Exiled for accidentally killing a fellow student wizard during a magic duel, Marjan has had to forge himself a new life, a quiet life deep within the Alyssian Forest and far from the Guild. As a maverick wizard his life is far from perfect, and its never what he dreamt of as a student in the Guild, but its peaceful and he doesn’t have to fear crossing the laws of the Guild.
Then one day seven young children and their teacher came crashing into his life, fleeing a monstrous enemy of seemingly limitless numbers. Armies of dire beasts led by hideously transformed soldiers are sweeping down from the north, overrunning the cities and driving all before them in an orgy of death and destruction.
To protect his new charges, Marjan must escort them to safety in the southern lands, leaving his home behind perhaps forever, and taking up arms as a wizard, risking the wrath of the Guild as he does so.
So begins Marjan’s journey, where he must not just do battle with an enemy to protect the children, but must also face down the demons of his past, and ultimately do battle with the darkest of all enemies.
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Wikipedia in English
Maverick, by Greg Curtis, follows the life of an outcast wizard. 10 years after being banished from the Guild, war comes to Marjan's home. Having lived alone in the woods for the past decade, Marjan is drawn into the battles when a child from his hometown shows up on his doorstep pursued by evil beasts. The story then follows Marjan as he is pulled deeper and deeper into the battle and lives of those he saved.
Greg Curtis has a natural gift in his ability to create a scene. His attention to detail is wonderful and I felt like I was standing right there with the characters. I also really enjoyed the spells, magic and creatures used throughout the novel. His character development for Marjan was superb, though I would have liked him to flesh out some of the other characters a little more, not necessarily because they were weak, but because I really wanted to know more.
That said, some readers may be distracted by occasional editing problems. They were infrequent enough that it didn't bother me, but I tend to be forgiving when the story really grabs me.
Well worth the read in my opinion and I'd love to see a prequel to Maverick. He's created some wonderful characters and I'd love to read more about them.
Overall, I give Maverick a 3.75 star, but I'll round it to 4 as we can't do partials here.
Thanks for the story Mr. Curtis! (