Has anyone read this book?
I haven’t read that particular book, though it does sound very interesting. The book you described strongly reminds me of another book on which a very good BBC adaptation just came out last summer. If you like the book you’re currently reading, either read (and/or watch) Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. It is not children’s literature. It is excellently written, and the TV mini-series is very well adapted. (It took the author 10 years to write her first novel). It is an alternative history set during the Napoleonic Wars, and it deals heavily with the “Englishness” of magic and the consequences of using various tactics of magic. The book summary can be found on Amazon.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy