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Caveat:

    I was one of the freelance authors involved in this book. I'll attempt to point out which sections originated with me, so you can add the necessary seasoning. Keep in mind that my sections were modified and improved by the FFG developer, so I don't take full claim for the quality of those sections (though, only fitting, I'll take any criticism)
    Also... this is my first review, ever. Fair warning.

    Fantasy Flight Games has relatively recently branched out into the D20 market. Many of their previous works have been board, disk, or card games. (See their site, for more information) They also publish Blue Planet.

    They have two main D20 lines; Dragonstar and Legends & Lairs. The first is a complete setting, while the second serves as a series of setting-less extensions on core D20.

    Spells and Spellcraft is their fourth Legends & Lairs book. It is a standard sized hardcover, with artwork consistent with the look of the entire line. The look bears a familial resemblance to the core books, while still distinctly different.

    This review is a chapter by chapter thumbnail of what the book contains.

Overview

    This book contains new spells, modifications to clerical and arcane magic, extensions of magic libraries and alchemy, several new ways to handle magic items and constructs, and rules for 'expanding' the power of familiars, all in 172 pages.
    The interior uses the image of cracked old paper around the border, creating the sense of reading an old book. Significantly, this image does not color or impede on the body text.
    The book does not lie flat. Granted, few D20 books do until you really work the spine, but it was rather annoying when writing this review. Alas.

Intro

    A welcome message, and a brief explanation of what material is open content and what material is not. Generally, descriptive text is closed and material relating to new or modified rules (skills, spells, etc) is open.

Chapter One: Spells

    Personally, I hate lists of new spells. Hate hate hate! I'm a 'balance wonk'. There is nothing more likely to throw D20 balance out the window than new spells.
    I should qualify that. I often like to read new spells. I would just be leery about adding any. That said, let's take a look.

    The spells are rather diverse. Many start with core spells and either extend them or give them an interesting twist.
    Examples:
    Aegis of the Gods is a clerical protection spell that improves one saving throw. Compare this to Resistance from Core Rulebook I, which improves all saving throws (by less, of course).
    Disruption Missles are extra-potent magic missiles, but only affect undead. Tasty.
    Felonious Friend I-III is just an unseen servant. One that can pick people's pockets or do other rogue-like things. I'm not sure about balance issues, but damn, that's funny.
    Pulsing Fireball is a nasty repeating-fireball. It goes off. And off. And off. Ow.

    Some spells have conjunctional effects. These change preexisting spells or spell effects, which is an interesting approach.
    Examples:
    Acidic Vapors adds acidic qualities to fog or gas-related spells. It does modest damage, but only if you have or set up proper conditions.
    Enlarge Ward expands the effect a ward has temporarily. Wards are a new magical item-type dealt with later in the book.
    False History is meant to specifically fool legend lore and spells like it. It's a 5th level spell for sorcerers and wizards, 3rd for bard. It's a neat idea, though could be aggravating to players discarding valuable items that show up as 'worthless'.

    There are also unique spells. Some of these are neat and unlikely to cause a fuss. Restore Book and Restore Page, for example, turn a burnt bit of a book or scrap of a page and restore the original item. I could imagine that being quite appropriate for a mage scholar, or in any number of plots. Other spells, like the arcane spell Repel Undead, are more likely to cause complaint.

    For the record, my favorite spells are Flying Abominations (animates body parts), Felonious Friend, and Restore Book and Page.

    Bards get a lot of spells here, compared to average proportions. Overall, I would say the power levels are appropriate to spell level. The spells are all pretty interesting, but ultimately DMs will have to consider their impact.
    Spells cover 50 pages or so, about 1/3-1/4 of the book. While this is a big chunk, the book has a lot of other material.

Chapter Two: The Craft of Magic

    Here's were things start to get interesting and different.

