A School for Sorcery

A Hogwarts-type school at the turn of the century! What an intruiging idea!Though this book starts out a little campy, with the main character gathering eggs on a small farm, and continues with some very pegan-like philosophy about magic, I found myself thoroughly enjoying "A School for Sorcery." Sabin's style is simple and lyrical, and her story has just enough unusual aspects to carry the reader through untill you begin to realize that the seemingly predictable plot is not what it seems! I finished this book in two days. It was excellant.

I met Ms. Sabin at a signing and couldn't resist buying this book. I also found that I couldn't put it down once I started reading it. A wonderful tale, one that in the beginning sent me back in time, of tales I recalled as a young girl, from Cinderella to Dirty Dancing. What a great coming of age story with bewitching twists. Danger, power, mirror reflections, teen-love, and some pretty scary stuff as well. A truly enjoyable read.

It seems that ever since JK Rowling's fantastic Harry Potter series hit the shelves, we have received book after book of child and teen fantasy novels. It seems that everyone is trying to out-Potter each other. In some cases these "novels" can turn out to be embarrassingly bad. Fortunately this is not the case. A School for Sorcery by E. Rose Sabin is a thrilling novel about what happened if Harry Potter was female, a few years older, and in a completely different world.Tria Tesserell is a 16-year-old farmer's daughter who has always known that she had had some magic gifts. Unfortunately, because of her close minded father, she has been forced to keep her powers hidden. But when she gets accepted to the Lesley Simonton School for the Magically Gifted she is thrilled. She won't have to keep her powers hidden any longer. But her enthusiasm is diminished when she actually gets to the campus. The buildings are crumbling, the hallway seems to be covered in a thick layer of dust and grime, and the food is old and stale. Tria gets in trouble right away when one of her powers she never knew she possessed works without her even knowing it. To top it off Tria's new roommate is a witch in more ways than one. Tria feels as if she can never learn to love this school. And just when she start's getting used to it and things start looking up a darker more sinister evil takes into play. Oryon, a second year student, has summoned an evil source that has kidnapped two of Tria's fellow students and friends. It looks like Tria is the only one that can save them, but she doesn't even know how.I was unsure whether to give this book 4 stars of 5. There were many good qualities. The author manages to take a familiar scene (a magic school) and take it in a completely different direction. The characters are amusing and sometimes scary. And the emphasis in this book is more on ethical magic than breaking the rules for the greater good (like in Harry Potter). Still there are a few plot holes. Because there are so many characters many of them get introduced and seem like they will become large parts in the books. Instead they merely vanish about halfway through the book. But beyond that this book is great. I hope to see more works of fantasy from E. Rose Sabin, maybe in this world. I recommend it to fans of JK Rowling and Diane Wynne Jones.

Tria has resigned herself to working on a farm and marrying a farmer but thanks to the machinations of her mother she is going to the Simonton School for the Magically Gifted. When she first arrives she is very disappointed because it is a run down place with few students. Her roommate is a selfish, conniving and untrustworthy minx who gets out of work duty and sets one boy against another.Over time, Tria adjusts and even has a date for the mid-winder festival. That happy occasion turns to tragedy when her enemy Oryon uses his considerable powers to send Tria date and his friend into the realm of the Dire Women, dark spirits who dwell in another dimension. Tria has a lot of power but she fears she won't be able to learn how to use it in time to save her friends.E. Rose Sabin is a gifted storyteller whose debut novel will appeal to the J.K. Rowling crowd, as this novel is a teenage Potter-like tale. The protagonist is a thoroughly likable young woman who makes mistakes and learns from them. Her adventures in the school and her interactions with other students make for fascinating reading. It is hoped that this is only the first novel in what could be a great series.Harriet Klausner

With the protagonist being a teenager, this book is obviously aimed at the teens that first cut their teeth on HP but now need more meat. And they get it! The twists (plot twists & twists of objects in the book) is just grand. The best part is you don't see the end coming, yet it fits perfectly.The various types of magic ability are much more thought out and well developed (and believable) than HP's, it impacts the plot and characters more. Because of their own ethics characters use and misuse magic and learn lessons from their mistakes.And it is also a very rare story these days: a GIRL'S coming of age.Well done.