Plucked from the pyre on which he’s to be burned for sorcery in 1480, Michael de Lorraine, 15, is rescued by a mysterious abbot and led to a half-ruined monastery near a French village. Across Europe, the Inquisition is hunting down and burning those who practice magic, but here the gentle monks of Sainte Felice combine sorcery with traditional Christianity, summoning angels to assist them in turning the poverty-racked village into a prosperous town. (This Inquisition seems to have no interest in hunting down Jews or other “heretics,” just sorcerers.) Sheltering in the monastery, Michael discovers the abbot’s secret and becomes his pupil in religious sorcery. Outside, the abbot’s enemies plot to destroy him. Despite its narrow focus on a few cloistered male characters, this debut novel is intriguing and suspenseful, with a persuasive historical setting that conveys monastic life especially well. Readers may wonder, however, why—if God and faith alone can work miracles—sorcery is needed. Christianity relies on free will—to choose or turn away from the faith—yet these sorcerers bind angels to do their bidding. (Historical fantasy. 12 & up)
