Unnatural Magic

By: C.M. Waggoner

Narrated by: Shiromi Arserio

Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

An enchanting debut historical fantasy starring a young woman with an incredible natural talent for sorcery.

Onna Gebowa is determined to become a great wizard. She can write the parameters of a spell faster than any of the young men in her village school. But despite her incredible abilities, she’s denied a place at the nation’s premier arcane academy. Undaunted, she sails to the bustling city-state of Hexos, hoping to find a place at a university where they don’t think there’s anything untoward about providing a woman with a magical education...

Tsira is a troll who never quite fit into her clan, despite being the leader’s daughter. She decides to strike out on her own and look for work in a human city, but on her way she stumbles upon a body of a half-dead human soldier in the snow. As she slowly nurses him back to health, an unlikely bond forms between them, one that is soon tested when an unknown mage makes an attempt on Tsira’s life.

Far away in Hexos, the newly arrived Onna is also drawn into a mysterious, magical attack on a troll. Trolls have lived alongside - and been revered by - humans for generations, but now it appears they’re being targeted by a sinister sorcery. And Onna and Tsira both begin to devote their considerable abilities into figuring out how to stop the deaths before their homeland is torn apart....

©2019 C.M. Waggoner (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Fantastic book

Great world building, delightful characters, enough pathos to give weight to a story that could otherwise feel fluffy. I always appreciate a story where the characters subvert expectations.

Fun listen

Nice story,good presentation, enjoyable. Very little depth of character or culture. Missed opportunity for excellence.

Need more

I hope there will be a part 2. It’s a little slow to start but it’s so worth hanging on until the end.

Cup of tea

I usually like to think of books like this as a cup of tea. It may not be enjoyable for everyone. But I did enjoy it. Be warned there is vulgar language and some unusual sex scenes but it’s just a part of the relationship for some of the characters. The story was more like reading someone’s journal although it’s not in first person. It has adventures but they aren’t the focus. It really is a book about people and how they live.

I thought the narrator was very good. She has a very slight lisp that is hardly noticeable unless you focus on it. My only issue was she didn’t really do accents. Accents were mentioned several times but she didn’t make any changes which was ok once you accept that she wasn’t going to.

So this book requires and open mind especially in for the relationships.

I would listen to more by this author and narrator. But it may not be every’s cup of tea.

New OTP (One Troll Pairing)

Unnatural Magic is a sublime work of art that gripped me from the moment I picked it up until I resurfaced a day later, in one of the worst book hangovers I've ever experienced. While all of the characters are fully developed and practically leap off the page, Tsira and Jeckran really stole the show for me.

Tsira is one of the most refreshing protagonists I've ever gotten to know, and has truly raised the bar for every book I read from here on out. She no one’s simpering, swooning damsel in distress, but rather a delightfully raunchy, hilarious Reig of few words who finally finds a match in the fast-talking, equally hilarious but wounded (physically and psychologically) Jeckran. I could read a library's worth of content about these two. C.M. Waggoner is a master wordsmith who does a perfect job of weaving fantasy elements with delightful mundane moments that bring the characters to life (like Jeckran introducing Tsira to ice cream, or Tsira 'moving the dressing table' in a scene that absolutely broke me).

I'm so desperate for more of these two (and C.M. Waggoner's prose which is nothing short of BRILLIANT) that I won't hesitate to dive into the author's next book, which is set up quite nicely at the end of Unnatural Magic.

Decent listen, don't let the narrator put you off

This book was a bit slow going at first, as many books are. But once it was all tied in, it was put together quite nicely. It was a fun little fantasy mystery. I'm terrible at describing things, but I wanted to leave a review to highlight the fact that I did enjoy this listen.
I also enjoyed The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry, by the same author, with a different narrator. Both books are wonderfully non-binary and LGBTQ+ friendly.
I have seen some reviews about the narrator's "baby voice". They may have a speech impediment that makes it tough for them to say "r" fully and maybe a lisp? You can tell she's worked/works really hard to correct it, but it can be noticable. Still, some might not be able to tolerate listening to it. I was fine with it myself.

Loved it!It is “E” rated at parts if you don’t know.

I put the “E” for Explicit in this review because I see in comments there are some readers who gave the book a poor review because they did not expect the explicit content, or didn’t like that it was not “traditional”.
Not the point of the book though, it was sort of a Victorian vibe, Wizard of Oz romp murder mystery.
Personally, I loved the characters, especially Jeckran and Tsira.
I’ve also read the next book (Ruthless Lady’s Guide…)and I would call this a prequel.
I hope the author writes another and will definitely revisit these.

Had to skip some weird chapters

The narrator had a weird lisp that almost sounded like baby talk. The story was good as long as you skimmed over the oddly vulgar sex scenes between the manly troll and the girly human. I am pretty woke but for some reason I didn’t like their relationship/storyline.

A pleasant surprise

I didn't have high expectations of this book, but it was recommended to me by a friend who generally hates reading, so I figured I would give it a try. Excellent story, very much enjoyed. Probably going to look about for more by this author. Narrator is decent. Recommend. Worth a credit.

plodding, predictable

ugh. beginning painfully slow. climax predictable. ending preachy. OK in the middle. author bus no JKR--none of the magical dialogue or humor. no interest in the second book...