The memory thieves by Dhonielle Clayton

In this second book of the Conjuror series,  Ella returns for another year at the Arcanum Training Institute, the amazing magical school for Marvellers, and is reunited with her friends Jason and Brigit. In this instalment there is an even more diverse multicultural mix, with not only the two Conjurers Ella and Jason of African American heritage, but Anh from Vietnam, Luz from Brazil, students from the Navajo nation, and others including some LGBQTI+ not explicitly defined. Commenting on the obvious contrast with Hogwarts, the magical school in the Harry Potter series, Clayton says in a ‘Books for Keeps’ interview that her book ‘includes all the children J.K. Rowling marginalized, stereotyped, and frankly, forgot.’

The Conjurers series is a very magical sparkly world that readers of fantasy will delight in, but at the same time, Clayton introduces some contemporary themes with the school becoming highly policed as ’protection’, and then subject to a close-down due to a strange sickness that seems to gradually overcome the students. When they return there are heightened hygiene and spacing requirements, along with suspicion about the alien group who might be the source of the contamination. In the background there are news articles complaining about Conjurers being allowed into the exclusive Marvellers’ school, posters proclaiming ‘Make the Marvellian World Light Again’, and an election being contested between  the current hijab-wearing president Al-Nahwi’s voice calling for uniting people, and the charming Johan Fenris Knudsen I and his message of ‘A Time for Marvellian Greatness is Here!’ Early on Ella had been warned by her mentor Masterji Thakur that ‘the truth is malleable. There are some who look at blue sky and want the world to say it’s green because there’s power in getting people to follow you without question . . . even if it’s a lie.’

The socio-political themes are nevertheless subtle, and the emphasis is most definitely on magic, mystery, and adventure, with the young students racing against time to expose the evil manipulators working against them. This is an exciting sequel for readers who enjoyed the first book The Marvellers, and they may rest assured there will be more instalments to come, and meanwhile there is the online Conjureverse to explore.

Themes: Fantasy, Magic, Identity, Diversity, Racism, School story.

Helen Eddy