““When I was twelve I spent an entire summer coming up with my own tables of classification based on subject matter. I’ve had to expand the system several times since then…There’s a man in America who’s published a similar kind of classification system based on numbers, actually. And I thought I was so ingenious, when I came up with this one on my own.” A wisp of bitter self-mockery in his voice” (Edwin in A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske, p. 94).
*For my personal thoughts on A Marvellous Light, check out my review of the book.
Author: Freya Marske
Title: A Marvellous Light
Category/Type: Adult Fiction
Genre: Fantasy
Subgenre(s): Romantic fantasy, historical fantasy; Queer fantasy
Publication Date: November 2, 2021
Number of Pages: 372 pages of story text; 2 pages of acknowledgements & an author’s note
Geographical Setting: London and the British countryside
Time Period: Edwardian era (early 1900s)
Series (if applicable): This book is part 1 in The Last Binding series. Part 2, A Restless Truth, will be released in the US on November 1, 2022.
Plot Summary: Set in Edwardian England, Robin Blyth takes a random government position because he needs the money only to learn that he reports about magic to the Prime Minister...wait, magic is real? Edwin is in the unfortunate position of being Robin's magically talented colleague burdened by removing a curse placed on Robin after his first day at work. Bookish Edwin doesn't like anyone and jovial, athletic Robin couldn't be less like Edwin buuut maybe they have a few more things in common than their jobs. When they team up to remove Robin’s curse, they uncover a dark magical secret that could destroy the world. This is a steamy, magical, opposites attract, fantasy story that will have to you staying up late to find out how Robin and Edwin save the day…and how they let down their guards behind closed bedroom doors.
Content warnings (SLIGHT SPOILER): Violence both magical and physical, references to past child abuse, murder, homophobia, sexism due to the time period, sex on the page… A LOT of sex on the page.
Subject Headings: Fantasy- Historical, Fantasy- Romantic, LGBT- Gay
Appeal/Characteristics of Historical Fantasy (SPOILERS BELOW)
Takes place in a version of the “real” world- This story takes place in Edwardian England and accurately portrays the time period while adding in magical elements.
Magic frames the story- The entire story pivots around magical elements, beginning with a curse, and attempts to bring together special magical items to make power hungry magicians even stronger.
Story line features good vs. evil. Story line also explores ways to discover one’s own potential, magical or otherwise- The book begins with a death and then a curse and the story’s good guys, Robin and Edwin, must figure out how to break the curse and how to stop evil magicians from becoming even more powerful. It is very clear who the reader is supposed to be rooting for, even if you don’t know who the bad guys are until the end.
Characters, are clearly good or bad and often attain special magical gifts. Even good characters will find themselves challenged, both physically and ethically. Characters may include mythical creatures as well as more mundane human ones- All the characters are mundane humans but some, the non-magical ones, are more mundane than others. Edwin has only a little magic, comparatively, but throughout the story will realize there are other ways to connect with magical forces that make him incredibly powerful. Robin has a heretofore unknown, and very rare, magical powers awoken when he’s cursed and he will grow to learn to harness this power to help save the day. The limitations of one character are the strengths of the other, making Edwin and Robin an unexpectedly great magical crime solving duo. Moral guide for each character draw them farther from the other and keep them centered in their own worlds while also helping them understand how to work together.
Books start slowly as the author sets the scene, presents the challenge, and introduces the cast- While the story starts with a bang, readers don’t meet the main characters right away and even after the cursing, the story is almost idyllic as the true nature of what is at stake slowly becomes more apparent.
From the stylized language to the use of jargon, language and style run the gamut. Language relates verbal pictures of characters and landscape, and illustrations sometimes enhance both adult and children’s Fantasy- There are no illustrations in this book but the language is incredibly descriptive and really sets the scenes from the idyllic countryside to the more industrialized city of London. Language is easy to understand for present day readers but references the language of the time the book is set in.
NOTE: Edwin and Robin do not refer to themselves as “gay” due to the time period and this may be problematic for some readers (Marske discusses this in an interview with Geeks Out).3 terms that best describe this book:
Magical
Gripping and unpredictable
Romantic and sexy
Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors
An Edwardian Guide to Life by Cornelia Dobbs- this book really is a guide to Edwardian life covering everything from dinner etiquette, to dress, and how to style your hair. For readers curious about how formal and uptight things seem in A Marvellous Light, this guide will shed light on customs during the early 1900s.
The Real Life Downtown Abbey: How Life was Really Lived in Stately Homes a Century Ago by Jacky Hyam- with servants and assistants playing some important parts in A Marvellous Light, Hyam’s book will help readers understand how homes were run in the early 1900s and why servants are a visible part of fiction based in this time period. This book also covers financials which can help shed light on the predicament Robin Blyth finds himself in when he accepts and decides to stay in his new job.
The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing Corpse: An Extraordinary Edwardian Case of Deception and Intrigue by Piu Eatwell- while no magic is involved in this real life case, both this book and A Marvellous Light involve secrets and politics as characters seek to uncover the truths surrounding crimes. Eatwell follows the case of a prominent London merchant and his death in the late-Victorian/early-Edwardian era. Both books feature bold characters, unreliable witnesses, and juicy details about the people involved.
3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors
A Master of Djinn by P. Djèli Clark- Set in an alternate Cairo in 1912, readers will follow the adventures of Fatma el-Sha’arawi, a special investigator with the Egyptian Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities. Similar to the situation in A Marvellous Light, mundane humans and supernatural beings live side-by-side in relative peace but that peace is fragile and members of a powerful magical group are beginning to disrupt the balance. Fans of A Marvellous Light will enjoy the supernatural crime solving, world building, and historical setting of this novel.
The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison- An angel and a doctor recovering from war injuries rent a flat on Baker Street in London... Vampires, werewolves, angels, Fallen (evil) angels, and hell hounds are real and sometimes respectable creatures in a late-Victorian London being terrorized by Jack the Ripper. It would be great if a detail orientated chap and a doctor could help solve London's strange crimes; enter Crow and Dr. J. H. Doyle. Doyle is returning from war with an injury and more than a few secrets. Crow is the self-proclaimed "Angel of London" with an interesting past of his own. Told from Doyle's perspective, readers follow the pair as they assist individuals and begrudging police inspectors solve crimes that seem to defy logic. As the smaller crimes are solved, the threat and violence of Jack the Ripper grows, is he too much even for the abilities of Crow and Doyle?
Though there is almost no romance in this novel, readers of A Marvellous Light will enjoy this paranormal, historical fantasy mystery also set in England with a cast of queer characters.The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley- In a magical and dangerous Victorian London, Thaniel Steepleton has resigned himself to a boring life as a telegraph officer for the government, but things are about to get interesting when someone breaks into his room and leaves a special pocket watch on his pillow. After a bomb goes off with a mechanism eerily similar Steepleton’s new watch, he teams up with a Japanese watchmaker who can see the future and a detective from Scotland Yard to solve the crime. With a host of a parallels from the setting to the magic, and even the boring government job, readers will find many connections between Pulley’s novel and A Marvellous Light.
Reading the Whole Collection
Readers who enjoyed A Marvellous Light may enjoy the Penny Dreadful series from the mid-2010s. Featuring classic literary characters brought to life, paranormal mysteries, and a Victorian era setting, this historical horror fantasy has many connections to Marske’s novel.
Citations
Characteristics of Fantasy novels taken from
Wyatt, N. and Saricks, J. (2019). The readers' advisory guide to genre fiction. Third edition. ALA Editions.