#MacmillanAudio Review of City of Time and Magic by Paula Brackston

Today I'm reviewing the Macmillan Audio edition of City of Time and Magic by Paula Brackston narrated by Marisa Calin. See what I thought of it.
Enjoy!

ASIN: B08TZ38281
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Release Date: 11-23-2021
Length: 10 hours - 44 minutes
Source: Publisher for review
Found Things #4
Buy It: Audible

Overview:

Paula Brackston's City of Time and Magic is the next installment in the time-traveling Found Things Series.

City of Time and Magic sees Xanthe face her greatest challenges yet. She must choose from three treasures that sing to her; a beautiful writing slope, a mourning brooch of heartbreaking detail, and a gorgeous gem-set hat pin. All call her, but the wrong one could take her on a mission other than that which she must address first, and the stakes could not be higher. While her earlier mission to Regency England had been a success, the journey home resulted in Liam being taken from her, spirited away to another time and place. Xanthe must follow the treasure that will take her to him if he is not to be lost forever.

Xanthe is certain that Mistress Flyte has Liam and determined to find them both. But when she discovers Lydia Flyte has been tracking the actions of the Visionary Society, a group of ruthless and unscrupulous Spinners who have been selling their talents to a club of wealthy clients, Xanthe realizes her work as a Spinner must come before her personal wishes. The Visionary Society is highly dangerous and directly opposed to the creed of the Spinners. Their actions could have disastrous consequences as they alter the authentic order of things and change the future. Xanthe knows she must take on the Society. It will require the skills of all her friends, old and new, to attempt such a thing, and not all of them will survive the confrontation that follows.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

MacmillanAudio · City Of Time And Magic by Paula Brackston, audiobook excerpt

My Macmillan Audio Review:

City of Time and Magic
Found Things #4
Paula Brackston

This series just keeps getting better and better and The City of Time and Magic is absolutely awesome and the best one yet. Not only has Xanthe finally confided her secret to her mother and Liam but fans of the Marvelous Ms. Brackston will recognize perhaps her greatest (before Xanthe) heroine, Elizabeth from The Witch’s Daughter as the wife of Erasmus. The first two books did contain some danger but were more fanciful than the last two which were much darker as both Xanthe’s role as time-spinner and the series itself evolves. The tale is fast paced and the narrative flows fabulously and how Paula switches from present day dialogue to Nineteenth Century speak is superb. The storyline is an intriguing edge of your seat puzzle that gives the audience that fly on the wall feel. The characters continue to amaze especially Xanthe and now that she and Liam are a couple it gives a sometimes romance feel to the mystery, plus now with Elizabeth involved readers will have to wonder if she’ll be making more appearances in upcoming novels. Only time will tell. From page one to the breathtaking last page fans will devour this unputdownable novel. Series should be read in order.

Narration:
Marisa Calin’s narration continues to awe she’s the perfect Xanthe and does a superb job on all the voices giving them just enough of a difference so that her audience can tell them apart and is excellent on both male and female parts. Plus she adds just the right emotion to every sentence taking listeners right inside the story and giving them an added dimension that reading alone can’t do.

When Xanthe returned home from her mission to help a Regency era bride she is horrified that her boyfriend Liam didn’t return with her.  Fearing that he’s lost somewhere in time she frantically seeks found things to sing to her hoping one of them will take her to him.  One thing she discovers is an antique writing box that takes her back to late Victorian London and the home of Erasmus Balmoral a former spinner and current time-stepper. Erasmus she knows was once connected to Lydia Flyte and knowing there is no such thing as coincidences it’s Lydia who she realizes must have Liam. Now that she knows the where she goes back home to the present to enlist the help of local pub owner Harley, a friend who has known about her secret life as a spinner from the beginning and together they travel back to late 1800s London to discover why a woman and fellow spinner that she thought was her friend and a good woman would do something like abducting Liam.

With the help of Erasmus and his family, his wife Elizabeth, a powerful witch and their son Thomas (Nipper) Lydia explains why she took Liam as she tells them about The Visionary Society located here in this time in London, founded by spinners who are using their gifts to make themselves and their client’s huge fortunes not caring who they hurt or what in time they disrupt and Lydia needs help to destroy them. This Xanthe knows will be a very dangerous mission and she has much to loose so everything must work just right so that she, Harley and Liam can all return home safe and sound.

 The Series

About the author:
PAULA BRACKSTON is the New York Times bestselling author of The Witch's Daughter and The Little Shop of Found Things, among others. Paula lives with her family in the historical border city of Hereford in the beautiful Wye valley. When not at her desk in her writing room, she enjoys long walks with the dog in a sublime landscape filled with the imprints of past lives and ancient times.