In this sequel to Stevermer's charming fantasy of manners, A College of Magics
(1994), set in an alternate Edwardian age, Jane Brailsford, the indomitable and fashionable sorceress from France's Greenlaw College, hooks up in England with handsome American sharpshooter Samuel Lambert. The sorcerous Fellows at Glasscastle University have recruited Lambert to perform field tests for a magical weapon. Jane has been charged with compelling Lambert's roommate, professor Nicholas Fell, to assume the mystical duties of the warden of the west. Fell, though, detects a disturbance in the music of the spheres that he believes he must rectify before accepting the wardenship. Unknown others, however, also have designs on both Fell and the wardenship. While the plot is mostly inconsequential, the descriptions of life at Glasscastle University, together with the sheer zest of the characters for magic, truth and fashion, make this a sweet, if slow, magical romance. This is the perfect read for those who enjoy taking ambling walks in orderly alternate worlds where calling cards and starched collars still help make a man. Agent, Frances Collin. (Apr. 15)
