magic – T E Shepherd

A book of magic with twists and turns aplenty

Thomas — Sat, 01 Dec 2018 19:21:35 +0000

A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison Michelle Harrison is perhaps best known for her award-winning 13 Treasures books with their dark elves and fairy magic, but beyond that world she has also gone spooky with (the maybe too-often overlooked) Unrest and her last, and delivered the spellbindingly-fantastic book, The Other Alice which blended fairy-folklore and magic with literary references (was it the inspiration for Anna James’ debut this year of Pages & Co?). I therefore had high anticipations for, but no idea what to expect, with her latest offering. A Pinch of Magic did not disappoint. It begins with echoes of a Repunzal-like tale of a girl held captive in the tower, before fast-forwarding through to time to meet three sisters, Betty, Fliss, and Charlie who live with their Grannie in the Poacher’s Pocket. It is Halloween and Betty’s 13th birthday but before then she desires to get the ferry to the mainland to experience the fair. And that, is where the magic starts. The three sisters learn of the curse that hangs over lives and the magical gifts that are bestowed upon them. Betty can’t let it be, she wants freedom, and to get freedom it means breaking the curse. This is a story with twists and turns aplenty but they are all carefully woven together in a story that unfurls before you with every page turn. Every reveal makes sense, and not every one is expected. There is good and there is evil. There are baddies who are good, and wrongs that are righted. There are curses triggered, and curses to be broken, and every character is needed. A Pinch of Magic ends with a tease that there could be more, but brilliant as it is, I can’t help thinking that it might be best if Michelle leaves the reader wanting more… A Pinch of Magic is published by Simon & Schuster on 7 February 2019.

Creativity and Me

Thomas — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 22:53:22 +0000

I’ve reached the point in my novel where the story is reaching it’s conclusion, and the Fairy Queen must be reborn and thus I must dovetail my writing with revision of the ballads of Tam Lin and Thomas The Rhymer – the major source material for the Mr Tumnal trilogy of stories. A slice of Christmas Cake and a cup of tea beside the tree and the pretend fire, and the inspiration starts to come. That’s the way that it works for me; an armchair, a couple of notebooks, and a couple of (different) fountain pens, with a Kindle on the side, and I am in the position to distill pages of creativity.

A couple of hours later, and I’ve written about five pages and a truly magical scene. I love it when that happens!

Just working my way through some #fairy #spells… as you do on Tuesday night. #amwriting #TheNovel #MrTumnal #TheImaginaryWife

On the third day of Christmas: magic at Christmas

Thomas — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 18:29:10 +0000

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a touch of magic. It would also be lacking without a festive trip to see something by Creation Theatre. After last year’s Aladinn, and before that A Christmas Carol, I was very excited. This year’s offering was n adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ classic, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In the year’s since I originally read the books I confess I have fallen a lttle out of love with them for their overtly Christian allegory, but since visiting the Magical Books exhibition earlier in the year, and watching a recent documentary about the life of C.S. Lewis, I have had a renewed interest in the books. However I do approach adaptations with caution. I remember the almost fanatical excitement I had at the prospect of the BBC’s adaptation in 1988, and he crushing disapointment that followed after… So I’m not sure what I expected from Creation Theatre’s take on the story. Directed by the always inventive and brilliant Charlotte Conquest, I was expecting it to be magical, playful, and briliant. What I definitely wasn’t expecting was a musical version of by (the up and coming?) Steven Luke Walker. The show was brilliantly produced, and the singing execellent, although in such a small space as the former-Victorian swimming pool I’m not sure that the cast needed to be mic-ed and certainlynot as closely, and there were some moments of true musical magic. There were also some sons that sat oddly with me – in particularly the opening ‘wartime’ number and the Witch’s song when she murders Aslan on the stone table… these in particular had joviality to them that sat at odds with the tone of the story.

Where the production was at its strongest was when Charlotte Conquest was able to her bring the familiar Creation magic out, for example with thold-fashioned puppetry that played out to Mr Tumnus’ song, or when Lucy and Susan ride on the back of a reincarnated Aslan. I found myself wanting more of these. It may have been hard to work in the acrobats of the Ring Jinee from last year but I can’t help/thinking that something like that would have made it even better.

Still, a very enjoyable production of a curious book. I still feel that, despite its faults I want to re-read them…

A book about books

Thomas — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 21:10:58 +0000

Magical Tales: Myth, Legend, and Enchantment in Children’s Books edited by Diane Purkiss and Carolyne Larrington

This was the accompanying catalogue to the brilliant Magical Books exhibition that has been running this year at Oxford’s Bodleian Library and has been every bit as enjoyable and interesting. It’s a book that celebrates all that I love about my favourite stories, but it also details so many other stories that I am aware of but have not read, but worse, it also reveals a whole host of stories that I have been shamefully been unaware of.

This book should come with a health warning though. I defy you to read a single chapter – or essay – without asking already half a dozen books to your To Read Pile.

The Undisputed Truth: books are magical

Thomas — Sun, 22 Sep 2013 20:50:06 +0000

Today, Emma and I finally made it into Oxford for the Magical Books exhibition at the Bodleian Library. I am so glad that we did. The exhibition space at The Bodleian is small but we spent about an hour in there and I could happily have spent at least twice that in there. Based around the work of five authors connected to Oxford: Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Alan Garner, Susan Cooper, and Philip Pullman it brought in others and the older takes, history and follow that includes them.

For me it was an hour celebrating the work of my favourite and most-lived authors. There were maps. From Tolkien and Lewis to Pullman’s interpretation of Oxford – as Diana Wynne Jones (another author who was featured) says, fantasy always starts with a map.

There were also mention of undated Arabian amulet scrolls, the like of which was the inspiration for the scrolls in Sudan Cooper’s Over Sea Under Stone.

The fannish squee factor of this was nothing to my reaction when I turned around and was confronted by a plate. I recognize it immediately even touch I had never seen it before as The Owl Service. The china with the pattern that could be flowers or birds depending on how you look at it…

…and there was, around the corner, another delight in the shape of replicas of the buckles/signs that Susan Cooper’s husband made for her from her Dark Is Rising book.

There was more, of course. Lots more. And it was quite busy with people enjoying it all, but I was so wrapped up in it and in awe of , what was my heaven that I scarcely noticed any of them. It’s on until the 27 October and I recommend that you all catch it is you can.