Review: Capitol Magic Novella May Be Worth A Read If You Want to Follow up With Past Characters
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 08 27, 2012
This is a short novella by Mindy Klasky starring Jane Madison from her Jane Madison series and Sarah Anderson from her "Fright Court" novel.I previously read all of Mindy Klasky's Jane Madison Series (Girl's Guide To Witchcraft (Red Dress Ink Novels),Sorcery And The Single Girl (Red Dress Ink Novels), andMagic And The Modern Girl (Red Dress Ink).I initially had loved the main character in that series, Jane since she came into being a witch unwittingly and the novel took place in a city near and dear to me, Washington, D.C. However, each subsequent novel was like "Groundhog's Day" and after the last novel I was 100 percent frustrated with Jane since it seemed she never learned anything.I had never read the novel starring Sarah Anderson,Fright Court, but read from the blurb she was a clerk of court for the District of Columbia Night Court and also a "sphinx" that is an ancient being that protects vampires.I initially bought this novel since I had initially loved Jane and wanted to see what she was up to and I thought it may help me decide whether Klasky's night court series was worth a read. I would definitely suggest that if you are going to read this novella you read the Jane Madison series and Sarah's novel since Klasky doesn't really set up a backstory for the characters since I think she assumes most readers would be familiar with these characters.Each chapter in this novella is either told by Jane or Sarah. On the positive side we do get to re-visit with David and Neko from the Jane Madison series. Additionally, we get to see that Jane is on the cusp of moving forward with her life. However, I was disheartened to see that though it's been years since Klasky has written Jane, she still seems to be the same hardheaded young woman. Honestly half of the issues that she gotten into later with Sarah were due to her once again not listening to anyone and being stubborn.Sarah I didn't like or dislike. I couldn't really get a read on her at all since Klasky had her saying the same things over and over again. After the millionth time of this (I exaggerate, but not by much) it started to drive me crazy. Also Sarah is in the middle of a love triangle that I can honestly say was more of an annoyance to read about instead of intriguing.Further, though Klasky assumes the readers have read her prior novels she definitely needed to add some backstory.  You cannot as an author assume that everyone has read the book in a series. You don't have to explain everything that has happened but enough so a cold reader going in would understand who everyone was and what "powers" they had.  I know I would have been appreciated especially since I have no idea what a sphinx is and how this pertains to vampires. It was very confusing to read Sarah's chapters and I was happy when Klasky switched back to Jane.Overall I would pass on this unless you really want to see what has gone on with Jane and if you liked the Fright Court novel and want to follow up with Sarah.