The Stolen Child
I recently had the pleasure to read The Stolen Child, book 8 in the Stranger Magics series by Ash Fitzsimmons. Not having read any of the previous instalments, I dropped into this book cold, but was excited to find out exactly what it is about Ash’s writing that has lead to such rave reviews. The answer? In a word, treatment.
If, like me, you enjoy the fantasy genre and have read it widely, you will no doubt be aware of all the tropes, motifs and clichés that keep turning up again and again. In fact, how many times must one read about yet another yokel getting whisked off to fulfil a prophecy or cookie cutter high-borns getting whimsical about breaking free of their despotic elders before the sheen on the whole adventure starts to tarnish?
Personally, I think bare wood is peeping out from under the peeling paint far too often nowadays. I’m sure you can imagine why this became one of the reasons my passion for fantasy waned for several years. The search for clever, unique and original genre breaking stories was beginning to approach the proportions of a fantasy quest in itself. After all, there are only so many molds that can be broken and yesterday’s fresh rapidly becomes tomorrow’s stale.
This is, of course, only exacerbated by the commercial pressure placed on big publishing houses. When they see that a particular book or kind of story is currently enjoying good sales, it’s natural for them to try and duplicate this newly discovered ‘winning formula’ again and again to maximise income, but sadly, all too often, the result is generic, formulaic, procedural trash.
With all this said, it doesn’t have to be like that and a few insightful, talented and not least of all brave souls have set out to prove it. In the vanguard, the indie author Ash Fitzsimmons with her much loved ‘Stranger Magics’ series.
…it speaks volumes for the author’s skill…
I can well imagine the author flinching when I say, this book does indeed re-use the same old tropes we are all so familiar with, but she needn’t. At the time of writing, an average star rating across the series of 4.28 on Goodreads shows that many readers believe she has got the execution spot on and indeed I have to agree. This book was a pleasure to read. By focusing on treatment, the author manages to draw the reader into a world that is at once both familiar and intriguing.
- Characters grow and develop.
- Dialogue is natural.
- The brief descriptions add just enough texture.
- Spell casting is spectacular.
- The action stays crisp and to the point.
Obviously, I wouldn’t recommend anyone jump into this series at the grand finale like I did, but it speaks volumes for the author’s skill that, despite having no knowledge of previous events, I still found it fun. Even those tropes I belaboured earlier on have all been shifted a step, or two, to the left to keep the reader on their toes.
All this said, I have rated this book 4 out of 5 stars because, even though it gets very close, it isn’t perfect.
- Sitting somewhere between middle grade and young adult, the occasionally very vulgar language used by certain adult characters, though never gratuitous, sat oddly next to the 10 year old protagonist.
- The ever growing cast of supporting characters, which I suspect serves partly as a kind of ‘greatest hits’ role call for readers familiar with earlier books, can be quite intimidating for first time readers.
- Conversely, there appears to be a lot of re-capping of earlier action which, though providing perfect backstory for first time readers like me, might feel a bit like unnecessary padding to those who have read other instalments.
- Though a clear explanation of why is indeed provided in the story, I found the lead protagonist a little over powered for my tastes.
- Though perfectly executed, Low Fantasy, Portal Worlds and Soft Magic systems aren’t really my thing. Even more, the concept of societies of super powerful magic wielders living in hiding in plain sight within normal society is generally a big red flag for me.
Clearly, if none of this bothers you, then you are going to love this book, but perhaps you’ll get even more enjoyment out of it by starting at the very beginning with book one and working your way through to this instalment to avoid any spoilers.
If all this has sparked your interest, you should dive into the series straight away, but before you rush off to get your copy, please leave a short message to let me know you found my review helpful, or at least interesting.
Even better, if you have already read any of the books in the Stranger Magics series, let me know if you agree with my assessment or if you think I have misrepresented something, but do remember NO SPOILERS! We don’t want to ruin it for others.
Find out more about Ash Fitzsimmons and her books at: