessels and muscle tissues. Other things are happening to Eff and her family: the deterioration of one sister's marriage in a settlement that bans all magic; her brother's mysterious and near-fatal accident that turns his university career around; and Eff and the others return to face a deadly threat to the lives of the settlers.
This is the sequel to THE THIRTEENTH CHILD and goes even better than the previous book. Eff is finally getting nearer to her dream of exploring the frontier, and as a result she's beginning to seem like a more focused, contented person. I don't know how I'll manage to wait for the third book, but at least I know better than to pester the author!
A caveat:
Like the first book, THIRTEENTH CHILD, this book is set in a North America in which there are no Native Americans. While I accepted this as a fantasy universe, unrelated to ours (and I've read other books in which other races, including white, are omitted, and accepted them), and read it the book on its own merits, many people I respect deeply object to what they see as the deliberate erasure of the Native Americans. I tell you this so that you can make your own choice about whether you will read this book or not.
This is the sequel to THE THIRTEENTH CHILD and goes even better than the previous book. Eff is finally getting nearer to her dream of exploring the frontier, and as a result she's beginning to seem like a more focused, contented person. I don't know how I'll manage to wait for the third book, but at least I know better than to pester the author!
A caveat:
Like the first book, THIRTEENTH CHILD, this book is set in a North America in which there are no Native Americans. While I accepted this as a fantasy universe, unrelated to ours (and I've read other books in which other races, including white, are omitted, and accepted them), and read it the book on its own merits, many people I respect deeply object to what they see as the deliberate erasure of the Native Americans. I tell you this so that you can make your own choice about whether you will read this book or not.
August 22, 2011
As a high school English teacher, I should be greatly concerned with plot and characterization and other literary elements within a story. But when I read books for pleasure, I'm not looking for any of those things. I'm simply looking to enjoy a good book. For me, this was definitely a book worth reading and rereading.
I was introduced to Patricia Wrede several years ago through her Dealing with Dragons series. I loved those books because they ran the gamut of reading levels, and my students could all enjoy them. I have read them several times since. I looked for more books by her throughout the years, but didn't find any. Then in July of this year, I discovered Thirteenth Child. I read it in a day. Then I discovered that the next book wasn't available at that time. Yesterday, I got a review of Across the Great Barrier from Goodreads. I immediately ordered it and read until late last night. I finished the book this morning. Now, how long am I going to have to wait for the next book? Much too long! I'm ready now to continue the series.
Yes, the plot could probably be better. But the characters seem well defined and are struggling with self-identify issues, just as many of my students are. Indeed, if you are looking for a fairly quick read, one that will engage your mind and spirit, this is the book for you.
I was introduced to Patricia Wrede several years ago through her Dealing with Dragons series. I loved those books because they ran the gamut of reading levels, and my students could all enjoy them. I have read them several times since. I looked for more books by her throughout the years, but didn't find any. Then in July of this year, I discovered Thirteenth Child. I read it in a day. Then I discovered that the next book wasn't available at that time. Yesterday, I got a review of Across the Great Barrier from Goodreads. I immediately ordered it and read until late last night. I finished the book this morning. Now, how long am I going to have to wait for the next book? Much too long! I'm ready now to continue the series.
Yes, the plot could probably be better. But the characters seem well defined and are struggling with self-identify issues, just as many of my students are. Indeed, if you are looking for a fairly quick read, one that will engage your mind and spirit, this is the book for you.
October 29, 2011
Eff is determined to find her own way.
Even if it means torking her faulty spells with Afrikan magic, ignoring her brother’s advice, and rejecting the “opportunity-of-a-lifetime-to-attend-an-Eastern-University.”
Instead she signs up to trek across the Great Barrier on a research expedition.
As an assistant.
In charge of . . . nothing.
Except hunting wild saber cats, sketching mysteriously malformed insects, and unearthing statues with . . . blood vessels?
Across the Great Barrier isn’t a “grand adventure,” but a rich, well-developed account of Eff’s first year out-of-magic-school. Her mistakes, successes, discoveries, opportunities. Magic? Yes. But even better, the drama of real life. Savor-worthy.
