DISTANT MAGIC

Author: Mary Jo Putney ISBN: 0345476913 7/2007 HISTORICAL FANTASY Publisher: DEL REY
Time Period: 1700s & 1807s Malta, Britain, New York, Jamaica, Santola, France, West Africa

Jean Macrae was bom into a leading Scottish Guardian family. Her father and brother are masters of the extraordinary powers that all Guardians use to protect their homeland. But what magic Jean can muster is painful to use, and she seldom calls upon it. During a visit to Marseilles to attend a Guardian wedding, Jean meets a handsome stranger who kidnaps her, claiming the Macrae family owes him a blood debt. Her abductor, Captain Nikolai Gregorio, threatens to sell her into slavery on the Barbary Coast. Will he follow through, or as her Guardian magic subtly suggests, can his mind be changed by a woman with whom he is swiftly falling in love?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

A DISTANT MAGIC by Mary Jo Putney is a sheer delight. I have not read either of the two previous novels in this series, A KISS OF FATE and STOLEN MAGIC, and I wondered if I would be at a disadvantage reading the third book first. Sometimes without the backstory from first novels in a series, a reader can feel lost or confused, and I worried that this would be the case here. I needn't have worried. A DISTANT MAGIC is so masterfully written that the story stands alone and any reference to the Guardians or their magic is explained fully. Instead of feeling lost, I was instantly pulled into this story, and the only thing I lost was hours as they sped past! And that was a price well paid for such pleasure!

It is a rare gift, indeed, for an author to write a book based on a social movement that is both entertaining and informative, but that is exactly what Mary Jo Putney has done in A DISTANT MAGIC. I learned so much about the abolitionist movement and slavery from this story, that I feel as if I've not only enjoyed a wondrous romantic tale, but been given a history lesson as well.

This is an intelligent story and the plot is fairly complex. Jean, a woman who comes from a Guardian family, is kidnapped by a man who feels he has a score to settle with her father. But when Jean and Nikolai come together, the debt becomes secondary to other, more pressing, issues. Some of their first difficulties, like a terrible storm that hits while they are at sea, must be dealt with immediately. Other dilemmas, like dealing with two hearts quickly falling in love, require more finesse. The interplay between these characters is enthralling. I fell in love with them as they traveled through time on a quest to end one of the most abhorrent practices the world has ever seen. Jean and Nikolai, along with Adia and the Guardians, prove that it only takes the conviction of a few to make the world a better place for all.

Brimming with wit and wisdom, time travel and magic, Mary Jo Putney's A DISTANT MAGIC is an enchanting tale. This is a book that I know I will read again and again-and enjoy every time.

Kay James