2017 book 32

Vic James' Gilded Cage
This very interesting first book in a trilogy takes place in a world where the monarchy in England was never restored, and the country is now ruled by a parliament of magic-users, where non-magic users have to serve a ten-year period of slavery for some reason that isn't entirely clear, but makes for a compelling story. (Sidebar: the Civil War in the US apparently involved issues of both slavery and magic, and the Union did not win. That's not pertinent here though.) Anyway, the central characters are two teenage siblings whose family is about to start their slavery period--one falling for a wealthy aristocrat (both these characters aren't super interesting but could become interesting later), the other falling in with a crowd of rebels--and the powerful youngest son of a magic-using family who has plots galore. I like the intersection of history, magic, and politics, so this book was pretty much right up my alley, even if it did have a couple of weak spots. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes next. A-/B+.