Review: Mary Quirk and the Language of Curses

Mary Quirk and the Language of Curses by Anna St. Vincent
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The author (who, full disclosure, is an online acquaintance; I paid full price for the book, and she didn't request a review) is starting to hit her stride with this series. This one, in particular, has a clear story problem, in fact several clear problems, that the protagonist is tackling in a sensible and effective way that involves a certain amount of necessary risk and conflict. There's a clear reason why she - a teenager - and some other teenagers are involved in dangerous operations that should normally be handled by adults; she has a rare ability, but she's not a Chosen One or any kind of damn princess, there's no prophecy (of which I'm very glad), and in general it's trope-averting rather than trope-conforming.

For example, it's more a cosy urban fantasy, rather than the usual noir UF, but none the worse for that. We do learn a bit more about the dystopian elven homeland and why so many elves leave it as refugees, but it's no YA dystopian full of factions. One of the best things about it, in fact, is that the class of teenagers have agreed to work together even if they don't always get on, rather than indulge in angst and overwrought conflict and love triangles.

It's the opposite of the "write to market" philosophy of analysing existing books to death and then trying to write the exact same book again, something I also refer to as "made from box mix" or, in extreme cases, "extruded fiction product," and as you can probably tell from my choice of terminology, I respect an author who's willing to be original and deliberately not go along with a bunch of tired tropes just because that's what everyone in the field is writing and reading. Inevitably, this will limit its audience (some people just like what they like and will keep reading it as long as authors keep writing it), but I hope it does find an audience of people like me who appreciate a fresh approach; a protagonist who's not spoiled, stupid, dramatic, or whiny; and just basic competence in the craft of storytelling.

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