Title: The Company of Magic
Author: P.J. Milton
Publisher: Victoria & Company Books
ISBN:
Pages: 88,000 words
Genre: YA Fantasy/Thriller
Reviewed by: Carol Davala
Hollywood Book Reviews
In a creative blend of modern and ancient, magic and mystery, murder and mayhem, author P.J. Milton draws readers into a fantastical literary realm where adventures play out around the globe. At the heart of the tale we see a younger generation looking to the future of a more peaceable world.
The story behind “The Company of Magic” ignites from an ancient curse where Merlinus the Supreme Magus, with his long red tresses and white parchment skin, ensconced in gold and green robes, rules over a select class of Magi from the confines of a mountainous, Scottish Highlands castle. In the present day, these sorcerers work from the city skyscrapers of the historically established Sarras Company. Garbed in business suits, and carrying business cards, this secretive society maintains a boardroom comprised of a group of nefarious individuals, intent on world domination and the destruction of all individuals with the power to interfere. When a runic inscribed keyholder is stolen from the Company, and indications are such that 13-year-old Jason Riley has the ability to decode the secret language, these modern day magicians want him dead. Enter Tobias Morgan, aka Sir Toby, the waxen-faced, taloned Vampire extraordinaire. He is hired at a hefty sum to do the dastardly deed. Now the hunt is on. From Tobias’ initial tracking of Jason to his school in England, to the tight-knit group of adolescents that join Jason in his worthy pursuits, to the magical incandescence woven throughout the storyline, the book smartly invokes a Harry Potter-esque feel. When the latch slides open on the enigmatic box, the real journey begins.
Characters with a bounty on their heads, certainly help to move the action along. And while there is often conflict and danger enroute, here to include battling suits of armour, energy transferring weapons, fighting gargoyles, and executives that morph into demonic creatures, Milton holds our attention without jumping over the edge into a literary chasm of horror. As chapter headings and landscape details note locations across continents, readers will follow the central magicians, both young and old, as they transport via runeways, crystals, or even the less mystical Eurostar, often amidst a purple flair. Milton effectively weaves “Magic and technology in harmony” into the story as a wave of the future. Fellow traveller Deanna emphasizes to Jason that “Magic is just physics, but using the mind instead of the body.” The story transparently plays into the connection between nature and magic, in indication of the wizardry used in the control of air, fire, water, earth, and aether. The latter element being a field of potential energy that holds everything. We learn each magician seemingly has their specialty.
Milton clearly employs a vivid imagination in his writing. Here he brings visual energy to the likes of a pair of gloves transforming into poisonous scorpions, mirrors puddling into ghoulish faces, wild banshees reforming into flying black crows, and a common house cat becoming a jade-eyed panther on the prowl. Such transformations prevail throughout. Little bits of humor also help keep this literary venture from falling into the gruesome, thriller zone. From fashionista Tobias’ concerns over his clothes clashing with his weapons, to a youngster’s worrisome text noting “Vampire in house so gone for a walk p.s. cancel lessons.” These moments are bound to produce a chuckle. Though there is a chunk of time where Tobias seems absent from the picture, Milton ultimately incorporates an unusual twist in his return. The turnaround adds to the overall sense of characters evolving. Though a fictional work with fantastical heroes and villains, the author’s strong and inquisitive protagonists consequently serve to highlight the concept of positive thinking, cause and change, and finally, love’s immortality.
Though geared toward a younger audience by virtue of the conjuring subject matter, and a young boy’s roller-coaster journey, Milton’s engaging and entertaining narrative will surely attract adult readers as well. Certainly those who want to be charmed by good writing, and some magical revelations.