Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known.
Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it—not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else.
Robin’s predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they’ve been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles—and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep.
My thanks to the author for the review copy!
Favourite books come in different shapes and forms. Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light falls, for me, in the category of “wait…was this book written specifically for me?”.
When the civil service liaison to the secret magical community mysteriously disappears, Robin Blyth is accidentally named as his replacement by a spiteful superior. Robin doesn’t know much about his role, let alone about magic being real, or the existance of a magical society, so it all comes as a bit of a shock. Especially considering that his counterpart for the magical side, Edwin Courcey, isn’t very warm and welcoming to a new face (or to people, in general, bless his hedgehog heart). When Robin falls under a curse by the same people who are involved in his predecessor’s disappearance, he has to trust Edwin to help him untangle this web of conspiracy and magic. Which involves a house party full of magical narcissists, murder-swans, prophetic visions, a murder-maze, a library that WILL give you a nerd hard-on, William Morris wallpapers, and maybe, just maybe, falling in love with a prickly scholar.
A Marvellous Light is the perfect balance between historical fantasy, romance, and mystery, all neatly wrapped in the delightful package of Freya Marske’s writing (seriously, I read it twice and the second time around, I was wondering if there was a way to highlight an already highlighted scene. So many sentence are *groan* devastating).
Cold, blond nerds (but actually, their coldness is because they have their defenses up after being hurt repeatedly in the past) is one of my favourite character archetypes (it’s specific, I know, but I imprinted on Laurent de Vere from CS Pacat’s Captive Prince and never recovered), and Edwin…sigh. He grew up in a magical family full of abusive assholes who put a lot of stock in magical prowess, while his own power is very weak. He is a scholar, passionate about the theory behind magic, resourceful and brilliant, but always with an edge of resentment about his own limits. He is also wary, untrusting, because of a history of bullying and neglect by his own family, so he has the social graces and approchability of a radioactive cactus (but, you know, in a cute way). So when he encounters Robin, who is basically a golden retriever (albeit one with impeccable taste in art), a himbo of the first order, well…sparks fly and not in a good sense at first.
Robin is a puzzle for Edwin. Cursed and plagged with strange visions, unfamiliar with the magical world, he is at the same time an attraction and a danger for the walls around Edwin’s heart. I am a sucker for prickly/sunshine pairings, and those two more than deliver. Robin wants to do the right thing, always. He too grew up in an abusive family, but a different kind of abuse – he was never seen as a real person by his parents, who were cultivating their reputation and legacy without a real care for their progenity. Now in mourning after their passing, he has to take care of his sister (Maud is A Handful and I love her so much) while being a conscientious civil servant and a responsible baronet. The whole situation with magic is a bit much for him; but while he isn’t book smart and lacks knowledge about this whole world that has been hidden from him, he more than compensates with his social skills and bravery (often dumbass bravery but bravery all the same).
The mystery part of the story is engrossing and opens up to something even bigger than a disappearance and a curse. The plot also serves to unveil parts of the intricate worldbuilding, from the contractual nature of magic to the bureaucracy behind the secret community.
A Marvellous Light is a nerdy, emotional, sexy (FYI the sex scenes aren’t fade to black, you have been warned), and very magical book with characters who are vulnerable but find strength in each other – so basically, a Sara Catnip Book. I am very eager for the sequels – the book is certainly not a standalone and the story is only just beginning, plus a few secondary characters make a great case for being the main characters in the upcoming books of the series. (Special shout-out to Lord Hawthorn, a secondary character who hit me right in the “weak for arrogant asshole aristocrats” feels, which isn’t something I’m proud of, but still. Hopefully we see more of him in the future).
You’ll love this book if you usually enjoy the books I enjoy (trust me!!) and/or if you love Emily Tesh, KJ Charles, or CL Polk.
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