Sorcery in Boston
by rubycona
The timid daughter of some of the greatest spellcasters ever to have lived has found herself in another world, courtesy of magic gone awry. In Boston, Massachusetts, in the year 1935, she finds some kind souls in a hard era. In the heart of the Great Depression, as war looms around the corner, she seeks to find her place, and must come to terms with both who she is and what she truly desires.
Author's Notes:
This story is only sort of complete. There are issues with it and I'm intending to do massive edits to the whole story. I think I'll fix them privately, and then update the RR version all at once. Once the rework is completed, I can start on the second book, though that might be a while.
Audience: This story is not for young children - it contains some profanity, sexual content, violence, gore, and significant adult themes. Most of these are handled delicately enough not to upset teens or adults (hopefully), hence the lack of relevant tags, but it is nonetheless unsuitable for youth. It's fairly slow paced, and focused on the development of very human, very flawed individuals.
Length / Completion Estimates: The outline currently involves two books. I expect to move on to the far-more-lighthearted Of Gods and Dungeons (currently in progress / on hiatus). Afterwards, I may decide to write Book 2, or actually start sharing the story most dear to me, that I've been working on for several years now.
Draft 1: Please be aware that this is first draft material. I do intend to come back to do a second draft after the story is complete. If anyone notices any issues whatsoever with the story, please let me know (pm, etc) so that I can improve the second draft.
Writer's Pledge: I've taken the Writer's Pledge, meaning I'm commiting to completing this story. I'm a proud member of WriTE, a group dedicated to finishing stories. I fulfilled the oath :)
Behind the Scenes notes:
This picture was commissioned from an inked artist by the name of DanP.
Up until the time of the protagonist's arrival, history has proceeded as before. Some places and characters have been borrowed from wikipedia entries of interesting figures from the time. I will make note in the chapter comments when such things come up. Naturally, I've taken a great deal of liberty with them.
In interest of respecting individuals, I've either attempted to portray them as accurately as possible, or modified them sufficiently enough that they're simply an inspiration, instead of a real portrayal. I've attempted to be as accurate to the era as possible, but I'm not a historian. If you're aware of inaccuracies, please, bring them to my attention so that I can correct them.
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Just Completed
So after powering through this in a few days I must say it is some of the best writing I have found on RRL. I loved the concept and the story. Your writing forced me to feel plenty of emotion... including extreme loathing for your MC. I don't think I have encountered such a weak-willed charector in ages. With that said, it is done well. I love the story and look forward to more.
A Solid Start
I'm not usually a fan of first-person stories, because I find authors use them as a crutch to hide amatuer writing. This is the not the case here, the first chapter is a solid introduction to the story. It's hard to judge the characters and plot based on the first chapter alone, but so far so good.
I'll update this review as the story advances.
THE PLEDGE
The Pledge brough me here.. demm.. and it's on Hiatus >.< xD
The MC isn't a great as she thinks she is
Reviewed at: Ch. 16 - Death
The premise of this story caught my interest. Typically, stories about world travellers are about people from Earth finding themselves in a magical world. Here, we see the opposite – a magicians is transported to Earth, and has no idea what’s going on.
The story itself is well-written. I’ve no problems with the author’s style, and I can’t remember any grammatical or spelling mistakes
The story is basically a reverse isekai: the main character, Aera, finds herself in 1930s Boston, USA. She’s the daughter of powerful magicians, who were trying to create a portal to another world, before and accident sent her to Earth. She needs to learn how to survive and use magic in a world where it doesn’t exist. It’s interesting, though I found it disappointing that the author didn’t include more of a historical backdrop. During the 1930s there was the Great Depression, rise of fascism, changing values for what it meant to be a woman, “separate but equal,” etc. most items are mentioned in passing, and don’t really have an effect on the story.
The side characters are okay for the most part. I found them to be pretty superficial – what you see is what you get. Basically the main character’s friends are good people, those who oppose her are bad. The main character, unfortunately, is in my opinion the weakest part of the story.
She panics and shuts down very easily. She lives in a fantasy world (metaphorically speaking) where she can solve everything with her magic. Her friends repeatedly warn her it’s a bad idea to let others know of her powers, but she does so anyway. She claims that she can use magic to erase memories of her if she’s in danger, but she never so when it’s most pressing. She looks down on technology (because magic>tech), and then it almost gets her killed. Some of these can be explained by her having grown up in a world where her family was powerful and she didn’t have to hide herself. But after years of living in Boston she should realize when it’s a good idea to use magic, and when it isn’t. After years of living in the US, she doesn’t even have a cover story of where she’s from. She just feels very passive most of the time, acting on emotion instead of thinking ahead. And she’s not as smart or clever as she thinks she is.
