Shadow Magic
Patricia C. Wrede
174 pages
published in 1982

Patricia Wrede is not an author I'd read before this novel, but I had noticed her name being dropped on rec.arts.sf.written as a decent writer by the usual suspects. So when I saw an omnibus of her work, Shadows over Lyra going for little at the American Book Center, I grabbed it. Shadow Magic is the first of the three novels in the omnibus, which also contains Daughter of Witches and The Harp of Imach Thyssel. Amazingly enough for a fantasy series, this is not a trilogy, but a collection of three standalone novels, all set in the world of Lyra. There are some references in the other two books to this novel, but nothing major.

As a fantasy story, Shadow Magic is reassuringly traditional. There are no surprises to be had here. If you praise originality above anything you will be disappointed with Shadow Magic , as well as its two followups. Personally, I don't mind much. What I often look for in fantasy is not originality, but the familiar. Sometimes I want a story where I'm not surprised, but where I can escape from everyday life. Sometimes I want to read about dashing heroes, dastardly villians and a quest to save the kingdom. As long as it's done right. Which it is, though it does have a few flaws. Not surprising, since this is Patricia Wrede's first novel. The main flaw I found was that everything seemed to happen a bit too easy for the heroine.

The story is fairly generic, with a spunky princess who is More than She Seems, looking for the Artifacts of unbelievable Ancientness to defeat the Evil Northern Hordes. As said, it's the first book of a writer who went on to greater things. At only 174 pages it was qucikly enough read and while not very memorable I don't begrudge the time it took to read either.

Daughter of Witches
Patricia C. Wrede
173 pages
published in 1983

This is the second novel in the Shadows over Lyra omnibus and much more polished than the first novel. It's set in the same world, but takes place somewhere else entirely. Was the first story set in the standard medievaloid Northern Europe kingdom beloved of fantasy, this one is set in that other well worn setting, the oppresive religious dictatorship afraid of magic users. The main character is a daughter of two alleged witches, who were killed by the regime; she herself is now a slave. It shouldn't come as a surprise that she herself is a fairly powerful witch as well, though she represses her abilities and doesn't want anything to do with it...

A better novel than the first one, still a fairly standard coming of age fantasy story. But who cares, it was enjoyable enough.

The Harp of Imach Thyssel
Patricia C. Wrede
175 pages
published in 1985

The third novel in the Shadows over Lyra omnibus and the least memorable. Somewhat of a retread of the first book, as it's again a story of a young guy finding a magical artifact of great power as well as an ancient race out of legends (the same one even) needed to defeat the evil threatening his country. A bit inconsistent as from hints dropped in the story it's supposed to take place after Shadow Magic, yet the Elves are still treated as a legend, rather than a reality.

Again, this is an adequate but by no means a great novel. I wouldn't recommend seeking any of these novels out, but they're good enough to read from the library, or if you encounter them cheaply enough. They're clearly early novels and suffer a bit because fantasy as a genre has moved on.