The Orphanage of Cheswick Court (The Hollowbloods Book 1) by Haule Voss; Magical Training is Both Familiar and Exceptional
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: The first book in Haule Voss’s The Hollowbloods Series, The Orphanage on Cheswick Court is both familiar and exceptional. It features a young magic user discovering and studying magic among other magically gifted students which is familiar. But it also has enough originality to create some unique characters and themes that make it an exceptional work.
In the kingdom of Alodia, Thaddeus Rigel Volkameria is born and raised in the woods so he wouldn't be found and destroyed by Orion, a cruel despotic wizard. He is one of the Hollowblood, those born with volatile and forbidden magic. He is then raised by the Angrec Wolves of Eldenwood and protected and educated by Ozzy, a wise owl. It is foretold that the one who wears the Robe of Astra will be powerful enough to defeat Orion. Thaddeus is given a map to guide him to the Robe and told that he must find and don it before his 18th birthday.
To do so, Thaddeus must be trained at the Orphanage on Cheswick Court, an institution that trains Hollowbloods. But he is not alone. He is accompanied by Gilgal “Gilly” Mezereon, his adopted wolf brother, and Elara Bramblefern and Emerson Thornwillow, two Fairies. Gilly and the Fairies have to take human form to accompany their friend to the Orphanage so they can protect and study alongside him.
There are some very familiar tropes and beats that The Orphanage on Cheswick Court has that can be found in many Occult Academia novels. Thaddeus is the typical wife eyed naive newcomer sent on his Hero’s Journey. He is somewhat of a blank slate where most of the more interesting character trajectories are given to the other characters.
He goes through some darker transformations, especially when he and his friends go on a journey to receive some magical objects that will lead them to the Robe and empower them to face Orion. During this journey, the objects latch on to Thaddeus’s desire for power, obsessive need for success, desire for revenge against Orion, and hidden anger. While he tries to shake this influence off for now, there is a strong possibility that it may not be a good thing for Thaddeus to wear the Robe any more than it would be okay to let Orion gain more power.
The Orphanage is both a home and a school for Hollowbloods so we have the usual trajectories of magical boarding school stories with eccentric teachers with hidden secrets, loyal friends and classmates, unique classes, and obnoxious bullies. They are also here in this book.
The Orphanage headmasters Mabel and Jack Calidora seem like a nice wise couple that know their stuff and are protective of the young ones in their care. But they also exhibit some sinister mannerisms and leave subtle auras of mistrust. They seem decent but there might be something potentially troublesome about them.
Most of the students are not very memorable. There are two antagonists, Clavian, who will be our bully for the evening, and Lydia, The Calidora’s niece and resident mean girl. There are some suggestions that there might be more to their characters than we have seen with Lydia's crush on Thaddeus and Clavian’s silent analysis and fear of Thaddeus but it's mostly hidden and speculated. Nothing is revealed so they are mostly one dimensional.
Clavian and Lydia join forces towards the end suggesting a dangerous duo for the main characters but a delicious bickering and romantic duo for the Readers. However, I must admit after seeing how multifaceted Drake Corvus, the arrogant bully from The Amazing Flight of Aaron William Hawk vol 2 Wings of Emifra by J. Bruno was written, Clavian and Lydia pale in comparison. It seems like their stories aren't quite finished, so perhaps they are only getting started. But for now, they could be less standard.
By far the best characters are Thaddeus’s friends, his adopted brother, Gilly, female friend, Emerson, and potential love interest Elara. Because they transform into humans, they have to weigh their former identities with their current ones. They are even told that the longer they are in human form, the more they will forget the beings that they once were.
Gilly is a protective loyal brother to Thaddeus. They never saw each other as different species but as brothers. Gilly still has many of his animal instincts like heightened awareness and extreme strength. However, he can't suppress his transformation and often goes into hiding when that happens. His struggles are balancing his new found human nature with his innate animal one.
Elara and Emerson entered the book as flighty flirtatious mischievous fairies that would help but may tease or play pranks just for fun. They were charming but mostly just flat comic relief. When they became human, they had to encounter human emotions and experiences.
Emerson struggles with her sexuality and identity and reconciles her feelings for a female student. Elara develops romantic affection for Thaddeus and has to weigh becoming involved with him and leaving her life as a fairy behind. They and Gilly question what makes a human and where their real roles and identities lie.
The Orphanage on Cheswick Court is well executed as a first volume and leaves open ended questions and enough curiosity to contact into the second book.
