An Unkindness of Magicians
By Kat Howard
4/5
()
About this ebook
An Alex Award Winner
There is a dark secret that is hiding at the heart of New York City and diminishing the city’s magicians’ power in this fantasy thriller by acclaimed author Kat Howard.
In New York City, magic controls everything. But the power of magic is fading. No one knows what is happening, except for Sydney—a new, rare magician with incredible power that has been unmatched in decades, and she may be the only person who is able to stop the darkness that is weakening the magic. But Sydney doesn’t want to help the system, she wants to destroy it.
Sydney comes from the House of Shadows, which controls the magic with the help of sacrifices from magicians.
Kat Howard
Kat Howard’s short fiction has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award, anthologized in best of and annual best of collections, and performed on NPR. You can find it in her collection, A Cathedral of Myth and Bone. She is the author of the critically acclaimed Roses and Rot and the Alex Award–winning An Unkindness of Magicians. She is also one of the writers of the Books of Magic series, set in the Sandman Universe. She lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, and you can find her on twitter at @KatWithSword.
Read more from Kat Howard
The Mythic Dream Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Sleight of Shadows Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Cathedral of Myth and Bone: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for An Unkindness of Magicians
390 ratings28 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The world building in this is brilliant and I was left craving more and yet totally satisfied with the stand-alone nature of the book.
It's definitely got a sort of Magicians/Harry Potter/Magic-in-NY sort of feeling, and as others have noted, it delves deeply into the system of Magic in the world, which I found fascinating. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5There were just enough surprises to keep me going, but the story was very slow. I also wish that we got more out of the magician battles - they were so quick I sometimes completely missed that they had happened at all. I don’t think I’ll read the next one, but I liked this one enough to finish it.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I loved the concept of this book, but in the end it left me deeply unsatisfied. The vanquishing of the Big Bad was much too easy and didn’t feel earned or cathartic.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It was analogous to Boomers and political power. Missed some golden opportunities for prosody and characterization.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I got so caught up in the story that I read the entire book in a day, something I haven’t enjoyed a book enough to do in years. I love how Kat writes about magic in a way that feels real, not all fairy dust like so many fantasy/magic authors. This is my 2nd of her books, the other Roses and Rot I really enjoyed too, but this one even more so. Looking forward to her 3rd and future books.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Absolutely loved it. Once in a while you come across a book that is so expertly written it transports you to another place, this is that book. Amazingly written. I am only sad that the author wrote so few books. I literally was sad that it ended because it was that good. I
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good book, pacing was a bit fast and that really shows in the last 60 pages or so; however, still a good read
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is a lovely book to read in a post-Kavanagh era, with angry women kicking ass, taking names, and breaking down oppressive systems. It doesn't pull any punches when describing the systematic injustice and horror at the heart of the Unseen World's magical system, which was somehow also cathartic.
I did feel the characterizations and relationships were a little rushed and one-note, but not so much that I didn't thoroughly enjoy the story. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Amazing! Love the magic system and it reads like a movie!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An Unkindness of Magicians was captivating and unexpected. Kat Howard paints a world so magical it takes you away from the mundane, yet familiar enough to hold possible. Loved it!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Champions battle is one of my favorite styles, so this random find (based on the cover) was a surprising delight.
I cannot agree with the reviews that an abundance of POV characters held down this book. To me, that coupled with lightning quick prose was a boon.
But I can agree with some readers that the pacing felt glitched. The last quarter shatters into a series of resolutions that lack the stakes the beginning sets up.
With today's algorithms, were those glitches worth removing two stars? No. But the end did leave me wishing that we'd spent more time in the climax.1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is an amazing book filled with magic, consequences, and what happens when you fight rather than turning away. The magicians will amaze you with their skills and their heart. The writing will leave you breathless. And the consequences will break you and build you back up.
This is Omelas, for magic. This is the price that must be paid. This is the story the others forgot to tell.
