Word of Honour, by Michael Pryor

A colossal shock racked the submersible. Aubrey was thrown to the deck. He lay there, alert, his mind racing, wondering what was happening.
The next moment, the Electra was rocked by another immense impact, much greater than the first. Aubrey was hurled against the leg of the table. He gasped as he took the blow on his shoulder and bit back a cry of pain.

With schooldays behind him, Aubrey Fitzwilliam is looking forward to university, and the chance to immerse himself in his magical studies. But, as Aubrey well knows, his life is unlikely to take a steady course. First, he finds himself stranded on a sinking submersible vessel, then on the trail of a plot to rob Albion’s largest bank. With his friends George and Caroline, Aubrey finds himself in more danger than ever before.

Word of Honour is the third title in the amazing Laws of Magic series and will be best enjoyed by those who have read the first two, although it will also stand alone. For fans of the series, there is plenty of the familiar – including the arch-villain Dr Tremaine, and Aubrey’s long-running battle to retain his fragile hold on life, after a failed magical experiment – but Pryor avoids using a formula to repeat the patterns of previous books, and there is plenty of difference here to retain interest, and to leave the reader eager for the next instalment.

With action, intrigue, humour and a colourful cast of characters in a fantasy world which is at once familiar and surprising.

Fantasy at its best.

Word of Honour (Laws of Magic)

Word of Honour (Laws of Magic), by Michael Pryor
Random House, 2008

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