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| | The Rainbow Abyss, by Barbara Hambly |
 | | No, what's at stake here is less an exploration of the fragility of magic in a world that uses it, but much more an exploration of the troubles of a young apprentice wizard, Rhion the brown, and his love for the seemingly unobtainable Tally, daughter of a high and mighty duke. |
 | | On the one hand, we see a society that shuns the practitioners of magic yet appeals to those powers to salve common human concerns, whether it be to treat physical ills or merely lovesick ones; and on the other hand, and more importantly, we see a society that doesn't really seem to need magic. |
 | | This weakness undermines the importance placed upon the mysteries of the dark well by Rhion's master, Jaldis, who thinks that the secret to preserving magic in their own world can be discovered by finding out why it went away in another. |
| www.sfreader.com /read_review.asp?ID=879 (491 words) |
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