Thirteenth Child is a the first book in a new series by Patricia C. Wrede. The new series is called Frontier Magic and that is certainly a good description of this original book!Eff and her brother Lan live in the year 1855 in a very different United States - one where everyone can do some magic and students even study it in school. Eff and Lan are twins. Lan is the seventh son of a seventh son, which is very powerful in magic. Eff, on the other hand, is the 13th child in her family and some people believe that is very unlucky. Eff and Lan are quite a combination!
Eff, Lan and their whole family moves west to the frontier where powerful magicians are in great demand to protect the settlers from the beasts of the wilderness: spectral bears, swarming weasels, mammoths, dire wolves, saber cats, terror birds, Columbian sphinxes and especially the steam dragons.
I really like the cover art on this book. it reminds me of the black silhouettes that people used to cut out before their was photography. On this cover, every silhouette detail reveals a clue about the story.
Click on the title link above to read an excerpt from Thirteenth Child.
