Off the Bookshelf: BEGGAR MAGIC, H.L. Burke

I have a goal -- a dream: Read ALL the books by fellow Realm Makers before I go the conference in Philadelphia in July. Then I can say, "Oh, yeah, I read your book. Loved it."

Off to a good start!

I "met" H.L. Burke last week at a Facebook launch party for Uncommon Universe Press, but I had BEGGAR MAGIC in my Kindle to-be-read file for a while now. Good enough excuse to finally pull it out and read!

BEGGAR MAGIC is set in a world where the Strains -- magical voices/music/forces/winds -- speak or sing or murmur or hum to people. Everyone hears or experiences the Strains differently -- except for the Wordless. The Wordless are deaf, either physically, or the Strains no longer speak to them because they have killed. Even those who kill in self-defense lose the Strains.

Those who hear the Strains most clearly, who can manipulate the power of the Strains, are the Highmost. They are the nobility, the elite, the powerful. Then there are those who can only use the Strains a little bit -- the Commons. They have beggar magic.

The story starts when two girls meet -- one Highmost, one Common -- and become friends. What they do when they discover a plot to destroy not only the Highmost, but the Strains themselves -- that is the story. And what a story! Very well thought-out, intriguing .... and I really, really, really hope there are more stories set in this world, with these two plucky heroines.

Next on my to-read-before-Realm list: BELLANOK, by Ralene Burke