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The Heirs of Cataclysm #1
The Chimera Coup
Once, there was a shining civilization grounded on magic, with sorcerers, flying cities, iron ships, and castles in the clouds, and wonders beyond the dreams of mortal men.
And then, in a single cataclysmic moment fifty years ago, magic flared and the wondrous world came to an end. What few who survived are struggling to reclaim what they lost, while darker forces plot to shape the future to something more to their liking.
John, a young magician, is expelled from school after a disastrous experiment scarred his girlfriend and sent to join a band of adventurers in the Wildlands, the rough and twisted lands on the edge of the civilized world. Their first mission: defeat an evil sorcerer and liberate his thralls before he becomes a threat to all.
But it may already be too late...
And then, in a single cataclysmic moment fifty years ago, magic flared and the wondrous world came to an end. What few who survived are struggling to reclaim what they lost, while darker forces plot to shape the future to something more to their liking.
John, a young magician, is expelled from school after a disastrous experiment scarred his girlfriend and sent to join a band of adventurers in the Wildlands, the rough and twisted lands on the edge of the civilized world. Their first mission: defeat an evil sorcerer and liberate his thralls before he becomes a threat to all.
But it may already be too late...
- GenresFantasy
335 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 16, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 23, 2022
Excellent series debut which kept me reading from page 1 till the end. A fairly standard fantasy story, but with a cool setting and great characters, while there are a few twists here and there. The author has undeniably the ability to write energetic stories that keep one turning the pages, but usually the content gets diluted in interminable series like the Empire Corps of which i read quite a few books until getting sort of tired as the universe of the series didn't really support that many volumes.
With this hopefully we will get a shorter series (seems to be a trilogy at least to start with) so the characters and storyline remain fresh
Highly recommended and a top 10 of the year for me
With this hopefully we will get a shorter series (seems to be a trilogy at least to start with) so the characters and storyline remain fresh
Highly recommended and a top 10 of the year for me
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December 6, 2023Rating: minus 3
I am doing another rewrite of a review, which I am certain no one will read. I am so not excited at the prospect. When originally writing only for myself, I received an outsized scrutiny and comment stream from outraged American Nazis, libertarians and other white nationalists. Many of these fans followed me across reviews in their consistent little clouds, courtesy of my lurkers. Apparently negative reviews of badly written books, especially those with strong racist, libertarian or US cultural/military/racial superiority themes are verboten. These sorry fictions seem particularly sacred to this group of nutcases.
The story of the sudden end to new appearances of comment clouds from my reviews, is a tale written of in other of my reviews. See my review of Powers of the Earth. The one benefit of thinking about these bizarre members, was the realization that for a large number of members, their reading lists are not a product of ignorance/poor taste but a conscious political choice. That understanding changed everything in how I viewed myself, Amazon's collection and this site.
Few others including friends cared to comment or even like. There were only about six normal comments including those from my friends, not counting writer responses across four+ years and more than 1300+ titles. The negative comments on the other hand have run to many, many, many dozens and a number of multi page comment storms on mine and others' reviews. On balance I am not particularly bothered by the removal of all of the anti-me comments, though it was nice to imagine that some reader might occasionally question the value of the site and those of the members. I have such a mean streak.
To steel myself for this effort or chore more like, I visited YouTube. This review is courtesy of channels - LuckyBlackCat, KernowDamo, Times Radio, Eckharts Ladder, Terrible Lady of the Library, Sailing Melody, Kris Atomic, PlanarWalker, Biz Barclay, Geo Girl, Wizards and Warriors, Dungeons and Discourse, Gutsick Gibbon, Anna from Ukraine, Steve Shives, Kiko1006 - Empire of Angels, Tom Nicholas, Karen Hunter Show. Fantasy and World Music by the Fletchers, Chris and Shell, Lily Simpson, Zade, Trae Crowder, Biblio Obscura, Roomies Digest, Communitea, Reads with Rachel, Outlaw Bookseller, Owen Jones, Military History Visualized, J Draper, Drawn to Books, Book Furnace, Fit 2B Read, Jean's Thoughts, Bernadette Banner, ScaredKetchup, Welcome to Ukraine, DUST, Heather Dale, Mandy -web series, NFKRZ, Merphy Napier, Tom Mia Mulder, NITV shorts, Jed Herne, Bella Ciao - Nikolay Kutuzov, Dan Davis History, Dungeon Dad, The Players Aid, Shannon Makes, Abbie Emmons, Joe Blogs, Terrible Writing Advice, NFKRZ, Olly Richards, Ukraine Matters, Annie's Literary Empire, Northern Narrowboaters, Philosophy Tube,
I was surprised that I almost liked this book for a bit. I do not remember his other books but several years ago, I was taken aback by one and did not try another until now. I can not see other readers' opinions, which might have helped temper my own opinion. Goodreads will not now "Allow" me to see others' reviews on most any of my books. About two years ago, I wrote a very short brutally honest review of Powers of the Earth, an unremarkable, poorly written salute to the sociopathic January 6, 2021 hero by Travis Corcoran - an advocate for the return of chattel slavery, US veteran, self-described libertarian, supporter of Putin's Russia and an employee of an unnamed US agency.
There followed almost a year of constant comments from seven nutcases including the writer, which finally degenerated to the call for return of slavery in defence of Libertarianism from two of the loudest voices, the first of whom was the writer. It seems that a rogue (?) Goodreads tech took issue with my being a communist. Quite the surprise. For more of my Goodreads experience details, see my review of "Stellar Heritage #1", a proudly racist space adventure or Powers of the Earth.
The leader of this little cloud, Claes Rees Jr/cgr710 - formerly self-identified Nazi wrote a comment declaring that They had "won" (?). It seemed to indicate that They decided the deluge of truly vile sexual and racist comments directed to YouTube channels which I mention, were no longer needed. The German particle physicist, the Swedish essayist, the solo boater and the many other female creators were not impressed. However a sadly accurate self-portrait of the aggrieved American man-child, was delivered to a broad multinational audience. These mental members did successfully increase the world's store of unpleasantness and that counts as a victory, I suppose. This is Goodreads discourse at its finest. Yay, USA ??
