The Magic Circle by Barry Ryerson takes the reader on a twisty, exciting ride through a post-apocalyptic world. I’d call this a techno-magic-thriller. Is that a genre? If not, I just made it up.

The devastation wreaked by nuclear weapons has changed the Earth, physically and politically. While empires battle for control, the characters – the soldiers in these battles – make the book come alive. The narrative weaves together three characters: Bethany, an art student who rapidly becomes tangled in magic and intrigue; Yevgeny, a dutiful soldier of the state who comes to question his loyalties and his identity; and Wikus who blindly lusts for a power that will destroy even more of the planet.

The main characters are drawn with nuance and depth. Not all of them are sympathetic. The author makes villains as believable and three-dimensional as heroes, which gives the story more depth than you sometimes see in thrillers.

The author has a clear vision for the world of the book, which sets up the larger battle that will determine the fate of the planet. But the smaller details are what kept me reading.  A major thread running through the book is that we should accept people based on who they really are and not what they look like. This provides surprising plot twists (which I won’t give away here) and grounds the action in emotion.

In the end, a very satisfying book in which not everything is resolved, setting up a sequel. I’m looking forward to the next installment.