The Innocent Mage

Fisherman's son Asher leaves his small seaside town to head to the big city to make a fortune. His arrival causes a stir he doesn't see: he's the face in a Circle prophecy about the end of the world. As he becomes friendly with the prince Gar and trusted by the royal family, the Circle wonders how it can use him for their own ends.

At first glance this story contains a huge number of stereotypes and tropes about magic, natives, prophecy, and so forth. It even has its fantasy-contrived small order of women. But a closer look reveals that none of the stereotypes are dealt with the way we'd expect. The class system in Lur between the native Olken and the invaders Doranen--the latter long since faded from warrior mages to simple high-class show more rulers--is painted with subtlety and yet has a huge impact on everything that happens. In fact, that's the order of the day: everything from description of the prophecy to the growing relationship between our hero Asher and the prince Gar is subtlety written, yet totally developed as the pages go on. I've seen reviews that complain that too much isn't explained or described, but actually this is what I came to respect about the book. We aren't insulted by a page and a half explaining what a harbour looks like in a small town. The author assumes we know, and in doing so lets us paint the world realistically. Or me, at least. As I say, this seems to be a common complaint: not enough hand-holding. Well, good.

I also appreciate that I couldn't guess where the story was going from one chapter to the next. The romance, what there is of one, is a surprise, and awkward enough to be real life. The scarce women hold their own as developed as any of the male characters, and the characters we don't like are given good reason for the way they are and yet don't magically becomes better, greater people just because the story demands. The whole book is a surprise this way, right up to the last page which is a cliffhanger that nearly leaves the book in the middle of a sentence. I will definitely read the next in the series.

Like The Game of Thrones, this book is heavily involved in politics, but unlike that book it happily skips the minutiae that doesn't matter (thank goodness.) I don't think everyone will like this book, because it is not very much like every other fantasy book out there, and it will take more thought and attention than the average story. But I like it a lot and I'm impressed with its skill and courage. show less

I didn't find it bad, I definitely wasn't awed either.

I find it odd that the native folk would have forgotten so well that they were invaded in the first place, that they used to have their own magic, that it's tapped to save everyone's butts and should make them as a whole as valuable to society as the newcomers and their weatherworking. To the point of not even knowing anymore that they can be mages in their own right (see the lines about someone nailed for trying to learn invaders' magic).

The lack of any thought, suspicion or curiosity regarding what lies outside behind the barrier in the general population is odd too.
If they knew and feared the enemy and devastation that lies beyond, it would be a somewhat believable incentive to show more contribute to maintaining the current social order and regulations regarding magic, but no one seems to think about that. Not once does a character seem to express the dread that he might be living in an isolated, fragile bubble surrounded by a dead world.
When it happens, snitching against (apparently mostly wannabe or falsely accused) native mages seems to be an exercise in pure spite or gratuitous submissiveness. And the invaders themselves seem to frame it mentally as an encroachment upon their privileges and superior talents, rather than an endangerment of collective safety.
And if they don't really know (and apparently they don't, as even the high mage toward the end of this first book needs to take a peek himself), shouldn't more people be curious, or dubious about the enduring necessity of the status quo ? show less

Enter the kingdom of Lur, where using magic unlawfully means death.

Thousands of years ago, Doranen refugees arrived in Lur and established a magic-based rule over the land. They fled a bitter war in their homeland, started by a powerful mage. To keep Lur safe, the native Olken inhabitants surrendered their magic. Anyone who breaks this law is executed.

To make his fortune, Asher left his coastal village. While working at the royal stables, he quickly befriended Prince Gar and gained power and money he had never imagined possible. Olkens, though, has a secret; a prophecy. Members of The Circle are dedicated to preserving Olken magic until the Innocent Mage saves Lur. Asher is unaware that someone is closely observing him. His life takes show more an unexpected turn as the Final Days approach.

I was very disappointed with this book on every level. Although the concept was intriguing and held great potential, its execution was lacking. I don't even know why I continued reading it. I kept reading the book just so I could see what happened, which in retrospect is a terrible reason to keep reading a book.

As I reflected after 500 pages, I realized that nothing significant had happened. Most of the time, the main characters walk around talking about things that are unimportant to the story's premise. The idea is that there are two groups in this world. One is magicless and peasant-like, and the other is the ruling class, gifted with magic. Yet no one seems resentful of it.

A well-balanced tension between the two people would have made things much more interesting. The characters constantly mention magic, but no one uses it until the last few chapters, which is lame. This story features the "chosen by prophecy" character, but nothing happens. There is not even a hint of what the main character is supposed to be.

There was a terrible "cliffhanger" at the end of the book that made me not want to read the sequel. A book that is incredibly boring just so you can find out what's going to happen is not worth reading, I learned.
In summary, the book's lack of significant events, underdeveloped tension, and unfulfilled promises make it a disappointing read. show less

The first in the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker series, The Innocent Mage is the first novel written by the latest fantasy author to arise from Australia.