Before I can continue I need a treat. I now watch some of my favourite YouTube channels as encouragement to write to this toxic site. This next bit was made possible by - Philosophy Tube, Jake Broe, Curious Droid, LuckyBlackCat, Some More News, Liene's LIbrary, I'm Rosa, Lady Knight the Brave, The Russian Dude, Hailey in Bookland, The book Leo, The Good Place, Diary a a Ditch Witch, Chloe Stafler, Travelling K, Sarah Z, OrkenSpalter TV, Drew Hall, JohnTheDuncan, Andrewism, Morgan Donner, Emma Thorne, Fantasy and World Music by the Fletchers, Mia Asano, KernowDamo, Lily Alexandre. Bobbing Along, Verilybitchie, Adiemus - Carmina Slovenica, Remote Chess Academy, Hardy's Books, Quinn's Ideas, Boat Time, EngineeRing with Rosie, , It's Black Friday, The Oaken Knight, TVP World, Smack Pony, Mimi Mortmain, Jess of the Shire, Unleashed - Hardigan, History with Kayleigh, Kelly Loves Physics and History, TIKHistory, Crecganford, Kings and Generals, Atun Shei, Frasier Cain, IzzzYzzz, Jabzy, Tom Nicholas, Truth to Power, J. Draper, Shannon Makes, Lily Simpson, United24, Meidas Touch, James Somerton, Kiko1006 - Secret Melody, Fortress of Lugh, Sarah Millican, Double Down News, Tibees, Physics Girl, Living Anachronism, Depressed Russian, NetNarrator, Ben and Emily, May Moon Narrowboat.
The world building is deficient. It is a bare bones outline of a standard Dungeon and Dragons adventure, which would work well enough as a side quest or as a single session in a long campaign. For a complete campaign it is too fuzzy with not nearly enough depth. There is too little geographic detail to even create an overview of the province, region, kingdom, whatever.
The American western film, TV and books all share a fairly well defined, commonly recognized and understood environment. The grass land and grazing areas, the more arid but arable site of some small towns, the various types of towns, the various desert types. That is a solid physical background for a shared universe that requires only a minimum description, taken from a broad palette to establish the setting of any story. It stills needs Worldbuilding.
Fantasy backgrounds are very different. The world needs be built from the bottom up. Obviously the magic systems vary widely, the role and uses of magic from commonplace to forbidden must be established for each story. The outline and description of the magic system must be broad. Sanderson spells out his magic systems, etc. in exhaustive detail which makes the background universe clear and believable. Some readers prefer that to fuzziness, others complain of too much exposition. In either case it does get the job done. If there are no clear limits there is nothing to prevent contrivance and plot hole destruction of any plot and their dominating the story.
Here the geography is not given. This is the child's fairy tale kingdom. We have no idea about how far away from his home, the main character travels to the magic school. There is no clear sense of the distance between the magic school and the frontier town. In a game, the typical quest has more detail than this. Travel time and description of the terrain travelled must be included for major character relocations in fantasy and science fiction, just as it is in other fiction. I lost any sense of distances or even direction of travel midway through the book.
There is a vague reference to "Western" lands, which would be satisfactory for book one if there was some sense of the size and shape of the territory under control of these mages. There also is no mention of other groups of mages or schools of magic, which would be more than a little odd even in a flat Earth universe. So the frontier is vaguely the Western lands and the extent of mages control is unknown. That there are Eastern lands would seem to be obvious but there are also Northern and Southern lands. For fun I began imagining the main character traveling an entire continent. The one frontier town for an entire continent was also funny. I could say more but why bother since the writer has not mapped out the world in which he sets his story. Place has not been established.
There is no mention of the time elapsed from the Cataclysm or discussion of the magical tech level before the Cataclysm. The background is so incomplete that this can not be described as a background universe for a Game session. This is basically a lazy generic fantasy world lacking depth, life or character. There is no history.
I need another YouTube mind refresher before continuing. This next is brought to you by YouTube channels - Leeja Miller, Book Furnace, Strange Aeons, Alt Shift X, Politics X, Joe Blogs, the Dadvocate, Big Think, GreenRed Productions, May, Depressed Russian, Lily Simpson, Deerstalker Pictures, Gutsick Gibbon, Renegade Cut, Morgan Donner, Gemma Dyer, Jean's Thoughts, Ro Ramdin, Library Ladder, Not the Andrew Marr show, Casual Lectures, Geo Girl, Peter Stefanovic, The Juice Media, Agro Squirrel Narrates, Dr Fatima, Natasha's Adventures, Abney Park, Sound of Music Flashmob, Narrowboat Pirate, Interior Hub Design, Wizards and Warriors.
The main character is not quite human. He is not a sympathetic character. He maims his girlfriend and his sole reaction is "I am sorry" but does not even think that he is at fault. From the next scene on, he dwells on his misfortune and never really considers her again. His reaction to his quest partners is not the best, since he does not see them as people but only as players in his play. He did not change from his first scene to the last page. His lack of development is typical of a Role Playing Game and still not the preferred quest partner. This is a fair approximation of a sociopath.
He does not share his history with his companions but is almost intrusively curious about their personal histories. He shows no connection to them and is focused solely on increasing his magical powers. He spends most of his energy trying to discover whether the young woman of the company is attractive or not. There is no emotion involved in his sexual encounters, which is portrayed as the result of the woman's choice. He is a narcissist at best. He is perhaps the most flat of any of the characters who is not an unhinged villain. Yet we are supposed to empathize with a character who is so self-absorbed.
He has had no contact with his family for years and it does not seem to matter to the little prince. His relationship with any of his family is never shown or mentioned. He spends years at a school for magic but that experience is never discussed. The impact of class on student learning tracks and socialization is never discussed. He has no personality and reads as a POV device for telling the more interesting stories of his quest companions.
