The Awakened Mage

By: Karen Miller

Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne

Length: 23 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

"The evil foretold has risen...and we are all that stands between it and the end." Asher has come a long way for a fisherman's son. Together with his friend Prince Gar, he has defended their kingdom against its bitterest enemy, but at great cost.

Now, the evil mage Morg is preparing for his most deadly assault. Desperate, trapped in a broken body, Morg has little time and fewer scruples. And he has a plan. As Gar and Asher unwittingly fall into a dangerous deception, Morg gets ever closer to his goal. And this victory would be particularly sweet... for who better to destroy the kingdom than the two who would give anything to save it?

©2007 Karen Miller (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Adventure, magic, friendship, love, and a battle of good versus evil---I can see this tale becoming a classic." (Scifichick.com)

what a conclusion

What made the experience of listening to The Awakened Mage the most enjoyable?

The fact that if you stopped anywhere for a minute it did not matter, you can pick it up at another time and continue, nothing to complex there

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

the very end, do not read this part if you dont want the book spoiled but when Asher goes to the Crypt to talk to Gar, from the part of Gars death to the end of the book i could not stop crying. the bad part of it was that I was at work on break crying in my car. but Asher talking to his dead friend and keeping in touch is a amazing way to end it.

Droned...

I loved the story's idea. I listened to the 1st book but just couldn't get to the end for this one. I found myself jumping 30 seconds to a less boring time & never found one. Disappointment for this story line was the main issue. The narrator was superbly done, tho.

Awakened Mage

I loved both The Innocent Mage and this The Awakened Mage. I am starting another.

A bit of the same - meh.

What does Kirby Heyborne bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He was a great voice actor and really brought the characters to life.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

If you thought prophecy was for the seers, think again! You too can predict the whole story of this series before it happens.

Any additional comments?

I wasn't a fan of the first one too much, but I wanted to finish the story. It's not a bad read or particular bad writing, it just (once again) draws out the mundane parts of the story and rushes through the good parts. The whole story was predictable, characters acted the way they should, and didn't venture much from those personality tropes. The story once again didn't really feel like it started till 20 hours in. Some story elements were built up as something important and then just discarded. Which is a lot of what I said for the first one. In this one, some characters just became annoying to listen about and I started to care less about them. Just meh.

A little overdone

I find myself really liking the main character, yet find all the little twists and turns to be a bit jaring and sometimes harder to believe. I didn't finish this book because of how poorly the book before this ended.

Whiny

The idea behind this book was interesting than enough that I actually listen to the first audible the innocent mage, And the second one. However, the awakened mage got so tiresome so quickly. The main character wines his way through the entire book. In fact it's so bad that I almost wish he would lose the magical battle at the end of the book just so I can have a brief moment of joy that he was no longer whining.

Also the ideas never well fleshed out The book reads for 20 hours before the final climax happens. the final climax is very brief, very underwhelming,very predictable.

Tedium has a new name

Warning, some spoilers in the description (but not really as you can predict all of them within the first three chapters of the book)

It is Asher. This book might appeal to a pre-pubescent teenage girl, but I doubt it. Let me start at the beginning...I labored through the first book in this series because I found the characters somewhat intriguing, shallow but with promise. Unfortunately that promise was not fulfilled, even in the slightest. These characters become so one-dimensional by halfway through this book that I actually stopped listening and turned the book off. The first mistake Karen makes is that she decides that each of her characters will be the epitome of a caricature. Asher is the country mouse in the city, Dathne the young headstrong idealistic women, Matt the sensible, Gar the noble prince, and Morg is the evil magician. By half way through this book they make you want to puke. The love scenes between Dathne and Asher are so puerile they make you cringe. What is worse are the lead ins to the love scenes, Asher and Dathne come across like 13 year olds, pathetic. The bromance between Asher and Gar is even worse, with each of them taking turns wailing about one thing or the other, I just wanted to yell "shut up already...can't you ever talk about something without sounding like a whiny little sprat". Morg was the best character of the bunch, but even he is emotional state is one step from giving him apoplexy at any given moment. After 6 hours of listening to characters who are ALWAYS on the verge of emotional collapse I wanted to poke my ears out. And all this happens without ANY advancement in the plot!!! Halfway through the book and we are at the same point in the plot as we were at the start. Some might argue that Asher getting his magic is a major plot development, and it is/should be, but it did not actually move the plot forward for several more hours (at least it seemed like several more hours). It certainly did not count as a "plot twist" as we have been waiting for it for 1.5 books at that point. If you like high-strung, always teetering on the edge of an emotional chasm, characters???by all means you will love this book. If you like your characters to be a little more fully fleshed and developed, and emotional stable....you will hate this book.

It started out interesting but...

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No. While I did enjoy the first book to some extent, and the first part of this one, the ending was hard to get through. It seemed almost as if Karen Miller was just trying to end it, and just seemed to kill off almost all of the characters that I liked. There were a few things that left me wondering, but not enough to see if maybe those questions will be answered in another book. It seemed as if the last fifty pages or so just seemed to be a way to just get the book over with already, and I found it a great strain to force myself to listen to the last bit of the book.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Nothing else by this author. After this book I was extremely put off on reading the rest of her books.

Which character ??? as performed by Kirby Heyborne ??? was your favorite?

None. I will say that Dathne was my most hated character of the book. In my opinion, she is too foolish, and I think she gets in the way of Gar and Asher's relationship. She doesn't seem to make any good decisions, and is extremely insolent. She's way too childish in my opinion.

Did The Awakened Mage inspire you to do anything?

Not to buy anymore books by this author.

Any additional comments?

I would listen to anything else the narrator did. He's the only part of this book that I really enjoyed.

Bad ending

this story had such potential and didn't live up to it what a shame really

Skip this pathetic excuse for a "series"...

Karen Miller takes 40+ hours (1300+ pages), throughout 2 "novels", to tell a 15 minute story. The remaining 99% of this series is spent in a desperate, failed attempt to try to introduce and endear you to the plethora of one-dimensional characters that spend the entirety of both books whining and complaining about the unfairness of life, as well as their dislike of any idea or event that wasn't of their own design. Not to mention that the entire plot (if there even is one) is so obvious from the first several chapters, that by the time the events you've foreseen finally occur, they only serve to add to your irritation. If you've already read "The Innocent Mage", do yourself a favor and save a credit, and just read the plot summary online. Trust me, it's not much. If you haven't read "The Innocent Mage, don't waste your time or your money on this absolutely pointless "series" and pick anything, literally ANYTHING ELSE