(ARC received from the publisher)1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/54.5/5 starsThis was a beautifully crafted book, with amazing world building, and a very intricate magic system that I really enjoyed. The writing was engrossing, and beautiful, and I loved how Kat Howard created her characters and world. I really liked the Unseen world and how magic was maintained with the houses and sacrifice. Sydney, was a great character in the centre of it all, and I enjoyed how she dealt with everything and was just a badass, and I didn't even care that she was super powerful. The author did a great job showing her strong and vulnerable sides, and how Sydney did develop throughout the novel.Overall, this was excellent, and I would definitely recommend this fantasy standalone.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Magic is Unseen, hidden from mundanes by the laws of the magical community, which is currently undergoing a Turning, where leadership of the community may change from one House to another. Various upstarts are plotting, as are the already powerful. Into this uncertainty comes a woman who’s escaped from the House of Shadows, where sacrifices go for their magic to be painfully drained and used by others. Also, there’s a serial killer of women on the loose (why does it always have to be women? I know, but…). It’s hard not to think of The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, given that most people in the magic community know where their easy power comes from; this novel is pretty clear that even if you get rid of the atrocity, the people who survived it are not okay, and the people who allowed it are still around.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The premise of this book - magic in New York City and a regularly scheduled cycle of magic duels to elect the ruling House - is wonderful and well done. However it feels too shallow - the characters were lovely in theory, but I didn't get to know them well enough. The relationships between them weren't given enough time to develop, the romantic pairing between two of the main characters felt false and cold. That said the story was a lot of fun, I just wish it had been fleshed out better.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Revenge story written with somehow catchy writing style. Some of the descriptions and scenes succeed in creating a special atmosphere, but overall the story and the character are not very believable. A lot about magic and the characters possibilities are not explained, which makes it hard to understand where they come from and why are they taking a certain direction (except to create those nice scenes here and there). Tries to be mysterious by not explaining things, but feels in the end that there is no reasonable explanation, which makes for a random story. The ending is partially happy and although there are some twists in the story they seem to lack depth. Overall would not recommend.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Well-written but a quick read. The universe has more room and I hope she revisits it.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I’m not entirely sure what gripped me about this story: the nature of the magic, the understandings of sacrifice, of inclusion and exclusion, of community. I just know that this is a story that will stick with me, and haunt me, for a long time. I’m so glad I gave it a chance; I almost didn’t.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5the Unseen World background was enticingly detailed and a perfect setup for urban fantasy, and i would have loved to have seen more of it (in fact, there's a sequel out now, A Sleight of Shadows). the setting in monied NYC worked a treat for a revenge story, from the high-end bars to Central Park landmarks that go bad because of dark magic. the story (revenge) just galloped along in quite engaging fashion, and the ending was satisfying. the characters, though, were mostly a bit shallow, other than the protagonist, and only seemed to have the one trait the story happened to need. however, it was lots of fun to read, and i will read the next one with interest.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Magicians Who Walk Away From Omelas. Well done.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Set in a modern day New York, a turning begins - one that sets magical house against magical house. I liked this book. The magic made sense, the characters, a bit stereotypical, but well written. Its not a perfect book - some of the magic was over the top (I'm looking at you, Sydney) and the lack of magical community outside of New York didn't make a whole lot of sense - it felt like New York City is the only place where magic exists.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5With so many book out there to choose from, and so many authors, each with unique style, it can be difficult for a reader navigate through an ocean of choices. But, if you love Neil Gaiman and his dark quirky style, you should take a chance on this book as well. I can wait to read more from Kat Howard.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5An alright fantasy book. Worth a read if you're into interesting magic systems. I guess I wasn't. 3/5
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Series Info/Source: This is the first book in An Unkindness of Magicians duology. I borrowed this book from the library.Story (5/5): I really enjoyed this story a lot. Basically New York City is the center for the world of the Unseen and this year a Turning will be taking place. A Turning means that the Houses of Magicians will compete to see which house will lead the Unseen until the next Turning. Enter Sydney, an unknown magician who belongs to the mysterious House of Shadows. She is trying to win her freedom from that House and will do anything to get it. Along the way Sydney finds out magic is failing and struggles to solve that mystery as she struggles to work her way through defeating New York City’s finest magicians.Characters (4/5): I really loved a lot of the characters in here. Sydney is an excellent character but so are all of the other characters. I will say that there are a lot of characters introduced very quickly, so I had to do some paging back and forth to remember who was who (initially I kept getting Ian and Grey mixed up...which is odd because they end up being very different characters in the end). Aside from the issues of introducing too many characters too quickly, I thought the characterization was amazing.Setting (4/5): I enjoyed the setting of New York City and how the world of the Unseen was woven into the modern day world. I am not a huge fan of New York City in