Time’s thievish progress to eternity.”
— Shakespeare, Sonnet LXXVII
1 A New Home
After
swallowing the bitter-tasting remedy that would suppress my force field, I gathered
every scrap of my remaining bravado and painted it across my features like a
mask. I hoped it would last until I was alone. The one thing that could make today worse would be stepping into the Dimension Cell having shown my audience
how scared I really was. Xytovia only knew how it had come to this. I swallowed
again, willing my heart to stop beating so fast. The sensation of my magic
dissolving was like an icy fog swirling inside my head, so cold it made my
teeth ache.
With a
little more flourishing than was strictly necessary, Hilton Vierre, the senior
magician, adjusted his cuffs and prepared to create the necessary spell. He was
a pompous fool. The accuracy of the symbols was what mattered, not how stylish
his hand movements looked while he drew them. There were no reporters here. Who
was he trying to impress? I glanced at his deputy, Ava Pationne, a tall
dark-haired magician with refined features. Surely not.
Hilton lowered
his arms, and the symbols glowed purple and silver where they’d been engraved
at chest height on the bark of the largest tree. A shimmering doorway rose up
from the dark-blue earth. I averted my gaze. I knew what was on the other side.
The doorway led to an empty square chamber, ten feet wide by ten feet tall,
sustained by the living magic in the trees, and magically programmed to exist
in a never-ending time loop. It was the doorway to my future.
At least
my family had remained in Vayl City. I was glad they weren’t permitted to make
the trip into the xyleander woods to see my sentence carried out. It was a lot
easier to hide my feelings now that I was alone with the six officiating
magicians. My mouth curled. Six. That was twice the number they needed. Even if
I put my mind to it, I couldn’t overpower more than two of them. No, they wanted
to dine out on the story of how they were here when I walked through that door.
I had no
false modesty about anything, and certainly not my magical ability or my notoriety.
This day, the day I was to be finally imprisoned, had been kept secret from the
citizens of Vayl because public opinion regarding my guilt remained divided, and
the vote to condemn me had been passed with a majority of just two. I’d spoken
passionately in my own defence, arguing that I was a victim of circumstance and
not a criminal. There had been calls for a recount. There had been a petition
signed by some very well-known citizens, magicians and cotidians alike. My face
and my name were everywhere: in newspapers, on flyers. I’d heard someone was planning
to write my biography.
The only
recent likeness of me had been produced by Vayl City College a few months earlier
in readiness for my graduation. If I’d known what the likeness would eventually
be used for and how many people would see it, I would never have posed that way.
Even to my own eyes, I looked arrogant, but I’d received a lot of letters expressing
support. There had even been a few declarations of love.
During the
rare moments we’d succeeded in ignoring the ongoing trial to talk about more ordinary
things, my brother had teased me about the love letters. I’d pretended to be flattered,
but in fact, I was more than a little annoyed. I hated being judged on the
basis of my looks and a few sensational newspaper articles.
Recalling
yesterday’s editorial in the Vayl City Chronicle, a publication known for its exaggerated headlines,
I scowled. The reporters were not something I would miss. Kellan
Bavois, his dark eyes flashing with a defiance undiminished by the long legal process,
continues to protest his innocence. It is this reporter’s understanding that no
further interviews will be granted before his imprisonment, though the Board of
Mages refuses to confirm the date. Dare we hope that the authorities might listen
to reason and give this intriguing young man the benefit of the doubt? Watch this
space!
I was all
out of hope. According to the laws of the land, a majority was a majority, no
matter how small, and the board was determined to uphold those laws. I was
going to be made an example of. My sentencing had been intentionally postponed
by a week. A week during which I’d turned seventeen years of age and become
eligible for the maximum one-hundred-year Dimension Cell term.
I stood
straighter and tried to ignore the disorientation inside my head. For the first
time in almost five years, I had no magic. I’d always used magic instinctively,
right from the day my spark had ignited, and its loss was jarring, impacting my
senses as if the world had gone dark or silent. When I tried to project my force
field, the stupid dizziness increased. I curled my toes inside my boots and
gritted my teeth, staring at the ground until my vision cleared.
As expected,
the symbols stitched onto my shirt collar and cuffs had stopped glowing. My mother
had created a complicated and unique design made from all of the various symbols
that signified protection, ignoring me when I told her there was no point. Without
my magic, they were nothing more than embroidered shapes.
