Book 54 was Heart of Light, by Sarah A Hoyt. This is a sort of mystery, sort of quest, sort of romance novel. It's set in a Victorian world with magic-and flying carpets! The flying carpets were possibly one of the best elements in the book.
Heart of Light wasn't a bad book-just uneven. The romance part was handled pretty deftly, as you were kept unsure of who would be with who until the very end. The mystery was kind of silly and predictable-I knew what was going on before any of the characters in the book did, and that was sad. The quest was better, if a bit stale. Our heroes and heroines need to collect a magic ruby that can redistribute magic and get it to Queen Victoria before some horrible heathens get it.
The book really excelled when it was examining the class differences in the Victorian world. The reason the ruby needs to get to the Queen is so that the magic left in the world can be given to those who are "worthy" of it-aka the upper class and aristocracy. This has already been done once in Europe, and needs to be strengthen in order to clinch the British Empires hold on the world. But the ruby is located deep in Africa, and the people there are attempting to stop this stealing of magic from happening. The book take a good look at the perspectives of several levels of society-a typical British nobleman, his lady wife, a half Indian woman, an African woman who works as a servant despite being a high ranked lady in her village, another British gentlemen afflicted with a curse that ends his chances in the civilized world, and an African tribesman. All of their views are looked and examined, and I found it quite interesting to compare and contrast their world views.
Overall, the book was decent. It was a quick read, and despite a somewhat stale plot it still worked for me. I will complete the series-the other two books come out this year.
Heart of Light
Sarah A Hoyt
no clue/54
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