Work Experience (Schooled in Magic Book 4)

Schooled in Magic Book 4 is well worth reading, provided you have read books one to three. My only complaint is there is going to be a book 5 and I can't get it yet! Emily has been transported to another world/dimension by an evil necromancer and she is not your average dopey teen, so she gradually adapts to a rather weird medieval scene quite well, despite not realising the consequences of her actions. Hats off to Mr Nuttall and I can't wait to see how Emily progresses and how she tempers and goes beyond magic's version of the WMD.

At one point this was advertised as the conclusion to the series. A fifth has been titled. Good solid story with personal growth for Emily. Nice teaser on the end for follow ups. I dislike series that never seem to end. I prefer good story arc with a satisfying end. Wll have to see how it goes. Good series so far.

Mr Nuttalls writing is always good, and I look for anything new from him right away. That being said, I find myself with a lurking dislike of his character, Emily, in the schooled in magic series.

At her (very) young age she endeavours, with essentially no understanding of the culture around her, to completely undermine that culture in any (nearly random) way she can, with nothing but the most flighty of attempts to justify this beyond that it conflicts with her own personality and moral compass, such as it is, considering her own severely damaged personality.

Repeatedly, the consequences of her actions cause death and hardship to those around her, while she plows along, still with the barest understanding of the culture that she, in her teenaged wisdom has decided to sentence to death. Not only does she not understand the culture that she is attempting to subvert, but she finds most attempts to educate her to be boring and generally beneath her notice unless circumstances push them right up under her nose and hold them there, in which case she reacts angrily and pretty much randomly based on her mood at the time, once again plowing forward like a runaway freight train over thousands of years of culture that she still takes little time to understand.

Somebody is going to try to kill her (repeatedly) and many people who she is completely unaware of, and whose families, livelihoods and very existence have been upended or destroyed at her whim are going to have her in their sights. Some of those people will have very legitimate issues with her, and every right to seek redress in any way they can.

Her behavior is nearly the epitome of blind, dismissive arrogance/hubris, and I can't help but see a disaster looming. I don't like Emily, but I find the books to be well written and engrossing even as I think the main character is cruising for a very much deserved bruising.

She shows not a single bit of the life experience, lack of selfishness, maturity, self control, or just about anything at all besides luck and some random knowledge from our world, to have a qualified hand on the tiller of the changes she is introducing. The nameless world has in fact been almost outrageously patient with her, but one wonders how long that can possibly last.

I also agree with another reviewer that Emily's intelligence flutters very selectively, and her tendency to rush ahead without a single considered thought about the consequences, only to numbly mutter "Oh." afterwards is wearing thin. I'm giving Emily and her bull in a china shop behavior a sharp look.

This outing seemed a little flatter than other ones, maybe because we knew who the bad guy was right from the get go? Took out some of the suspense. Also its a between the school year novel which just isn as fulfilling to me. The school angle is the most enjoyable part for me. Whether its a testament to the good writing or just a counting error, this book really didn't feel like 350 pages. It felt much shorter and much thinner in things that happened. I would ballpark it to be around 200 maybe 250. And what up with hat terribly hokey book cover? (Nothing against the women in it...)

All that criticism aside, its is still one very best written independently published books on the store. The editing is perfect, the dialogue is good and the story/plot move well with very few holes. I still love the whole a Yankee in king Arthur's court x Harry Potter vibe this series has. This one feels a little more YA than some of the other ones are, I never would have thought the first one was positioned that way, but it sure it seems like they are moving or getting repositioned in that direction... which isn't bad, just not what I'd personally hope for. Still I recommend this series to everybody I know who's really into fantasy and is looking for something light and fun. Literally I recommend it to everyone. At this price its a steal.

Another good read. I purchased this book from another source but wanted to give Chris a good review here. Emily is growing a person and character that I enjoy reading about. She's not perfect and Chris admits that she needs to grow.

I especially enjoyed seeing how Lady Barb spends her summers in Book Four Work Experience. Lady Barb goes out to the villages as a free healer. At the same time, she keeps her eye out for new magicians. You see, magicians are born to magical families but ALSO can be born to non-magical (commoner) families.
If a trained magician didn't go out among the people on a regular basis these common-born magicians would be missed. The Nameless World can't afford to miss ANY magicians (who are needed to defend the Allied Lands against the evil necromancers).
Emily accompanies Lady Barb for this summer. She's not a regular apprentice (she doesn't take apprentice oaths, etc. and normal apprenticeships are for two years). I think of her more like Lady Barb's intern. Lady Barb needs correctly brewed potions for her work and it is up to Emily to get them right every time. (Fortunately, while alchemy is not her strong suit, she does manage to do the basic potions needed, if not the first time then without wasting too many ingredients when she has to start over and do a ruined potion a second time.)
The Harry Potter books each cover one calendar year. The Schooled in Magic books, so far, cover either a term (such as the First Year or the Second Year) OR what happens over the summer break.
As the series goes on, more and more changes/inventions introduced by Emily (since her arrival in the Nameless World) start to catch up with her. She has certainly been a Child of Destiny if you count how much difference she has made already!

the series revolves around a young girl accidently taken from earth to a magical world. emily in yhis volume, hoes with one of her professors to work in the countryside for experience as she matures. lots of acyion and new experiences