![]() Odd things will happen, evidently, when mortals join forces or contend with fairy folk. That tactic achieves better results when a British military hero strays into a remote domicile ruled by similar domestic magic (in “The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse”). Elsewhere, Mary Queen of Scots, while imprisoned by her rival, England’s Elizabeth I, plots revenge through the medium of pictorial embroidery: Still, Elizabeth survives, and Mary loses her head (in “Antickes and Frets”). ![]() ![]() In the amusing title story, gentleman sorcerer Jonathan Strange discovers during a country visit that “the magic of wild creatures and the magic of women” are indeed a match for his own. In “John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner,” the legendary magician the Raven King (aka Uskglass) tramples on a humble woodsman’s property while hunting, and is himself humbled when his victim enlists various saints to redress his grievance. ![]() Two of that book’s major characters make vivid reappearances here. Materials from British folklore are reworked with beguiling narrative energy and mischievous wit in this first collection from the English author of the wonderful adult fantasy Jonathan Strange and Mr. ![]()
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