Michael Pryor is the author of THE LAWS OF MAGIC, a young adult series which begins with Blaze of Glory and ends with the just completed but not yet released Hour of Need. He has written over two dozen novels and now that THE LAWS OF MAGIC is completed, is working on the start of a new historical fantasy. He currently resides in Melbourne, Australia and graciously took some time to answer some questions about THE LAWS OF MAGIC and writing in general.
Blaze of Glory by Michael Pryor
Blaze of Glory is the first book in Michael Pryor’s The Laws of Magic series. It’s an engaging YA effort, if not particularly enthralling or captivating, with a solidly interesting main character. As you can tell by my somewhat qualified reaction, it didn’t blow me away, though it was strong enough that I’d take a look at book two.
The series is set in an alternate England (Albion) where the Industrial Revolution took place side by side with a magical revolution.
Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Michael Pryor | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Heart of Gold, Word of Honour, Time of Trial, Moment of Truth by Michael Pryor
“Charmingly old-fashioned” is how I would describe Michael Pryor’s series The Laws of Magic, which begins with Blaze of Glory (reviewed above) and continues with Heart of Gold, Word of Honour, Time of Trial, and the most recent,
Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Michael Pryor | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Hour of Need is the concluding book in Michael Pryor’s LAWS OF MAGIC series and it brings a good series to a fitting and satisfying close. I won’t bother recapping the general premise as you’ll want to have read the prior (or should that be Pryor?) books first; you can check out the setting, etc., in my earlier reviews. Suffice to say the series is set in an alternate Edwardian time period that has been moving toward and then finally arriving at their version of World War I involving both technology and magic.
Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Michael Pryor | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Extinction Gambit by Michael Pryor
Michael Pryor’s The Extinction Gambit, book one of the EXTRAORDINAIRES series, is not the best book I’ve read this year. But it does have the best pithy plot summary uttered by a character:
“So the Olympic Games are being jeopardized by a band of evil sorcerers who want my brain,” Kingsley said, “while I try to find my foster father who may have been abducted by creatures from the dawn of time.”
That’s Kingsley Ward,
Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Michael Pryor | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Subterranean Stratagem by Michael Pryor
I have to confess, Michael Pryor’s second installment of THE EXTRAORDINAIRES series, The Subterranean Stratagem, did not quite charm or engage me as much as its predecessor, The Extinction Gambit, did (or Pryor’s earlier THE LAWS OF MAGIC series). As this is the first of Pryor’s books not to do so, I’m going to consider this a minor blip and assume book three will regain his usual form.
Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Michael Pryor | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Michael Pryor is the author of THE LAWS OF MAGIC, a young adult series set in an alternate Edwardian England (called Alibion in the series), which I thought was “charmingly old-fashioned” and happily recommended. Michael graciously took some time off from his new series, THE EXTRAORDINAIRES, to talk to us about the connection between History and Fantasy.
History is the Fantasy writer’s best friend. That’s almost a truism, but it bears repeating. A good understanding of history gives a Fantasy writer a springboard into the whole world creation business.
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