I acquired a assessment copy from the writer. This doesn’t have an effect on the contents of my assessment and all opinions are my very own.

 The Geomagician by Jennifer Mandula

Mogsy’s Score: 4 of 5 stars

Style: Fantasy

Collection: E-book 1 of The Geomagician

Writer: Del Rey (March 31, 2026)

Size: 464 pages

Creator Info: Web site

I confess, I went into The Geomagician anticipating one thing lighter and fluffier with a heavier romance angle, however that is a type of uncommon circumstances the place I’m glad to be mistaken. As a substitute, the novel delivers a narrative with way more substance than I anticipated, mixing historic inspiration with magical appeal and greater, considerate thematic concepts embedded in a powerful narrative that stored me hooked.

The ebook follows Mary Anning, an aspiring geomagician who grew up fossil looking alongside the English coast within the small, humble village she calls dwelling. All her life, she’s dreamed of becoming a member of the elite Geomagical Society in London, a gaggle of students who can harness magic from fossils. However as a girl, that path is firmly closed to her. For now, she has to accept constructing a status by way of her exceptional finds, promoting fossils to vacationers and the very geomagicians who profit from work she’ll by no means be credited for.

However all the things adjustments when Mary stumbles upon a fossil mattress containing an intact egg which, towards all odds, hatches right into a residing child pterodactyl after she channels her magic into it. Swiftly, she has one thing the Geomagical Society could be determined to have. Possibly even sufficient to lastly provide her a spot amongst them? She shortly reaches out to her mentor, hoping to show the invention into a possibility, however when he arrives, he brings alongside his colleague Henry Stanton, the person who was as soon as her past love earlier than breaking her coronary heart. Although Henry’s presence complicates issues, Mary is decided to not let it derail her plans. And but, as she pushes forward to London, she finds herself caught in a tangled internet of politics, rivalries, and conflicting beliefs about magic, forcing her to confront simply how far she’s keen to go to say her place.

To begin, I liked the world-building, which is definitely one of many ebook’s greatest highlights. The concept that fossils can retailer and channel magical power to perform unbelievable issues is such a cool idea, and the story actually digs into it from a number of views, that includes robust tensions between science and the ebook’s fictional church, with totally different factions holding opposing beliefs about the place magic comes from. With out spoiling something, I’ll simply say that this battle finally ends up shaping numerous what occurs, and on prime of that, you’ve obtained layers of social hierarchy, gender obstacles, and shifting political viewpoints, all tied to greater questions on energy. Who will get to have it? Who controls it? Ought to magic belong to an elite few or be accessible to everybody? All these questions and extra are woven into the plot naturally, giving the world a depth that feels lived in.

After which, after all, there’s Ajax, who fully stole the present. Truthfully, I want we’d gotten extra of that little pterodactyl, together with extra of the prehistoric parts normally. For a ebook so rooted in fossils and historic creatures, it seems like this could have been featured extra prominently, particularly because the entire science and scholarship angle along with a girl preventing for her place in that world are one in every of its greatest attracts. That stated, this ebook nonetheless faucets into the identical attraction as collection like Emily Wilde by Heather Fawcett or The Memoirs of Girl Trent by Marie Brennan, each of which characteristic formidable feminine protagonists pushed by their pursuit of information and tutorial curiosity. I believe if you’re a fan of these kinds of tales, this one shall be fairly the deal with.

In the long run, The Geomagician ended up being a very entertaining novel and meatier than I anticipated, all in one of the best methods. It’s obtained a singular premise, a richly developed world, and simply sufficient emotional weight to stability out its airier moments. If you happen to’re within the temper for historic fantasy with a powerful sense of place and an emphasis on concepts as a lot as plot, this one is unquestionably definitely worth the learn.