Even if it means torking her faulty spells with Afrikan magic, ignoring her brother’s advice, and rejecting the “opportunity-of-a-lifetime-to-attend-an-Eastern-University.”
Instead she signs up to trek across the Great Barrier on a research expedition.
As an assistant.
In charge of . . . nothing.
Except hunting wild saber cats, sketching mysteriously malformed insects, and unearthing statues with . . . blood vessels?
Across the Great Barrier isn’t a “grand adventure,” but a rich, well-developed account of Eff’s first year out-of-magic-school. Her mistakes, successes, discoveries, opportunities. Magic? Yes. But even better, the drama of real life. Savor-worthy.
February 24, 2023
This is the epitome of a 3.5 star series - enjoyable enough for me to continue, not enough for me to buy. All three are leisurely in pace, with lots of time devoted to family drama (maybe I should say happenings; there's really not that much drama), magical theory, and quotidian life in Wrede's alternate American frontier. I finished Across the Great Barrier two weeks ago and am sitting here trying hard to remember what it was about and coming up with nothing more than: school, brothers, magic. Mammoth?
November 9, 2012
A solid YA novel, like the previous installment in the series. One of the things I find interesting about this series is that it's more about world-building and character than about action. This installment eventually includes a minor mystery and a little action, but they come toward the end. Mostly, it's about the day-to-day life of people in an Old West-era setting who are mostly limited to living in the East, because of the proliferation of incredibly dangerous magical creatures in the American wilds. Bit by bit, settlers have worked their way west, protecting themselves with magical shields as much as they can, but sometimes failing and dying anyway. The protagonist is generally deciding what she wants to do with her life, and is learning more about the world and its magic. This is a really solid antidote to Chosen One storylines where a single teenager is the most important person in the world; the protagonist here is just a comfortable part of her very interesting and unique world, and a useful window into it. Not necessarily what most people are looking for in their escapist fantasies, but still admirably different and enjoyable.
November 9, 2016
This book was a disappointment for a variety of reasons I attempted to write up and then lost.
In light of the news of this morning, I can't really bring myself to rewrite that review, except to say that problematic shit seems to keep happening in this world.
In light of the news of this morning, I can't really bring myself to rewrite that review, except to say that problematic shit seems to keep happening in this world.
January 25, 2022
I love this series, but I would love it even more if she hadn't just randomly erased Native Americans from existence. If colonies of white and black people can live in the west, then why are there no indigenous people? It's REALLY weird in this one, when Eff is traveling twice across the Great Barrier and into the wild territory of the west.
Aside from that, if you can get over that, this was fascinating. There was a weird mystery, there was plenty of magic, and Eff and Lan struggle with their magic in ways that feel real.
Aside from that, if you can get over that, this was fascinating. There was a weird mystery, there was plenty of magic, and Eff and Lan struggle with their magic in ways that feel real.
July 15, 2015
2015 reread: Liked this less upon reread, I think. For some reason Lan and his weird privilege and entitlement (that wasn't entirely his fault) really rubbed me the wrong way this time.
I still continue to enjoy Eff and her story though.
Probably 4.5 stars, but I'm rounding up. Because I quite liked this. I read this on the train today. I continue to really enjoy this series. So glad the library had the third one as well and it's currently sitting in my room. You know what I am consistently impressed by with Patricia Wrede? She's very good at letting everyone be competent. People still have their flaws, but they're also competent. I very much enjoy the sense of balance I always feel in these books.
It's not a groundbreaking series, but it's an interesting one. I love how the frontier US is done, when mixed with Magic. I continue to ador Eff and William, and all of Eff's assorted mentors. I'm also liking watching Eff grow into her own and figure herself out as she figures out what she wants and not other people. Basically, I just really enjoy this series. Definitely worth reading. I'd definitely recommend it.
I still continue to enjoy Eff and her story though.
Probably 4.5 stars, but I'm rounding up. Because I quite liked this. I read this on the train today. I continue to really enjoy this series. So glad the library had the third one as well and it's currently sitting in my room. You know what I am consistently impressed by with Patricia Wrede? She's very good at letting everyone be competent. People still have their flaws, but they're also competent. I very much enjoy the sense of balance I always feel in these books.
