FADE TO BLACK

Duff’s fantasy debut, the first in a planned series, introduces the Weir, a millennia-old race of stewards of the Earth who conceal the magical powers some possess while living alongside humans.

Ian Black is an illusionist with a secret: The flashy tricks that have made him famous aren’t tricks at all. He’s a Weir with abilities like “shyfting” (teleportation), drawing his power from the magnetic field of the planet. He lives in unwilling isolation with his psychic Channels, twins Mara and Tara; Milo, his tutor and caretaker; and his manager, Patrick, the only human who knows some of his illusions are real. While Ian wants to be part of the human world, he’s kept from doing so by the Syndrion, a council that rules one race of Weirs, the Pur, who fight the evil Duach. When Sars (firstborn males with magical powers) from opposite sides meet, they react like matter and antimatter, a painful reaction known as the Curse. Ian defies Syndrion authority by saving humans in danger; their plights come to him in visions. One night, while saving college student Rayne Bevan, he’s unexpectedly hit by the Curse and discovers there’s much the Syndrion hasn’t told him about himself and the world. Rayne, for her part, is fascinated by the reclusive illusionist, first as a curious journalist and then as a woman. She’s unexpectedly drawn into his world when she sets off on a search for the father she never knew. Duff’s worldbuilding is fairly fluid; much of Ian’s background and the wider realm of the Weirs are revealed naturally in dialogue rather than in long, explanatory narrative. Her neologisms can be defined from context: For instance, when Ian shyfts for the first time, the reader understands he’s moved magically from place to place without being told. The details and new characters keep piling up, however, with genetically altered wolves, Duach assassins and true love all playing parts. The ambitious plot occasionally muddles the narrative; Duff deserves applause for having so many ideas, but a few might have been held back for later volumes.

Overwhelming but nonetheless enjoyable.