He is told that he is destined for some great unnamed thing. The Chosen one/Little Prince is overworked in fantasy and here there is no attempt even to dress it up a bit. He has committed two crimes. He disfigured a daughter of a wealthy family and broken a Rule. Class determines value apparently. It is implied that had he chosen a farmer's son or daughter, there would have been no consequence. There is no sense of safety consideration, nor has the danger of breaking the rules been explained to the character or the reader. There is no discussion of the morality of using another student as an experimental object. This Ayn Rand/Harry Potter worldview occurs in very many of low end fiction titles. Actually it must be a template for main characters.
The student magician is supposedly ill-prepared. As the book progresses he is consistently overpowered. No evidence of his ability to think through the challenges quickly and quickly respond was previously mentioned or demonstrated. His successes in defeating powerful magicians barely skirt the contrivance pit. That is a generous opinion.
The prose is more or less serviceable but in service to what. A slight descriptive skill does not compensate for world building fuzziness. It can not replace character development. It can not create a plot with any logic. Jumping to the main character's ex-girlfriend for the second volume might be a success or more likely will expose further cracks in the background universe. I am curious to see how it turns out but doubt that I will try it.
As poorly planned as it was, this was a better book than I expected. Hopefully his other science fiction will be better. Current US low end science fiction is written to three standards. They are the Low Effort, Minimal Effort and No Effort categories. As a result, I watch more than read science fiction at the moment. The YouTube DUST, Omeleto and other Shorts channels, the streaming services, especially Netflix offer a large array of multicultural products, most of which are better written and more entertaining than the print.
I only began using YouTube about two years ago, searching for good science fiction commentary. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the variety and number of special interest channels. My happiest discovery was that of the book channels. 😍 These are channels that focus on every on every aspect of the book lover's interests. The reader communities are fun, thoughtful and enamoured of all things bookish. I recommend a visit to several book channels for any reader. They are completely opposite to the Amazon/Goodreads experience. My second big discovery was the educational video sites. I saw sponsor spots on my favorite educational video channels and began with Nebula. I think they are all worth a look for documentaries, lectures and essayists. In addition they are modestly priced.
I originally gushed here about Novara Media's -- Novara Live and Downstream. They really are that good but I prefer the less abstract and intellectual. They do present a nice mix of responses to events with a variety of socialist perspectives. Socialism has more variety of definitions than Christianity. A government minister named them in complaints online, that they were an attack outlet targeting the Conservative Party. Poor Tories are not loved by absolutely everyone. 😪 As a party the Conservatives are laughable at times but dangerous with their policy and legislation all of the time. For me Peter Stefanovic, Owen Jones, KernowDamo, Second Thought, Truth to Power, Lily Simpson, Philosophy Tube, The Juice Media, ScaredKetchup, SK Media, Double Down News, No Justice MTG, Jessie Gender, Beau of the Fifth column, Leeja Miller, Michael Lambert, Gary's Economics and some others deliver more direct analysis and reporting of the real world consequences of governmental policy.
I grew up in an insanely large by today's standards, Catholic family, knew the food bank well, Parish Charity, two working parents, caring for siblings not much younger than myself. My way and that of my siblings to university was not easy. The history, reality and struggles of the poor and marginalized like that of my family, my childhood friends, my community, people who are in danger simply because of their sexuality, gender identity, color of skin or parents' country of origin seem to be understood and more importantly Felt by these other channels. I apologize for what might seem a rant, if anyone should read this. My book reviews reflect my human centred lens. Capitalism, cruelty for cruelty's sake and the normalization of anti-human positions are upsetting to me. Again, my apologies.
My YouTube picks of the moment
Books and Lala, Cruising Crafts, Red Plateaus, Mrs Betty Bowers, Cunk, Chloe Stafler, Mythic Concepts, The Historian's Craft, Second Thought, Drew Hall, Luis Humanoide, Owen Jones, Friendly Space Ninja, Lorna Jane Adventures, Tom Nicholas, May, Mia Mulder, Jean's Thoughts, Princess Weekes, Mythology and Fiction Explained, Merphy Napier.
As for Amazon/Goodreads, please consider treating this site as potentially hostile. 😐
Ominous music begins. 😊 I suggest minimising profile information on Goodreads, Kindle - email, contact list, calendar, Files, screenshots of the odd and the ugly, removing all lurkers (those friends who post nothing), avoid the site's messaging and maintaining awareness that the site techs seem to have no fear of consequences. For nasty details, see my review of "Dark Horse", a good novel by Diener. Another recounting of my experiences on this site is included in my review of Powers of the Earth.
Site techs were involved in harassment including periodically shutting down Amazon/Goodreads services paid for to sharing my limited message history which even in America must be a criminal offence. Their Goodreads antics also included refusing my uploads for days at a time to masking commenters member names. Please consider that they know few, if any limits. They are American. Ominous music ends. 😊
May we all find Good Reading! 🤗
I am not the best source for YouTube channels and do not really understand most of the terms used in that environment but these are some of my favourite channels.
