frequently assures the reader that everything will turn out well enough for his heroines. Wells, contrariwise, begins after the death of all the favorite characters from The Death of the Necromancer, and better, subtitles this one "Book One of the Fall of Ile-Rien"; Ile-Rien the loved home of the heroine.
Book One mostly introduces the story, with a hand of likable and independent characters and more eerie settings than they have time to explore. The villains are flat, but they have airships. (Why, in our age, so many dirigibles?)
Only the style of interior monologue given to the heroine jarred me; first, it's much more slapdash and modern than her loosely-Edwardian world and dialogue. Worse, it reminds me of Buffy or pastiche, or cute romantic murder mysteries generally (examples page 33, 73, in fact most of Tremaine's thoughts set in italic). Most perplexing, these stagy little bits aren't needed; both the knowledge and the emotions they call out are perfectly clear in Well's prose and dialogue.
On the other hand, 's novel Challenge is authentic Edwardian adolescent adventure angst, and I have given up reading it at all; the characters are even more annoying at length than they would be flip & brief. Pity, I like her The Edwardians.
ISBN: 0380977885 (The Wizard Hunters)
ISBN: 0380003597 (Challenge)
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