There’s a playful deftness to much of Kelly Link’s work, and thus a particular joy to reading it. It’s the happy confusion of having no idea where a story is going, maybe not even being entirely sure what it’s doing in the moment, but knowing that you’re in good hands, confident you can trust the author to take you somewhere worth going. No two stories in Magic for Beginners are quite alike or quite what you expect them to be, and Link’s mastery, imagination, and wit make that a delightful experience.