A Far Wilder Magic

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Before she leaves for a trip, she always says the same thing: As soon as I get what I need for my research, we’ll be a family again. There’s no sweeter promise in the world. Their family will never truly be whole again, but Margaret cherishes those memories from before more than anything. Before her brother died and her father left and alchemy burned up all her mother’s tenderness. She holds them close like worry stones, turning them over and over in her mind until they’re worn smooth and warm and familiar. What is there for her, beyond the looming wall of her mother's return. Who is she without the ache of her absence and the fear of losing her again?" Wes and Margaret's unfolding romance is subtle and satisfying, and Saft's prose is vivid and dryly humorous. Fans of Leigh Bardugo's original Shadow & Bone trilogy will likely enjoy this honest, evocative romance." — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books The grand prize is money, glory, and the hala’s carcass. Most hunters would treat it as a trophy, a thing to be stuffed and mounted. But Evelyn needs it for her research on the alchemical magnum opus. According to her mother, long-dead mystics theorized that if alchemical fire were to incinerate a demiurge’s bones, the prima materia—the base substance of all matter—would remain. From that divine ether, an alchemist could forge the philosopher’s stone, which grants immortality and the ability to make matter from nothing. In A Far Wilder Magic, Allison Saft has written an achingly tender love story set against a deadly hunt in an atmospheric, rich fantasy world that will sweep you away.

A branch snaps at the tree line, loud as gunfire. Margaret whirls toward the sound, maul raised and teeth bared. Margaret can join the hunt with her excellent shooting skills but she cannot get too far with an accomplice who must be an alchemist! That’s exactly the kind of thought Mrs. Wreford would scold her for. Margaret can almost hear her now: You’re only seventeen once, Maggie. There are far better ways to waste it than keeping that damn house, believe me. Weston Winters isn’t an alchemist—yet. He’s been fired from every apprenticeship he's landed, and his last chance hinges on Master Welty taking him in. But when Wes arrives at Welty Manor, he finds only Margaret. She begrudgingly allows him to stay, but on one condition: he must join the hunt with her.But the rules state that only teams of two can join the hunt, and while Maggie is known as the best sharpshooter in town, she needs an alchemist. Allison Saft’s writing drips with color and paints a world so real you feel like you can touch it. A thrilling adventure full of magic and danger reminiscent of Fullmetal Alchemist, A Far Wilder Magic is a story you won’t put down.” — Marielle Orff, Towne Book Center & Café, for the Indie Next List It’s too cold for mid-autumn—the kind of cold that catches even the trees out. Just yesterday morning, the leaves outside her window burned in the sunlight, red as blood and gold as honey. Now, half of them have gone brittle and dropped like stones, and all she sees are the hours and hours of work ahead of her. A sea of dead things. Weston Winters isn’t an alchemist–yet. Fired from every apprenticeship he’s landed, his last chance hinges on Master Welty taking him in. But when Wes arrives at Welty Manor, he finds only Margaret and her bloodhound Trouble. Margaret begrudgingly allows him to stay, but on one condition: he must join the hunt with her.

I genuinely can't recommend A Far Wilder Magic enough. It an incredible novel that now holds a special place in my heart. Margaret's mother, a famous alchemist, is traveling for work and Margaret, essentially abandoned, has no idea when she will return.Trouble, no!” Desperation roughens her voice, enough to break the spell on him. He rounds on her, ears flying and clearly bewildered. The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life. Although they make an unlikely team, Wes is in awe of the girl who has endured alone on the outskirts of a town that doesn’t want her, in this creaking house of ghosts and sorrow. And even though Wes disrupts every aspect of her life, Margaret is drawn to him. He, too, knows what it’s like to be an outsider. As the hunt looms closer and tensions rise, Margaret and Wes uncover dark magic that could be the key to winning the hunt – if they survive that long.