It was
early morning. Fat drops of water glinted on the waxy surface of the xyleander
leaves, evidence of the overnight rainfall. There was a chill in the air and a pale
quality to the daylight. Autumn sunshine slanted through the trees’ branches,
highlighting their distinctive purple colour. Winter was a few weeks away.
There would
be no seasons inside the cell, no colours, and no change in temperature. Each
day would be spent surrounded by four blank walls and only my thoughts for
company. Every morning I would be returned to the same moment. Over and over. Physically
unchanged. Whereas outside the cell, time would continue to pass. I looked at
the wet leaves, wondering if I would forget what purple looked like, or the way
my favourite drink tasted, or the crunch of frost underneath my boots on a cold
morning. What about my sister’s smile? My best friend’s terrible jokes? I
scowled again. Don’t get emotional. Sentiment won’t help anything.
“Open your
shirt pocket,” said Hilton.
“I was
searched before we left,” I said. I pushed my black hair off my forehead. It
was too long. Scheduling a haircut hadn’t seemed important.
“You misunderstand
me,” said Hilton. He extended his hand, opening his fingers to reveal a small
polished crystal, round and flat and sparkling with magic. Layers of intricate symbols
had been carved into its centre, too many for me to decipher. His voice softened
in an imitation of sympathy, but his eyes remained cold. “This goes into your pocket. Had you forgotten?”
I had. I
stared at the Death Charm with sudden loathing.
“If you
wouldn’t mind,” added Hilton, meeting my gaze. The man’s anticipation was
almost palpable. He expected my resolve to crumble at the reminder of what I was
facing.
“I wouldn’t
mind at all,” I said, holding out my hand. Hilton made a tiny magical cut in the
centre of my palm—enough to release one dark red drop of blood. He pressed the
crystal against it, and I watched with morbid fascination as the crystal changed
colour, giving off a steady hum of energy only I could feel. It set my teeth on
edge. It made my stomach clench.
After the
drop of blood had been absorbed, I tucked the Death Charm into my pocket with careful
fingers. To my relief, I didn’t fumble the buttons, even though inside I was quaking.
When I spoke, I kept my voice level. “It’s not as if I ever plan to use it.”
“Oh, we’ll
see about that,” said Hilton.
I was so
annoyed, I barely heard Ava’s disapproving murmur. “Hilton.”
There was
no way I was going to let him get the upper hand.
“Who’s ‘we’?”
I said. I hid my anger behind a small smirk. “You won’t. Not unless you plan to live to the
age of…” I paused. “One hundred and seventy? Seventy-five?”
A flush
of red climbed from Hilton’s neck onto his cheeks. His iron-grey hair seemed to
bristle with indignation. “I’m forty-six,” he said.
I pretended
to be shocked. “Excuse me. My mistake. Perhaps you’ve been working too hard.
The stress of the trial and all. You’ll still be dead long before you find out
what happens to me.”
“I don’t
care what happens to you!”
Arching
an eyebrow, I refrained from answering, choosing to let the man’s red face and
raised voice speak for him.
“Enough,”
said Ava. “Kellan Bavois, in accordance with the laws of Vayl, you have been
tried and found guilty of the murder of your grandmother, Opal Bavois, and you
will serve one hundred years in this Dimension Cell as punishment. The board
grants you mercy in the form of a Death Charm. You may use the aforementioned charm
to escape the cell at any time.”
I just
managed not to scoff. Mercy. Right. Whatever helps you sleep at night.
“Do you
wish to make a final statement for the record?” she asked.
I shook
my head. You’ll be dead long before you find out what happens
to me seemed like a decent
enough parting shot. I was tempted to tell them I was innocent, but I’d said it
many times already. It would make no difference. I wanted it to be over. I wanted
to escape the semicircle of magicians with their curious eyes. This would be the
last moment for a very long time when I could still choose for myself. Suddenly,
it seemed important that I enter the cell of my own accord rather than at the
request of Hilton Vierre. I turned on my heel to face the shimmering doorway,
and after barely a second of hesitation, I walked through.
The chamber
on the other side was quiet, unnaturally so. I huffed a quick breath, reassured
when the sound emerged as normal. My mouth lifted in a wry smile. At least I could
talk to myself.
Cautiously,
I took a couple of steps, looking left and right and up and down. The walls were
uniformly beige except for a faint shadow indicating where they met the floor
and the ceiling. My neck and shoulders prickled as if I’d been touched by a
spell, and I spun around to find that the doorway had disappeared. They hadn’t
wasted any time.
