When Tria is invited to attend the prestigious Lesley Simonton School for the Magically Gifted in the land of Arucadi, she has no way of knowing what to expect. It’s supposed to be the best place in the land for developing the increasingly rare magical gifts in a world inexorably moving towards science and machinery. What Tria finds, though, fails to live up to her expectations. The staff is almost nil, the Headmistress abrupt and strict, the buildings small and miserably shabby, and her new roommate is a self-centered, rude, manipulative girl who turns into a panther when angry. Somehow, Tria manages to get into trouble within hours of arrival. It’s not a good start.
Even after making friends, Tria is still caught up in scholastic intrigues, as her roommate, Lina, begins to jockey for power among the other students. The inevitable clash of power is enough to make even Tria reevaluate her place at school, and their bizarre plans for her. It all comes to a head when another student’s prank goes horribly wrong, causing several people to be trapped in another dimension, the realm of the much-feared Dire Ladies. Tria, charged with bringing them back, has to draw deep upon her untapped potential, and gather her friends together for a showdown that could ultimately destroy her.
Harry Potter, this most certainly is not. If anything, it bears a stronger resemblance to Caroline Stevermer’s A College of Magics, featuring a strong female protagonist in a scholastic setting. Things are never what they appear to be in this book, with illusion and misdirection abounding, both in the setting and in the actual plot. It’s a good, fun read, if a little confusing in the last quarter or so, when things really get hairy. I’m also a little disappointed that Sabin chooses to jump forward in time for the last chapter; I wouldn’t have minded to see more of Tria’s time at the school. This is a setting that deserves further exploration, and I hope we’ll see more from the author.