It's not a groundbreaking series, but it's an interesting one. I love how the frontier US is done, when mixed with Magic. I continue to ador Eff and William, and all of Eff's assorted mentors. I'm also liking watching Eff grow into her own and figure herself out as she figures out what she wants and not other people. Basically, I just really enjoy this series. Definitely worth reading. I'd definitely recommend it.
November 4, 2011
I liked this one even better than the first in the series, so I'm glad that I decided to continue with it. It again wasn't the quickest read, but I really like Eff, and I'd keep reading more about her escapades and learning of magic. I really like the interesting magical systems in this series, and I love alternate histories, so all of this works very well for me. Might even be closer to 4 1/2 stars, especially since I again missed it after I was done reading. It's interesting to me that even though Eff is much older in this book (she's college-aged), it still isn't much of an "older" read than the first title. I don't think the interest level of these would go much past middle school for very many teen readers. Kicks TRAPPED off of my 2011favorites shelf.
Read
August 24, 2015Love the new magical creature that turns people to stone. Also really like the relationship between the twins. This feels a lot like I'm reading actual journals from a girl who lived on the frontier but with a huge paranormal twist.
June 26, 2013
I prefer Wrede's Seven Towers for the aunt's teasing insults. Twitter recently had "bullet brain", found TV super-smart brainy Chinese cop (so comment is really praise) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9sDb9... or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJIxLK... Stallone always good for a bang.
"Moping around isn't going to make anyone feel better, not you and not anybody else .. I'd learned a thing or two in the past three years, and one of them was when I ought to figure things were all my fault and when not." p272
"Starting is good. You can't get anywhere at all if you never start. Now all we have to do is keep going. Keep going? I can do that." p339
Eff Rothmer narrates in a leisurely wordy fashion, spending much time "thinking", chary of fame from stopping bugs in book #1. Her twin brother Lan, powerful seventh son of seventh son, continues his schooling in the East and encourages her to further education, but Eff graduates at 16, and would rather continue working at Professor Jeffries' menagerie for the summer, eventually heading west past the Great Barrier spell again to the wild. "You always have liked animals better than people" p39 writes good friend William from his school with their Aphrikaner tutor, Professor Ochiba.
Of course Papa knows all along the university plans an expedition, and Professor Torgeson wants an assistant to count and catalog plant species. Old friend Wash (dark-skinned expert and Aphrikaner mage - politically correct) is the best guide around, and bugs destroyed his regular route, so he leads. Eff, now keeper of Wash's special ancient pendant, first tries to push her poorly learned Avrupan spells into place. After meditation practice, awareness of surroundings, magic becomes easier.
Something is forcing wildlife out of the west - a starving band of saber and sphinx cats, a bison herd. Dayton Creek is dammed up, so Wash casts earth-moving spells. At another stop, "It took me some time to get accustomed to the notion that Mr Boden might be in the way of courting me" p219.
Last year, older sister Rennie maintained a few minor spells to ease her housekeeping, but no more. Magic-forbidding Oak River Rationalists shun their children and ostracize the couple because she insists on hosting Eff, with surprising family loyalty p113.
As a series grows, so does the cast, here too unwieldy because everyone gets a mention. Before Eff left, Robbie bought her a new repeater rifle, cost split with Lan, Jack, Papa, and ensured she practice. Who is Robbie? Much later, I learn. Her brother.
In a class accident, a professor and student are killed, her brother Lan knocked comatose saving others. But the spoilers are predictable, so disappointing.
So far, I dislike dreams as a device. Always. The time spent puttering around surveying plants is pleasant, fighting dangerous animals depends as much on accurate shooting as magic. How Eff learns to control her underestimated power feels vague. Why didn't she do it right the first time? Why didn't she practice before if that is all it takes now?
http://chomikuj.pl/Nalka31/Galeria/Ks...
http://chomikuj.pl/Nalka31/Galeria/Ks...