    The first section of the chapter concerns arcane libraries. Material is provided to help DMs flesh out aspects of their world. It can also provide interesting material for players to use in their background or adventuring pursuits.
    Libraries in general are described, followed by a description of mundane and then magical libraries. Mechanics follow, showing the characteristics of a library by type (towns, royal libraries, etc). These values govern the usefulness of a library in research, among other things.
    The cool thing about approaches like this is that it conveys a setting or world with mechanical backing. Ideally, rules evoke a sense of how the gameworld works. In this case, it works admirably.
    Not all players like making home bases, but there are many who do. Those interested in followers and cohorts, establishing a power base and doing research will likely enjoy the guidelines here for constructing a library.
    Additional content includes bookhunters, who acquire rare books, and charts for generating spellbooks. The first just screams out 'campaign hook'. PCs going after ancient libraries? Perfect. The second is reminiscent of 1st edition Dungeon Master's Guide, as you generate the shape and material of the book. I found it charming.

    The next section is another attempt to flesh out an aspect of the game, this time Magical Research. In addition to social considerations (such as who is backing the research), mechanical rules are suggested for defining arcane laboratories. The rules cover a variety of components to research, including special substances, tools (like a portable forge), outside help (such as taxidermists), and assistants. Finally, several uses of magical research are described.

    Taint and Tune section lists a variety of tweaks to bardic and sorcerous magic. These are in the form of selecting an option that grants certain advantages and disadvantages. In the case of the bards, this is pretty much descriptive. For example, the possible characters of bards who rely on Dancing vs. those who rely on Storytelling are described.
    Sorcerers get 'taint', a twist to the source of their power. The material follows the convention that sorcery arises from bloodlines, with allowance for other explanations. Sorcerers with the taint of Giant, for example, gain some innate gifts like storm and cloud giants. They also have to eat more and are somewhat clumsy.
    Sorcerous Feats is the title, but this section would more accurately be called 'Magic Feats'. While a few are explicitly sorcerous, some are useful for bards, and some could be used by any mage. One feat I particularly liked was Compose Song of Power (item creation). This allows bards to create a song of power. Effectively, this is the creation of invisible potions that can be transfered (though slowly) between people. I consider a number of the other feats are a bit too powerful.

    The Old Skills, New Uses section is one of my favorite. These aren't extra skills, these are novel uses for the ones already listed. I just love that. New skills inevitably alter the balance of the game, as it increases the strain on skill points. This can annoy players with established characters. Perhaps a character would have had a skill earlier, if the skill was available then. This section sidesteps all that.
    For example, under Appraise, there is antique bluff. Combined with magic, appraise can be used to make something that looks like an antique, and more valuable than it is. That's brilliant, and so are the others. My only complaint is that I wish there were more.
    There is one new skill, actually; Knowledge (psychology). I don't see a huge demand for it in most campaigns, and it seems a little oddly out of place, here.

    Ceremonies and Rituals concerns divine ceremonies. It fleshes out a lot of the ways in which normal parts of life would be embellished with ritual. At least, life in a D20 game.
    Divine classes may be required to enact daily rituals to retain the use of special abilities, for example. Other rituals may include initiation into first level, marriages, or atonements.
    A number of ceremonies are listed. Requirements for a ceremony range from type of location, time spent, materials, and specific actions that must be performed. Many ceremonies require a Spellcraft roll and casting of specific spells.
    This section is a great way to add elements to divine spellcasting without actually adding spells. It extends rather naturally from divine abilities, and can also give a caster a tie to the community. In addition, the results are not tremendously powerful, preserving game balance.
    DMs could, for example add drama with an exorcism ritual. Imagine the nonclerics of the party trying to fend off attackers while the ritual is performed. Did I say plot hooks? Loads of plot hooks, here.

Chapter Three: New Types of Magic

    Ceremonies and Rituals should probably be part of this section, but it's a niggling point.

    The first section introduces a new item creation feat, Weave Wards. A ward is an abjuration or divination spell enchanted into a location. This is brilliant. True, there are already a range of spells that are concerned with areas. Alarm, guards and wards, magic mouth, contingency, and various permanent effects can be used to protect or watch over areas, but only briefly or in narrow ways. Rather than invent a host of new spells, then, this item creation feat fits the task nicely.
    The effect of a ward is controlled through a ward token, or a magical remote control. A list of suitable spells to be incorporated is provided, along with the rules for constructing wards.

