Review: 
Elika is an orphan on her dying world of Terren.  Elika is part of Bad Penny's gang of thieves and Eli stalks the Bridge to the Deadlands waiting to take the possessions of those who cross it.  The bridge appeared from magic years ago when those who were magic left Terren.  Now, mankind blames magic for the deadly blight that is destroying their world.  Eli blames the bridge for her troubles and takes out her anger on it, only to discover that she is magic as well.  With Eli's discovery the blight creeps closer and people begin to distrust everyone around them as magic. Eli must decide if she wants to use her magic to fight for the survival of her world or try to purge it from herself. 


The Bridge to Magic is an excellent fantasy highlighting the choice between accepting a new life and leaving behind everything you know.  I was immediately taken in by the amazing world building.  I could easily imagine the complex web that made up the bridge into the Deadlands and well as a busy city surrounded by a neverending chasm. The characters were all fully developed and memorable.  I loved Eli's dedication to her gang and her steadfastness in her decisions.  Although, this steadfastness is also part of Eli's problem with moving on.  I enjoyed Bill Fisher's character as well along with his stories.  I really liked Eli's time with Igla and I wish Igla could have taught Eli more about her past and magic. The ending was fast paced as the blight quickened and Eli was forced to make a decision between what is left of her world and what is beyond the Bridge.  Overall, a thrilling fantasy of hope, fate and magic.  I can't wait to read the rest of the series.


This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

About the Book: 
A Shape on the Air by Julia Ibbotson

Publication Date: October 9, 2021

Genre: Historical Mystery
Series: Dr. DuLac, Book 1

For fans of Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, Christina Courtenay

Can echoes of the past threaten the present? They are 1500 years apart, but can they reach out to each other across the centuries? One woman faces a traumatic truth in the present day. The other is forced to marry the man she hates as the ‘dark ages’ unfold.

How can Dr Viv DuLac, medievalist and academic, unlock the secrets of the past? Traumatised by betrayal, she slips into 499 AD and into the body of Lady Vivianne, who is also battling treachery. Viv must uncover the mystery of the key that she unwittingly brings back with her to the present day, as echoes of the past resonate through time. But little does Viv realise just how much both their lives across the centuries will become so intertwined. And in the end, how can they help each other across the ages without changing the course of history?
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Review: 
Viv DuLac is an academic studying England's Dark Ages.  After a sudden, heartbreaking breakup with her longtime boyfriend, Peter,  Viv learns of his betrayal with her friend. With the news, Viv begins to have episodes where she  becomes Lady Vivianne in 499 AD.  Lady Vivianne lives near the Mere where Viv is and Vivianne is in a dire situation with a controlling man in her life.  Viv continues to have episodes slipping into Lady Vivianne's life and learns of her troubles.  Viv divulges her concerns to her friends, Ellie and Tilly and soon find that the local Reverend, Rory has slipped into the same time as Sir Roland, friend to Lady Vivianne.  Viv and Rory figure out how to help Lady Vivianne and Sir Roland from their own time while discovering their own connection to the past. 


A Shape on the Air takes the tale of the Lady of the Lake to another level with a time-slip element.  This is a fast-paced and shorter novel with constant action.  Right away, Viv is traumatically dumped and sent into a time slip.  At first, I had a hard time understanding why Viv put up with Pete taking advantage of her after the breakup, but Viv's story fit so well with Vivianne's experience, that it began to make sense.  As soon as Viv began to time-slip more frequently into Lady Vivianne's life, I was hooked into the common issue that was vexing the women in both time periods.  I enjoyed visiting Lady Vivianne's time and being able to experience what was called the Dark Ages and challenging some of the views of that era.  I also loved the integration of the Lady of the Lake myth and how it connected to Viv's experiences in the present day. 

About the Author
​Acclaimed, award-winning author Julia Ibbotson is fascinated by the medieval world and the concept of resonances across time. She read English at Keele University, England (after a turbulent but exciting gap year in Ghana, West Africa) specialising in medieval language, literature and history, and has a PhD in socio-linguistics. She wrote her first novel at 10 years of age, but became a school teacher, then an academic as a senior university lecturer and researcher.
She has published a number of books, including memoir, children’s medieval fantasy, a trilogy set in Ghana, and medieval time-slip, as well as academic works. Apart from insatiable reading, she loves travelling the world, singing in choirs, swimming, yoga and walking in the countryside in England and Madeira where she and her husband divide their time.