Book Review - Stephanie Burgis's Spellswept
Published by: Five Fathoms Press
Publication Date: April 30th, 2018
Format: Paperback, 88 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
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Amy Standish's life has gone to plan. Sure, she was passed from relative to relative and never really had a family or a true home, but her political ambitions are about to pay off. Her goal has always been to be a ruling member of the Boudiccate. These powerful women protect Angland with their mage husbands by their sides, just as Boudicca herself did when the Romans tried to invade. Amy's first step was to become Miranda Harwood's personal secretary. Ten months previously she started to work for the famous politician and member of the Boudiccate. And tonight, tonight she will propose marriage to the mage Lord Llewellyn and her ascension will be complete, minus a few details. Because tonight is the Harwood's annual Spring Equinox ball held in a legendary underwater ballroom situated in the Aelfen Mere at Harwood House that Miranda Harwood's husband created for her as a wedding gift three decades earlier. And what could be more perfect than to announce her engagement to Lord Llewellyn at the end of a ball she has organized down to the very last detail? Because Amy's life is about the details and her plan. Nothing will steer her off course, not even Miranda Harwood's son Jonathan. Jonathan Harwood is rather notorious. He did not follow in his father's footsteps and in fact refused to study magic. It was quite a scandal for the family that he didn't take up his place at the Great Library of Trinivantium but his family still loves him, and so does Amy. But he's not a mage and no one has ever become a member of the Boudiccate without a mage husband. If only Jonathan had studied magic her life could be perfect. Though life isn't perfect, no matter how hard you try to make it, and despite Amy double checking every single detail something dangerous could be about to happen in the underwater ballroom. It's not just the lives of the visiting dignitaries but the way the world works. Amy is about to be let in on the Harwood secret and she realizes why Jonathan has never studied magic and how she could perhaps find purpose, love, and a family, if she's only willing to reach out a grab it and it all hinges on Jonathan's thirteen year old sister, Cassandra.
When most people think of scholared magicians and wizards one thinks of men, of those great bearded wizards as made immortal by Terry Pratchett. And that's the world this book takes place in, except that it's not. In this Angland while men have the magic, they also have the emotions. The women wield political power and can compromise men. I just love this idea. It's turning the world on it's head but at the same time it's working within the framework of British history. Think of all the great women leaders from Boudicca to Queen Elizabeth, now what if their political power wasn't just an exception to the rule but the rule. Women are the political power because they are better built to handle it, and that's a concept I totally agree with. We are. But at the same time there's an interesting commentary that Spellswept underscores with Jonathan and Cassandra, that any society that has strict gender roles isn't a truly equal society. Yes, women, whom have historically been relegated to childrearing and the home, might cheer to think of a society where they have all the political might, I know I did, but is it fair to make every woman a politician and every man a mage? No it's not. People should be able to choose who and what they want to be not based on proscribed gender roles but based on talent and inclination. We see here that the most terrifying, yet the most liberating idea is what if anyone could be anything? Because then Amy wouldn't be forced to marry a mage she didn't love just because she did have political ambitions. And as for the reveal regarding Cassandra? It's an interesting situation. There is an agreement that she is allowed to be exempt from the rules as long as she's the only exception. Going back to my previous example of Queen Elizabeth, is it good to have people who are exceptions to the rules? Shouldn't there be equality in the world in all things? Well, one thing is certain, even in a world with magic you aren't guaranteed an easy life.
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