Welcome friend! Ariel and I adored Julie Leong’s second novel, The Keeper of Magical Things during our buddy read for November. If you are a fan of cozy fantasy and magical objects, this is one to check out. Here is what this book is about.
Julie Leong | Goodreads
An almost-mage discovers friendship—and maybe something more—in the unlikeliest of places in this delightfully charming novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Teller of Small Fortunes.
Certainty Bulrush wants to be useful—to the Guild of Mages that took her in as a novice, to the little brother who depends on her, and to anyone else she can help. Unfortunately, her tepid magic hasn’t proven much use to anyone. When Certainty has the chance to earn her magehood via a seemingly straightforward assignment, she takes it. Nevermind that she’ll have to work with Mage Aurelia, the brilliant, unfairly attractive overachiever who’s managed to alienate everyone around her.
The two must transport minorly magical artifacts somewhere safe: Shpelling, the dullest, least magical village around. There, they must fix up an old warehouse, separate the gossipy teapots from the kind-of-flaming swords, corral an unruly little catdragon who has tagged along, and above all: avoid complications. The Guild’s uneasy relationship with citizens is at a tipping point, and the last thing needed is a magical incident.
Still, as mage and novice come to know Shpelling’s residents—and each other—they realize the Guild’s hoarded magic might do more good being shared. Friendships blossom while Certainty and Aurelia work to make Shpelling the haven it could be. But magic is fickle—add attraction and it might spell trouble.
The Keeper of Magical Things – Discussion
Kriti: In The Keeper of Magical Things we returned to the world of The Teller of Small Fortunes. With brand new characters – a novice and mage – this was a cozy story about an assignment to move artifacts with minor magic to a remote village with next to no magic of its own. I loved the last book in audio and this one too was very well done. The characters were engaging and the plot moved forward. Like some of our recent books, it centred on community.
Ariel: I really loved the community element of this. As a long-time cozy-gamer, each of the little tasks and artifacts Certainty found to assist the local townspeople felt like it was a satisfying mini-quest where the community slowly builds trust and Certainty begins to think about life outside of the Mage Order.
Certainty is the novice at the heart of The Keeper of Magical Things. She possesses the unique magic to talk to objects with magic of their own and I had never heard of something like this! Sadly, she hasn’t been able to make progress in other branches of magic and hence not been able to move to mage status from novice. She has seen many friends advance in their magical careers and is long losing hope of ever making it. She comes from a small village and her success would mean a better life for her family, her brother in particular. I enjoyed Certainty’s voice and openness to experiences.
I did as well! It’s clear her love for helping people shines through, and I liked how each of the objects had their own personality when she interacted with them. Seeing her determination and cheering her on as she completed her goals was a great reading experience.
The mage accompanying her on this mission is Aurelia. She has a reputation of being difficult but Certainty soon makes friends with her. Aurelia, in many ways, is the exact opposite of Certainty – she comes from a rich family that has influence in the empire. She was not loved by her parents. In her interactions with the common folk, she comes off as haughty. She has lost part of her magic and part of coming on this mission is to maybe rediscover her powers.
Aurelia is definitely the grumpy to Certainty’s sunshine, but it was cute to see Aurelia warm up to Certainty’s whimsy, and Aurelia’s love of cats was extra adorable.
There were a number of magical objects in this story that I quite enjoyed. The first was Aurelia’s necklace that makes her focused. I felt this was a great representation of the nagging voice in our heads that wants us to keep striving to the point of being unkind to us. Another was the tea kettle that talks the user’s ear off. I got a chuckle out of the magical box that brought forth cats – it was a cute salute to Schrödinger’s Cat in this magical world. I liked that so many of the artifacts had their own personality and it wouldn’t have been possible to get to know them without Certainty’s gifts.
Yes! This was such a charming part of the story, and I had quite a few laugh-out-loud moments. I especially loved the pasta scene 🙂
The village and villagers of Shpelling were ripe with history and it was a lot of fun to settle and work there with Certainty and Aurelia. But things don’t go smoothly all the time and I was sad about the misunderstanding that led to the mages’ departure.
The plot took us from Mage’s Guild Tower to the Shpelling, then back, then on to Certainty’s home as she counted the days to her hearing and then the Guild Tower again. The pace was good and I was always interested to know where the story would take me. I enjoyed the friendships, the objects, the magic and the twists.
The twists and turns were exciting and just because it was a cozy book didn’t make it a boring one. It was totally engaging and wonderful to be in this world again, and I hope the author writes more in this wonderful universe!
Julie Leong writes immersive worlds and magical settings where a non-magic reader can envision themselves. I would read more by her!
Thanks for reading our discussion! Let us know what you think of this book!
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