LuckyBlackCat, Zoe Bee, Brittany Page, Red Plateaus, Mia Mulder, UATV, Owen Jones, Northern Narrowboaters, Lindsay Ellis, Munecat, Book Odyssey, Tara Mooknee, Novara Media, Vlad Vexler, It's Black Friday, TVP News, Tulia, Tom Nicholas, Crecganford, What Vivi did next, Anna from Ukraine, Dr Becky, Mythology and Fiction Explained, Practical Engineering, Artur Rehi, Sarah Z, Military History Visualized, Natalia Tsarikova, Between the Wars, Veritasium, Verilybitchie, Real Time History, Then & Now, Event Horizon, Second Thought, Lilly's expat life, A Life of Lit, 2 Cellos, Books and Lala, Danni and Joe, Narrowboat Pirate, I'm Rosa, Philosophy Tube, Adult Wednesday Addams - 2 seasons, Esoterica, Caspian Report, Noah Samsen, Fantasy and World Music by the Fletchers, Traveling K, The Gravel Institute, The Armchair Historian, Interior Design Hub, Art Deco, ASN Random, Ro Ramdin, The Templin Institute, Quinn's Ideas, Book Furnace, Lily Simpson, Books with Chloe, Tibees, Merphy Napier, Kathy's Flog in France, May Moon Narrowboat, Serena Skybourne, Lady knight the Brave, Renegade Cut, Hello Future Me, Digital Engine, Engineering with Rosie, Linguoer Mechanic, Answer in Progress, Cruising the Cut, Well Deck Diaries, Ana Psychology, Dan Davis History, Knowing Better, Overly Sarcastic Productions, Brickcrafts, Rowan J Coleman, Beautifully Bookish Bethany, Sabine Hossenfelder, Michael Siegel, Savy Writes Books, The Present Past, Natasha's Adventures, Denys Davydov, 2 Steps from Hell, Prime of Midlife, The Mindful Narrowboat, Meidas Touch, Mrs Betty Bowers, Philomena Cunk, Ben and Emily, The Amber Ruffin Show, Mala Armia Janosika, Bernadette Banner, Karolina Zebrowska, Overly Sarcastic Productions, Hannah Lee Kidder, Kidology, The Shades of Orange, Spacedock, Emmie, Zoe Baker, Planarwalker, Heather Dale, NFKRZ, Kiko1006, Beau of the Fifth Column.
I wish you a splendid morning, a fun-filled afternoon, a pleasant evening, a cozy night and may we all continue to learn.
If a person should be deficient in or lose their Empathy, also lost is their Humanity.
Edward Colston, Successful Slave Trader
I am doing another rewrite of a review, which I am certain no one will read. I am so not excited at the prospect. When originally writing only for myself, I received an outsized scrutiny and comment stream from outraged American Nazis, libertarians and other white nationalists. Many of these fans followed me across reviews in their consistent little clouds, courtesy of my lurkers. Apparently negative reviews of badly written books, especially those with strong racist, libertarian or US cultural/military/racial superiority themes are verboten. These sorry fictions seem particularly sacred to this group of nutcases.
The story of the sudden end to new appearances of comment clouds from my reviews, is a tale written of in other of my reviews. See my review of Powers of the Earth. The one benefit of thinking about these bizarre members, was the realization that for a large number of members, their reading lists are not a product of ignorance/poor taste but a conscious political choice. That understanding changed everything in how I viewed myself, Amazon's collection and this site.
Few others including friends cared to comment or even like. There were only about six normal comments including those from my friends, not counting writer responses across four+ years and more than 1300+ titles. The negative comments on the other hand have run to many, many, many dozens and a number of multi page comment storms on mine and others' reviews. On balance I am not particularly bothered by the removal of all of the anti-me comments, though it was nice to imagine that some reader might occasionally question the value of the site and those of the members. I have such a mean streak.
To steel myself for this effort or chore more like, I visited YouTube. This review is courtesy of channels - LuckyBlackCat, KernowDamo, Times Radio, Eckharts Ladder, Terrible Lady of the Library, Sailing Melody, Kris Atomic, PlanarWalker, Biz Barclay, Geo Girl, Wizards and Warriors, Dungeons and Discourse, Gutsick Gibbon, Anna from Ukraine, Steve Shives, Kiko1006 - Empire of Angels, Tom Nicholas, Karen Hunter Show. Fantasy and World Music by the Fletchers, Chris and Shell, Lily Simpson, Zade, Trae Crowder, Biblio Obscura, Roomies Digest, Communitea, Reads with Rachel, Outlaw Bookseller, Owen Jones, Military History Visualized, J Draper, Drawn to Books, Book Furnace, Fit 2B Read, Jean's Thoughts, Bernadette Banner, ScaredKetchup, Welcome to Ukraine, DUST, Heather Dale, Mandy -web series, NFKRZ, Merphy Napier, Tom Mia Mulder, NITV shorts, Jed Herne, Bella Ciao - Nikolay Kutuzov, Dan Davis History, Dungeon Dad, The Players Aid, Shannon Makes, Abbie Emmons, Joe Blogs, Terrible Writing Advice, NFKRZ, Olly Richards, Ukraine Matters, Annie's Literary Empire, Northern Narrowboaters, Philosophy Tube,
I was surprised that I almost liked this book for a bit. I do not remember his other books but several years ago, I was taken aback by one and did not try another until now. I can not see other readers' opinions, which might have helped temper my own opinion. Goodreads will not now "Allow" me to see others' reviews on most any of my books. About two years ago, I wrote a very short brutally honest review of Powers of the Earth, an unremarkable, poorly written salute to the sociopathic January 6, 2021 hero by Travis Corcoran - an advocate for the return of chattel slavery, US veteran, self-described libertarian, supporter of Putin's Russia and an employee of an unnamed US agency.
There followed almost a year of constant comments from seven nutcases including the writer, which finally degenerated to the call for return of slavery in defence of Libertarianism from two of the loudest voices, the first of whom was the writer. It seems that a rogue (?) Goodreads tech took issue with my being a communist. Quite the surprise. For more of my Goodreads experience details, see my review of "Stellar Heritage #1", a proudly racist space adventure or Powers of the Earth.
The leader of this little cloud, Claes Rees Jr/cgr710 - formerly self-identified Nazi wrote a comment declaring that They had "won" (?). It seemed to indicate that They decided the deluge of truly vile sexual and racist comments directed to YouTube channels which I mention, were no longer needed. The German particle physicist, the Swedish essayist, the solo boater and the many other female creators were not impressed. However a sadly accurate self-portrait of the aggrieved American man-child, was delivered to a broad multinational audience. These mental members did successfully increase the world's store of unpleasantness and that counts as a victory, I suppose. This is Goodreads discourse at its finest. Yay, USA ??
