Mage Errant series of books
So I've been reading John Bierce's Young Adult series, Mage Errant. It's been an extremely pleasant surprise. (Book #1 is included in Prime Reading w/ Amazon Prime.)
Caveat: The books, especially book 1 are very tropey in places.
The world building and magic system are very well thought out. I'm loving the small details here.
There are many moments of LOL. (You don't match your weapon to your formal gown. You match your formal gown to your weapon. Duh!)
They are a lovesong to libraries.
There are canonically queer POV characters, including our team's mentor.
The young wizards are taught a spell that prevents unwanted pregnancy, because nobody at the school deludes themselves about teens and sex.
But here is where these books gut punched me & earned an A+ for talking about a serious topic.
In the continent where the story takes place, almost everybody speaks the same language, despite multiple nations, cultures, & races. Why is that?
Centuries ago there was an Empire, and that Empire conquered & assimilated not because it had the best armies & the most badass mages. It had The LANGUAGE EATER Spell. Cast it, & everybody forgets the language you set out to destroy, books are erased, the songs & stories gone.
If the destroyed language was a person's only language they are rendered almost bestial & there is no recovery. Language is lost to them forever. People who knew the Empire's language lost their mother tongue & became more "pliable" & easier to dominate. They also lost a lot of their knowledge, and this greatly weakened any mages the country had.
Histories - Gone. Libraries - Gone. Entire peoples' ability to share ideas, transmit knowledge, organize ... gone. The lullabies your mother sang you? Gone. The secret family recipe for ___? Gone. Only the language of the Empire & the knowledge of the Empire remained.
But then it was realized that certain kinds of magical talents were vastly reduced or changed ... because language & culture, it turned out, had a role in shaping talents. The Empire tried ways to recover them, now realizing things of great value were lost.
It failed.
In less than 5 pages, Bierce just so perfectly sums up the absolute horror & destruction caused by programs of forced cultural assimilation.
Ireland. Scotland. Polynesia. India. The Americas. Africa. Australia .... it goes on and on.
"____ is the official/state religion." "You come to 'Murrika, you should speak (only) English." "Wouldn't it be great if everyone looked/acted/spoke [just like my culture]?"
No. No. And No. With a heaping side of No.
I don't think I've ever read a better, more concise, more searing take on the issue, and worked so organically into the story, to boot. The topic is tragic & the execution -- especially in a more lighthearted story -- is just *chef's kiss*
I'm halfway through the Mage Errant series, and so far it's been worth every penny.
Also. Don't ever fuck with a Paper Mage. No. Seriously. Just DON'T.
Caveat: The books, especially book 1 are very tropey in places.
The world building and magic system are very well thought out. I'm loving the small details here.
There are many moments of LOL. (You don't match your weapon to your formal gown. You match your formal gown to your weapon. Duh!)
They are a lovesong to libraries.
There are canonically queer POV characters, including our team's mentor.
The young wizards are taught a spell that prevents unwanted pregnancy, because nobody at the school deludes themselves about teens and sex.
But here is where these books gut punched me & earned an A+ for talking about a serious topic.
In the continent where the story takes place, almost everybody speaks the same language, despite multiple nations, cultures, & races. Why is that?
Centuries ago there was an Empire, and that Empire conquered & assimilated not because it had the best armies & the most badass mages. It had The LANGUAGE EATER Spell. Cast it, & everybody forgets the language you set out to destroy, books are erased, the songs & stories gone.
If the destroyed language was a person's only language they are rendered almost bestial & there is no recovery. Language is lost to them forever. People who knew the Empire's language lost their mother tongue & became more "pliable" & easier to dominate. They also lost a lot of their knowledge, and this greatly weakened any mages the country had.
Histories - Gone. Libraries - Gone. Entire peoples' ability to share ideas, transmit knowledge, organize ... gone. The lullabies your mother sang you? Gone. The secret family recipe for ___? Gone. Only the language of the Empire & the knowledge of the Empire remained.
But then it was realized that certain kinds of magical talents were vastly reduced or changed ... because language & culture, it turned out, had a role in shaping talents. The Empire tried ways to recover them, now realizing things of great value were lost.
It failed.
In less than 5 pages, Bierce just so perfectly sums up the absolute horror & destruction caused by programs of forced cultural assimilation.
Ireland. Scotland. Polynesia. India. The Americas. Africa. Australia .... it goes on and on.
"____ is the official/state religion." "You come to 'Murrika, you should speak (only) English." "Wouldn't it be great if everyone looked/acted/spoke [just like my culture]?"
No. No. And No. With a heaping side of No.
I don't think I've ever read a better, more concise, more searing take on the issue, and worked so organically into the story, to boot. The topic is tragic & the execution -- especially in a more lighthearted story -- is just *chef's kiss*
I'm halfway through the Mage Errant series, and so far it's been worth every penny.
Also. Don't ever fuck with a Paper Mage. No. Seriously. Just DON'T.