Rating: 
Summary: Fun magical mystery
Review: Like Stevermer's earlier book 'A College of Magics' this is set in the early 20th century in a parallel universe where magic is part of everyday life. Samuel Lambert is a sharpshooter from Wyoming, who is invited to Glasscastle university (Glastonbury?), a very exclusive establishment for teaching magic to young men of the right background. His talents a marksman are required for the mysterious Agincourt Prjoect, which is top-secret. He makes friends with a student called Nicholas Fell, and meets the provost's attractive siter Jane (from 'A College of Magics'), a teacher of mathematics at Greenlaw,a women's magical college in Normandy.Jane has a message for Nicholas Fell, he is to be the new Warden of the West (a sort of magical guardian) but he doesn't want to be. Strange things begin to happen, the Agincourt Prjoect is cancelled, and Nicholas Fell and Jane's brother Robert both disappear. jane and Lambert set out to find them, then Jane disappears herself, and Lambert has to track her down as well, and try and figure out who the villains are. This is a very enjoyable story, with a clever plot, interesting characters and plenty of magic and humour. One of my favourite bits is where Lambert fells the villain with a well-aimed cricket ball. lambert is an amiable hero, and Jane is an attractive and interesting heroine, despite her passion for reckless driving.And unlike the earlier book, this one has an upbeat ending. Great fun.
Rating:
Summary: Charming journey
Review: The Titanic is still setting speed records as it crosses the North Atlantic, the sun never sets on the British Empire, and the mages of Glasscastle University chant their wards and protect themselves and everyone nearby from evil. Britain, threatened by the German Empire, has embarked on an ultimate weapon--the Agincourt Project and has involved Glasscastle in its construction. American sharpshooter Samuel Lambert is a consultant, his aim with multiple weapons providing a benchmark for their efforts. But when his roommate disappears, Lambert suspects that something has gone very wrong. Beautiful Jane Brailsford isn't a teacher at Glasscastle--no woman would be allowed such a role--but she is does teach mathmatics at a rival university in France. She's in England on a mission central to the world's future. The warden of the West has refused to take up his position and the entire world is spinning toward disaster. Her task, set by the new warden of the North, is to persuade him to take up his post. If she can even find him. Because the new warden is Lambert's roommate, the two form an uneasy alliance. Author Caroline Stevermer puts her emphasis on world-building and the subtle interplay between characters. Jane and Lambert share an attraction that neither knows how to relate to in the world of Victorian manners and morals. Even as they try to determine what is keeping the warden from taking his job and what is wrong with the Agincourt project, their attentions are distracted by romance. Lambert's fascination with Jane is overshadowed by his fascination with Glasscastle itself--a university where Americans, especially working-class Americans like himself, would never be admitted. A SCHOLAR OF MAGICS is a leisurely journey through a time when manners mattered, when a woman's virtue could still be ruined, and when the vast speed of thirty-five miles an hour was almost unthinkable.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging and entertaining
Review: While another reviewer has complained that A Scholar of Magics does not live up to the legacy of A College of Magics, I must disagree. Caroline Stevermer serves up another enchanting mix of history, academia, romance and magic--but one quite different in flavor from the last. If your criteria for enjoying a book are that it should revisit all the characters of a past book and that they should appear unchanged, then you will indeed be disappointed. But if you don't mind meeting new characters with different personalities and preoccupations, you will probably very much enjoy reading this book on its own merits. Samuel Lambert, an American sharpshooter, provides a unique viewpoint on both Enlish imperial pride and on magical studies, and Jane Brailsford shines as the heroine.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging and entertaining
Review: While another reviewer has complained that A Scholar of Magics does not live up to the legacy of A College of Magics, I must disagree. Caroline Stevermer serves up another enchanting mix of history, academia, romance and magic--but one quite different in flavor from the last. If your criteria for enjoying a book are that it should revisit all the characters of a past book and that they should appear unchanged, then you will indeed be disappointed. But if you don't mind meeting new characters with different personalities and preoccupations, you will probably very much enjoy reading this book on its own merits. Samuel Lambert, an American sharpshooter, provides a unique viewpoint on both Enlish imperial pride and on magical studies, and Jane Brailsford shines as the heroine.
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