Monica Fairview has written a fair few Pride and Prejudice inspired or Austnesque novels, mainly variations but a few sequels. She’s not written any other Pride and Prejudice inspired fantasy novels apart from the two in this series although she has written Steampunk Darcy set in the future (which I intend to read and review at some point).
Dangerous Magic: A Pride & Prejudice Fantasy Variation is set in Regency England where magic is real. It’s the first in a series – Mr Darcy’s Magic. It has a similar premise to Abigail Reynold’s Mr Darcy’s Enchantment but this variation is quite different. Here, mages are involved in the war against Napoleonic France. It did remind me a little of Susannah Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.
Plot
Lizzie Bennet is forced to marry Mr Darcy because he is a Janus Mage whose “twin” has recently died and he needs a new one. Because she is female, they must marry to be respectable. They need to bond but find it difficult and need to find out what or who is stopping them from bonding. On the way, they fall in love.
There is a rigid hierarchical structure, there are Royal Mages and Rogue Mages. Royal Mages are descended from pure blood lines, have been trained at academies and work with spells from spell books. Rogue mages are less traditional driven. There are several types of mages, Healers, Warders, and Elementals. Mages who haven’t formally trained at an academy like Elizabeth are looked down on. Families like Darcy’s with generations of Royal Mages are in the top set of society. Mixed marriages are frowned on. This really reminded me of the Harry Potter series – “muggles” and “mudbloods”.
Characters
Some of the characters have been cut such as Charlotte. Mr Collins and Mr Wickham, and Jane is barely mentioned although they may appear more in the next novel. Lady Catherine De Bourgh plays only a minor part in the story, Lady Alice Enright seems to take over her role for this story. While Lizzie’s family and the Bingleys all appear indeed, Caroline Bingley is a supporting character.
I liked the way Lizzie and Mr Darcy came to understand and appreciate each other. I also liked that this novel reflected the original by having Mr Darcy change his attitude about the way magic was organised and the rigid hierarchical structure. And Lizzie come to realise that there is keeping to the rules is sometimes the best thing to do.
Style
I also liked the way the author wove parts of the dialogue from the original novel into hers.
For example, when Lady Alice insults her by asking her if she is chaste, this is Elizabeth’s reply – “If I were not,” said Elizabeth, stung by Lady Alice’s audacity, “you could hardly expect me to admit it”. And when Darcy expresses his feelings to Elizabeth about the proposed marriage, he says, “Do you think I can rejoice in the inferiority of your connections?’
Summary
In short, Dangerous Magic is an entertaining, well written novel. If you like your Pride and Prejudice inspired novels mixed with magic, then you’ll love it.
