• The Prodigal Mage

  • Fisherman's Children, Book 1
  • By: Karen Miller
  • Narrated by: Scott Brick
  • Length: 22 hrs and 24 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (197 ratings)

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The Prodigal Mage  By  cover art

The Prodigal Mage

By: Karen Miller
Narrated by: Scott Brick
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Publisher's summary

Many years have passed since the last great Mage War. It has been a time of great change. But not all changes are for the best, and Asher's world is in peril once more.

The weather magic that holds Lur safe is failing, and the earth feels broken to those with the power to see. Among Lur's sorcerers, only Asher has the skill to mend the antique weather map that governs the seasons, keeping the land from being crushed by natural forces. Yet, when Asher risks his life to meddle with these dangerous magics, the crisis is merely delayed, not averted.

Asher's son Rafel has inherited the father's talents, but has been forbidden to use them. Many died in the last Mage War and these abilities aren't to be loosed lightly into the world. But when Asher's last desperate attempt to repair the damage leaves him on his deathbed, Rafel's powers may not be denied. For his countrymen are facing famine, devastation, and a rift in the very fabric of their land.

©2009 Karen Miller (P)2009 Hachette

What listeners say about The Prodigal Mage

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

slow and depressing

I like most fantasy and sci-fi, but this book was a disappointment. First; it refers to things that have happened in the past that are very important to the current plot, but aren't really clarified in the prologue. I spent half of the book trying to figure out what happened during the "last mage war". If there is a prequel to this book I don't know about it, and if not - it really needs one. Second; and this might just be a personal opinion of mine, but I found the family dynamics, arguments, and characters taking forever to die very depressing (and it rains all the time in the story). The narrators voice adds to this psychological miasma. There's also a lot of 'language' in the book. Now, this ordinarily isn't a big deal for me, and I really like the scattered 'sentence enhancements' now and then, but I made the mistake of listening to this book on my computer with the volume up. One of my kids came into my work room asking "Mom, what's a poxy sh*t mean". The head phones were on after that. To be fair the story does get rather intriguing toward the end of the book when things finally start to get going, and there is a cool ending. Will I buy the next "poxy, bloody" (inside joke...if you've listened you'll understand) installment when it comes out? Maybe, but I'll have to buy some antidepressants first...

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

This is not the first book.

Any additional comments?

I saw many negative reviews and I think most are because people haven't read (listened) the previous books. This is an expansion/sequel to The Innocent Mage and The Awakend Mage (aka Innocence Lost).

If you wish to enjoy this book to it's full potential I suggest you start with those books first.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

A poor book, poorly read

The thick cockney accent that this reader gives the characters makes them sound even stupider than they are - and that's a challenge. Not one of them is smart enough to boil an egg, let alone carry an entire book along in an interesting fashion. Skip this one.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Shoot me now!

I saw this book on one of the "highlight" tables at Barnes and Nobel and was hopeful that it was beginning of a new series I could really get into. I came back home and picked up the book on audible. Boy do I wish I had waited for some of the reviews to come in. They are all right on. The characters in this book couldn't find their way out of paper bag without spending 30 minutes having a slow emotionally tortured conversation about . . . nothing. The author is very clear that the characters find the topics emotional but unfortunately, doesn't bother to bring the reader along. The result is that you are dragged through a very laborious story to which you can't relate to anything the characters are feeling. I found myself laughing out loud and the absurdity of the conversations. I can't comment on the ending; I done being a sprat who can't understand why the adults have to talk so much. In terms of the narration, Scott Brick has such an ironic tone already . . . he really needs more substance to work with. He heightened the emotion of the characters, creating even more distance between the me and the story.

I wish the author luck with her next endeavor, for me this one was a big miss.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Narrator was too "enthusiastic"

Would you consider the audio edition of The Prodigal Mage to be better than the print version?

Not with this narrator, no -- the narrator of the first 2 books was much better.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Narrator was too "over the top" and "enthusiastic" with EVERY SINGLE SENTENCE.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. I needed breaks from the narrator's voice - no joke.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great read

This is a great expansion on the kingmaker, kingbreaker universe. This story takes a much different path than the first two books. However, if you like the first two books you will not be disappointed. Magic use is more prevalent in this book, but there is still a heavy "political" focus. This story focuses on Asher trying to keep Lur together in wake of the olken gaining new rights as well as some other problems. While I much preferred the narration of the first two books the narrator eventually grew on me. However, with that said I think the performance would have been much improved if the narrator of the first two books.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Slow and steady but enjoyable

Currently I am about 2/3 done and still enjoying the book. Yes, it a little slow, but it covering a boy and girl growing up. I will get the next book when available.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

The Prodigal Mage

A great story if you cut all of the arguments out, actually the repetition of the arguments made me think 'is she just rewriting each chapter and throwing a paragraph or two of the actual stroy in to make it a new chapter.' BTW if 'Asher' was such a Hard-Ass/Bad-Ass, I don't see how! From the story I think there maybe a Prequel stroyline that maybe interesting, but if it is as argumentative as this one, dont't waste your time. This was a 'Try-out' for a new audiobook series, and I'll say it was a crapper of an audition!!!!!not gonna ruin it for anyone, but if you like people arguing most all the time, this is your book, although the ending was some what intriguing, I will not continue with this series!!!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

absolutly horrible

The only thing going for this book is the narrator.
Nothing happens in this book until the last 5 minute's of the book.That's really a bad why to sell a second book in a series. There is a lot of arguing,between mother and father,father and son.There is also a lot of crying about what the father has to do.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Please, enough already

The story is about a 3.5 but the narration is the worst I have ever listened to. Everything is read so dramatically without pause, every sentence is OMG Important and Needs to be Over-Emphasied. I could not finish the story.

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1 person found this helpful