This is another great Mercedes Lackey rewrite of a fairy tale through a prism of elemental magic.



Our heroine, Maya, is an Indian doctor(her dad was a British officer) who had fled to London upon the death of her parents. She is a mixture of cultures and traditions, exceedingly liberal and intelligent, and beautiful of course. She left India because of some great danger that was pursuing her. But it follows her to London - and therein is our conflict.



Maya also has tremendous magical abilities (hey, when you're a perfect heroine, you've got it all!) which are largely untrained. She has, in her independent way, figured out a few basic concepts but badly needs tutoring. Enter our hero! Needless to say, he's charming and gallant, and totally astounded by the beautiful Maya.



Together of course they vanquish the bad guys and we all live happily ever after.



What I enjoy most about this story are all the elements of setting. This is Victorian London - there is still enourmous class division (much like the castes of Maya's native India), private men's clubs (including the one for magicians, a very fun and pivotal element in the book), few rights for women, and so on. Maya is a doctor, and the things her profession had not accepted yet (such as the existence of bacteria, which Maya (being perfect) of course acknowledges) are little points of wide-eyed interest.



I have read criticism of the book that the setting is not altogether accurate - for instance, Maya and Peter (the hero) quote The Little Prince, which was not written until many years after the book takes place. So as a historical document - don't try to impress your teachers. But as a dynamic read, it's glorious.



The elements of Indian culture, foods and gods would probably be difficult for one truly familiar with them. But for the majority of us who can't name several different Hindu gods it's just intriguing. Likewise the racist treatment they received by the British is very interesting.



The elemental magic theme (something Lackey plays out in "Invalid Item" ) is not explored in great depth, although the creatures in Peter the Watermaster's perview, the Selkies, have a delightful run of pages devoted to them. But Maya's personality and attitude towards her magic, and others abilities with it, are more important than its mechanics.



Everything goes well for Maya (except of course that pesky villianess who is trying to kill her), but she is so likeable and up against such hardship that it never becomes too saccharine. You want her to win, and you're happy when she does! Whether she's reforming thieves or healing the poor or 'dissing' out rude med students with a timely bit of Latin, Maya isn't so perfect that you don't like her - much like Snow White.



I recently reread this in a single evening. It's light, the characters are really endearing (except the bad guys!), and the whole thing is just charming! Enjoy enjoy!

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Created Feb 06, 2003 at 8:14am • Submit your own review...