The Spectaculars: The Four Curses

by Christopher G. Nuttall

The Spectaculars: The Four Curses

by Jodie Garnish

It is very difficult to write a magic school novel these days that adds something new to the genre. Harry Potter has inspired a great many copycats, and novels writing in response to issues with the Potter universe that are overlooked or generally ignored, and finding something new is a rarity. The Spectaculars: The Four Curses is one of those rare books that holds close to the conventions of the genre, while adding something new.

Ten years ago, Harper and her family tried to flee the mundane world for the magical realm alongside the remainder of the Spectaculars, magical performers with powers that turn an ordinary stage performance into something truly spectacular. Unfortunately, there was an explosion, and Harper and her mother (a mundane, who knew about the Spectaculars) were trapped in the mundane world, the Spectaculars themselves becoming more of a myth as time passed on, and the new regime took power. Now, she has been contacted by agents of the Spectaculars, inviting her to join their travelling school. She chooses to go, and her mother supports her (which makes a pleasant change, even if it does raise the issue of quite why she wasn’t invited to go too).

The Spectaculars do not have a common or garden boarding school, even a magical one. Their community is a travelling one, modelled on the theatre companies that used to go around Britain putting on shows; it was hard, if I recall correctly, for an outsider to join the community, no matter how skilful they were. Harper finds herself dividing her time between learning how to use their magic, of a community and her best friend she lost when she was a very young girl, and serving as a trainee stagehand. All is not well, however; there is a school bully, their performances are plagued by a shadowy figure reputed to be one of the semi-mythical four curses, powerful factions are threatening to shut the school down and, somehow, Harper is in the middle of it. She must figure out a way to both save the school, and the target of an enemy who lurks in plain sight.

From the moment Harper travels from the mundane world to the magical, we see a glimpse of a travelling performance combined with magic. The Spectaculars live in a community that is larger than life, and Harper is largely welcomed there. Jodie Garnish does an excellent job of sketching out the community, from the de facto headmaster to the staff and other students who make up the travelling school. She also draws a picture of life on the road, and the joy and sorrow of moving from city to city almost constantly. She is less good when it comes to the school bully, who is very much Draco Malfoy or Ethel Hallow without, as far as we can tell, most of their virtues. She takes an immediate dislike to Harper, and tries to be unpleasant to her from that moment on.

Harper herself is a sympathetic character, serving as the newcomer who is introduced to the world at the same rate as the readers. She is torn between two worlds, feeling that she belongs with the Spectaculars and yet suffering a crisis of confidence, including accidentally blaming herself for (possibly) cursing a handful of performances. It is easy to like her, particularly when she combines her mother and father’s traits into one. She is not as fleshed out some other characters I could mention, but it is the first book.

The overall plot is a little more vague, as befits a story aimed at children rather than teenagers or adults. The bad guy is not clearly identified until the end, and there is very little violence; indeed, it can be difficult to see the stakes, even if the evil plot is clearly evil right from the start. Some of the twists seem to come out of nowhere, including a big reveal about the true identity of one of the missing items. Others work very well, with Harper learning to use the resources around her to unmask the bad guy and stop his plan before it’s too late.

The greater worldbuilding is very good, with hints of a history and a possible clash between the magical and mundane worlds. Harper meets magicians from all walks of life, and finds allies in some of the most unexpected places. One serious limitation is that the Spectaculars are apparently subject to a government (and the school bully’s father is on the board) and this comes across as very odd, given that the Spectaculars started the novel by fleeing another government. But as we see the world through Harper’s Eyes, there may be details here that are missed.

Overall, The Spectaculars: The Four Curses is very good for what it is, a combination of magic school and theatre school story aimed at children. It is very clean, with no mention of sex and very little violence. It is not as complex or as morally ambiguous as some works aimed at older teenagers and adults, but is a fairly good read. I enjoyed it. You might, too.

See The Spectaculars: The Four Curses on Amazon.