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Land Mysteries #5
Illusion of a Boar
In March of 1944, four magical specialists are brought together at a secret camp for an even more mysterious mission. Hypatia and Cammie adopted each other as sisters twenty years ago, during their school years, after Cammie's mother married Hypatia's older brother. Cammie has been neck deep in signals work since the start of the Second World War, while Hypatia has used her gift for sympathetic magic and materia to support the war effort. All while keeping up the proper standards for ATS girls, of course. Pulled from similar work in Scotland, Claudio knows the most about what's needed and about what resources might actually be available. That's a big problem, but he's far more worried about his chosen brother, Orion. Orion's war had been comparatively simple until six months ago. After an injury invalided him out of active service using his magic to support the front lines in the Mediterranean, he came home to find betrayal. Now he's figuring out where to begin rebuilding any sense of himself and his place in the world. None of them have enough information or access to resources for what they're being asked to do. And they're doing it in a camp that has no idea what to make of them and that has its own deep secrets. When the challenges keep coming, they have to figure out whether and how they can trust each other and whether their objective is even possible. Illusion of a Boar takes on the run-up to D-Day inside the magical community of Albion, figuring out what magic could help turn the tides in their favour. It's about trust, choosing new paths, and just maybe taking a chance on love and romance. The fifth book in the Land Mysteries series, it can be read in any order.
418 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 10, 2023
About the author
Celia Lake
52 books77 followersCelia Lake spends her days as a librarian in the Boston (MA) metro area, and her nights and weekends at home happily writing, reading, and researching.
Born and raised in Massachusetts to British parents, she naturally embraced British spelling, classic mysteries, and the Oxford comma before she learned there were any other options.
Born and raised in Massachusetts to British parents, she naturally embraced British spelling, classic mysteries, and the Oxford comma before she learned there were any other options.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 12, 2026
4.5 stars. It would be 5 stars, but I felt that what the quartet were doing for the war effort was left somewhat vague... or rather, how they were doing it was vaguer than I would like. And the romantic relationship between two of them, when it took off, took off out of nowhere at about 2/3 of the way through the book, and went from zero to sixty in about 5 minutes, whereas I'm more about a slow burn. (Actually, I thought it was out of nowhere the first few times I read it, but on a closer reading, there are a couple of very subtle cues that their feelings for each other are changing.) Other than those two relatively minor quibbles, I loved the book and the four characters at its heart, and I'd really like to see more of all four of them. Especially Claudio, who deserves a romance of his own. Full review to come.
December 18, 2023
Celia Lake is an auto-buy author for me. I love the world she has created. This was an excellent addition to the series. I enjoyed all the main characters, the problem solving nature of the plot and the scenes with beloved characters from earlier books.
April 13, 2026
Only CL can write a feel-good story set during WWII (that I will risk reading).
I loved each character POV and their story arc (I'd already met each as secondary non-POV characters in earlier books), and very much appreciated Orion's rise above his problematic original debut as a possible future bully in Eclipse, I loved how main characters from earlier books shared advice about getting along and/or doing their job, and I loved that Orion and Claudio listened.
I loved how Cammie and Hypatia were confident in their skills, talented and competent, but realistic about how other people might view and affect their comfort at their jobs—and possibly their output. I loved that the four characters learned to work together, get along, bounce and argue over ideas, and get results. With a side of growth of feelings.
A genuinely feel-good story (which I don't necessarily expect when it's set in the 1940s).
I loved each character POV and their story arc (I'd already met each as secondary non-POV characters in earlier books), and very much appreciated Orion's rise above his problematic original debut as a possible future bully in Eclipse, I loved how main characters from earlier books shared advice about getting along and/or doing their job, and I loved that Orion and Claudio listened.
I loved how Cammie and Hypatia were confident in their skills, talented and competent, but realistic about how other people might view and affect their comfort at their jobs—and possibly their output. I loved that the four characters learned to work together, get along, bounce and argue over ideas, and get results. With a side of growth of feelings.
