Aza Gen, curse cleaner and snooper at keyholes, never set out to break all the rules.
She lives a sheltered life as a curse cleaner for Maripesa's ruling family. At thirteen, the day of her first period, she acquires an ability to split herself and see from two perspectives. She keeps it a secret, not knowing where this Talent fits in the magical structure of her society.
Magic can so easily slide into chaos. That's why the belief in it was phased out over eons. But the island of Maripesa took a different approach. They used those eons to breed a system that uses magic to maintain order. Spell types are genetically bound to family clans. The upper clans curse. The mid clans repair or heal those curses. The lower clans have no magic. Anyone who breeds outside their clan is executed. It is a simple and perfect balance of power.
Years later, Maripesa's rigid calm devolves under an upper clan spellwar and, not coincidentally, Aza loses everything. Sick, fearful and grieving, she's thrust alone into the unfamiliar city where she encounters hypocrisy and deception—so much worse than the twin evils of curses and maladies. But there are also good people with wells of kindness and wisdom; the experience of romance and sexual awakening; profound new kinships; and a burgeoning awareness of her own power.
She finds women who have magic similar to hers. Women's magic—minimized, ridiculed, suppressed through generations—becomes her focus. Aza realizes that because it crosses and includes all clans, it can subvert the system. Her rage at mounting injustices will not stop until every outdated rule is undone.
Book One of The Last Magic City unfolds through four characters from different clans. In addition to Aza Gen, there are Ferjival Puraples, son of the ruler, and an angst-ridden antagonist; Benelek Kruik, a fun-loving, charismatic woman whose generosity and ambition don't always coexist easily; and Vijo Besin, healer of maladies, scholar of all magic, romantic soul with perhaps too much patience for his own good.
Aza, Ferjival, Benelek and Vijo show us the way through this charm-filled, twisty, heartfelt journey about the chaos that hypocrisy and hubris can bring and the healing that kindness will always manifest.
Nancy SM Waldman ended up in the woods of Cape Breton after being born in Missouri, growing up in Texas, experiencing lengthy stays in Connecticut, and delighting in an overly short one in London, England. She lives with her husband Barry in a 123 year old house which they, in a fit of newlywed enthusiasm, painted in five bright colors twenty years ago. The paint is peeling, but their love adheres.
