2020 fantasy. Some wizards hurl lightning or speak with water. Mona
helps the bread rise in her aunt's bakery, and occasionally animates a
gingerbread man. But a dead body on the bakery floor is only the start
of her problems.
There are two parts to this, both of them solid. First, Mona gets
accused of murder, then released only by chance, and has to deal with
a whispering campaign against wizards (after all, you can't really
trust them can you, they're probably working with the enemy). Then,
with that finally resolved, she has to help defend a city that's lost
most of its official defenders to murder or treachery…
The Duchess leaned forward and patted my knee. "My dear, I am
certain that you can go on about how unworthy and incapable you are
for hours yet, but we have very little time. Let us pretend that we
have done all that and that I have nodded correctly and made the
proper noises, and skip to the point where you say, "I don't know
what I can do, but I'll try."
Mona is very timid. Well, she's fourteen, and not a Great Power or
anything, and of course the story is about how she becomes a hero…
well, no, not really. It's a story about how she steps up to do what's
needed, while also pointing out that the fact that she has to do these
things is in itself a sign of the catastrophic failure of the system
of governance that was supposed to keep the city safe. Nobody should
have to be a hero. (And what if you relied on a hero turning up, but
the only one you've got is an apprentice baker?) All of that fits
together very well indeed, but if you want a protagonist who will
enthusiastically go out and do rather than hoping the bad guys will
leave them alone, you won't find one here.
He grinned and gave me a quick punch on the shoulder. For Spindle,
that was an incredible display of affection. I got a little choked
up, but that might just have been the smell coming off the cesspit.
It's of the same ilk as Minor Mage, a fantasy with a young
protagonist that's a bit too gritty to be marketed as children's or
YA. And the usual fine writing from Kingfisher of course.