Fantasy Novella Review: Spellswept by Stephanie Burgis

Spellswept by Stephanie Burgis

Spellswept is chronologically the first story in Stephanie Burgis' "Harwood Spellbook" romantic fantasy series - although it's actually a prequel to the main book series.  The story takes place in an alternate version of Victorian England ("Angland") where the country is ruled by a government of women politicians - the Boudiccate - with men relegated to the arts of spellcasting and magery - and being good husbands instead.

The novella focuses upon Amy Standish, a young woman who grew up an orphan intending to take the next step into Anglish politics, and to prominent status in the Boudiccate, by marrying a gentleman mage to boost her status....if only there wasn't this other man, a non-mage, for whom she had true feelings.  Add in an underwater ballroom, a reversal of gender politics, and magic, and you have a story in which even a reader unfamiliar with the series will have a good expectation of whats going to happen, but which is executed so deftly to still be a really enjoyable romantic fantasy.

Note: I read Spellswept in audiobook form, as the novella is part of the audiobook for Snowspelled, the first book in the Harwood Spellbook series.  The reader is excellent, so recommended in this format.


Plot Summary:  Amy Standish was orphaned at a young age, with her inheritance doled out to her in trust until she reached the age of majority.  Resolving to make herself a place in Angland, and to make a prominent family for herself, she set herself on the course of politics, and nearly a year ago took a position as an assistant to Miranda Harwood, one of the most prominent magical and political families in Angland's history.  But what Amy didn't count on was Miranda's two children: Jonathan, who has steadfastly rejected his magical heritage, to the family's dishonor, and Cassandra, Miranda's rebellious teenage daughter with outlandish dreams of her own.  Now as Amy is on the verge of taking that next step in her dream future - a betrothal to a prominent gentleman mage at the Harwood's annual underwater ball - she finds everything turned upside down by the two Harwood siblings - by Cassandra's unusual ambition, and by her romantic feelings towards Jonathan, the one man she cannot marry if she's to further her political career the way she originally planned....

Thoughts:  How things are going to end up in Spellswept is clear from the very beginning: Amy is going to wind up with Jonathan, Cassandra is going to prove her own magical ambitions, and somehow this is all going to set up the first steps of a new future for Angland as will presumably be seen in the rest of the series.  And yet, despite it being clear where things are going, Burgis manages to write it all in an extremely well done manner, bringing to life all of the characters as well as the atmosphere - an underwater ballroom! - of the story.  While the ending is inevitable, how that ending will come about is not, and the twists and turns things take, and Amy's resolute decision making in bringing it about, is really entertaining to read, and it's incredibly easy to feel for Amy, Jonathan, and Cassandra all through it all.  Jonathan's a bit dense honestly in noticing Amy's feelings, which is my only complaint, but I can kind of empathize with that lol, so it works, and the final pages/minutes of the audiobook where it all wraps up are well....lovely.  This isn't a straight romance like the other novella in this series (Moontangled, which comes last in chronology), but the romantic parts are nicely done, as are the fantastical/magical parts.  In short, this is well worth your time, and well, I'll be continuing on to the main series in not too long, trust me.