"Moping around isn't going to make anyone feel better, not you and not anybody else .. I'd learned a thing or two in the past three years, and one of them was when I ought to figure things were all my fault and when not." p272
"Starting is good. You can't get anywhere at all if you never start. Now all we have to do is keep going. Keep going? I can do that." p339
Eff Rothmer narrates in a leisurely wordy fashion, spending much time "thinking", chary of fame from stopping bugs in book #1. Her twin brother Lan, powerful seventh son of seventh son, continues his schooling in the East and encourages her to further education, but Eff graduates at 16, and would rather continue working at Professor Jeffries' menagerie for the summer, eventually heading west past the Great Barrier spell again to the wild. "You always have liked animals better than people" p39 writes good friend William from his school with their Aphrikaner tutor, Professor Ochiba.
Of course Papa knows all along the university plans an expedition, and Professor Torgeson wants an assistant to count and catalog plant species. Old friend Wash (dark-skinned expert and Aphrikaner mage - politically correct) is the best guide around, and bugs destroyed his regular route, so he leads. Eff, now keeper of Wash's special ancient pendant, first tries to push her poorly learned Avrupan spells into place. After meditation practice, awareness of surroundings, magic becomes easier.
Something is forcing wildlife out of the west - a starving band of saber and sphinx cats, a bison herd. Dayton Creek is dammed up, so Wash casts earth-moving spells. At another stop, "It took me some time to get accustomed to the notion that Mr Boden might be in the way of courting me" p219.
Last year, older sister Rennie maintained a few minor spells to ease her housekeeping, but no more. Magic-forbidding Oak River Rationalists shun their children and ostracize the couple because she insists on hosting Eff, with surprising family loyalty p113.
As a series grows, so does the cast, here too unwieldy because everyone gets a mention. Before Eff left, Robbie bought her a new repeater rifle, cost split with Lan, Jack, Papa, and ensured she practice. Who is Robbie? Much later, I learn. Her brother.
In a class accident, a professor and student are killed, her brother Lan knocked comatose saving others. But the spoilers are predictable, so disappointing.
So far, I dislike dreams as a device. Always. The time spent puttering around surveying plants is pleasant, fighting dangerous animals depends as much on accurate shooting as magic. How Eff learns to control her underestimated power feels vague. Why didn't she do it right the first time? Why didn't she practice before if that is all it takes now?
http://chomikuj.pl/Nalka31/Galeria/Ks...
http://chomikuj.pl/Nalka31/Galeria/Ks...
July 1, 2024
2022: I am doing something I rarely do and bumping up my rating on rereading this book, I think I rated it lower because it suffers from being a middle book in that there is a definite feeling that something else will happen, but it is an exciting title in it's own right and moves the story forward particularly Eff's knowledge about magic in general and her abilities with it in particular. I was saddened in this one at the treatment of animals, which I think was accurate for the time period depicted, but is harsh in today's world.
December 11, 2014
Railing against the constrictions of life in Mill City, Eff jumps at the opportunity to cross the Great Barrier and study the magical creatures to the West. As her magical abilities develop she begins to realise she isn't the unlucky 13th child she has always believed herself to be and that in other magical traditions the 13th child is not unlucky at all.
March 25, 2017
I really enjoyed this book.
August 22, 2011
The most striking thing about this series isn't the characters, but rather the world they inhabit, which seems as wide and as varied as our own. The world that Wrede creates is huge and complex, and you find yourself sucked into it. At times it might seem a little dry, and at other times there's just a deluge of information that you need to know, which is its main detriment, but for the most part, it's hugely fascinating.
The book is less about Eff's grand adventures, and more about her day to day life and is sort of quiet in a way, even if you think that what she's doing should be hugely exciting. There's magic and danger, but all of it is incorporated into every day life and it's almost ordinary in that sense. The book is compelling in its own right, but I wouldn't be surprised to find other readers finding it boring or being entirely detached from it. Eff is a good main character, she's sensible and a steady sort, but she's also just a bit bland.
The plot moves slowly, but steadily. You always end up with a lot more questions than answers. You wonder why everything is happening, how it's happening, and the book seemed like more like the filler space between the first and third book than anything else. Eff learns a few more things, the people learn just a little bit more about their world, but it doesn't feel all that important or life changing--and that's not entirely a bad thing. You truly do get a sense of a group of people just living and doing their best to keep going one day at a time. At the same time, as a reader, I want more from the book. I want a few more answers, I want a little more excitement, and I want things to move just a little faster.
