Griffin, Kate -- The Minority Council

Fourth book about Matthew Swift, recently-dead sorcerer and secret servant (or something) of magical London. This volume is considerably more sedate than the first three; we actually get to see Swift patrol, plan, negotiate, recover, rest, and maneuver in between bouts of getting the absolute crap beaten out of him. In fact, he gets nearly a third of the way through the book before something overpoweringly awful gets on his tail, and he has significant respites after that too. Somebody even brings him coffee and sandwiches a couple of times.

With this leisure, we get to see a story told without the all-fireworks-all-the-time mode. Good news: it's even better this way. The author continues to demonstrate a fine grasp of what makes magic work, the emotional roots which get metaphored (from one side) and reified (from the other) into a convincing fantasy theme. (In this case: adolescent temper, and the logic of addiction -- finally putting right what Buffy season 6 got wrong.) The supporting cast sparkles (yes, sometimes literally) and then lands with a solid or delicate impact when needed; nobody is underdrawn. I was already sold on this series, but now I am sold on it continuing as long as the author wants to write it.


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