Book Review: “Blitz” by Daniel O’Malley

Blitz by Daniel O’Malley

Hooray!  Another Rook book after more than five years.

This story recounts some recent activity, as well as events that happened during the Blitz.  There is a lot of cool information about the history of the Checquy and contemporary recruitment and training for the organization.  Plus lots of weird magic, of course.

This historical thread involves the complexities of Checquy’s relationship to the non-magical government, which is supposed to be neutral.  Their job is to protect everyone from supernatural threats, which have no political motives and affect everyone.  But staying neutral in either a civil war (Ireland) or total war (WWII) is hard. Worse, their mission requires protecting bad people as well as good. Checquy’s role in the British Empire is also highly conflicted, for similar reasons.

This makes Checquy’s life in the Blitz agonizing.  They are suffering and getting bombed, but cannot use their powers to help.  They are sworn to protect all the people, but prohibited from participating in the war.

Bridget Magnan is just an apprentice, but she is apprentice to The Lady, and is thereby thrust into deep waters indeed. Turf wars with Churchill and the government.  Possible leaks from Checquy, possibly connected to London’s criminal underground.  Plus, a possibly magically endowed German who survived being shot down and is loose in London. 

The contemporary story involves the awakening of Lynette Binns’ magic, and her induction at age 35 into Checquy.  We learn quite a bit about how this process works, which is just as bureaucratic as you would expect.  If paperwork can make us safe from magic, we have nothing to worry about!

Lyn is sent to the Checquy’s school where magically powered children are raised.  It’s weird to go back to boarding school as an adult, and even weirder to go to a school where all the kids have unique magic.  Much of the curriculum there turns out to be combat training, which is fairly terrifying in itself.  I mean, many 8 year olds are already ferocious and merciless, without teaching them weapons and unarmed combat.

After graduation, Lyn works for Checquy, which is really cool.  Soon enough, though, she is drawn into wild dangerous stuff, and is forced by circumstances to desert and go on the run.  The Checquy is very touchy about rogue agents, so Lyn is likely to be killed instantly by her own side unless she can figure out what’s going on and prove she is innocent.

Things happen. Magic things happen. Lyn has to unravel mysteries that even the Checquy doesn’t know about.

It’s great stuff, full of wonder and craziness, as expected.

Get it.  Read it.

(If you haven’t read the earlier books, read them first!)

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1. Daniel O’Malley, Blitz, New York, Little, Brown and Company, 2022.

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