Review Detail

On the day of her Judging, twelve-year-old Abby is very excited. After all, her older brothers and sisters are all doing well in their careers in magic, so chances are good her level will be really high as well. Unfortunately, Abby is an "ord" and has no magic at all. This is dangerous in her society, where "normal" means magicking up breakfast and being able to fly carpets! It also means that ords are discriminated against; Abby can no longer go to her regular school, and is in danger of being taken by adventurers who need ords to circumvent spells and magic creatures. Luckily, Abby's older sister Alexa works at a school for ords that King Steve is backing, thanks to new legislation he has put in place to make selling ord children illegal. Abby is whisked off to the school, and the students are taught the topics presented in "normal" schools but also multiple languages (in case they get kidnapped!) and how to fight off red cap goblins who want to eat them! These skills are good to have when Barbarian Mike makes yet another attempt to kidnap Abby, and is finally successful. She manages to escape, and bring this adventurer to justice with the help of the king. There are still some adventures awaiting the ords, however, and I smell a sequel in the offing!