general but the city setting worked well for this book. I will say that the world outside of New York City was not well developed. I was curious if the world of the Unseen exists everywhere? Is it just head-quarteered in New York City? Hopefully the world will be expanded upon some in the second book.Writing Style (5/5): I adored Howard’s writing style. I love how she focused on different characters and threaded their individual stories together to make a cohesive whole. It was very well done. Howard’s writing is beautiful and descriptive but easy to relate to. The characters here are engaging and I whipped right through this book. I loved the idea of the House of Shadows and how we get appearances from famous magicians in the form of the Houses of Merlin and Prospero.My Summary (4.5/5): Overall I really loved this and would recommend to those who enjoy reading about traditional magic woven into a modern day setting. This is beautifully written and I enjoyed the ideas here and the characters. I definitely plan on picking up the sequel, “A Slight of Shadows” and plan on checking out the other books Kat Howard has written.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Unkindness of Magicians might not have been quite as good as I’d hoped, but then again, I had a lot of hopes for this new stand alone fantasy from Kat Howard.In New York City, houses of magicians rise and fall during the Turning, a series of duels that determine the ordering of the houses and allow for the creation of new ones. The house that wins the Turning will lead the magical world, and a new Turning has just begun. This Turning will be like any before, because something is wrong with magic. Spells are going horrifically wrong or failing to work at all. The whole system of magic is collapsing. And Sydney – a powerful magician just appeared on the NYC scene – doesn’t want to fix the system. She wants to destroy it.From the official synopsis, I presumed that Sydney would be the main character. She’s probably the one who gets the most focus, but An Unkindness of Magicians has a huge cast. Possibly too huge. I could mostly remember who was who, but I felt like I never got an in-depth view of any of the characters. If An Unkindness of Magicians had limited itself more and focused on building up the relationships, I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more.Also because not all the characters were that interesting. Sydney’s got some of the most complexity, and I enjoyed Laurent and his struggles as an outsider trying to create a more inclusive magical community. Miranda, the scheming head of one of the houses, played into my love for morally dubious female characters. I’m also happy that there was an ace side character — it wasn’t perfect, as I felt like ace and aro were getting conflated, but I’m still happy about it. On the other hand, some characters just felt bland. Ian for instance. And Grey, one of the villains, was such a snooze. I’ve seen serial killers, including supernatural serial characters, plenty of times before in fiction. I’m not sure what including it here was bringing to the table.I’m also still confused about how the magic and the Turning were working in An Unkindness of Magicians. In a story so focused around a system of magic, it remained very vague and unclear. For instance, are the Houses drawing on a shared pool of magic or are they just shunting the magical backlash off onto someone else? Do you have to be an official house to draw on the pool? If not, why is becoming a house in the Turning so important? Also, it all just felt sort of petty. They’re fighting over New York City when there’s the entire rest of the world too (not that we hear anything about magic outside of New York).I’ve been pretty down on An Unkindness of Magicians this entire review, but I thought it was decent enough. It’s not a book I’ll ever reread, but I never thought about quitting it. Plus, Kat Howard’s prose is as excellent as always. I still plan on reading whatever she writes next, as long as it’s not a sequel to this one.Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Super solid pick-up for anyone who loves V.E. Schwab or The Magicians!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book was twisted and wierd and awesome in a way that only soft magic can be. A tournament setting that is not boring and manages to keep you engaged, a writing style that's simple yet elegant, and House politics, and an utter disregard for rules. This book was really really good.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anybody who thinks that fantasy has run out of things to say about magic and magicians needs to read Kat Howard. An Unkindness of Magicians is a wonderful look at a magical New York City that lies side by side with the non-magical one, but is filled with all the same power games, secrets and mysteries.The Unseen World is ruled by magical houses, such as House Merlin and House Prospero. When there is a “turning” magical battles determine the hierarchy among houses, whether upstarts can found a house of their own, and who ultimately rules over all the houses. Sydney, a product of the House of Shadows, is an unknown and very powerful magician who is hired to represent Laurent Beauchamps who is seeking to found his own house. They share a desire to shake up the political structure, which makes the powers that be increasingly nervous.The battles start out as competitions to demonstrate prowess but eventually reach the point where outcomes become deadly. Along the way, it seems that magic is beginning to fail. The reason, and the solution, is something that few people outside of Sydney are prepared to confront.An Unkindness of Magicians is filled with family squabbles, petty revenges, and murderous intentions. The competitions have a ritualistic format to them that underscores the long tradition of the event and the aristocracy it has given rise to. The characters are sketched out nicely, if not all fully developed. The depth of the depravity of some members of the unseen world is revealed slowly, layer by layer. Sydney’s personal and tragic history make her sympathetic and help to highlight the importance of her personal quest.Kat Howard has created a fascinating world with characters that leave you dying to know more about them. The stakes of who wins and who loses, who lives and who dies, are painted in stark and clear contrast. The quiet moments are particularly poignant in Howard’s skillful hands. This book is a lot of fun and Kat Howard is an author to watch. I’m looking forward to her next book. Highly recommended.I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of this book from the publisher.
1 person found this helpful