The lovely authors at the Enchanted Inkpot have a recent post up that explains the difference between urban fantasy, high fantasy, historical fantasy, paranormal, magical realism, and reality-based fantasy. It’s a handy little cheat-sheet, and it’s a perfect link to open today’s post about one of my favorite recent works of historical fantasy: Sorcery and Cecelia: Or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer.

I tried to read this book as a teenager once I’d discovered Patricia Wrede’s other books, but somewhere in the first chapter I stalled out. At the time I hadn’t read much in the way of Georgette Heyer either, and La Heyer is the clear precursor to this wonderful little gem of a novel. That influence is clear in both the lightness of the language and in both Kate and Cecelia’s spunky and strong-willed natures.

It’s one of the more unusual novels in terms of structure: not only is it epistolary, and takes the form of a series of letters from one heroine to another, but it was written via letters between the two authors, with only a few conversations about timing and nothing about how the two separate plotlines were going to work out. And yet the book feels unified, connected by the characters’ shared history and affection and proffered pieces of advice to one another.

This story is a perfect example of how limitations on a story can work to a book’s benefit—the result of two talents working together to create something greater than the sum of its parts. The fact that neither author knew the end of the other’s story means the questions our heroines ask and the advice they give is realistic and relatable. The men are a bit of a mystery, as we never see inside their heads—but that just adds to the charm of the old-fashioned Regency romance vibe.

I also highly recommend the second in the series, The Grand Tour, and I have the third as a used hardback on my TBR pile.

I have never been more glad to give a novel a second chance.

{Next up: the brilliance of Diana Wynne Jones and specifically Fire and Hemlock.}

We here at Olivia Waite love to use twelve words when three would do the trick. It’s a fault, but it’s our fault, and one that we probably will not shed without great effort.

But at times, it’s hugely inconvenient.

For instance, when we want to define the kind of romances we love reading more than any other, we have to fall back on the term historical fantasy romance because it is pleasantly concise. If pressed for more detail, though, we can explain more precisely that we love books about magic set in otherwise normal areas of past history, quite usually the 19th century, and quite usually London or other parts of the British Empire. With love stories.

And for this taste, there is only one book to blame: Mairelon the Magician by Patricia C. Wrede.

I consider this book a romance, though the romance plot is really mostly contained in the sequel, The Magicians’s Ward. The first book grabbed me as a kid and never once let go: it’s got a cross-dressing heroine from the lower classes, a thief, who would do just about anything to get away from the terrifying underbelly of London. Even break into the wagon of a disreputable magic-user, who turns out to be a disgraced member of the aristocracy (and incredibly powerful magician) on the lam as he tries to find the real thief of a powerful set of artifacts. It’s The Fugitive meets Harry Potter meets Georgette Heyer. There’s a library break-in scene, a hapless young dandy who gets in over his head, a gruff but soft-hearted manservant—the works.

I’ve read it more times than I can count, and ever since I’ve been on the lookout for things just like it. They were few and far between for many years, but lately they’ve been easier and easier to find. (One more reason to give thanks for the internets.) Over the summer, I’m going to showcase at least one of these books per week, in the hopes that kind commenters will chime in and let me know about more.

{Next week: more Patricia Wrede goodness with Sorcery and Cecelia: Or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot!}