Stealing From Wizards: The Book You've Never Heard Of But Should Totally Read

A million years ago - or maybe it was only 8 or 9 - I read a thought-provoking article about "Hutt-slayer Leia" cosplays, culminating in the author of the article, Ryan, crafting and modelling his own version to wear - unironically - to a con. The original blog post has long since disappeared, but I remember Ryan talking about his own body insecurities and advocating more kindness toward the cosplayers (mainly women) who were getting so lambasted in popular media at the time.

I remember this because I then spotted Ryan - in his Hutt-slayer cosplay, no less - at Dragon Con, and had a minor fangirl moment. Since Ryan is a Dragon Con regular, after that I started recognizing him through the years in his various Star Wars cosplays.

Here he is as Doctor Jedi, or, Jedi Who?

"Live long, and may the Force be wibbly wobbly."

And more recently as a 'Puffy Space Wizard:

He's got at least a dozen more, all beautifully handcrafted, but I'm not here to talk about Ryan's cosplay. Nope, turns out Ryan Consell is also an author, and a few weeks ago I got my first ever message from him on Instagram, asking if he could send me this:

Stealing From Wizards Vol 1: Pickpocketing

He called it "a Canadian misfit wizard school adventure," and that he'd like to send me a copy "in the vain hopes that you would read/like/review it based only on the fact that you liked my costume that one time."

Now, I don't get a huge amount of book review requests, but I still say no to most after a traumatizing experience where I agreed to read a book, didn't like the book, then the author kept "checking in" until I had to politely explain that I didn't like the book (nooooooo) and therefore would not be reviewing the book (NOOOOO), and it. was. AWFUL.

::shudder::

But listen, Ryan's note made me laugh, I like his Instagram content, and the cover looked nice.

So now, after the world's longest intro to a book review, LET'S DISH:

I'm happy to report Stealing From Wizards hooked me in the first 3 pages through sheer creative world building. And I'm going to try not to sound insulting when I keep saying how surprised I was by this magical adventure, but I genuinely kept being surprised. If I had to describe it using only 5% of the words I intend to, I'd say it's a light frothy blend of Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, and a little Percy Jackson's Camp Halfblood thrown in for spice.

The overarching story beats are familiar and even predictable for Potter fans: an abused child ends up at a magical school hidden from the non-magical world, where he finds friends, enemies, & hijinks galore. What I love, though, are the details, the twists, the many colors Consell uses to paint his own unique picture. For example, instead of buying school supplies, young Kuro goes to a magical Lost & Found labyrinth and excavates for what he needs. Instead of a train, there's a double decker "Princess Ferry." [snerk] Instead of 4 Houses there are 4 Seasons. And instead of exasperating, clueless adults who are never there when the kids need them, we get an entire range of older characters who care, or who at least try to help. I'm tired of the YA cliché that it's the kids against the world and all adults are either useless or evil, so this? This was nice.

I also like that Kuro has strong female characters all around him, including his best friend (who is amazing), his arch rival, his camp counselor, the school principal, and some of his best teachers. It's even strangely refreshing to have female bullies, especially when the main character is a boy. Just a different dynamic.

Stealing From Wizards is a comfort book, the kind that never lets the bad get too bad. (cough cough UMBRIDGE cough) Parents should know there's a recurring mention that the Big Bad once mind-controlled someone into murdering herself, but the murder is only mentioned, not described. In fact early on in the book I remember feeling a sense of dread at where the story seemed to be going, abuse-wise, and then, poof! The plot spun on its heel and dashed off to better horizons. Love that. 

My favorite part is a huge spoiler, so of course I won't name it, but when you start spluttering out loud or saying, "Wait. WHAT?!" - that's it. It's a very cool twist, masterfully woven, and another surprise that totally got me. (There are at least 3 good reveals thrown in, but I'm willing to bet my favorite will be your favorite.)

I'm told there are clever Canadian touches sprinkled throughout the book that only Canadians will recognize, but as a tragically non-Canadian American, I'll have to take my Northern neighbors' word for it. ;)

Now here's the best part, at least for me: yesterday Ryan announced Volume 2 is dropping in less than two weeks, on July 1st.

If you've read enough of my reviews then you know I despise cliff-hanger endings, so I was happy to end Volume 1 with enough resolution to feel like I'd made the journey, but also looking forward to hearing about the nifty place Kuro ended up in the final pages. I had no idea Consell was even working on Volume 2, so he's pulled off one last surprise just in time for my review. Nice one, Ryan.

Ah, last thing: did I mention Stealing From Wizards is self-published, and that Ryan has less than 600 followers on Instagram? I think it's safe to say you'll be the first in your social sphere to read this little gem, and guaranteed the kids in your life don't have a copy yet. I'm genuinely delighted to find a book of this caliber this undiscovered, so join me in the early adopter phase, won't you? You can buy the Kindle version for about $2 on Amazon, or grab a physical copy for $12.99 Prime. And hey, if you're a Dragon Con regular, I bet we could convince Ryan to do an impromptu signing for us this year or next.
:)

Happy reading, and happy weekend, 'bots!


And hey, if it's not happy, or you're hurting, or maybe you just need someone to remind you: You are worthy of love, space, respect, and rest. If you need a friendly & safe space online, remember there's a thriving Epbot community on Facebook and also on the Epbot Discord, which has a support channel for talking about the hard stuff. We've got your back, fam.

*****

Wait! Before you go, let's announce some art winners:

The winner of the Weird Robots set is Amanda Nease
The winner of the Loki set is jtb34
And the winner of Patronus Vibes is JulieG

Congrats, you three, and please e-mail me your mailing addresses!