Still, I did enjoy reading the book, and I like the series. The writing is solid, and the world is drawn out very skillfully. I found the first book to be more interesting than the second, but the second isn't bad at all. 3 stars.
The book is less about Eff's grand adventures, and more about her day to day life and is sort of quiet in a way, even if you think that what she's doing should be hugely exciting. There's magic and danger, but all of it is incorporated into every day life and it's almost ordinary in that sense. The book is compelling in its own right, but I wouldn't be surprised to find other readers finding it boring or being entirely detached from it. Eff is a good main character, she's sensible and a steady sort, but she's also just a bit bland.
The plot moves slowly, but steadily. You always end up with a lot more questions than answers. You wonder why everything is happening, how it's happening, and the book seemed like more like the filler space between the first and third book than anything else. Eff learns a few more things, the people learn just a little bit more about their world, but it doesn't feel all that important or life changing--and that's not entirely a bad thing. You truly do get a sense of a group of people just living and doing their best to keep going one day at a time. At the same time, as a reader, I want more from the book. I want a few more answers, I want a little more excitement, and I want things to move just a little faster.
Still, I did enjoy reading the book, and I like the series. The writing is solid, and the world is drawn out very skillfully. I found the first book to be more interesting than the second, but the second isn't bad at all. 3 stars.
October 17, 2011
This is a rather strange book in many ways. One of the heroine's main interests is animals and two of her jobs involved cataloging plants and animals and taking care of captured animals, both magical and non-magical. All of the action, as it were, takes place in a rather strange alternate reality version of the wild American west. These elements don't seem destined for an interesting book, and yet, I found myself reading the whole thing and eager to keep reading - a marked contrast to most of the other YA books I have been trying to read lately. Perhaps it is because I am interested in both science and science fiction.
Yes, there is a coming of age story, too. But it is much more subtly handled that many of its ilk.
I feel odd saying that I really enjoyed this book, because, to me, the plot is rather meandering and there are quite a few characters that just don't seem that compelling. But the ones that do interest me have a lot that really intrigues me.
Maybe in a few days, I will have a better idea why this book appealed to me so much.
Yes, there is a coming of age story, too. But it is much more subtly handled that many of its ilk.
I feel odd saying that I really enjoyed this book, because, to me, the plot is rather meandering and there are quite a few characters that just don't seem that compelling. But the ones that do interest me have a lot that really intrigues me.
Maybe in a few days, I will have a better idea why this book appealed to me so much.
January 31, 2019
I don't usually enjoy sequels and series (the stories tend to drag or get repetitive), but this one is an exception. This has all the great stuff from the first book, the protagonist experiences character development (yay for good series writing!), AND we get new scenes and circumstances.
I enjoyed the ending and felt like it tied up the story nicely, but still wanted more (thankfully there's a 3rd book)!
The only thing that made it less enjoyable for me was the explanations for what had happened in the first book. I suppose it made this book able to stand on its own if necessary, but it was disruptive to someone who'd already read the first book.
I enjoyed the ending and felt like it tied up the story nicely, but still wanted more (thankfully there's a 3rd book)!
The only thing that made it less enjoyable for me was the explanations for what had happened in the first book. I suppose it made this book able to stand on its own if necessary, but it was disruptive to someone who'd already read the first book.
January 23, 2020
Fantasy, well-written. Not quite as good as the first in the series IMO, but definitely worth reading. Works as a standalone book, even if you haven't read the first for that matter.
I did have a bit of difficulty with suspension of disbelief in the way that everybody seemed to accept female college professors. During the 1800s it was difficult to get a college to accept a female as a student, much less as a professor. Ok, it's an alternate universe, and the females in question had strong magic skills, but still...
I did have a bit of difficulty with suspension of disbelief in the way that everybody seemed to accept female college professors. During the 1800s it was difficult to get a college to accept a female as a student, much less as a professor. Ok, it's an alternate universe, and the females in question had strong magic skills, but still...