I reached
out a hand. The wall was cool, smooth, and depressingly solid. It felt like stone.
It wasn’t, of course. It was magical energy that had been made to resemble stone,
and I wouldn’t have been able to punch my way out even if the wall had looked and
felt like tissue paper. But the stone ensured I would never mistake it for
anything but the prison it was. It was lucky I’d never been claustrophobic, but
even so, the lack of any visible exit was unnerving.
When I checked,
I discovered the entire cell was the same. The floor was just as solid as the walls.
Sleeping was going to be uncomfortable. I was dressed in a dark green shirt and
a pair of black trousers, and I had no coat or sweater I could use for a
pillow. I supposed I could choose to stay awake. After all, each morning the time
loop would reset to the moment I’d entered. I wouldn’t age. I wouldn’t die from
lack of sleep, or from thirst or starvation. I wouldn’t run out of air. My punishment
was complete isolation and the knowledge that everyone I cared about would carry
on living without me.
Dimension
Cells were a new kind of magic. I was the third prisoner to have earned the rather
dubious honour of inhabiting one, and the youngest, and the one with the longest
sentence. Never let it be said that Kellan Bavois does anything
by halves. I shook my head
and pushed the thought away. I sounded like one of the newspaper editorials I
hated. I paced the cell, getting to know its dimensions while checking in vain
for weak spots with an occasional kick. The buckles on my boots clinked together.
I told myself I could do this. One day at a time.
— Meister Eckhart
After a long winter in lockdown, spring has almost arrived in South East England, and the later sunsets and warmer temperatures are very welcome 🌸. It feels like a good time for my annual blog post about stories with amazing beginnings. You know the ones I mean—stories that are immediately intriguing, and you just have to keep reading to find out what happens. Here are ten more YA books I added to my TBR list because I loved the way their stories opened. I hope you enjoy my choices, and thank you very much for visiting my blog today! I wish you happy reading for the rest of 2021 💕.
Writing update: Lost in Magic is going well and remains on track for publication in the first half of 2021. I hope to have a confirmed release date soon.
“The memory has as many
moods as the temper, and shifts its scenery like a diorama.”
― George Eliot
This quote sums up the protagonist of my latest book in more ways than one! It’s a challenge to write a character whose perception of the world and himself shifts back and forth, especially when the setting is entirely fictional.
An imaginary world has few limitations when you’re making up the story as you go along. In one sense, unlimited options are great because you never run out of things to write about. However, the story still needs to hang together in terms of its mood, tone, and visual imagery. That’s when it helps to have an aesthetic. And, let’s be honest, they are a lot of fun to make!
Here are four poems, including Robert Frost’s masterpiece, that capture the mystery and wonder a little snow can bring. The photos were all taken this morning, and as you can see, my cat was happy to come exploring too! Thank you very much for visiting my blog today, and I hope you enjoy the poetry 💕.
Writing update: Lost in
Magic is going well. Kellan is getting himself into a whole lot of trouble
though!
It powders all the wood,
It fills with alabaster
wool
The wrinkles of the road.
It makes an even face
Of mountain and of plain,
—
Unbroken forehead from
the east
Unto the east again.
It reaches to the fence,
It wraps it, rail by
rail,
Till it is lost in
fleeces;
It flings a crystal veil
― Emily Dickinson
Lovely and chaste like
smooth white sand.
A veil of wonder laced in
light
Falling Gently on a
winter’s night.
Graceful beauty raining
down
Giving magic to the
lifeless ground.
Each snowflake like a
falling star
Smiling beauty that’s
spun afar.
Till earth is dressed in
a robe of white
Unspoken poem the hush of
night
― Linda A. Copp
Turning tree stumps into
snow men,
And houses into birthday
cakes,
And spreading sugar over
lakes.
Smooth and clean and
frosty white,
The world looks good
enough to bite.
That’s the season to be
young
Catching snowflakes on
your tongue.
― Ogden Nash
His house is in the
village though;
He will not see me
stopping here
To watch his woods fill
up with snow.
My little horse must
think it queer
To stop without a
farmhouse near
Between the woods and
frozen lake
The darkest evening of
the year.
He gives his harness
bells a shake
To ask if there is some
mistake.
The only other sound’s
the sweep
Of easy wind and downy
flake.
The woods are lovely, dark
and deep.
But I have promises to
keep,
And miles to go before I
sleep,
And miles to go before I
sleep.