Before I can continue I need a treat. I now watch some of my favourite YouTube channels as encouragement to write to this toxic site. This next bit was made possible by - Philosophy Tube, Jake Broe, Curious Droid, LuckyBlackCat, Some More News, Liene's LIbrary, I'm Rosa, Lady Knight the Brave, The Russian Dude, Hailey in Bookland, The book Leo, The Good Place, Diary a a Ditch Witch, Chloe Stafler, Travelling K, Sarah Z, OrkenSpalter TV, Drew Hall, JohnTheDuncan, Andrewism, Morgan Donner, Emma Thorne, Fantasy and World Music by the Fletchers, Mia Asano, KernowDamo, Lily Alexandre. Bobbing Along, Verilybitchie, Adiemus - Carmina Slovenica, Remote Chess Academy, Hardy's Books, Quinn's Ideas, Boat Time, EngineeRing with Rosie, , It's Black Friday, The Oaken Knight, TVP World, Smack Pony, Mimi Mortmain, Jess of the Shire, Unleashed - Hardigan, History with Kayleigh, Kelly Loves Physics and History, TIKHistory, Crecganford, Kings and Generals, Atun Shei, Frasier Cain, IzzzYzzz, Jabzy, Tom Nicholas, Truth to Power, J. Draper, Shannon Makes, Lily Simpson, United24, Meidas Touch, James Somerton, Kiko1006 - Secret Melody, Fortress of Lugh, Sarah Millican, Double Down News, Tibees, Physics Girl, Living Anachronism, Depressed Russian, NetNarrator, Ben and Emily, May Moon Narrowboat.
The world building is deficient. It is a bare bones outline of a standard Dungeon and Dragons adventure, which would work well enough as a side quest or as a single session in a long campaign. For a complete campaign it is too fuzzy with not nearly enough depth. There is too little geographic detail to even create an overview of the province, region, kingdom, whatever.
The American western film, TV and books all share a fairly well defined, commonly recognized and understood environment. The grass land and grazing areas, the more arid but arable site of some small towns, the various types of towns, the various desert types. That is a solid physical background for a shared universe that requires only a minimum description, taken from a broad palette to establish the setting of any story. It stills needs Worldbuilding.
Fantasy backgrounds are very different. The world needs be built from the bottom up. Obviously the magic systems vary widely, the role and uses of magic from commonplace to forbidden must be established for each story. The outline and description of the magic system must be broad. Sanderson spells out his magic systems, etc. in exhaustive detail which makes the background universe clear and believable. Some readers prefer that to fuzziness, others complain of too much exposition. In either case it does get the job done. If there are no clear limits there is nothing to prevent contrivance and plot hole destruction of any plot and their dominating the story.
Here the geography is not given. This is the child's fairy tale kingdom. We have no idea about how far away from his home, the main character travels to the magic school. There is no clear sense of the distance between the magic school and the frontier town. In a game, the typical quest has more detail than this. Travel time and description of the terrain travelled must be included for major character relocations in fantasy and science fiction, just as it is in other fiction. I lost any sense of distances or even direction of travel midway through the book.
There is a vague reference to "Western" lands, which would be satisfactory for book one if there was some sense of the size and shape of the territory under control of these mages. There also is no mention of other groups of mages or schools of magic, which would be more than a little odd even in a flat Earth universe. So the frontier is vaguely the Western lands and the extent of mages control is unknown. That there are Eastern lands would seem to be obvious but there are also Northern and Southern lands. For fun I began imagining the main character traveling an entire continent. The one frontier town for an entire continent was also funny. I could say more but why bother since the writer has not mapped out the world in which he sets his story. Place has not been established.
There is no mention of the time elapsed from the Cataclysm or discussion of the magical tech level before the Cataclysm. The background is so incomplete that this can not be described as a background universe for a Game session. This is basically a lazy generic fantasy world lacking depth, life or character. There is no history.
I need another YouTube mind refresher before continuing. This next is brought to you by YouTube channels - Leeja Miller, Book Furnace, Strange Aeons, Alt Shift X, Politics X, Joe Blogs, the Dadvocate, Big Think, GreenRed Productions, May, Depressed Russian, Lily Simpson, Deerstalker Pictures, Gutsick Gibbon, Renegade Cut, Morgan Donner, Gemma Dyer, Jean's Thoughts, Ro Ramdin, Library Ladder, Not the Andrew Marr show, Casual Lectures, Geo Girl, Peter Stefanovic, The Juice Media, Agro Squirrel Narrates, Dr Fatima, Natasha's Adventures, Abney Park, Sound of Music Flashmob, Narrowboat Pirate, Interior Hub Design, Wizards and Warriors.
The main character is not quite human. He is not a sympathetic character. He maims his girlfriend and his sole reaction is "I am sorry" but does not even think that he is at fault. From the next scene on, he dwells on his misfortune and never really considers her again. His reaction to his quest partners is not the best, since he does not see them as people but only as players in his play. He did not change from his first scene to the last page. His lack of development is typical of a Role Playing Game and still not the preferred quest partner. This is a fair approximation of a sociopath.
He does not share his history with his companions but is almost intrusively curious about their personal histories. He shows no connection to them and is focused solely on increasing his magical powers. He spends most of his energy trying to discover whether the young woman of the company is attractive or not. There is no emotion involved in his sexual encounters, which is portrayed as the result of the woman's choice. He is a narcissist at best. He is perhaps the most flat of any of the characters who is not an unhinged villain. Yet we are supposed to empathize with a character who is so self-absorbed.
He has had no contact with his family for years and it does not seem to matter to the little prince. His relationship with any of his family is never shown or mentioned. He spends years at a school for magic but that experience is never discussed. The impact of class on student learning tracks and socialization is never discussed. He has no personality and reads as a POV device for telling the more interesting stories of his quest companions.
