I just finished reading another book by Brandon Sanderson, this one about four times shorter than the last. It's called The Rithmatist, and is 370 pages long, so a nice quick read. I would say it's for a younger reader though, probably suitable for a middle school student or early high school.
You know way back when I said I didn't have many examples of historical speculative fiction books? Well, here's one! It's a steampunk type idea, set in a Victorian era United States. Except, the states include lower Canada, and are separated into large islands, so instead of being called the United States, they're called the United Isles. Furthermore, there are mentions of going ons in Europe and South America that do not match with history. So although it's a world that we're familiar with, it's been changed just enough to be speculative fiction.
Now the magic comes from chalk. That sounds strange, but it's kind of like the idea of witchcraft and the pentagrams, except in this book it's circles. If someone is chosen as a Rithmatist, they have the ability to bring 'life' to chalk. It's actually fairly hard to explain, but Sanderson does it very well. As in the previous book I read by him, he incorporates drawings, which is very handy when it comes to explaining all the chalk drawings that are possible.
Although I loved reading this book, it's not Sanderson's best work, by far. There was something that annoyed me every time I came across it, but I can't seem to remember what it was, so obviously it wasn't too big. But I suppose it was written for a younger reader, so there are bound to be things that I don't like. However, it was a pleasure to read, and I would definitely suggest it as a light read over a weekend.
And another beautiful cover:
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