User:CaptainJae/sandbox/od

Od Magic is a 2005 fantasy novel by Patricia A. McKillip. It was a 2006 nominee for World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.

Summary
The wizard Od saved the city of Kelior, founded a school of magic there, then disappeared into the wilderness. Hundreds of years later, she appears at Brenden Vetch's small farm, inviting him to study at her school to perfect the magic he wields over plants. After he makes the long journey to the city, Brenden discovers that Kelior, instead of being a bastion for learning and exploration, is fearful of magic; the king and his wizard Valoren Greye outlaw any new type of magic, which they see as a threat to Kelior's order and safety.

As Brenden acclimates to his strange environment, Princess Sulya attempts to come to terms with her engagement to Valoren. But instead of preparing for her upcoming wedding, she prefers to converse with Ceta Thiel, a historian writing about Od. Her discoveries about the wizard puzzle her and her lover, Yar Ayrwood, who works at Od's school. Yar ventures out of the school and into the city to learn more, unintentionally involving his curious student Elver.

The wizard Valoren is too preoccupied to help with his wedding arrangements: Not only is Brenden proving to be an enigma, but a new magic-user, Tyramin, and his daughter Mistral have brought a magic show to the Twilight Quarter of the city. Believing these magicians to be dangerous, Valoren commands that Tyramin and Mistral are to be investigated. As the warden for the Twilight Quarter, Arneth Pyt has to obey Valoren's order, even as he falls in love with the mysterious Mistral.

When the king and Valoren try to suppress these new magics, an uprising that they could never foresee forces change upon the static kingdom.

Nominations

 * 2006 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature Finalist