He is told that he is destined for some great unnamed thing. The Chosen one/Little Prince is overworked in fantasy and here there is no attempt even to dress it up a bit. He has committed two crimes. He disfigured a daughter of a wealthy family and broken a Rule. Class determines value apparently. It is implied that had he chosen a farmer's son or daughter, there would have been no consequence. There is no sense of safety consideration, nor has the danger of breaking the rules been explained to the character or the reader. There is no discussion of the morality of using another student as an experimental object. This Ayn Rand/Harry Potter worldview occurs in very many of low end fiction titles. Actually it must be a template for main characters.
The student magician is supposedly ill-prepared. As the book progresses he is consistently overpowered. No evidence of his ability to think through the challenges quickly and quickly respond was previously mentioned or demonstrated. His successes in defeating powerful magicians barely skirt the contrivance pit. That is a generous opinion.
The prose is more or less serviceable but in service to what. A slight descriptive skill does not compensate for world building fuzziness. It can not replace character development. It can not create a plot with any logic. Jumping to the main character's ex-girlfriend for the second volume might be a success or more likely will expose further cracks in the background universe. I am curious to see how it turns out but doubt that I will try it.
As poorly planned as it was, this was a better book than I expected. Hopefully his other science fiction will be better. Current US low end science fiction is written to three standards. They are the Low Effort, Minimal Effort and No Effort categories. As a result, I watch more than read science fiction at the moment. The YouTube DUST, Omeleto and other Shorts channels, the streaming services, especially Netflix offer a large array of multicultural products, most of which are better written and more entertaining than the print.
I only began using YouTube about two years ago, searching for good science fiction commentary. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the variety and number of special interest channels. My happiest discovery was that of the book channels. 😍 These are channels that focus on every on every aspect of the book lover's interests. The reader communities are fun, thoughtful and enamoured of all things bookish. I recommend a visit to several book channels for any reader. They are completely opposite to the Amazon/Goodreads experience. My second big discovery was the educational video sites. I saw sponsor spots on my favorite educational video channels and began with Nebula. I think they are all worth a look for documentaries, lectures and essayists. In addition they are modestly priced.
I originally gushed here about Novara Media's -- Novara Live and Downstream. They really are that good but I prefer the less abstract and intellectual. They do present a nice mix of responses to events with a variety of socialist perspectives. Socialism has more variety of definitions than Christianity. A government minister named them in complaints online, that they were an attack outlet targeting the Conservative Party. Poor Tories are not loved by absolutely everyone. 😪 As a party the Conservatives are laughable at times but dangerous with their policy and legislation all of the time. For me Peter Stefanovic, Owen Jones, KernowDamo, Second Thought, Truth to Power, Lily Simpson, Philosophy Tube, The Juice Media, ScaredKetchup, SK Media, Double Down News, No Justice MTG, Jessie Gender, Beau of the Fifth column, Leeja Miller, Michael Lambert, Gary's Economics and some others deliver more direct analysis and reporting of the real world consequences of governmental policy.
I grew up in an insanely large by today's standards, Catholic family, knew the food bank well, Parish Charity, two working parents, caring for siblings not much younger than myself. My way and that of my siblings to university was not easy. The history, reality and struggles of the poor and marginalized like that of my family, my childhood friends, my community, people who are in danger simply because of their sexuality, gender identity, color of skin or parents' country of origin seem to be understood and more importantly Felt by these other channels. I apologize for what might seem a rant, if anyone should read this. My book reviews reflect my human centred lens. Capitalism, cruelty for cruelty's sake and the normalization of anti-human positions are upsetting to me. Again, my apologies.
My YouTube picks of the moment
Books and Lala, Cruising Crafts, Red Plateaus, Mrs Betty Bowers, Cunk, Chloe Stafler, Mythic Concepts, The Historian's Craft, Second Thought, Drew Hall, Luis Humanoide, Owen Jones, Friendly Space Ninja, Lorna Jane Adventures, Tom Nicholas, May, Mia Mulder, Jean's Thoughts, Princess Weekes, Mythology and Fiction Explained, Merphy Napier.
As for Amazon/Goodreads, please consider treating this site as potentially hostile. 😐
Ominous music begins. 😊 I suggest minimising profile information on Goodreads, Kindle - email, contact list, calendar, Files, screenshots of the odd and the ugly, removing all lurkers (those friends who post nothing), avoid the site's messaging and maintaining awareness that the site techs seem to have no fear of consequences. For nasty details, see my review of "Dark Horse", a good novel by Diener. Another recounting of my experiences on this site is included in my review of Powers of the Earth.
Site techs were involved in harassment including periodically shutting down Amazon/Goodreads services paid for to sharing my limited message history which even in America must be a criminal offence. Their Goodreads antics also included refusing my uploads for days at a time to masking commenters member names. Please consider that they know few, if any limits. They are American. Ominous music ends. 😊
May we all find Good Reading! 🤗
I am not the best source for YouTube channels and do not really understand most of the terms used in that environment but these are some of my favourite channels.
