A Marvellous Light

The Last Binding, Book 1

By: Freya Marske

Narrated by: David Thorpe

Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

"Narrator David Thorpe’s delicious depictions of steamy encounters between Robin and Edwin are intricately woven throughout this magical realm." (Booklist, starred review)

Red White & Royal Blue meets Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell: debut author Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light unfolds in an Edwardian England full of magic, contracts, and conspiracies.

Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known.

Now, Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it - not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else.

Robin’s predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they’ve been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles - and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tordotcom

©2021 Freya Marske (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

2021, NPR Best Book of the Year

“Romantic in the best way, funny, sharp, sexy, fantastical. Prepare to fall in love with the gorgeous Edwardian setting, the sizzling character dynamics, and the murderous enchanted hedge maze.” (Emily Tesh, author of Silver in the Wood)

"A charming, lovingly crafted adventure full of peril, romance and wit, illuminated by sparkling turns of phrase and a pervasive sense of humour." (A. K. Larkwood, author of The Unspoken Name)

“That sublime prose! Her astonishing gift for imagery! And, of course, her bountiful and endless talent for writing some extremely sexy scenes. A Marvellous Light is all that and more. Perfect.” (Jenn Lyons, author of The Ruin of Kings)

Gripping and memorable!

This book was recommended on the Pub Dates podcast by Kate Armstrong, and I knew from her synopsis it would be a delight. I wasn’t disappointed. It’s in the vein of Jonathan Strange and Dr Norrell or The Watchmaker of Filigree Street with its magical rules and mysteries and British period piece setting, though it’s the Edwardian era rather than the Victorian. it has a spirited merry tone that those lack, but the world is also richly fantastical while steeped in mostly accurate history and culture. Like Watchmaker, it features a queer romance, but while in Watchmaker it comes unexpectedly, this novel is open and addresses how complicated this is on the time period.
Sir Robin Blythe is a bold and confident young baroneyt and hobbyist boxer who stumbles into a world of magic and curses and murder when he takes a civil service job that requires him to be a liaison between the magical and non magical world. This also means dealing with the magical liaison officer, Edwin Courcy, who is only interested in magical invention and history, and is absolutely not pleased at having to work with someone who knows nothing about his world. The two become entangled in a magical mystery to find Robin’s missing predecessor and to save Robin from those who might be after him next. It’s a bit of enemies to friends to lovers, and it’s a fast paced delight. I’m not always a fan of audiobooks and voices, but this one was fun and had me slowing my walk to get further before having to get started on my own work day.
I can’t wait for the sequel.

Marske has the BEST ideas!

Story, world building, characters, narrator--all AMAZING! Took several listens (well, a lot of listens) to get a clear picture of this MARVELLOUS tale. Definitely not a hardship.

Fantastic in every sense of the word!

I’ve listened to this book at least three - maybe four? - times. The narrator has some wonderful character moments.

Entertaining

Anymore, I find it impossible to read anything involving magic without mentally referencing Harry Potter. That being said, this was entertaining. The romance ran the way most do in books these days, regardless of the sex of the participants. I would've enjoyed a broader vocabulary during more intimate scenes but the action was clear enough. The mystery aspect was a little predictable but still enjoyable. Recently, I have been looking at William Morris designs for my own home so the references to them was fun.

Overall, I recommend the listen.

A great book.

I enjoyed this book very much and hope the next one comes put very soon.

Wonderful—in both senses of the word.

Marske’s storytelling and world building are very impressive for a debut author. I read/listen to a lot of fantasy and I was drawn in immediately to this new world. Her system of magic is different in many ways to others I’ve read, but it all makes sense (as much as a system of magic *can* make sense). I’m eagerly awaiting the next part.

loved it

Such a fun story! I loved it! romance, magic, mystery this book is great

Wonderful

Great story. Right amount of sexiness and character development. Written to care about the characters.

Soft Porn

This book is the very reason I usually stay away from titles described with words like “queer, romantic, fantasy.” Just like this tile, they too to be unnecessarily explicit. It is a shame that authors feel the need to include such language in an otherwise delightful story. I skipped past the sections included in this book so I can finish it. However, I will not purchase anymore in the trilogy nor will I purchase anything else from this author.

My favorite character is a house. Is that weird?

Robin Blythe has enough on his plate to keep any young man busy. He's trying to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and fulfill the duties being the baronet of a seat that was left largely gutted by his parents' excesses. What Robin does not need is more trouble. But that's what he gets when a clerical error sees him appointed as a civil service liaison when the previous person in the position has disappeared. To make matters even worse, the appointment reveals to Robin the hidden magical world.

He may not want it, but now that he's in the position, he finds himself dealing with magic, both beautiful and dangerous, deadly curses, and the prickly Edward Courcey, his magical counterpart in the office, and the person with whom he is supposed to liaise.

But as the mystery surrounding his predecessor's death is slowly revealed, Robin and Edward discover a plot that threatens every magician in Brittain.

For an enemies-to-lovers love story, this one was somewhat slow to get going for me, and I nearly put it down several times. I am glad that I didn't, because once it really got going, it was very enjoyable. For me, it took until about the halfway point to really get into it, but I think that had to do more with the fact that it's a historical fantasy, and I generally stay away from historical fantasies. For whatever reason, I find them harder to get into than other fantasy novels.

What helped me was listening to the audiobook. I had started off reading it myself and would only get through about 10-15 pages before I'd be putting it down to read something else. Knowing I would never finish it that way, I started listening to the audiobook. David Thorpe did a wonderful job with his performance. I don't yet know if I'll continue the series, but if I do, I will be listening to the audiobook.

I will say that, of all the characters in the novel, I think my favorite was Sutton House. I have read a few other books recently that have magical houses in them, and I do enjoy those stories. There's something fun about seeing characters interact with a magic house. As a secondary note, having finished the story, I now feel the need to learn Cat's Cradle. It was not something I picked up as a kid, but reading this story, in which the magic spells are based on the game, makes me at least want to figure out the basics. Who knows, maybe I'll discover some latent magical power of my own? Probably not foresight, though.