The Seven Sorcerers by Julius St. Clair | Berg’s Book Club

Book Title: The Seven Sorcerers Trilogy
Book Author: Julius St. Clair
Series Name: The Seven Sorcerers
Book Number: 1-3
Genre: Fantasy
First Published: July 2018

A friend of mine recommended this book to me last September. Impeccable timing too because not long before she had suggested the book, my supervisors and I decided that an academic chapter on fantasy and disability would be the next section of my PhD to work on.

The friend told me there was a disabled protagonist and left it at that. But you know when you can pick up a bit of tone by how it’s said. The tone read to me as “you need to read this book—I can’t tell you why, you just need to read this book”. So I did. And I called it research.

With disabled-heavy narratives like What Katy Did, and Heidi, I respect that their a product of their time. The idea that someone became able-bodied through spiritual belief or determination was rife during publication. It made me understand the books but perhaps not necessarily affect my rating of them.

This book is written in modern times with a more awareness of disability.

Before we begin, it is important to note that this series of books is contained within a larger series… think Discworld kind of thing where there are series within Discworld. As a result, I don’t actually know Remi’s ending but know she is in at least one more book as a secondary character.

The Synopses

Remi is born with a congenital disability that makes her seem worthless to her tribe on Terra. So when the opportunity comes for her to leave and discover new places, she takes it. With that comes battles with sages—a race of beings that were thought to have disappeared. With them, the sorcerers worm out of the woodwork, revealing secrets.

Remi learns the truth of who she and her new friends are and must come to terms with that.

World building in The Seven Sorcerers

The reader gets the general description of three realms: Paradise (Heaven), Terra (Earth) and Hell (oblivian) and there was a collision that merged the three. It’s not really shown to us but stated. Literally. In the prologue.

What is good is that it’s clear that the Terra area has suffered to an almost dystopian element. Remi’s tribe lives in a village away from one of the main cities and ransacks the city when guards are down. It gives the sense of a post-apocolyptic world. It’s different to the description of another main city in the heaven realm.

The author gets across the differences between the cities and their realms based on location and this is great. There’s also pocket locations, which I really liked. These pocket realms are not easily located or accessed by humans and it does add to the world building. I think the author did well but there is also a nagging in my head that states St Clair could have made it more powerful. It wasn’t poor but it wasn’t fully emercive either.

The Narrative

This section is a hard one to write. So I’ll start with the easy thing first. There were a few grammatical errors but nothing major to put me off. The story was engaging and you could feel for the characters… or kill them *stares at Olivia*. So the character development was strong. The pace was perfect for the story.

Because I read the series within a few days I found a LOT of repetition. I think some of the repetition shouldn’t be there even if someone reads it at a normal rate. It was a bit too much for me. I also think that the prologues could have been better written and the last two omitted.

The plot wasn’t too complex to follow but this is where I have mixed feelings. It relied heavily on disability and the medical model. The medical model is when narrative sets out to correct or erase a disability. The idea of the plot is fascinating and does have merit but it’s execution is where it struggles.

Quickly, it becomes clear that Remi has extraordinary powers that she has been masking away from her tribe. As the plot develops, it is discovered that Remi’s congenital disability is a narrative prosthetic… like most disability-lead stories.

In other words, if Remi wasn’t disabled, the story would not progress the way that it has. Her disability is the plot. Yuck!

I say yuck but sometimes it can work, like Amy and Matthew—a story that tells the relationship between two friends with different disabilities. That works because it’s about the characters learning to navigate their world and the struggles they face because of their disability. I actually read Amy in my friend’s voice and imagined myself as Matthew.

Erasing Disability in The Seven Sorcerers

Remi is born with a congenital disability that the author wastes no time mentioning has kept her “close to death” throughout the whole of her life. Because she is of no use to her tribe on Terra (Earth) she and her … friend… Olivia decide to leave. To begin with, the representation of Remi is great. She’s disabled, but she can hold her own against Olivia, who is far more than toxic. She’s self-aware of what others think of her and pushes it aside. Great start.

Even the way Remi uses her magic initially is great. It comes at a price and for awhile makes Remi’s disability worse, knocking her unconscious. Then the story continues. Remi’s magic becomes a device to get her past enemies. Its a reversal of her disability. She grows hair, is stronger, faster, has stamina. She’s a better warrior than her friend and a tag-along companion because of her magic. Sure—for the first book anyway—she pays a price, but it’s a convenient loophole to get her past struggles. Her disability is used to show her as a victim and gain sympathy; it’s used to show a contrast between her magic and her “weakness”; and it’s used to show the flaws of others.

