You've probably heard the old saying, "Don't judge a book by it's cover." But in this section of the RCW, that's exactly what we do. We'll review the historical discrepancies and the discrepancies between the plot and the cover drawing for all editions of Mairelon the Magician, Magician's Ward, and Magic & Malice.
Mairelon the Magician
Tor Books Hardcover (June 1991) and Paperback (June 1992). Cover artist unknown.
Let's begin with a basic description of the scene: Mairelon and Kim, with hair blowing wildly, stand in a mysterious fog and the eerie glow of the Saltash bowl. Mairelon's hands are raised, and his eyes are focused on the bowl. Kim is looking on, a bit fearfully.
Overall, this art is innaccurate, both historically and as a representation of the book. Mairelon's visible clothing, which consists of a shirt trimmed in frilly ruffs, is too early for the Regency. The ruff was a Tudor accoutrement; Regency gentlemen would wear a cravat, shirt, and jacket - no ruffs. His appearance is also strange in the fact that his moustache is missing.We also can't really recall the wagon filling with smoky fog when Mairelon performed the spell.
Starscape Paperback (April 2002). Cover art by Jim Madsen.
In the foreground, Kim is walking by with a suspicious look on her face. In the background, Mairelon stands on the golden stage of the wagon with a puff of smoke rising from his hand and a showman's grin on his face, while interested market folk look on. In the distance, we can see ramshackle buildings.
Kim's appearance is a bit add odds with her desciption in Magician's Ward, where her hair is described as being dark. In this depiction, her hair appears to be a coppery color.
Mairelon's clothing, however, is more Victorian than Regency in style. Jackets during the Regency usually cut off somwhere just short of the waist, leaving a few inches of the waistcoat showing. Here, Mairelon's jacket extends to some point well past his knees. His trousers are also incorrect. During the Regency, trousers were just beginning to replace breeches for day wear. They were very, very tight from the waist to the ankle, and the gentleman's boots usually went over them. Mairelon's trousers are far too loose for the time. He should also be wearing a cravat as opposed to a bow tie.
Overall, the entire cover gives the feel of a low-income area of Victorian London - which would be fine if the novel was set about forty years later.
Magician's Ward
Tor Books Hardcover (December 1997) and Paperback (October 1998). Cover artist unknown.
The scene is of the burglary of Andrew's library. We see Starnes in the foreground, clad in a long cape, his bare arm reaching for a glowing green book. Kim, standing in the doorway and holding a lit candle, looks on with a surprised expression.
We'll begin with the innacurracy of the scene depicted compared to the scene described in the book. Firstly, Kim never had time to stand in the doorway - Starnes charged at it when she attempted the spell. Secondly, she never brought a candle. Thirdly, she was wearing her dark navy dressing gown, which is absent in the cover depiction. Her nightgown is also innappropriate for the Regency, as the waist and neck are too low.
Starnes' apparel is also incorrect. When Kim hands Mairelon the piece of wool she tore in the struggle, he remarks, "Ripped his coat, did he?" Coat, not cloak, which is what the burgalar is shown wearing on the cover. Cloaks, for men at least, had fallen out of favor during the Regency. Gloves, however, were nearly always worn when going outdoors, but the arm on the cover is bare.
In summary, the artist of this cover shows a distinct lack of research in Regency fashion, as well as careless reading of the text.
Starscape Paperback (September 2002). Cover art by Jim Madsen.
This time we see the scene where Kim pays a call on Ma Yanger, and exits rather hastily. She is depicted here running down a narrow alley towards a waiting Mairelon, in suprisingly bright light for the backstreets of London at night. Kim is drawn wearing a cap, shirt, jacket, trousers, and suspenders.
We at the RCW do not know exactly when suspenders came into vogue, but it was not during the Regency. Again, Kim's trousers are incorrect for the time, and she should probably be wearing breeches. Her hair is darker in color than on the Starscape cover for Mairelon the Magician, which is an improvement.
Mairelon seems quite fond of being in disguise, to judge by this cover, because he is still wearing his false moustache. It was never explicitly said in Magician's Ward that he had removed it, but one could safely assume that now that he was no longer on the run he would have left off wearing it.
Mairelon has also donned the Victorian stage magician's costume we saw on the Starscape cover of Mairelon the Magician, which is still historically inaccurate. Now, it also goes against the text, which says that he has put on shabby clothes to blend in with the locals.
In the distance of the scene we see a glowing green window. Technically, this is improbable, because most windows in the houses of the poor were boarded up to prevent high taxes, which at the time were calculated by the number of windows in a building. We also think that it's a bit odd for the whole room to be glowing green. Kim notes that the green mist around Mairelon after the disasterous musicale was a few inches thick, not a few feet. Ma would have had to be sitting right next to the window, which she was not described as being in the book.
Magic & Malice
Science Fiction Book Club Hardcover (April 1998). Cover art by Tom Kidd.
The scene appears to be from Magician's Ward, and is of Kim and Mairelon in the middle of a magic lesson. Kim, dressed in a violet gown, studies a book floating in front of her. Mairelon performs a spell with the aid of one of those handy balls of light. The library (presumably) around them has large leaded-glass windows with fancy moulding, the helmet and chest piece from a suit of armor hanging on the wall, and a large globe.
The RCW was impressed by the accurate depiction of Regency fashion. Mairelon's hat, coat, waistcoat and trousers are all very correct, except for the fact that he probably shouldn't be wearing a hat indoors. Kim's empire-waist dress and elbow-length gloves are perfectly fitting for a respectable Regency lady, as are her dark curls.
However, the library windows belong a time previous to the construction of Grosvener Square. Early windows were constructed with small, diamond-shaped panes of glass held together by lead (hence the term "leaded glass."). However, by the early 1700's windows were being made with squares of glass set into wooden frames.
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