Set in the kingdom of Lur, the Innocent Mage is Asher, a young fisherman from Restharven who journeys to the capital city to make his fortune and escape the torment of his older brothers. Lur is protected by a magical wall, created by the Doranen, who fled their land centuries ago after a terrible magical war. The Doranen keep Lur safe, and the King maintains the wall using his weather magic, and in return, the non-magical Olken, the original inhabitants of Lur, allowed the Doranen refuge, and do not seek to learn or use Doranen magic. Asher is one of the non-magical Olken, but on his arrival show more in the capital, finds himself aiding Prince Gar, after a riding accident. Gar offers Asher a job, introducing him to the world of magic and politics between the Olken and Doranen peoples. Although a tense relationship at first, a friendship forms between Gar and Asher, who grows attached to his life in the city. But the Olken have a history of their own, the secrets of which are maintained by a group known as the Circle, who believe that great darkness is coming, from which they can only be saved by the prophesied Innocent Mage.

Asher is the hero of this story, the plucky young fisherman who is thrown into a world he does not understand, but there are many interesting characters in this intricate tale. One can emphasise with Gar, the magickless Doranen prince, who is more popular with the Olken than his own people, and resigned that he can never lead his kingdom as the weather-worker, a fate left to his arrogant but naive younger sister. Other fascinating characters include the sweet and gentle Matt, the cunning and secretive Dathne, and the bitter yet loyal Darran. But it is the relationship between Gar and Asher that is most at the heart of this story, exploring the lure of family and what one man really will do for another.

I was instantly drawn to these titles and was not disappointed. I enjoyed this excellent debut so much that, even though I was on holiday in Ireland, I had to rush out and buy the sequel immediately! Not your standard fantasy novels, this story really relies on the characters of Gar and Asher, with realistic dilemmas of family, loyalty and responsibility. Miller's descriptions of the weather magic are vivid and colourful and without spoiling what happens in the second book, things do get very interesting!

Highly recommended, but make sure you have The Awakened Mage handy, because you'll need it! Definitely an author to watch. show less

The main character is a bit of a prick, and it took me a good 200 pages to like him at all. There's minimal action, ie: one combat scene and no one even dies. I really shouldn't have liked this book, but I did. Enough to finish it without even starting another book (a rare occurrence) and to pick up the sequel.

This was a very good book but it focused on character developement way too much. All the action took place in the last 100 pages (out of 642) and the book ended in a cliffhanger. The last sentence of the book was "This story will be concluded on the Awakened Mage"



To be honnest this pissed me off. You see, when I read a 600 page book I expect it to have a conclusion even if it is part of a series. I don't need it to be the end but at least some kind of resolution. Since most authors can do it in a 2 page short story i don't think it's unreasonable to expect it in a book.

If this book wasn't stand alone it should have been named something like "The innocent mage part 1" or something similar. Now I'll have to wait 10 days until the show more "awakened mage" copy comes into my hands. Thanks a lot Ms. Miller...



That's the main reason I gave it 3/5 stars.

It's too bad because, while the book started really, really slowly, It was the first time since Sauron's youth that I found a vilain that was actualy clever. All the other ones so far were powerful but not devious. I hope the next part is a fitting end to the story. show less

Every now and then I embark on either an sf or a fantasy series that's a bit below par but good enough that I'm sucked in, curious how the author is going to work out his or her ideas to stick with it - sometimes I'm agreeably surprised when the series as a whole gathers momentum and starts to work pretty well, all the pieces coming together. I'm hoping for that from this set of Karen Miller's novels of which this, The Innocent Mage is the first. The story focusses around one Asher, from a fishing village, who heads for the big city and away from his beloved Da and unbeloved six older brothers who tend to beat on him as the one who killed off Ma. He arrives in the capital city and within two hours he has saved the local princeling and show more has a job in the stables although he knows zilch about horses and within a day or two (or is it a month?) gets a job as his special protector and assistant. There's a book dealer who is such good friends with the royal family that she pops in and out of the castle at will. She is also a special prophet for the supposed non-magical people, the Olken, who the magical Doranians rule over - benevolently but firmly - as they have worked out a deal. Outside the magically maintained borders of Lur, the world is dangerous and the enemies of the Doranians lurk waiting to destroy etcetera. One twist is that the Prince has no magic, and thus is a 'cripple', another is that Asher, as a character, is fairly engaging as he is very outspoken, but with a kind of authoritative honesty that even the king can't resist. Just when I would start to think, Oh no, something reasonably interesting and even unexpected would happen. There are two more, apparently, but about the next generation, which I won't feel at all obliged to read if the second one doesn't take me somewhere. ***1/4 show less