Artezans: The Forgotten Magic by L.D Lapinski

Trigger warnings: children in danger, minor mentions and instances of homophobia

From the moment this was announced, I was very excited to read it- I already own (and regularly re-read) L.D Lapinski’s previous series, The Strangeworlds Travel Agency, so I was really intrigued by the idea of their writing style combined with a more traditional fantasy concept. Did it live up to my expectations? Mostly, and I’m really pleased with it as a foundation to build on for future books!

The aforementioned fantasy concept is as follows: Edward and Elodie Crane are eleven-year-old twins living way up north in the Scottish Highlands. They have two dads that love them (nice), a cat named Mr Biscuits who’s mostly just keen on Elodie, and a fairly normal life besides one thing- they’re the latest in a long line of powerful Artezans, magic users whose abilities have been gradually fading over hundreds of years. With both kids being adopted, Ed isn’t sure if he’s even going to have magic, so he’s relieved when it turns out he does (and that it holds a candle to his perfect sister’s). But his magic’s more unusual in nature than it seemed initially, and what seemed initially like a dream come true quickly spirals out of control.

In summary, this eleven-year-old boy absolutely goes THROUGH it.