    Chaos Magic is next, and this one is mine. Yes, there is 'chaos magic' in some other company's work, though I haven't read it. This version is fairly simple, with each 'chaos spell' having 6 possible standard spells that may result. A chaos spell has a focus, such as fire or protection, with each subspell fitting this focus.
    Chaos spells may gain harmful or beneficial mutations, or other effects. In addition, mages may become Chaos wizards or take the Extra Control Points feat. These allow a caster to shift results.
    There are two advantages. Chaos spells are more powerful, on average, than an equivalent spell. Also, with control points, favorable results are more likely. At base, there is a trade of reliability for power.

    Cooperative Magic allows several casters to combine their efforts, so long as they have the cooperative magic feat. Handy, particularly in parties with multiple casters or for annoying villains. This is balanced by a certain difficulty in setting up a cooperative spell.

    The next few sections concern religion. These are my fault.
    The first concerns cosmology. That is, describing their natures, how they relate to mortals, and their relationships with one another. It is intended to get DMs to really consider the nature of religions in their setting and suggest new plots.
    Unfortunately, I got a bit hung up on terms, so the section reads a bit dense. Henotheism is an interesting and informative term, but at least a few readers probably went crosseyed.
    The section also suggests how classes are likely to fit into different religious forms.

    New Divine Spellcaster types are next. The first are disciples of small gods. Ever wonder about clerics of minor river gods? Or followers of city spirits? This section allows just about any being to be used as the source of a religion, from CR 5 on up. There are two big downsides. A CR 7 small god can get itself killed. Also, such gods cannot grant spells beyond a certain level. The advantage of worshipping a small god is that they are more likely to value their worshippers, and can be called upon directly.
    Theurgists and animists are next, providing tweaks to the base cleric class. Theurgists do not dedicate themselves to a single god but honor gods equally. A simple mechanic shift is provided to support this.
    Animists pick a type of being that they can turn or rebuke. While some animists can turn undead, others may turn plants, or elementals. Animists loose domains, but gain a new ability to interact with spirits. The system here rapidly transforms a cleric into an interesting, different class. Frankly, I love the way the mechanics work here. Am I tooting my own horn? No, what I sent in was very complex and elaborate. It got fixed nice.

    Place Magic provides some guidelines and ideas for a common trope in fantasy. This section is more descriptive than mechanical. It has a few lists of tradeoffs, which is a nicely loose way for DMs to decide on particulars.

Chapter Four: The Mundane Made Magical

    This section deals with 'materials' in various respects. It also has some of the funnier images, including the first picture of the chapter (showing a man hauling a big sack of... really weird limbs).

    Unsurprisingly, the chapter begins with Alchemy. This is treated in much the same way as the libraries and magical research. Guidelines are given for combining potentially useful skills. One example is a magical pie that bestows concentration bonus. With Profession (baker) of 5 or higher, the Alchemy check gets a synergy bonus. Cool idea.
    Other information includes alchemical equipment (including labs and libraries), courses in alchemy, alchemical mishaps (with yet another amusing picture), and new alchemical products. This last includes alchemical metals and alloys, which is an interesting concept.

    Constructs lumber into view, dangerous and potentially potent. This somewhat lengthy section covers detailed rules for making a construct. There are rules for materials and a large number of ways to improve the design. For example, a construct can have a focus, giving it powers or spellcasting ability. Constructs can also be made into golems, making them even more powerful.
    All of this comes at great cost and XP. A large animated rope (10 HD creature), the first example listed, costs 2,100 gp and 84 XP. Not soo bad. A rope golem of the same size is 52,500 gp and 1,050 XP. Wow. Granted, it's immune to magic and can cast spells.

    Now we move onto Magical Materials. These are substances with naturally magic properties, suitable as treasure or goals of adventures. Lots of adventure seeds here. Consider blaze tears, rubies exposed to magical fire. Used in a magic item, Fire spells become maximized. A nice, tasty bit of world enhancement.

