Masks, E. C. Blake

Masks, E. C. Blake
ISBN: 9780756407599
Read December 22, 2013

Fantasy: A pampered child of the magical aristocracy is shocked and challenged when her rite of passage goes horribly wrong, branding her a traitor and a threat to her magical, god-like ruler.

I like stories where magical implements (collars, masks, gloves, brands, diadems) are used as indicators of caste, class, or magical/mundane ability/profession.  Apparently, lots of other people do also, because they turn up all over the place.

In this iteration, the Masks are required in public for everyone over the age of 15, and they denote profession and magical talent through color, tint, and design.  Mara's father is a high-ranking Masker, and as his daughter, she's expected to inherit both his magical ability and his court position in due time.  Instead, the Masking goes horribly wrong, and Mara is thrown free of her society and the implied magical caste system it enforces.

I knew going in that this was going to be a series, and I hesitated, because first books often suffer from cliffhanger syndrome, but I read it anyway, and I'm glad I did.

I'm very fond of the worldbuilding so far, I'm deeply impressed with the thought taken in handling the implications of magic and Masking, and I finish the book finding myself not trusting anyone, not even Mara.  Pretty nifty.

The only real downside is that Mara is fast on the way to being a stereotypical "super magic girl" and while that doesn't HAVE to be badly done, it very rarely escapes that fate.  I'm hoping something will help ground her out or provide a magical counterbalance in the next book.

I do have to also say that while I do think that most authors ignore the necessary bodily functions in their epic fantasy quest narratives, the number and amount of mentions given to attending to the necessaries was a little amusing, but I don't think it was meant to be.