John Bierce

I guess I have a weakness for these stories where somebody goes to a magic school and starts off at the bottom of the class, then discovers something unique. My favorite of that genera so far is The Zero Enigma by Christopher Nutall, but this one is pretty good too.

What I think makes this kind of book interesting, aside from the things that make fiction work in general (interesting characters, character development, exciting plot) is the magic system. If done well, the character's discovery show more of his or her unique gifts can be a fascinating experience for the reader too. If the magic system itself is somehow interesting, that can make the novel stand out from the immense set of magic school novels.

Hugh is this kind of character: he's the bottom of his class, he's bullied the students who are at the top, and he doesn't understand why he can't do it. In this case, Hugh is given an unexpected chance by a highly unusual mage who is particularly looking for people who don't fit the usual mold. As a result, he's stuck on a team with three others who also looked like failures. But this teacher realizes that these students don't fit the usual categories, and so of course they have trouble with the usual tasks.

In this case, the mage's students aren't performing well because previous instructors haven't realized key things about how their magic works. So there's some exploration of the logic of magic in this world, as Hugh and his friends grapple with their unique gifting. (Unlike The Zero Enigma, that's not the focus of this story, though, and for that reason I rate it a bit lower.)

I found this novel very satisfying, as the boy who think's he's a failure realizes that he's absolutely unique. (Even the fact that he thinks he's a failure turns out to be something interesting about him.) And, being cast with two other rejects, for the first time in his life, he also has friends--another sort of emotional hook for me. show less

This book just made me happy for all the right reasons. It had an awesome world that we didn't get overwhelming details about (only enough to understand what was happening), awesome characters (who were both realistic and likeable), a great plot (magic and libraries and labyrinths), and didn't come with any unnecessary drama or romance. The writing flowed well and easily carried you through the story, and the actual order of events and pacing were also very well done.
So happy to have show more stumbled across this book, and will defs be moving on to the next one! Hugh is 15 so this book is kinda YA, but it's more pure and less cringey so I would recommend it to all audiences~ show less

A young adult light fantasy in the veins of Harry Potter, Rowan of Rin and Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic books.

Apprentice mages; Hugh, Sabae, Talia and Godrick might be on semester break but they certainly don't have much time for rest. Between training, pirates and sandstorms their journey through the Endless Erg is anything but quiet. Of course, reaching the dragon city of Theras Tel isn't much better when they find themselves in the middle of a conspiracy to oust the dragon queen.

While show more I enjoyed the first book, the second book in the series is substantially better. Tautly woven plot, action packed scenes, better fleshed out characters and more of a ensemble cast than just being about Hugh - I adored it. The worldbuilding was strong and I loved Alustin and his affinity for paper. I mean sure, I've read badass librarians before but a paper mage was a bit of a new twist on an old classic and it was epic.

The guards were rather shocked when Alustin stopped lecturing them about the stages of a Tsarnassian forest’s growth cycle after a forest fire and started cursing like a dockworker. They were even more shocked when he pulled a sabre covered in spellforms out of midair and hacked through the cage’s lock in a single blow. When the sword vanished again and thousands of pages of paper came flying, so far as they could tell, out of Alustin’s right hand, well, it didn’t seem likely that they could get that much more shocked, yet they accomplished it. The paper wrapping and suffocating them into unconsciousness still managed to surprise them the most, somehow.

Bierce, John. Jewel of the Endless Erg: Mage Errant Book 2 (pp. 199-200). Kindle Edition.

Hugh was staring at the door when it happened. A large, unsealed envelope came sliding underneath. The guards started, then one leaned down to pick it up. The other guard leaned over to look. The instant the first guard opened it, several sheets of paper flew straight out and plastered themselves to the guards’ faces. The guards promptly began cursing and trying to pull the pages off, but the paper somehow molded even closer to their faces. Within seconds their cursing had turned to muffled noises of panic. Not long after that, they crumpled to the ground. As soon as they did so, Alustin strode into the room, smiling broadly. “You know, I used to find it disturbing how often guards fall for the mysterious letter under the door trick, but it honestly gets funnier every time now.” The apprentices all stared at him in shock. “Are… are they…” Hugh began. “They’re still alive,” Alustin said. “Just unconscious.” “You’re a paper mage?” Talia asked, incredulous. “You can’t be a paper mage, they can’t be battlemages!” Alustin just raised an eyebrow at her. “It wasn’t too long ago that none of you thought you could be battlemages, either. And I did mention that no one thought I could be a battlemage, didn’t I?”

Bierce, John. Jewel of the Endless Erg: Mage Errant Book 2 (pp. 200-201). Kindle Edition.



Totally awesome. There were rather a few new little twists on the usual tropes and ideas. I love a good bag of holding but the tattoo of holding - I want one.
“You’re going to ward it,” Alustin said, pulling his arm back out of midair, holding a sheet of paper. Hugh noticed a spellform tattoo glowing bright blue on Alustin’s arm— the exact blue of Kanderon’s wings— that rapidly faded into invisibility. “How’d you do that?” Talia demanded. Alustin glanced at his arm. “Oh, Kanderon gave me that. Tattooed an extradimensional storage space onto my arm. I just let people think my bag is the extradimensional storage space.”

Bierce, John. Jewel of the Endless Erg: Mage Errant Book 2 (pp. 201-202). Kindle Edition.

Actually to be fair I also really love the idea of Talia's spellform tattoos. Anyway my biggest issue was the romance. It was just weird. The characters feel young and because of that, the romance just felt out of place. Especially with Hugh flushing red every time it's even hinted at. I did like that Sabae takes charge to figure out what they're all moping about, gives them advice and implements her solutions. That is one thing I really enjoy about this series - the communication. The friendships between them are all bolstered by being willing to discuss their issues and fears and support each other as needed. They give each other space but are willing to step in and push when they have to.

I loved Talia and her love of explosions. They were awesome. And her and Godrick hiding the evidence of the dragon they killed was hilarious. I really liked that in a lot of ways none of them conform to the roles they're given. Like Godrick - is big strong and manly - but is intelligent and capable of being more than just a hammer hitting a nail. All of them are more than they are perceived to be and I rated it.

The plot picked up speed towards the end as well and I was completely hooked, wanting to know what was going to happen next. And I was pleasantly surprised by where it did go. I think the book worked better for focusing more on the ensemble nature rather than just Hugh's story. There was some of it in the first book, but this one really hit its stride and it was great. It was pretty funny and fairly original for all you can easily pick what the author's read and been influenced by.

A new favourite to be sure, 4 stars. show less

fairly likable characters, good dramatic presentation, ok world building
main complaint is the consequence model is shoddy - remember wax-on, wax-off? well they skip that and just hand the main characters massive amounts of magical power without them having to really work for it. If you disagree with the effort levels then have you ever actually paid the real world cost to acquire a useful skill?
second complaint is the luck factor is at supernatural levels. I get that in a children's book we show more have to have a happy ending and so we warp all of reality to reduce consequences, however this causes long term issues with 'magical thinking' - aka the belief that things will work out well, specifically that risk factors are irrelevant. In real life this is never true, and while a full model might weigh down the title, at least a nod in that directoin would have been appreciated. show less