― Robert Frost
The door to 2021 is finally ajar, beckoning us toward a New Year and new opportunities. It’s difficult to look back on 2020 without comparing it to the year we were expecting (and most definitely did not get), and some things remain impossible to plan while there is so much uncertainty.
However, the good news is
that reading and writing are two activities mostly unaffected by social
distancing measures, so it seems like a good time to set myself some goals and
look back on my favourite fictional journeys from this year. Today’s blog post
will focus on books past, present, and future 📚.
“This was in the white of
the year,
That was in the green,
Drifts were as difficult
then to think
As daisies now to be
seen.
Looking back is best that
is left,
Or if it be before,
Retrospection is
prospect's half,
Sometimes almost more.”
— Emily
Dickinson
I have to hold my hands up and admit I spent a lot less time reading and writing this year. Not by choice, I hasten to add! There were just too many other challenges. But I have some very happy memories of taking my Kindle into the garden and reading next to the purple roses while my cat made the most of the summer sunshine. I discovered Temeraire the dragon and the Lunar Chronicles this year—I am quite a late reader for both series, but I really enjoyed them. And of course, Engraved in Magic was released at the end of July, continuing the Beyond Androva series from Art’s point of view.
“If you always try your
best
Then you’ll never have to
wonder
About what you could have
done
If you’d summoned all
your thunder.
And if your best
Was not as good
As you hoped it would be,
You still could say,
‘I gave today
All that I had in me.’”
— Barbara
Vance
Today, I’m working on Lost in Magic, the next Beyond Androva story. Kellan, the narrator, has just had a fight with Galen, and I’m wondering how I can resolve it in such a way that they don’t become enemies. As you can see from the photo, my cat has settled on the sofa next to me so she can put a helpful paw on my keyboard when I’m supposed to make her dinner 😄. Later this evening, I’ll continue reading The Queen's Gambit, by Walter Tevis, my most recent book purchase.
“Try, as best you can,
not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.
If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your
feet
Again on fresh pastures
of promise,
Where the air will be
kind
And blushed with beginning.”
— John
O'Donoghue
If things go according to plan (and I hope they do!), Lost in Magic will be released in the first half of 2021, leaving me free to choose my next story. I don’t know yet if Beyond Androva will be a trilogy or a longer series because it depends how Kellan’s story ends. I want to make sure all is well on Xytovia before I move on to one of the other worlds. In terms of reading, one of my first pre-orders for 2021 is A Vow So Bold and Deadly (The Cursebreaker Series #3), by Brigid Kemmerer—released in the UK on January 26th. I discovered the first book when I wrote an earlier blog post on fairy tale retellings: here
The holiday season is
fast approaching, and it’s going to be quite different from previous years
(much like the rest of 2020). However, I usually get the chance to spend more
time reading and writing during the holidays, and I’m looking forward to it
this year more than ever. With that in mind, I’ve been searching for some YA books
with a Christmas or winter theme to add to my TBR list, and today’s blog post
describes my three choices. They’re a mix of fantasy and contemporary, fairy
tales, snow and ice, parallel lives, and romance. I can’t wait to start reading!
Thank you very much for
visiting my blog today, and I wish you happy holidays and especially happy
reading!
(Writing update: I’m currently working on Lost in Magic,
the third book in the Beyond Androva series. I don’t have a publication date
yet, but Kellan’s story is going well.)
Tagline: Only one can
be queen.
Description: Sixteen-year-old
Mina is motherless, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has
never beat with love for anyone. In fact, it has never beat at all, for her
father cut it out and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to
Whitespring Castle, Mina forms a plan: win the king's heart with her beauty,
become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she'll have to
become a stepmother.
Fifteen-year-old Lynet
looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician
created her out of snow in the dead queen's image. Lynet would rather be like
her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina, but when her father makes her queen of
the southern territories, Mina starts to look at Lynet with something like
hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do—and who to be—in order to win back the
only mother she's ever known… or else defeat her once and for all.
Tagline: A retelling
of The Nutcracker Ballet with a dash of The Pied Piper.
Description: Clara
Stahlbaum has her future perfectly planned: marry the handsome pianist, Johann
Kahler, and settle down to a life full of music. But all that changes when Clara receives a
mysterious and magical nutcracker.
Whisked away to his world—an
enchanted empire of beautiful palaces, fickle fairies, enormous rats, and a
prince—Clara must face a magician who uses music as magic… and the future she
thought she wanted.
