Points of Departure by Patricia C. Wrede & Pamela Dean is a collection of stories that share setting and characters. The stories are set in Liavek, a “hot, busy trade city, situated on the southern shore of the Sea of Luck at the mouth of the Cat River.” Magic works in Liavek and each person’s magic centers on their birthday & the amount of time their mother was in labor. The stories focus principally on Granny, who turns out to be a fairly powerful magical guardian type, and a family of aristocratic refugees struggling against integrating into their new society. The stories do a lovely job of world building and introduce us to some interesting characters.I would recommend it to lovers of sedate, domestic fantasy.
