Sing the Night

Jauregui Eccles riffs on the Phantom of the Opera in her uneven fantasy debut. In a world where music is magic, Selene is the daughter of a notorious mage more famous now for how he went mad in the service of magic than his incredible discoveries. She has spent her life training with L’Opéra du Magician to sing the strongest and most creative magics, hoping one day to be named King’s Mage, as her father was, and redeem his name. But the competition for the position is vicious, and when one of her classmates steals her aria and ruins her performance, she must come up with something better. While hiding in a storeroom, Selene discovers a man trapped in a mirror, perhaps the legendary ghost said to haunt the opera house. The magic he shows her is unlike any of the songs she knows, drawn from pain, blood, and grief, and its power demands a dreadful price. But with everything she’s ever wanted on the line, there’s nothing Selene isn’t willing to give up. Jauregui Eccles’s magic system is fascinating and clearly underpinned by her own musical training, but the worldbuilding goes frustratingly underexplored, save for the odd chunk of clunky exposition. Meanwhile, overt nods to the source material and easter eggs for Phantom fans occasionally distract. This is best suited to diehard devotees of the original. (Mar.)