November 27, 2011
An excellent sequel. I was so happy to read more of Eff's adventures. She is still a wonderful heroine. The feel reminds me of Little House on the Prairies (day to day regular life during pioneer days) but with magic. I really like how the magic intensifies the mystery and threat of the unknow that early settlers must have felt that we, modern readers, have become desensitized to. I also look forward to reading more of Lan and his adventures.
May 11, 2018
I'm really enjoying this series! Weird alternate history, pioneers, magic -- what's not to love? I'm also enjoying the slight Nature vs Nurture theme. Will Eff, who was treated terribly for being an unlucky 13th child, end up being a better magician than her twin brother Lan, who was revered for being an extremely lucky 7th son of a 7th son? Maybe we'll find out in the next book!
July 24, 2021
418. 2021 bk 228. Of Wrede's trios, this is among the most tightly plotted, with interesting characters and more magical creatures to entice the reader. A good amount of action means that the book will be read again, especially after reading the third book of the series. Wrede has another winner!
November 20, 2022
This is an interesting series. I love that it's set in western US after a sort-of Civil War. I also enjoy the way magic is used in this world. And I've become fond of the MC, a young girl, now young woman, who has grown up in the shadow of her twin brother.
There's not a ton of action in these books, unlike a lot of YA fantasy, and this story really did remind of reading the Little House on the Prairie books as a girl, with the focus on family, surviving, and the coming of age of a strong girl in a patriarchal society. I've already recommended these books to another woman I know who likes fantasy, and I'm looking forward to diving into the next book. I'd love to see more stories set in this world.
NB - With some trepidation I'm going to comment on the controversy about the lack of Native Americans in these books. My understanding of the author's statement about that is that she didn't feel she could do them justice, and rather than have them come out stereotyped, she left them out. She does have several black characters, and I like the way she integrates abolition, the Civil War, different types of magic, and race into these stories. Honestly, I don't think the books lack anything by not having another distinct group of people to deal with, as the focus is very much on Eff and her growing up. And in an age where writers are shunned for writing about people and cultures not their own, it feels a little ironic to scold one for not including a different group in her fantasy novel. But such is the world we live in. At any rate, I've found these to be thoughtful and entertaining stories that look at the settling of the US from a slightly different, and welcome, angle.
There's not a ton of action in these books, unlike a lot of YA fantasy, and this story really did remind of reading the Little House on the Prairie books as a girl, with the focus on family, surviving, and the coming of age of a strong girl in a patriarchal society. I've already recommended these books to another woman I know who likes fantasy, and I'm looking forward to diving into the next book. I'd love to see more stories set in this world.
NB - With some trepidation I'm going to comment on the controversy about the lack of Native Americans in these books. My understanding of the author's statement about that is that she didn't feel she could do them justice, and rather than have them come out stereotyped, she left them out. She does have several black characters, and I like the way she integrates abolition, the Civil War, different types of magic, and race into these stories. Honestly, I don't think the books lack anything by not having another distinct group of people to deal with, as the focus is very much on Eff and her growing up. And in an age where writers are shunned for writing about people and cultures not their own, it feels a little ironic to scold one for not including a different group in her fantasy novel. But such is the world we live in. At any rate, I've found these to be thoughtful and entertaining stories that look at the settling of the US from a slightly different, and welcome, angle.
July 23, 2021
“You made a bad choice, and some of it can’t ever be fixed. But you have a lot more choices coming up. The important thing is to try really hard not to make another one this bad, ever again.”
I really enjoyed seeing Eff entering adulthood. In contrast to the chronically self-deprecating protagonist we saw in Thirteenth Child, here is she is beginning to become more sure of herself (although she still has a ways to go), and has realized that one of the biggest obstacles to her magic in the past was her own conviction that she was destined for evil.
One of my favorite aspects of this novel was the scientific excursions that Eff and the rest of the gang undertook. I loved seeing the different schools of magic and the magical world shown from a scholarly perspective, which framed them in a way that isn't typically used in fantasy novels.
Finally, I was incredibly interested in Lan's storyline-it was fascinating to see the tables turned from the sibling dynamic in the first book.