Fixing Disability in The Seven Sorcerers

As the narrative moves into book 2, Remi—now in the city of Paragon located in the Heaven realm has pretty much been cleared of her congenital disability. She’s able to breath. Her lack of stamina has been erased. Her hair has grown healthy. She’s now a healthy woman. I’m sure a few friends of mine would love stamina to work like that!

But not everything is alright. She now has a missing limb. Three actually. Oh… and somewhere along the way, she learns her congenital disability was a sorcerer’s mask to hide her as “his weapon” in an upcoming war. There are seven weapons, she finds three of them. One of them ends up suffering with some form of mental disorder, perhaps PTSD. In other words, these two characters are not seen as characters in their own right but tools to serve a narrative… like a sword is used in battle. Literally, considering they’re “weapons” created by sorcerers.

Later, a sorcerer kidnaps Remi and tortures her, removing her limbs and replacing them each time. Each replacement is better than the last because the previous version of her was not yet strong enough.

Unable to escape from the label of disability

Remi is unable to escape from the label of disability. Even if she had her three limbs back, the other characters are constantly reminding her that she is “sick” because of her congenital disability (which has vanished). They don’t care about her missing limbs and actually respects her as a warrior for them. But the disability that vanished, yh she is constantly reminded of that… I guess that would be true of someone who overcomes depression or cancer because they can relapse but it didn’t sit well with me.

The way her missing limbs are regarded also does not sit well. By admiring Remi and her skills as a warrior, by seeing her injuries as sacrifice, and giving her prosthetics that are close to her skin colour, St Clair is able to hide Remi’s disability. So, if eradication won’t do (as she’s needed for the plot) then a fix will.

The author attempts to balance the realities of disability with the allure of magic and it doesn’t work. Its a shame because I think, if Remi was just a disabled character who happened to be the sorcerer’s weapon (not cured or fixed) the plot could have worked.

Character Development in The Seven Sorcerers

There are several characters in The Seven Sorcerers. They’re really well written and it does add to the story. Remi, Olivia, and Kace, although I don’t remember much of Kace other than the love interest and his kidnapping, as well as what happened between them. It’s been a year since, but I believe it was good.

Remi

Remi is a strong character, even though she is mostly used as a tool of the narrative. She has reckless courage and she doesn’t let anyone tell her what she can and cannot do. The more someone tells her not to do something, the more she does do the thing. I resinate with this, I am this. It’s one of the reasons I think this story would have had merit if it wasn’t for the cure/erase/fix thing.

Also the moral compass. Remi’s only real flaw is that she keeps forgiving those that treat her badly, empathising their badness and her goodness whereas humans are more complex than that. Throughout the three books, Remi doesn’t get fury. She just accepts… everything. Oh Olivia betrayed me and she will again, that’s fine.

Oh I lost three limbs, cool ok. I’ll hide in my room a bit and then come out. Really, it’s only this bit where she gets a little bit emotional.

Olivia

Alright. I had a friend like Olivia. Toxic. Nothing was right fir them unless I acted a certain way. This friend was also disabled so I thought they would have understood me. Nope.

Olivia is able-bodied. From the very first page, she shows her personality, ripping a blanket from the protagonist and giving her opinion on how weak she sees Remi. She mentions Remi’s disability to anyone who is interested in her as a “just so you know she is sick” kind of thing, and attempts to show Remi’s weakness where she can. Later, she betrays Remi with the excuse that she didn’t think Remi would have survived anyway… her betrayal repeats itself later when they are reunited.

Annoyingly, St Clair keeps referring to them as friends. They’re not. However, I think Olivia’s toxicity is handled well.

Would I recommend The Seven Sorcerers?

It depends. Just like my friend above who suggested it to me with a “you should read this” that suggested more, I think that would be my type of recommendation too. If a colleague was writing an article on disability in literature, I would recommend it with no further information.

Some readers, reading The Seven Sorcerers for fun may be able to get past the heavy use of the medical module and the erasion/cure/fix of disability. They may find the story interesting and get lost in the world building and the characterisation, but if you want to read about characters that are disabled because they are… look at Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings.

Tyrion gets stick because he’s a dwarf and his treatment affects the story and his character… it would. My disability has made me me, but it doesn’t define me. Nor does Tyrions, his actions come from him and his environment.

Gollum/Smeagol is a Hobbit transformed by the ring. An acquired disability. Again he is treated poorly for it but it is shown through The Lord of the Rings, that if given the chance and treated with respect, he can fight the lure of the ring and be trusted. It’s when he is mistreated that the dark lord pulls him closer. That can be interpreted several ways.

Both books are older than this one, so St Clair… time to rethink.