Avoiding Magic? (Was Re: McKinley: Stone Fey)

>This is another of those times that McKinley's characters
> seem to shy away from any magic, lest they lose some of
>their soul.

It's true that some seem to avoid magic, but they don't
always--the lady in "Touk's House" (not sure of spelling)
married Touk. And the Buttercup people encountered what
seemed to be an entirely helpful magic; the buttercups took
over the farm for a while, but they left everything much
richer. So I don't know which outnumbers what. I think,
perhaps, that the general "moral" of her stories is the same
"moral" found in many fairy tales: Magic is chancy and can
work either way.

Any thoughts?

Jessica
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Received on Mon Apr 13 05:17:17 1998