Tagline: Sliding Doors
meets To All the Boys I've Loved Before in a sweet, smart holiday romance about
a girl who decides to stop letting her anxiety stand in the way of true love.
Description: The average
person makes 35,000 decisions every single day. That's about 34,999 too many
for Paige Collins, who lives in debilitating fear of making the wrong choice… That's
why when Paige is presented with two last-minute options for Christmas
vacation, she's paralyzed by indecision. Should she go with her best friend
(and longtime crush) Fitz to his family's romantic mountain cabin? Or should
she accompany her mom to New York, a city Paige has spent her whole life
dreaming about?
Just when it seems like
Paige will crack from the pressure of choosing, fate steps in—in the form of a
slippery grocery store floor—and Paige's life splits into two very different
parallel paths. One path leads to New York where Paige falls for the city… and
the charms of her unexpected tour guide. The other leads to the mountains where
Paige might finally get her chance with Fitz… until her anxiety threatens to
ruin everything. However, before Paige gets her happy ending in either destiny,
she'll have to face the truth about her struggle with anxiety—and learn that
you don't have to be perfect to deserve true love.
I have always loved stories that contain magic, and it was probably inevitable that fantasy would be my genre of choice as a writer. It’s been a while since I did an A to Z, so today’s post is a lighthearted list inspired by magic in fiction. I’ve tried to include a variety of sources—books (of course!), film, television, and even some folklore. Is there anything on the list that you hadn’t heard of? Would your choices be the same as mine? I hope you enjoy it, and thank you very much for visiting my blog today 💕.
Amulets are typically small objects worn or carried for protection, and their long and varied history dates back to prehistoric times. The “magic” in the amulet comes from what it’s made of, or its shape, or what’s written on it, or the particular way it was constructed. A couple of great fictional examples include the glass snowdrop in Stardust by Neil Gaiman, and the Amulet of Samarkand, the first book in the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud.
The picture shows a Wedjat Eye from Ancient Egypt, a symbol associated with both Horus the sky god and Ra the sun god. Amulets with the eye—in this case a sandal buckle—were believed to bring protection, healing, and regeneration. (Horus lost his eye in a fight with his uncle, but it was magically restored.)
The Bifrost is from Norse mythology. It’s a rainbow bridge that connects Asgard, the world of the gods, with Midgard, the world of humanity. Heimdall guards the bridge and controls who enters and leaves Asgard. The Bifrost also appears as a visually spectacular special effect in the Marvel films, functioning as an obstacle and an enabler for various characters.
Healing crystals and stones have been around for thousands of years. The Ancient Sumerians (4,000 years BC) used crystals in their magic formulas, and “crystal” comes from Ancient Greece and the word for ice. Clear quartz crystal was thought to be water that had frozen so completely it would never thaw.
The picture is lapis lazuli, a crystal prized by the Sumerians for its ability to heal a wide variety of ailments. In terms of crystals in fiction, some of my favourite examples include the Elfstone created by J. R. R. Tolkien (it became Arwen’s Evenstar necklace in the Lord of the Rings films), lightsabers in the Star Wars universe, Marvel’s infinity stones, and the Seventh Tower series by Garth Nix.
“If I own that dagger, I control the Dark One. If I kill the Dark One with the dagger, I take his powers.”
—Rumplestiltskin to his son, Baelfire
Appearing in the television
series Once Upon A Time, the dagger contains a curse that grants immense
magical knowledge and power. The name of the Dark One is inscribed on the blade.
Anyone in possession of the dagger has the ability to control the Dark One, and
if the Dark One is killed with the dagger, the curse passes to the murderer, and
the name on the blade changes. It makes for an interesting plot device that the
dagger is the source of the Dark One’s strength but also makes them vulnerable.
King Arthur, a legendary English
monarch from the late fifth century, has been linked to two swords. The first
was a sword embedded in stone that could only be drawn by the rightful king
(Arthur). The second was given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake after the
first sword was broken. Both swords have been associated with the name Excalibur in
subsequent stories, and the sword is usually considered to be of magical origin
and/or to possess magical powers. (The Dark One Dagger was found to be part of
Excalibur’s blade in a later series of Once Upon A Time.)
Myths about sentient
weapons may have started because the process of sword making seemed magical to ancient
civilisations. A lump of earth being transformed into a shiny but deadly object
like a sword would have seemed a lot like magic!
The feather of Ma’at (an
Egyptian goddess who personified truth and justice) was used to judge the dead.
Hearts were weighed against a single ostrich feather in the Hall of Two Truths.
If the heart was lighter that the feather, the deceased was granted eternal
life in the realm of the dead. If the heart was heavier, the outcome was rather
less positive. The feather was the reason hearts were left in Egyptian mummies
while the other organs were removed. Before being judged, the dead had to make
their “negative confessions” and list all the bad deeds they didn’t commit.
I guess the more you had to confess, the better your chances…
Greek Fire is an
incendiary weapon that water can’t extinguish. I’ve included it as a magical
item (in spite of the fact that it did once exist) because of its fictional use
in ghost fighting in the Lockwood & Co. series by Jonathan Stroud. Also,
the formula for creating Greek Fire as used by the Byzantine Empire in the
seventh century has been lost to time, and no one today has been able to
successfully recreate it.
Specifically, Rapunzel's
magic hair from the 2010 Disney film. Taking its power from the golden flower
that healed Rapunzel’s mother, the queen, it’s very long, super strong, and has
the ability to heal anything and everything. Including old age, if old age can
be seen as something that needs healing! (Mother Gothel certainly thinks so…)
Harry Potter’s Invisibility
Cloak is an incredibly useful magical object that plays a role throughout the whole
series. It enables Harry (and therefore the reader) to discover important plot
points that other characters would never reveal in front of him. It’s not
infallible either, as we see when Draco Malfoy realises Harry is spying on him
beneath the cloak. And in the final book, the cloak is revealed to be one of
the Deathly Hallows. The special effects in the films make the cloak appear very
convincing!
I thought Tom Riddle’s
Diary was the most interesting out of the seven horcruxes (Harry excepted!) not
just because it was the first that Voldemort created, but also because it
allowed the reader to “meet” Voldemort while he was still Tom Riddle. When I first
read the book, and the letters in Tom Marvolo Riddle rearranged
themselves to spell I am Lord Voldemort, I was on the edge of my seat!
How does a witch or
wizard get around if they don’t want to apparate or use the Floo Network? They hail
the Knight Bus, as Harry did in The Prisoner of Azkaban. The bus was apparently
commissioned in 1865, taking inspiration from the Muggle bus service of the
time. It’s invisible to Muggles, and it causes other objects to dodge out of
its way. That’s a trick that would make the traffic on my journey to work a lot
easier to navigate…
Aladdin’s story is
closely associated with the Arabian Nights (One Thousand and One Nights) even
though it wasn’t actually part of the original Arabic text. It was added later
in an eighteenth-century French translation. In most film adaptations, the genie
of the lamp is a much bigger star of the story than the lamp itself. Have you
ever wondered what you’d wish for if the lamp (hypothetically) came into your
possession? Would you use one of your wishes to grant the genie their freedom?
Mirrors are the perfect
example of an everyday item that can become a credible magical object. They can
be windows. They can reveal or hide. They can be used to communicate. Some of
my favourite fictional examples include the mirror used by Snow White’s
stepmother (who’s the fairest of them all?), the mirror in Dracula by Bram Stoker
(“this time there could be no error, for the man was close to me… But there was
no reflection of him in the mirror!”), and the Mirror of Erised in Harry Potter
(haven’t we all wondered what we’d see if we looked into it?).
The necklace I’ve chosen is
from Arthurian legend, and it was given to Sir Pelleas by the Lady of the Lake.
Sir Pelleas was a Knight of the Round Table said to have been rescued from an unrequited
love by Nimue (the Lady of the Lake in many versions of the legend). She came
across Sir Pelleas after his heart had been broken. Using magic, Nimue made the
other lady love Sir Pelleas while he would be cured, feeling only hate for her
in return. Sir Pelleas later fell in love with Nimue, and they married. The necklace
contained an enchantment to make its wearer “unfathomably loved.”
I had to include this
one! Arguably the most powerful artefact in Tolkien’s fictional realm of Middle-earth,
it was infused with Sauron’s evil intentions and almost impossible to destroy.
You only have to look at how Déagol became Gollum to understand the ring’s
ability to distort and corrupt its bearer.
Given the role of portals
in my own books, there was only one possible choice for this letter 🙂. Portals, or
magical doorways, are exciting and unpredictable. Anything and anyone could be
on the other side. As a reader, the first portals I discovered were in the Chronicles
of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. The wardrobe in The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe is probably the most famous one, but the characters were able to
go to Narnia through other doorways too. I think the wardrobe is the most
memorable because when I was eight years old, it seemed almost possible it
could happen to me.
I don’t know why, but magic
and quills seem to be a frequent combination in storytelling. Perhaps it’s
because the traditional image of a magician in a fantasy setting might seem a
bit strange if there were a plastic biro on the table (you know, next to the
parchment 😉).
There are two
particularly memorable quills in the Harry Potter books. The Blood Quill is
used by Professor Umbridge to deliver a nasty form of detention. Painful
magical cuts appear on the back of the user’s hand to mirror the lines they are
writing. “I must not tell lies” in Harry’s case. The Quick Quotes Quill is used
by journalist Rita Skeeter to take notes during her interviews, sensationalising
the words of her interviewees to the point that they bear little resemblance to
the truth. “My eyes aren’t ‘glistening with the ghosts of my past!’”
Riptide is another
magical sword, this time belonging to Percy Jackson in the world created by
Rick Riordan. The sword is made from Celestial Bronze, a material that is only
deadly to gods and demigods (and a few other non-human characters). If you’re
an ordinary mortal, Riptide will pass straight through you as if the sword were
an illusion. Percy is able to keep it in his pocket as a pen, turning it back into a
sword by taking off the cap.
Steles are tools used by
Shadowhunters in the books by Cassandra Clare. Made from the heavenly metal
adamas, a stele looks a bit like a kind of wand, and it glows when being used
to draw runes onto the skin. These runes grant the supernatural abilities that Shadowhunters
depend on in their fight against demons.
I guess this one is more of
a story enabler than a magical item (unless you include the Time Turner used by
Hermione Granger). As a reader, I’m a big fan of time travel, though I do prefer
it when the characters go back instead of forward. I love the chance to learn
about the past through the eyes of a modern-day character. My favourites as a
child were Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce and Can I Get
There by Candlelight? by Jean Doty. More recently, I’ve really enjoyed the Outlander
books by Diana Gabaldon.
This one comes from
Scottish folklore and refers to a special kind of water that has magical healing
properties. The water itself is not magical, but the method used to collect it makes
it so. It must be taken “from under a bridge, over which the living pass and
the dead are carried, brought in the dawn or twilight to the house of a sick
person, without the bearer’s speaking, either in going or returning.”
I suppose on reflection,
the Vanishing Cabinet as described in Harry Potter is like a portal, although
it only works if you have two of them. A person who steps into one of the cabinets
will instantly emerge from the other. Draco Malfoy repaired a Vanishing Cabinet
at Hogwarts that was linked with another at Borgin and Burkes, allowing a group
of Death Eaters into the school. The resulting confrontation with Dumbledore
forced Severus Snape to make good on both his promise to Dumbledore and the Unbreakable
Vow he made with Narcissa Malfoy, Draco’s mother.
No magical list would be
complete without a reference to wands! The mention of wands in fiction dates as
far back as the eighth century BC, when Homer described the use of magic “rods”
by Hermes, Athena, and Circe in The Iliad and The Odyssey. There
are so many fictional characters that are associated with wands, heroes and
villains both, from Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother to the White Witch in The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. And I will hold my hand up and admit that
I do own a Harry Potter wand from when I visited the Studio Tour a couple of
years ago (Severus Snape’s).
In Chinese mythology,
Xirang (Breathing Earth, Living Earth) is a magical substance with the ability
to continuously grow, something that can be extremely helpful in stopping flood
water, for example, or creating land for farming.
Yggdrasil is an enormous ash
tree from Norse mythology that is supposed to connect the Nine Realms. It was pretty
much considered to be the centre of the known universe. The idea of “warden
trees” continued right up to the nineteenth century. They were believed to
bring good luck to the land on which they grew.
The thunderbolt was a
weapon made for Zeus by the Cyclops in the war against the Titans, a dynastic conflict
that ended when Zeus killed his father, the Titan Cronus. Before you feel too
sorry for Cronus, legend has it that Cronus had previously seized control from
his own father and had become so paranoid that his own children would one day
do the same to him that he ate them all! Zeus, the youngest child, was hidden by
his mother until he was old enough to return, rescue his siblings (who were
growing inside Cronus) and wage war. The never-ending bucketful of thunderbolts
proved to be a deciding factor in Zeus’s victory.
Thank you for reading!
