Review: Magicians' Rivalry

Magicians' Rivalry by H.L. Burke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A pleasant if somewhat brief and linear YA-shading-to-NA. The two title characters are in their early 20s, but the young woman who is the sister of one and the love interest of the other is 17, and I felt it was more aimed at that age.

The somewhat estranged heir to a rural magician starts out in conflict with his father's apprentice, hence the title, but they quickly (perhaps a little too quickly) learn to work together against a common threat and become solid allies. Fast friends, if you like. There's an existential threat behind the initial more personal threats, involving the fae realm (the source of magic power), and courage and intelligence and skill from all three young people are needed to resolve it.

The editing could use a touch more work; there are some important commas missing, and some vocabulary issues ("honorary" to describe a paid post, crumbled for crumpled, posed for poised, pence used as singular, sheath for sheaf). It's not too bad.

I'd had it on my TBR for a long time, and picked it up when it went on sale. It was enjoyable enough, but there isn't quite enough here for me to want to continue in the series.

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