I hope this gets better. I hope the main character actually learns instead of acting like a child who can shape the world according to her will. But as it stands Aera is just a huge disappointment. She wants to take control of her life, then for people to make decisions for her. She fights the stereotype that woman are emotional creatures…then acts like an emotional creature. She ignores good advice but chooses the worst people to listen to. She takes what could have been a really good story and turns it into unnecessary drama. And in the end, she drags the whole story down.
Loved it, Hated it, Binged it.
I've been completely sucked into your story, and read it start to end. At several points I've been annoyed or frustrated at stupid things the characters did - like staying secret so long, or going to a known sleezy army man instead of just walking up to a recruiting office, soul gazing the recruiter, and going up the chain from there.
Despite that, I feel really attached to the characters and couldn't put this down.
I hate the MC
Man what a great premise. Drop a newbie wizard down in Boston during the Great Depression. Author makes out to seem like our wonderful 17 naive wizard woman is going to have a lot of great growth.
I'll be blunt I absolutely hate the MC.
She comes into the world with 17 years of magic experience learning at her mother’s knee how to properly wield her power in a political, social, and economical way. She constantly talks about how she remembers all the lessons.
Our MC doesn't use a single one.
She is a fresh baby doe who goes into murderous rages if pushed too far, then forgives everyone ignoring the men she killed and heals up the guilty party.
My issue overall is not that she is meek, but that she doesn't grow for shit. I thought there was supposed to be character growth, and I've been looking.
If you like weak, passive, and semi clever female leads this novel is for you.
MC is a idot
Reviewed at: Ch. 39 - Koryn
The Mc is so idotidic and passive, she should have been dead in the first day. she has so many tools and fucking magic, but can bairly choose to wipe her own ass with out help. It is frustrating as all hell.
This story has promice, but need to be rewritten
A story full of depth and characterization
This work as of chapter 25 is one of the most outstanding works I have seen on this site with the sheer investment the author has shown for her worldbuilding given a highly developed and advanced magic system human characters each with distinct personalities ideals and character development.
The Historic setting has been well reaserched and kept up to the period showing deep cultural biases between Aera and those around her as she comes to grip with her situation, what she wants and her ideas on how to achive it. This combined with her dependence on her magic, heavy noblesse oblige bias towards the powerful, and lack of understanding of technology all come togetehr to really paint her as a flawed but relatable character.
This series doesn't shy away from issues such as morality culturally engrained biases among other things.
If you are looking for an engrossing read full of complexity I recomend this series but if you want a quick power fantasy then look elsewhere.
This review probably doesn't do this series the full justice but it is the best I can come up with. Overall superiro to many of the top rated fictions here given RRL's score inflation so I am left with no choice but to 5 star everything.
Power has a price. Someone has to pickup the tab.
In a twist on the normal out of this world plot, Aeras, a young mage of promise and power, is accidently flung into our world, into post Prohibition Boston, to be specific. In a land of dirt and peasants, she is determined to make a place for herself, while doing what it takes to get home. She quickly attracts a group of followers, delighted by the magic she weilds, and worried about the naivety in which she weilds it, and willing to help her. She could easily use her power to rule the land, using her newfound minions to make her way. If only she wasn't so NICE!
Sorcery in Boston is a well written story, tight prose that works to serve the character and the story with every line. The characters have individual voice, and you can easily tell who is speaking without dialouge tags. The out of this world storyline is personally a favorite of mine, but it is being well used in its inversion, and the narrator has noticed, but then ignored, many small clues and foreshadowing that serves us, the reader, quite well in anticipating the story.
It is a joy to read, and I look forward to more.
Impressive
What is this story about? well, read the summary. [Minor Spoilers Ahead]
I love the original setting, a magic world mage going into the cusp of the great depression. It's something I would have never thought of, and I'm sure that when this story gets the recognition it deserves, It'll become a flagship for more ideas.
Pros [as of chapter 18]
The characters feel alive as if you were reading their thoughts and their actions that they take make sense. The problems that the cast face are complex and at the very heart also, emotional.
I have not noticed a problem with style or grammar, as I had read through it with ease, as I'm not going to re-read for those, you'll have to take my rating on these departments with some salt.
Cons (Kind of)
It may feel frustrating when a character feels incomprehensible or naive, But I say it adds to the author breathing life into his characters, There were many a time when I thought "What the hell is she doing" "What the hell is she thinking" and "Why doesn't she try to learn a bit of the common sense of the people around her and try to learn more about them
But when I think about, She's only human. (Insert Song)