The Inquisitor's Apprentice (review)

In this imaginative alternative history, early twentieth-century New York is still a mix of nationalities, but the arriving immigrants bring more with them than just a desire for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Here, magic comes in all different flavors, from the love-inducing sweets in the bakeries of the Lower East Side to the more subtle financial swindling of the Wall Street Wizards—and all of it is illegal. Sacha is a nice Jewish kid who mostly tries to keep his head down and magic-free, but when a member of the NYPD notices his talent for correctly identifying witches, he gets dragged onto the force as an apprentice to Inquisitor Wolf, who is currently investigating the recent spate of magical assassination attempts on the life of Thomas Edison. With his invention of a machine that has the potential to render magic useless, Edison has invoked the ire of most of New York's magical community, and all the signs indicate that the criminal originates in Sacha's small Jewish community. The author's love for the Big Apple is clearly apparent here, and the city becomes a character in its own right as Sacha explores its various boroughs and historical markers while working the case. Moriarty's playful blend of fact and fiction will keep history buffs on their toes, as will the many appearances by noted figures in slightly different contexts, including Teddy Roosevelt as the disgraced police commissioner, J. P. Morgan as an egomaniacal mage, and Harry Houdini as a blacklisted revolutionary. The tone borders on didactic when Sacha contemplates the treatment of America's immigrants, but this is a minor flaw in an otherwise engaging and fresh take on magic in the New World. Detailed black-and-white line drawings have an old-school flair in keeping with the tale.