Judith’s review of Magic University: The Incubus and the Angel (Book 3) by Cecilia Tan

Book Three continues the journey of Kyle Wadsworth, a college student who discovers he is magical upon his arrival at Harvard. Kyle finds himself enrolled at Veritas, the hidden magical university on the campus. In his freshman year, Kyle loses his virginity as part of a magical ritual to save the life of another student. 

As a sophomore he studies Esoteric Arts (aka sex magic) and develops his skills as an erotic magician, but discovers that magical sex doesn’t guarantee love or happiness. Now in his junior year, Kyle is on a quest for true love, but many challenges yet await.

College students live in a world all their own, even when not attending any kind of magical university. For the characters in this book, the world which they inhabit is not only somewhat removed from the “real” world as are all university campuses, but they are really living in surroundings that can only be seen by those possessing magical powers. The buildings housing classes for Veritas are there, but no one can see them unless in possession of The Sight. It is a strange context and one that only a very inventive creator can bring to life.

This is not an easy book to read as it does not seem to me to be truly a stand alone novel. The publishers do a great deal to give the reader a synopsis of what has gone on before as well as explanations of previous actions or relationships, but there is so much about each of the active characters that can only be known from reading the first two novels. Apart from the characters themselves, I was just a bit in the dark about the nature of the relationships between all these friends and that was confusing as well. Suffice it to say that Kyle was a very good student who took his educational goals and challenges seriously. Yet now, as a junior, he is still dealing with a great deal of fall-out from some experiences as a member of Esoteric Arts class. He is seeking some kind of guidance from a couple of his best friends, one of whom is a Tarot card expert and who is being asked to give him some insights. He is also terribly troubled over an unfinished encounter with another student, Frost, as well as dealing with a persistent case of writer’s block as he is trying to complete his junior project–a commentary on some mystical poetry involving an ancient prophecy. Kyle, along with several of his companion students, are also having very erotic dreams that are troubling, to say the least. It is almost as if they are being attacked sexually in their dreams and they don’t know what to do about this.

Enter the entire discussion and mystery about an Incubus, a male demonic lifeform that gains power only from sexual encounters. How to free them from this? And how does Kyle manage this persistent difficulty over Frost, the young man with whom he had a brief sexual encounter during his sophomore year? Kyle states that he prefers women, but he doesn’t have any objection to a gay relationship either. So now he is trying to put some closure to this sort of left-over involvement with Frost, a sexual encounter that has left him very confused, and with a person who seems to have disappeared. When Kyle does see him between classes, Frost runs away. This situation is one of the main threads that runs throughout the novel

In the course of trying to solve the Incubus problem, Kyle begins a relationship with Lindy, a young magical student who attracts him because of her winsome personality, her willingness to accept him as a source of power when hers was depleted (Kyle is a lightning rod kind of person), and one who doesn’t put any strings on their encounters. Kyle is typical of many 20 year olds: just coming into a fuller realization of what it means to be an adult with its privileges and responsibilities, as well as seeing somethings come to fruition from his educational efforts. He is now wanting a love relationship that goes beyond the sexual encounters he has enjoyed in the past and gradually his encounters with Lindy become more enticing and seem to be connecting them on a deeper level.

Ms Tan has certainly created an alternate reality and given these students unique and interesting personalities. They have many of the same difficulties as any other set of students, the same goals and challenges, the same kinds of achievements they need to reach in order to move forward. Keeping all these characters straight has to be a writing achievement in and of itself, and there were times I had a difficult time getting them all in their proper relationships. I found the magical ritual between Kyle and Frost just a bit mystifying (no pun intended) yet it was an important rite of passage for both of them. And through it all, Kyle was maturing and gaining more understanding of himself as a person and as one in relationship with others. There are lots of unexpected moments here, twists and turns in the discovery of the Incubus’ identity. For Kyle this was a pivotal year in his journey through his university days, a journey that had already posed some difficulties for him as well as given him critical self-understanding.

This could conceivably be considered a YA book, set as it is in a university setting. But the world of magic, whether it be Kyle Wadsworth or Harry Potter, is fascinating and revealing in its ability to help people tied to jobs and chores and families and real-life challenges to live in a magical world of unlimited possibilities. Here Kyle is forced to live both in his real world and the world of magic, but in doing so he is maturing and gaining a new relationship that has added so much to his personal sense of himself as a human being.

Fantasy lovers will find this book challenging but satisfying. Romance lovers will find the gentle and expanding love story between Kyle and Lindy a very nice part of this novel. All in all, it was a good book and one that I enjoyed reading.

I give this book a rating of 3.75 out of 5.

This book is available from Ravenous Romance. You can buy it here in e-format.