A genuinely feel-good story (which I don't necessarily expect when it's set in the 1940s).
November 15, 2023
lovely visit, as always
I initially thought I might not like the WW2 stories very much. However, in some ways the background of the characters is not that important. It is the character development I like. Looking forward to the next installment.
I initially thought I might not like the WW2 stories very much. However, in some ways the background of the characters is not that important. It is the character development I like. Looking forward to the next installment.
November 12, 2023
It's interesting to see where these characters' lives have gone in the twenty years or so since they've been students at Schola, one of the magical schools in Albion, Celia Lake's magical land that exists alongside the mundane Great Britain. Some characters interact more in the larger world than others in this universe.
In previous books in which these protagonists have appeared as secondary characters, they were entirely portrayed as being in Albion, not near any aspect of mundane Britain. Here, they're stationed at a secret camp in England, isolated enough in the secret camp that they can do their magic unhindered.
However, Hypatia and Cammie are still two brown-skinned young women among white Britons, many of whom are upper-class. They know they need to be careful in certain ways, that they'll be stereotyped by skin color and gender. In Albion, Orion Sisley and Claudio Warren are aristocracy, but not outside of it. They didn't go to Oxford or Cambridge. So they're white and "posh," but no one in the camp aside from Cammie and Hypatia knows that they're lords, and only the four of them and a few mysterious higher-ups know about their magical educations.
Being a master of martial magics and a Lord of the land in Albion is not currently helpful to Orion. He was doing very well directly fighting a war, but he's lost some fingers and can't fight the way he did, and his wife cheated on him. They're now divorced, but it will be a few months before the final decree goes through.
In Eclipse, the protagonists, Thesan and Isembard, are professors at Schola. Isembard is not only teaching Orion and Claudio, but is also their bodyguard and protector of the entire school. Orion has a bad attitude then, too, but it's because he's a totally literal thinker, and no one has explained to him the reasoning behind the expectations for him, and how he can work through his options of how to behave and act in various situations rather than just being mean and/or losing his temper.
Thanks to Thesan, Orion now has some tools for running through his options for reactions and possible consequences, and his chosen brother Claudio supplies him with prosthetic social skills. But his bad temper is still very much there. Orion also has to relearn how to do all the magics that require hand gestures with the hand that's missing fingers. Orion just doesn't think he's very bright, and he's right that he doesn't have the cleverness of Foxes, but he has other sorts of knowledge.
The others all have their own challenges, but Orion's struggles are in some ways the most obvious. Thesan is a more sociable sort of autistic person, with a kind nature, and, fortunately, can explain to Orion how he's coming across. Hypatia and Cammie don't feel physically threatened by Orion -- he's civilized that way -- but he comes across as very oppositional.
Claudio has his own share of expectations still on him, and has been slow to try to separate out from them and discover what he really wants to do. He's independent-minded enough to know who is the very best person to advise the group in their magical workings, and actually go to him to ask for help. Gabe Edgarton is a thorn in Silvia Warren's side, because if she admits he's right about anything, she feels that she'll have to admit that her late husband, Claudio's father, was wrong about a lot.
However, Gabe is happy to help Claudio with a generous sharing of expertise and shining example of how to work collaboratively in problem-solving. This comes with a side-order of Gabe's radical honesty, of course. To Claudio's credit, this doesn't enrage him. He feels like , but that happens to a lot of people who are interacting with Gabe.
The romance kind of comes out of the blue, and yet not. Outside observers are not as surprised as they might have been. It kind of felt like descriptions I've read about Jewish scholars debating the finer points of religious law, how sometimes lively arguments can be part of a close friendship. Apparently some corners of academia are like that, too, even magical academia.
Another amusing thread in the story is Cammie's "suspiciously specific" (TV Tropes) threats of biting people. She does have that kind of personality, sometimes justifiably cautious, sometimes quite brash.