Overall, this was a really fun, easy book that I flew through in a couple days. I wish I had continued with this series when I was younger (I'm really not sure why I stopped) because I think I would have absolutely loved it.
see my review of Thirteenth Child for a list of characters
Additional characters:
Prof. Torgeson - one of the professors who manage the menagerie, employs Eff on her survey of the fauna and flora west of the Great Barrier Spell
Read
March 6, 2022I liked this one better than the first book. It had better pacing and felt more like a book about magic rather than a pioneer coming-of-age story with a touch of magic thrown in. It also felt like it had more of a plot
September 26, 2020
I was disappointed by the lack of plot. Nothing really seemed to happen
December 16, 2024
A fun fantasy with a likable heroine that has great parents/teachers.
July 4, 2018
Delightful series! I like Eff although she doesn't seem like she's aged a lot since the first one. Still. I'm looking forward to the next one.
May 23, 2023
This one dragged. I forced myself to finish it in hopes that the third one is better.
April 2, 2020
The second book of the Thirteenth Child series was a fantastic book to read. It got boring in some spots but there were many other spots that blew me away! I definitely recommend this book!!
November 9, 2019
I loved this whole series (Thirteenth Child and the Far West are the other two), but it suffers, BADLY, from some pretty unforgivably racist premises and issues.
The book takes place in a lightly fictionalized North America, in which the European colonists enter a land occupied not by Native Americans but by terrifying and deadly magical creatures, which the Founding Fathers manage to keep to the Wild West (out of the more “civilized” East with a magical wall in the Mississippi River. I mean, it’s really pretty goddamn on-the-nose as far as that goes.
People are busy making excuses for native Americans being completely erased from history in various ways, but primarily I hear (NOT IN THE BOOK, which doesn’t mention them at all, but in discussions on the web etc) by saying that the native Americans never crossed the land bridge in this world. But that doesn’t make this any less of a perfect metaphor for how European colonizers felt about the actual native people who were here, so is not really a fix. Oh yeah, also note that the whole damn continent is even named after Columbus. 🤢
The other thing I find particularly troublesome is the description of Afrikan magic and depiction of its practitioners (particularly one circuit rider), which falls so far into the “magical negro” trope it’s nearly irretrievable. Afrikan magic, in this book, is closer to nature, more intuitive, and less formal and organized than European magic. And our main character (European descendant) is a hero/white savior because she combines the two, making a distinctly Colombian (American) magic. 😕
I want to reemphasize that I really did love the story and the characters a lot, and it breaks my heart that this story is, obviously unintentionally bc the writer tries to show our hero’s unhappiness with the bias and discrimination around her, super racist. This is the trouble with lightly fictionalizing real places with real history: you invoke ALL OF IT and invite it into your story, which in this case curdled pretty damn hard. ☹️
The book takes place in a lightly fictionalized North America, in which the European colonists enter a land occupied not by Native Americans but by terrifying and deadly magical creatures, which the Founding Fathers manage to keep to the Wild West (out of the more “civilized” East with a magical wall in the Mississippi River. I mean, it’s really pretty goddamn on-the-nose as far as that goes.
People are busy making excuses for native Americans being completely erased from history in various ways, but primarily I hear (NOT IN THE BOOK, which doesn’t mention them at all, but in discussions on the web etc) by saying that the native Americans never crossed the land bridge in this world. But that doesn’t make this any less of a perfect metaphor for how European colonizers felt about the actual native people who were here, so is not really a fix. Oh yeah, also note that the whole damn continent is even named after Columbus. 🤢
The other thing I find particularly troublesome is the description of Afrikan magic and depiction of its practitioners (particularly one circuit rider), which falls so far into the “magical negro” trope it’s nearly irretrievable. Afrikan magic, in this book, is closer to nature, more intuitive, and less formal and organized than European magic. And our main character (European descendant) is a hero/white savior because she combines the two, making a distinctly Colombian (American) magic. 😕
I want to reemphasize that I really did love the story and the characters a lot, and it breaks my heart that this story is, obviously unintentionally bc the writer tries to show our hero’s unhappiness with the bias and discrimination around her, super racist. This is the trouble with lightly fictionalizing real places with real history: you invoke ALL OF IT and invite it into your story, which in this case curdled pretty damn hard. ☹️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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