The Geomagician is a book that totally took me by surprise. I was expecting this cozy fantasy about dinosaur bones. But instead it’s a book about the sexism in this historical fiction setting and class inequality. Keep reading this book review of The Geomagician for my full thoughts.
Summary
Mary Anning wants to be a geomagician—a paleontologist who uses fossils to wield magic—but since the Geomagical Society of London refuses to admit women, she’s stuck selling her discoveries to tourists instead. When an ancient egg hatches in her hands, revealing a loveable baby pterodactyl Mary names Ajax, she knows this is the kind of scientific find that could make her career—if she’s strategic.
Mary contacts the Society about her discovery, and they demand to take possession of Ajax. Their emissary is none other than Henry Stanton, a distinguished (and infuriatingly handsome) scholar… and the man who once broke Mary’s heart.
Henry claims he believes in the brilliant Mary, and that he only wants to help her obtain the respect she deserves. She knows she can’t trust her fellow scholars, who want to discredit her and claim Ajax for their own—but can she even trust Henry, who seems intent on winning Mary back?
Now Mary has a new mystery to solve that’s buried deeper than any dinosaur She must uncover the secrets behind the Society and the truth about Henry. As her conscience begins to chafe against her ambition, Mary must decide what lengths she’s willing to go to finally belong—and what her heart really wants.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
The Geomagician is a multi-layered book that exposes Mary for her ambition, her love, and her flaws. It explores the class inequality and intersectionality of magic and poverty. In Mary’s story, she has to reckon with the price of progress. She’s so determined to be seen as a Geomagician first, woman second, due to the sexism and misogyny, but is she willing to care only about her own advancement? Is she willing to set back all women to do so? In The Geomagician, Mary has to really explore the parts of herself she doesn’t want to see. She has to look at the this idea of science being the goal above all eyes and to not see the ethics, the implications of discovery, and the ways it impacts her.
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We have this idea that science is this pure thing without ambition. But that’s a pipe dream. It’s not above the material conditions of its resources or free of the implications of what one would do with it. The Geomagician becomes about science versus religion, ambition versus progress, and magic versus reality. It becomes a story more along the lines of Blood Over Bright Haven and A Language of Dragons and more on the other sides of Babel. There’s this thrum of class, privilege, science, and knowledge. The Geomagician thrives at this intersection and offers a historical fantasy exploring these themes. Find The Geomagician on Goodreads, Storygraph, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.