The protagonists' modular huts are relatively comfortable housing, considering what's going on elsewhere in the world, and it is a rather cozy story, with vivid characters.
In previous books in which these protagonists have appeared as secondary characters, they were entirely portrayed as being in Albion, not near any aspect of mundane Britain. Here, they're stationed at a secret camp in England, isolated enough in the secret camp that they can do their magic unhindered.
However, Hypatia and Cammie are still two brown-skinned young women among white Britons, many of whom are upper-class. They know they need to be careful in certain ways, that they'll be stereotyped by skin color and gender. In Albion, Orion Sisley and Claudio Warren are aristocracy, but not outside of it. They didn't go to Oxford or Cambridge. So they're white and "posh," but no one in the camp aside from Cammie and Hypatia knows that they're lords, and only the four of them and a few mysterious higher-ups know about their magical educations.
Being a master of martial magics and a Lord of the land in Albion is not currently helpful to Orion. He was doing very well directly fighting a war, but he's lost some fingers and can't fight the way he did, and his wife cheated on him. They're now divorced, but it will be a few months before the final decree goes through.
In Eclipse, the protagonists, Thesan and Isembard, are professors at Schola. Isembard is not only teaching Orion and Claudio, but is also their bodyguard and protector of the entire school. Orion has a bad attitude then, too, but it's because he's a totally literal thinker, and no one has explained to him the reasoning behind the expectations for him, and how he can work through his options of how to behave and act in various situations rather than just being mean and/or losing his temper.
Thanks to Thesan, Orion now has some tools for running through his options for reactions and possible consequences, and his chosen brother Claudio supplies him with prosthetic social skills. But his bad temper is still very much there. Orion also has to relearn how to do all the magics that require hand gestures with the hand that's missing fingers. Orion just doesn't think he's very bright, and he's right that he doesn't have the cleverness of Foxes, but he has other sorts of knowledge.
The others all have their own challenges, but Orion's struggles are in some ways the most obvious. Thesan is a more sociable sort of autistic person, with a kind nature, and, fortunately, can explain to Orion how he's coming across. Hypatia and Cammie don't feel physically threatened by Orion -- he's civilized that way -- but he comes across as very oppositional.
Claudio has his own share of expectations still on him, and has been slow to try to separate out from them and discover what he really wants to do. He's independent-minded enough to know who is the very best person to advise the group in their magical workings, and actually go to him to ask for help. Gabe Edgarton is a thorn in Silvia Warren's side, because if she admits he's right about anything, she feels that she'll have to admit that her late husband, Claudio's father, was wrong about a lot.
However, Gabe is happy to help Claudio with a generous sharing of expertise and shining example of how to work collaboratively in problem-solving. This comes with a side-order of Gabe's radical honesty, of course. To Claudio's credit, this doesn't enrage him. He feels like , but that happens to a lot of people who are interacting with Gabe.
The romance kind of comes out of the blue, and yet not. Outside observers are not as surprised as they might have been. It kind of felt like descriptions I've read about Jewish scholars debating the finer points of religious law, how sometimes lively arguments can be part of a close friendship. Apparently some corners of academia are like that, too, even magical academia.
Another amusing thread in the story is Cammie's "suspiciously specific" (TV Tropes) threats of biting people. She does have that kind of personality, sometimes justifiably cautious, sometimes quite brash.
The protagonists' modular huts are relatively comfortable housing, considering what's going on elsewhere in the world, and it is a rather cozy story, with vivid characters.
December 28, 2023
This was excellent - I haven't expected to enjoy the WWII entries in this series as much as I have, the characters and relationships had a good complexity to them and lived in the world building more easily that some of Lake's previous books (to be clear, I really like world building and frequently enjoy it as much or more than I do plot) here the balance feels spot on.
November 12, 2023
Celia Lake (an auto-buy author for me) has done it again! A delightful tale of love, loss, magic, and manners set in the magical community of Albion during WWII.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews