An easy, accessible, fun, quick read...

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	• Od Magic Patricia A. McKillip Ace Trade, 2006 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 27 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

pretty good

not my favourite by her, but decent enough in it's own right. the story follows a guy who likes plants (as well as a wizard and a princess, three perspectives to tell the same story, from different angles) who is asked by the founder of a magic school to be a school gardener. he accepts and goes off, finding out that he has magical abilities himself.

brenden, the guy, isn't the typical protagonist. he's extremely introverted and nearing the end of the novel he runs away from someone who is chasing him, which runs contrary to the usual heroes we get who 'face their fears' so to speak. and yet, though he is so timid, the author plays this off as almost a good thing. it isn't stated as such in the novel, but parallels are drawn and statements are made that commend this type of personality. we find out that brendan is actually very powerful, and for no other reason than he takes the time to listen.

if looking at this book symbolically, magic can be associated with thought, or free will. the king keeps tight control over what magic is acceptable and what is not, and all magic must be used for the benefit of the kingdom or it is not allowed. kind of like 1984, but not as intense.

i found the wrapping up of the story to be a bit rushed information- wise, it could have been fleshed out a bit more. but this author is one of the better ones i've come across and knows how to do what she does well, so while the information moves... quickly... the story itself is not rushed and there is a pleasant flow making the amount of information she gives acceptable from the readers perspective.

as i say, not my favourite by her, but worth the read never the less.

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Typical McKillip

My introduction to Patricia McKillip was the "Riddle Master" series. At every trip to the book store thereafter, I looked for her additional works. Eventually it occured to me to try Amazon. I've collected all her books now and I've enjoyed each of them. "Od Magic" is, to some extent, predictable in plot but the author's fluid, graceful style makes the reading a joy. Her characters have texture and complexity even though they seem to follow a formula.

After you've read a few of McKillip's works you'll find few surprises in the rest of her collection. However, during those times when you read just for pleasure, you really don't want surprises. McKillip never disappoints.

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An easy, accessible, fun, quick read...

Well! This is an easy, enjoyable book guided lightly in equal parts by both simple plot and simple character. It is finely written, but it is not a "deep" book -- in fact, it reads like young adult fiction. (It may be that it is, I didn't check before I read it.) I had the quintessential "nice time" reading it -- but it never became interesting, challenging, or complex enough for it to have much staying power. Still, Patricia McKillip has a place in my heart for producing pleasant, engaging, simple stories. Or, I should say, simply STORIES: unpretentious and pleasurable to read. All her books are like warm milk, or a vanilla wafer. :-)

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Not her best

I feel rather guilty writing a so-so review when it seems that so many others loved this book, but I was a little disappointed. With McKillip it seems to be hit or miss. I've books of hers that I've absoltuely loved and others with which I was even more disappointed than I was here. This time around, I felt as if the book were written from outside an impenetrable bubble. There was a sort of fuzziness surrounding the action and the climactic events of the book, a disconnection from what was really going on. It was occassionally hard to decipher what was actually happenning, and the basis and dynamics of several relationships did not seem to logically follow. Just one person's opinion, others seemed to really enjoy the novel, but I didn't. I didn't relly dislike it, per se, but I'll certainly never read it again.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Brenden Vetch has a gift that connects him to the agricultural world, nurturing gardens to flourish and instinctively knowing the healing properties each plant and herb has to offer. Receiving a personal invitation from the wizard Od to become a gardener for her school in the great city of Kelior, he finds a home among every potential wizard who must be trained to serve the Kingdom of Numis. But unknown to the reigning monarchy is the power possessed by the school's new gardener-a power that even Brenden isn't fully aware of, and which is the true reason Od recruited him.

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