LuckyBlackCat, Zoe Bee, Brittany Page, Red Plateaus, Mia Mulder, UATV, Owen Jones, Northern Narrowboaters, Lindsay Ellis, Munecat, Book Odyssey, Tara Mooknee, Novara Media, Vlad Vexler, It's Black Friday, TVP News, Tulia, Tom Nicholas, Crecganford, What Vivi did next, Anna from Ukraine, Dr Becky, Mythology and Fiction Explained, Practical Engineering, Artur Rehi, Sarah Z, Military History Visualized, Natalia Tsarikova, Between the Wars, Veritasium, Verilybitchie, Real Time History, Then & Now, Event Horizon, Second Thought, Lilly's expat life, A Life of Lit, 2 Cellos, Books and Lala, Danni and Joe, Narrowboat Pirate, I'm Rosa, Philosophy Tube, Adult Wednesday Addams - 2 seasons, Esoterica, Caspian Report, Noah Samsen, Fantasy and World Music by the Fletchers, Traveling K, The Gravel Institute, The Armchair Historian, Interior Design Hub, Art Deco, ASN Random, Ro Ramdin, The Templin Institute, Quinn's Ideas, Book Furnace, Lily Simpson, Books with Chloe, Tibees, Merphy Napier, Kathy's Flog in France, May Moon Narrowboat, Serena Skybourne, Lady knight the Brave, Renegade Cut, Hello Future Me, Digital Engine, Engineering with Rosie, Linguoer Mechanic, Answer in Progress, Cruising the Cut, Well Deck Diaries, Ana Psychology, Dan Davis History, Knowing Better, Overly Sarcastic Productions, Brickcrafts, Rowan J Coleman, Beautifully Bookish Bethany, Sabine Hossenfelder, Michael Siegel, Savy Writes Books, The Present Past, Natasha's Adventures, Denys Davydov, 2 Steps from Hell, Prime of Midlife, The Mindful Narrowboat, Meidas Touch, Mrs Betty Bowers, Philomena Cunk, Ben and Emily, The Amber Ruffin Show, Mala Armia Janosika, Bernadette Banner, Karolina Zebrowska, Overly Sarcastic Productions, Hannah Lee Kidder, Kidology, The Shades of Orange, Spacedock, Emmie, Zoe Baker, Planarwalker, Heather Dale, NFKRZ, Kiko1006, Beau of the Fifth Column.
I wish you a splendid morning, a fun-filled afternoon, a pleasant evening, a cozy night and may we all continue to learn.
If a person should be deficient in or lose their Empathy, also lost is their Humanity.
Edward Colston, Successful Slave Trader
December 9, 2022
This is a new series from Christopher Nuttall. Quite early on when I picked up reading on a more regular basis he became one of my top favorite authors. He has written a great many books that I really liked. With this particular book he is starting a new series and it is a really good start indeed.
Given who the author of the book is I had no doubt that the book would be well written and I was not disappointed. The only times I have been less than happy with a book from Christopher Nuttall was when he has chosen stories that was not really my cup of tea. That is of course personal bias and not an indication that the books were actually bad.
I was a wee bit hesitant since the basic premise for the story is an apocalypse one (yeah, yet another one) but it worked out fairly well. Also after having read the first book I am now hoping that we will get some hints as to what really happened in future books. Also, it would be quite cool if the main protagonist actually discovers some of the lost knowledge and magic.
The book has a good main protagonist. He is a decent guy, he is competent and he does not back down from a fight. He is joined, or rather he is joining, a rather cool band of adventurers. The leader of the band is quite kick-ass and I quite like her even though she did manage to get caught with her pants down a few too many times at the beginning of their adventure. I really like the spooky weirdling. Usually I’m not too interested in the romantic side stories but, knowing that this author usually do not go overboard with them nor resorts to a bunch of woke bullshit, I kind of hope that John and she hooks up.
Overall it was a really good story with plenty of potential. The part of it were the master of the school John was expelled from seems to have his own plans for John is a nice addition. There are really so many things I want to know in future books. Were will John go from her in terms of his magic, will he get the girl, what really happened for the world to go to hell, will they rediscover the lost magic and so on and so forth.
Next book in the series is on my to-read list for sure.
Given who the author of the book is I had no doubt that the book would be well written and I was not disappointed. The only times I have been less than happy with a book from Christopher Nuttall was when he has chosen stories that was not really my cup of tea. That is of course personal bias and not an indication that the books were actually bad.
I was a wee bit hesitant since the basic premise for the story is an apocalypse one (yeah, yet another one) but it worked out fairly well. Also after having read the first book I am now hoping that we will get some hints as to what really happened in future books. Also, it would be quite cool if the main protagonist actually discovers some of the lost knowledge and magic.
The book has a good main protagonist. He is a decent guy, he is competent and he does not back down from a fight. He is joined, or rather he is joining, a rather cool band of adventurers. The leader of the band is quite kick-ass and I quite like her even though she did manage to get caught with her pants down a few too many times at the beginning of their adventure. I really like the spooky weirdling. Usually I’m not too interested in the romantic side stories but, knowing that this author usually do not go overboard with them nor resorts to a bunch of woke bullshit, I kind of hope that John and she hooks up.
Overall it was a really good story with plenty of potential. The part of it were the master of the school John was expelled from seems to have his own plans for John is a nice addition. There are really so many things I want to know in future books. Were will John go from her in terms of his magic, will he get the girl, what really happened for the world to go to hell, will they rediscover the lost magic and so on and so forth.
Next book in the series is on my to-read list for sure.
June 27, 2023
Hyper SIM
I really enjoyed this. The first in what I hope is a long series. The characters are believable and life experienced . And I will be starting book two almost immediately. Thank you Mr. Nuttall, keep up the excellent writing
I really enjoyed this. The first in what I hope is a long series. The characters are believable and life experienced . And I will be starting book two almost immediately. Thank you Mr. Nuttall, keep up the excellent writing
December 19, 2022
Decent story
I usually love Christopher Nuttal's works, and this series has potential, but I just didn't connect with it.
Overall, decent world, interesting story, lackluster magic system, annoying MC, with a cringeworthy inclusion office sex scenes.
There was too much handwaving in respect to magic. There is just no structure, nothing to follow, it's not like "schooled in magic" where there is a system on place, here we just do magic, and what is possible is constantly changing... it was hard to get into.
Then we have the MC, I did not like him. He's apparently a magical prodigy, which makes sense, he's also sex obsessed, and his "manhood hardening" is a common occurrence. Then, I really didn't like all the sexual references at all. He is always getting hard, (which is weird because the one he's looking at is a shapeless shadow... how is that attractive?) He hooks up with peasants, almost slaves, shadow people... and the descriptions of nipples getting hard under his hands, and his hands going lower... it's just not what I want to read. Throw in the other random sex comments about the hard A seargent dude sleeping with the hard A soldier dude, and it's just cringe worthy. I get having gay people in stories is the PC thing to do, but just randomly saying "oh and those guys are gay" out of the blue and having no actual connection to the story at all? No thank you.
