The Chosen Ones: 06/30/18

The Chosen Ones by Scarlett Thomas is the second of the WorldQuake series. With the post event world set up where there is now magic and two alternate worlds: the Otherworld and the Underworld, now it is time to see how magic can be exploited.

Effie and Maximillian both have been last readers, traveling to magical places by way of last editions. Their adventures have caught the attention of people who want to exploit the power of the last edition for their own greedy reasons.

Meanwhile at school, their teacher seems unnecessarily strict with magic and magical items (boons). The teacher's attitude and behavior reminds me of Dolores Umbridge but better written. Then there's the evil elite school who cheats at everything and is now up against Effie's school in tennis. It's a funny aside that shows how magic works in the real world and how different types of people can use magic differently. Basically there's no one size fits all.

As to be expected from second book in a series, the plot is more complex as the emphasis here is on character building and the setting up the board for the big confrontation that's coming in book three or later — depending on how many books are planned.

Aside from setting up the series for a big future confrontation, there is a self contained mystery. It's possible to solve it based on what's been established Dragon's Green and what is further set up in The Chosen Ones

The third book in the series, which comes out in 2019 is Galloglass.

Five stars

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