    Now we come to my absolutely favorite section, for several reasons. Familiars. At least part of the reason to love this section is the artwork. There's a cute picture of a winged cat, and a strangly adorable picture of a very sad frog.
    There is also something cool about boosting the power of familiars. Yes, the helpless familiar is an element of fantasy, but so is the dangerous magical beastie of a mage. This section adds rules for NPC reactions to your partner, as well as including a lot of new familiars. Necromancers, for example, could have undead familiars, which is handy. Except that NPCs are likely to react in fear and horror.
    Familiar abilities include fun stuff like winged, firebreathing, and increased size. These are balanced by a caster XP cost. If you want your toad to be an invisible, flying, firebreathing, huge monster, it'll cost you reams of XP (6,300, to be exact. Ouch) Cute is also a boost, giving your familiar a bonus to the reactions of NPCs.
    Contemplate some nutbar with an undead familiar... with cuteness!

    There is a list of new familiars. Pretty neat, including parasites that require the caster to give blood or otherwise suffer for the priviledge. But my favorite is the... animated puppet. Showing this to my game buddies, the hand-puppet familiar with fire breath idea had us rolling.

Chapter Five: Magic Items

    Not just new magic items, but new rules for making them. Nice.

    Glyph Eggs are something like a potion used as a grenade. A new item creation feat accompanies it, along with spells that are appropriate for glyph eggs. Rules for crafting, identification, and activation is followed by a number of samples.

    Personal Growth Items answer a problem that has come up in many campaigns. Namely, the fighter with the 1 sword passed down to him from his ancestors finds himself staring at an array of 2 (or better) magic swords. Should he flip off his ancestors and take up the new sword? Conversely, a powerful 4 sword of his ancestors is just inappropriate for a 1st level character.
    I wrote this section to address that. Essentially, characters may spend gp and/or XP to improve items. There are varying ways to explain this process. Perhaps a holy sword is granted more grace, as the character honors her god. An item may have mysterious abilities that take time (and XP or gp) to uncover. From a mechanical standpoint, it should mesh cleanly with other characters trading in old weapons for better new ones.

    The next section is also mine, Relics. A relic is an item that picks up power accidentally. A god's avatar being slain on a battlefield may leave behind a trace of power in the ground, or the sword used to slay him. These relics have potentially great power, but are difficult to control. This section is almost completely DM fodder. There are ideas on defining what instincts such items might have, and mechanics for what abilities they have. This section was also improved significantly by the developer. What I originally had would have worked fine, but I think he tweaked it into something better.
    Two examples are provided. The first is a candlestick that was near ground zero of the death of a powerful fire elemental. Now, it reflexively snuffs fire around it. The second is a temple that picks up on the thoughts of visitors and can summon outsiders to protect itself.

    Finally, New Magic Items. The list is, like the spells, a diverse mix. There's a cloak that allows one to speak with animals, a rod with a variety of necromantic spells, and a magic quill that grants a competance bonus to Craft (scribe).

Wrap Up

    This book is quite useful. I entered into this review, frankly, unsure of the balance issues. It should be clear how my opinion shifted through the review. After closer examination, large parts of this book prove to have little dangerous effect on balance. The sections that are potential problems are well thought-out. Ultimately, individual DMs need to decide how confidant they are of various rules, how easy they would be to try out for a time, and what fits with their campaign.

Style/Substance

    The hardest part. Here we go.

Style: Other than some disagreements about where sections should go, the order of content is sane. There is a good table of contents and index for a book of this size. The layout on the page is quite legible, as is the art. Though the art doesn't always correspond with content, there are no pieces I really disliked (a fair achievement!). And, honestly, there is no real reason the art must correspond with content exactly.
    I give it a 5. Nothing is lacking, and it is organized as it should be.

Substance: One may argue that '5' should be reserved for material that is, in every iota of its being, useful to just about everyone. I think that's frankly impossible, and judge content by the nature of the book. As a book of ideas, elaborations, and examples of magic, It's just about perfect. People may not like this type of book, granted. Someone interested in a setting or an adventure book won't find it here. They will find lots of easy to use material and ideas.
    I give it a 5.