The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents

Lavinia (who goes by Vin) lives in a world where people who have magic and people who don't co-exist, their interactions governed by the Treaty, a hugely important but never really explained document. Naturally there are people of both sorts who are dissatisfied, and, on the magic side, some of these are organized into a group of Free Mages.

However, this story is about Vin. In the excerpt above, Vin is about to be expelled from her final "normal" school of magecraft to the Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents, and, if she doesn't manage to control herself there, if she is expelled for the sixth time, she will be cast into outer darkness with no education, no job opportunities, and no hope. Her problem has always been that she can't control her temper, and once she's lost that, she can't control her magic either. Luckily, Last Hope is a very different place, one where outrageous behaviour is not only expected; it is welcomed. She had never fitted the magical box labelled "Conjuror", though that is where she has been put and how the other schools had tried to educate her, but she certainly wasn't a Charisma, a Caster, a Clairvoyant, or a Chemist, the other categories of mages into which she might have been placed. At Last Hope, the headmistress finally discovered that Vin is a Chameleon; she can do practically everything, including absorbing magic from things that have been magicked in some way, or even from mages themselves! And then Vin enhances it. So, when she is teased by other students whose magic flicked little flames at her, for example, and she loses her temper, as in the excerpt above, she burns all the banners in the school auditorium.

At Last Hope, however, the head mistress recognizes Vin’s abilities. Because Ava Hope had identified the "Chameleon" category earlier, having known another one, she and Vin work together to see just what the limits of Vin's magic are and how to make it essentially do as it is told. As Vin begins to see what she can accomplish – and how she can limit collateral damage – she and the three other students who had adopted her as a friend right from the beginning begin to wonder if Vin is somehow being used somehow, and, if so, by whom, for what purpose, and how. It's all very difficult and gets resolved only partially. There is definitely a sequel coming ...

The story gets off to a rather slow start with a lot of explanation required of just what can be expected of Clairvoyants, for example, and the differences between a water Conjuror and an air Conjuror that exist within the subcultures. When things get rolling, however, they really roll, and one couldn't ask for a more exciting and interesting beginning to a series. Fantasy lovers will love Preto's fantasy!