Recently Charm Wars was reviewed by a BookLife reviewer and posted on BookLife. I was thrilled by the review, which I’m sharing with you.

In Caldon, the world of this accomplished and inventive fantasy epic, women rule, peasants suffer, and the “noblesse” enforce the class order with every power available to them, including magic. The story focuses on a pair of young people whose lives reflect—and entwine—with each other’s. Rill Larkin, the commoner apprentice to archmage Deuth Estati dreams of establishing himself as a mage, vowing “I can become someone important … I can become noblesse.” Secrets surround him, though, both involving his lineage and the intentions of his master. Meanwhile, 15 year-old Alyse Dejun faces the dire fate so many young women have, throughout history and literature: seeing her own gifts languish ignored as she’s impressed into a marriage she doesn’t want, for political benefit.

“You’ll learn to love me,” the young archmage Troy warns Alyse, “because your family’s survival depends on it.” Lutts invigorates these somewhat familiar premises with much heart, invention, and attention to lived-in character detail, demonstrating an awareness of reader expectations and a welcome willingness to upend them. The novel is hefty, even by fantasy standards, but the cast (especially the strong-willed Alyse) is appealing, the magic lively, and the conflicts—cutting across lines of class, gender, politics, and magical aptitude—compelling, especially as alliances get upended, and Rill and Alyse’s stories thread together.

The broader plot centers on the decline of magic in the land and the hunt for powerful mage’s “charms,” but what will grab readers of YA fantasy is the sharply delineated characters, who face tough choices and exhibit rich inner lives. The matriarchal society and the general worldbuilding prove engaging, revealed through action and dialogue without Lutts bogging down the storytelling for explanations. It all builds to a promise of more adventure, and while the late turns and revelations satisfy, readers not accustomed to brick-thick fantasy may wonder why more hasn’t been wrapped up after so many pages.

Takeaway: A memorable character-driven fantasy of shifting alliances, surprising magic, and two bold young mages.

Great for fans of: Garth Nix, Claire LeGrand’s Furyborn.