The Glass Slide World (The Naturalist Society)
The Glass Slide World, a standalone sequel to Vaughn’s The Naturalist Society set in 1902, follows a young woman, Ava Stanley, as she seeks to find her independent role as doctor and Arcane Taxonomist, and ends up on a high-seas, international-thriller adventure. As the daughter of famously powerful practitioners, her small-scale magical abilities seem like a hindrance. Vaughn bases her fictional Arcane Taxonomy on a combination of the notion that names have intrinsic magical power and Linnaeus’s scientific system of naming organisms. So, for example, Ava’s mother can draw on the power of the wings and perceptions of the Arctic tern to see and hear far across the world. Ava’s interests and power lie with the recently discovered world of bacteria and other microorganisms—the glass slide world of the title.
In a ploy to avoid her medical exams and experiment with bacteria, Ava sets off from Britain to Nassau on a ship to collect samples. Villainy on the high seas forces Ava to choose between safety or supporting the group of passengers and crew she has befriended. She’s dragged further into mayhem on behalf of others, even as her doubts grow about some of their motives. The crisis forces her to explore her powers, both as a doctor and an Arcane Taxonomist, and to take flight as a fully independent woman.
Vaughn will keep you turning pages with a fast-moving plot, engaging characters, and a fresh magical system. The novel handles issues such as colonialism and the British Empire with subtlety, integrating these thought-provoking ideas organically into the development of characters. More humorously, she also presents the contrast between famous people’s real lives and the way they are sensationalized in the popular mind. Recommended.
