Sorcery and Small Magics

 Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy, 416 pages.

Despite his father's aspirations, Leovander Loveage is a writer of only small magics, minor charms to cause fireworks or change people's hair color. Any time he has tried to work great magic it's backfired spectacularly, so he has sworn it off for good. A conviction that is shaken when a magical mix-up involving forbidden magic leaves him compelled to follow the orders of longtime rival and perpetual stick-in-the-mud Sebastian Grimm. As the spells magic tightens the two grow increasingly desperate to break the spell, even as their forced cooperation seems to be irrevocably changing something between them.

This book grabbed me completely right from the start. The magic system, which relies on one person to write magic and someone with different capabilities to do the actual casting, leads to some fascinating character possibilities and world building ideas. I also found Leo to be a really compelling character, expertly balancing humorous deflections with genuine emotional feeling. The adventure is fun, while giving enough of substance to chew on to be really satisfying. I'm only sad that there is no release date for a sequel yet. I'm really looking forward to discussing this one with Orcs & Aliens on Monday!