Caleb is a travelling law man, following his patrol route
through towns in the west; and he’s not too happy about it. But there’s not
much place for him in the east, not after the war when most of his power was
burned out of him, his old skill reduced to a fraction of what he was. Now
almost an embarrassment, he is shunted off to the edge of the country.
But things are not peaceful on the outskirts, tensions
are rising between the Cheyenne and the local town, there’s a rash of children
with strangely weakened magic, towns being destroyed an a local land owner
almost ruling the town. Something is up and it’s Caleb’s job to find out what.
I’m rapidly developing a love for paranormal westerns –
which is odd, because I Ioathe westerns generally – but if they keep being this
good then I’m hooked.
The world building of this book is fascinating and
incredibly different. This isn’t a world where some people have magic – this is
a world where everyone has magic. Everyone has powers within them and those
powers in turn are used near constantly to power the world around them. From
the arcane mechanical horses, to electric fences to basic smithing and most
certainly in war. The way the arcane ability is integrated into just about
every aspect of society is fascinating and really smoothly done – creating a world
that is so very like our own but with this constant thread of difference that
twists everything. It’s an excellent, rich, fun world that I just desperately
want to explore more. Especially since the world building was excellently
written with all the information we need to be fully immersed but no long, dry
explanations and lectures to tell us exactly how it works. I can see the
framework of it but desperately want to know more – but it was and it’s going
to be given in increments – after all, if everyone in society knows how to use
magic, why would we need lectures on how to use that magic? It would be like
random characters deciding to lecture us on how to read.
Also, some magic users have familiars. And Caleb has a jackalope and he’s cute and funny and I love the addition to the world, he lightens things without being ridiculous, is amusing without being slapstick and fits into the world rather than being an odd add-on
This is all really helped by a wonderful writing style.
Detailed and evocative when necessary – such as Caleb’s reminiscing of the war
– with some excellently written action scenes (with magic and some really novel
uses of that power and integrating it with the weapons of the time) that cross
the line into amazingly epic at times. The pacing is perfect, that balance
between development and action, between moving the story forwards while
preserving the mystery really works.
Then we have those people who have, either from birth or
with an accident with their magic, been drained of their ability. They’re
burned out and nulled and, in a society where everyone else does have magic,
they’re considered disabled. Now, we do have a bad record in fiction of
marginalised issues being appropriated poorly for fiction, but this is an
excellent example of it being done. If magical ability is considered the
default state of humanity, if the majority of jobs regularly use magical
ability then those without magical ability are very much disabled and
disenfranchised. The way they are regarded by the other characters is an
extremely good representation of how the disabled are treated in general –
pitied, a kind of fawning, horrified pity mixed with a cautionary tale (since
it could happen to them as well), but at the same time condescended too and
assumed to be lesser and weaker – there’s an inherent superiority assumed by
anyone with magic over them. Caleb also talks about the lack of opportunities
for them, of the magic-less being forced to become homeless beggars and
everyone assumes they cannot work. The blacksmith in the town has no magic, but
with simple accommodations he does apparently good work – yet people still
hesitate to rely on, assuming that his in-world disability means he cannot do
his job properly.
