*If you aren't interested in scathing reviews, stop here!* In fact, I did something with this book that I have NEVER done with a book before-I gave up on it in the middle of the climax. I wish I had a ton of good things to say about Mairelon the Magician, but I don't. It took us about 4-5 days, and we were reading out loud. It was a great cross between fantasy and a Regency era mystery. We wanted to hurry and get our stuff done for the day so we could read the book together! I even tried out a cockney accent. It was a lot more intricate and elaborate.

As fantasy plots go, we liked it better than Harry Potter. In my case, it had been his idea, so bonus!) We pulled Mairelon the Magician out next and started reading. We had finished reading 'These Three Remain' from the Fitzwilliam Darcy series (which is totally fun to read out loud, especially if you get your husband involved. It was either something I inherited from my mom's collection of books when she was downsizing or it was a gift from my aunt who is a librarian and has given me many cool books over the years.Īnyway, one night Seth and I were looking for something to read aloud together. I don't know where I got it, I've had it for years and never read it. I saw that someone on my Goodreads list had put this book up and I thought, 'Hey, I think I have that on my shelf somewhere.' Sure enough, it was there. She is a vegetarian, and currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her cat Karma. Her interests include sewing, embroidery, desultory attempts at gardening, chocolate, not mowing the lawn, High Tea, and, of course, reading. In 1985, shortly before the publication of her fifth book, she left the world of the gainfully employed to try winging it on her own. It came out at last in 1982, which is the year she met Lillian Stewart Carl (who introduced her to Lois McMaster Bujold by mail). In April of 1980, Patricia's first novel sold to Ace Books. In January, 1980, Pamela Dean, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Steven Brust, Nate Bucklin, and Patricia Wrede - all, at that point, hopeful but unpublished - formed the writer's group that later became known as 'The Scribblies.' Several years later, they were joined by Kara Dalkey. Patricia finished her first novel in late 1978.

Dalton Booksellers, and finally at the Dayton Hudson Corporation headquarters. She worked for several years as a financial analyst and accountant, first with the Minnesota Hospital Association, then with B. from the University of Minnesota in 1977. She finished it five years later and started her second book at once, having become permanently hooked on writing by this time. She began work on her first novel, Shadow Magic, just after graduating from college in 1974. She attended Carleton College in Minnesota, where she majored in Biology and managed to avoid taking any English courses at all. Patricia Collins Wrede was born in Chicago, Illinois and is the eldest of five children.

A Matter of Magic by Patricia C. Wrede