I usually love Christopher Nuttal's works, and this series has potential, but I just didn't connect with it.
Overall, decent world, interesting story, lackluster magic system, annoying MC, with a cringeworthy inclusion office sex scenes.
There was too much handwaving in respect to magic. There is just no structure, nothing to follow, it's not like "schooled in magic" where there is a system on place, here we just do magic, and what is possible is constantly changing... it was hard to get into.
Then we have the MC, I did not like him. He's apparently a magical prodigy, which makes sense, he's also sex obsessed, and his "manhood hardening" is a common occurrence. Then, I really didn't like all the sexual references at all. He is always getting hard, (which is weird because the one he's looking at is a shapeless shadow... how is that attractive?) He hooks up with peasants, almost slaves, shadow people... and the descriptions of nipples getting hard under his hands, and his hands going lower... it's just not what I want to read. Throw in the other random sex comments about the hard A seargent dude sleeping with the hard A soldier dude, and it's just cringe worthy. I get having gay people in stories is the PC thing to do, but just randomly saying "oh and those guys are gay" out of the blue and having no actual connection to the story at all? No thank you.
December 26, 2022
good start
There is a few inconsistencies in the story but otherwise the whole premise of it was interesting. I think the author could stand to spend abit more time describing the seen and the world around them and the cultures and all the other stuff that make a world feel alive but that may come as the series develops.
There is a few inconsistencies in the story but otherwise the whole premise of it was interesting. I think the author could stand to spend abit more time describing the seen and the world around them and the cultures and all the other stuff that make a world feel alive but that may come as the series develops.
August 21, 2023
Confronting evil magic
John, after five years of training as a magician, is expelled from his school for an experiment gone horribly wrong. Taken on by a small mercenary group, he will find himself confronting a far stronger sorcerer, a madman determined to take over and rule the known world.
Recommended.
John, after five years of training as a magician, is expelled from his school for an experiment gone horribly wrong. Taken on by a small mercenary group, he will find himself confronting a far stronger sorcerer, a madman determined to take over and rule the known world.
Recommended.
October 8, 2022
Goatfoot
A good start to what I hope is a new series. A good mix of adventure, magic!, war, and personal conflict. It will be interesting to see what further adventure Joyce, John and Scout get into.
A good start to what I hope is a new series. A good mix of adventure, magic!, war, and personal conflict. It will be interesting to see what further adventure Joyce, John and Scout get into.
October 14, 2022
GVVG
Good. Very, Very, Good
A brilliant concept, brilliantly written - not too far from the School Of Magic series, yet completely different. Hopefully the start of a long series. It certainly has got the legs for one.
Good. Very, Very, Good
A brilliant concept, brilliantly written - not too far from the School Of Magic series, yet completely different. Hopefully the start of a long series. It certainly has got the legs for one.
October 17, 2022
Enjoyable as Usual
I found your new serial fascinating and yet refreshing that you came down to the real Notting gritty. As opposed to your scholarly backgrounds that surrounds your books.
I found your new serial fascinating and yet refreshing that you came down to the real Notting gritty. As opposed to your scholarly backgrounds that surrounds your books.
December 6, 2022
Its a good read and an interesting new world. Worth 5 stars as part of the 200 or so books I read every year. But it's not up to authors prior standards if rating only against his own previous works its only a 4 star result.
February 2, 2023
Meh
Not the worst I've read, but not good. The target audience seems to be 12-14 year olds. Rather dry and boring, with a predictable ble.plot, no character development, and the now nearly mandatory token homosexual relationship dragged a poor book even lower.
Not the worst I've read, but not good. The target audience seems to be 12-14 year olds. Rather dry and boring, with a predictable ble.plot, no character development, and the now nearly mandatory token homosexual relationship dragged a poor book even lower.
October 29, 2023
Fun read
A little language, some very strong.
Sex is mostly alluded to, but one scene starts to get descriptive before it cuts to after.
Blood and gore aplenty.
Liked the book enough to read the next one...
A little language, some very strong.
Sex is mostly alluded to, but one scene starts to get descriptive before it cuts to after.
Blood and gore aplenty.
Liked the book enough to read the next one...
September 24, 2022
A good start.
Hopefully the main character(s) won't become idiots, as has happened in many of Nutall's other books (I'm not giving examples, as far as those who follow his books know).
Hopefully the main character(s) won't become idiots, as has happened in many of Nutall's other books (I'm not giving examples, as far as those who follow his books know).
October 3, 2022
Outstanding
Nuttall is a stellar author and this new series holds supreme promises under his artistry. I so enjoy his work and wait in anticipation for the next adventure.
Nuttall is a stellar author and this new series holds supreme promises under his artistry. I so enjoy his work and wait in anticipation for the next adventure.
October 4, 2022
Very good read
I enjoyed reading this book very much and I recommend this book to anyone who like magic and alternate reality type of books with lots of action.
I enjoyed reading this book very much and I recommend this book to anyone who like magic and alternate reality type of books with lots of action.
October 7, 2022
New story
This was a very nice new story by Christopher hope will continue developing this series of books. I enjoyed it .
This was a very nice new story by Christopher hope will continue developing this series of books. I enjoyed it .
November 1, 2022
Great start to a new series
This was enjoyable, adventures on the frontier between relatively settled country and a wild frontier full of dangerous wild magic.
This was enjoyable, adventures on the frontier between relatively settled country and a wild frontier full of dangerous wild magic.
January 5, 2023
Wow
Another fantastic book by Christopher G. Nuttall !!! Fantastic! You are hooked after the first chapter. Lots of action and I could not stop reading. I am glad their are others!!
Another fantastic book by Christopher G. Nuttall !!! Fantastic! You are hooked after the first chapter. Lots of action and I could not stop reading. I am glad their are others!!
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