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The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry
January 12, 2021
A Tor.com Reviewers' Choice Best Book of the Year!
Praise for The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry
"Delly is an engaging heroine, at once magically aggressive and socially uncertain, and she leads us into a milleu both strange and, in a literary way, familiar. It would be good to hear more of it another time." -- The Wall Street Journal
'Waggoner’s characters absolutely shine, and she writes with an ear for the cadence and rhythm of their voices, from the streetside lingo of Delly in all her alley-speech glory to the parlor room parlance upon which mysteries and thrillers are born—Agatha Christie in design and Pratchett-esque in execution, but all very much her own. At turns tongue-in-cheek, acerbic, sorrowful, romantic, and epic in the scope of what could happen if it all goes wrong, Waggoner never loses sight of what each scene needs in order to get the reader invested wholly in the story." -- Tor.com
"C.M. Waggoner’s second novel is a dazzling, romantic fantasy quest that requires all of the cogs in readers’ brains to turn at once." -- BookPage
"An outrageously original and marvellously diverting feminist fantasy romp with standout characters and a delightful sapphic romance." -- The Nerd Daily
November 5, 2019
Praise for Unnatural Magic
“The most unique, haunting, magical, treacherous, romantic, combative novel I’ve read in a long time. Action, betrayal, peoples at war, strange magic and stranger love–a whole new take on fantasy!”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Tamora Pierce
“Unnatural Magic is peopled with unforgettable characters, whose changing relationships form the beating heart of this fast-paced, beautifully written story. Within the compelling tale lie some big themes—power, magic, gender and sexuality among them—and the author weaves them in skilfully, with just the right combination of compassion, insight and humour. This one goes straight onto my Keepers shelf.”—Juliet Marillier, Author of The Harp of Kings
“What a marvelous debut! I want to climb inside C.M. Waggoner’s world of powerful trolls, cheeky wizards, and mathematical magic and make myself at home. She seamlessly weaves politics, love, and magic into a novel that challenges everything we know about fantasy—and comes out victorious.” —New York Times bestselling author Chloe Neill
“I didn’t think you could fit so many things I loved into one book–tough-talking lady-trolls and cowardly captains, true love and found families, Holmesian hijinks and gender politics–but C.M. Waggoner made it look easy. Unnatural Magic is a raucous, indulgent delight.”—Alix E. Harrow, Hugo Award-winning author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January
“Complex and fascinating, Waggoner’s debut offers fantasy readers a new viewpoint on magic, love, responsibility, and sacrifice. The themes of found family and unlikely, hard-earned trust are warmly convincing, and Waggoner’s system of magic is unique and deeply satisfying.” —Vivian Shaw, Author of the Dr. Greta Helsing series
“C.M. Waggoner’s Unnatural Magic is a brilliant and terrifically fun book. I could have happily spent twice as long with Onna and Tsira in their compelling world and still wanted more. There’s adventure and magic and murder, oh–and did I mention how much fun you’ll have reading this?”—Kat Howard, Alex Award-winning author of An Unkindness of Magicians
“I have never read another novel that gave me so much of what I wanted so soon, and then just kept delivering the goods, page after page after page. Love, lust, magic, murder…This book has it all!” –Lara Elena Donnelly, Author of The Amberlough Dossier
“Waggoner’s delightfully playful debut offers a fresh take on traditional fantasy tropes to explore themes of love and sacrifice…the whimsy, mystery, and vibrant characters are sure to enchant readers.”—Publishers Weekly