Guild Mage: Apprentice

Guild Mage, Book 1

De: David Niemitz

Narrado por: Kristin James, Fajer Al-Kaisi

There are a lot of things wrong with Liv Brodbeck.

She's too small, for one thing. When she works in the castle kitchens with her mother, she can't carry a sack of flour or roll a keg of ale. Baron Summerset's chirurgeon says that she has brittle bones, so she isn't allowed to wrestle or sword fight with the other children. Even sledding downhill in the winter brings the risk of breaking an arm or a leg if she falls. Everyone says that she ruined her mother's life when she was born. Not when they think Liv is in the room, of course, but she overhears all the same. In the kitchen of a less kind lord, a cook bearing a bastard child would have been more than cause enough for both of them to be out on the street. No, a child like Liv doesn't have much hope. But when she accidentally unleashes a surge of wild magic, she takes her first step on a journey which will lead her from the kitchens of Castle Whitehill, to the cold palaces of the Eld, and beyond, to the graves of gods...

©2025 David Niemitz (P)2025 Podium Audio

A Different Perspective.

I enjoy a good story about characters coming to age and growing their abilities, and this is done marvelously. I enjoyed the character interactions the difference in growth and how Liv grows to understand things in her own right. The pacing is good and each chapter leaves you hungry to find out what happens next. I can't wait until the story continues.

The character development

This book was very enjoyable. I almost couldn't lay it down. it was fun. I found that it surprised me.

Deceptive Description still good

While the overview of the book makes it sounds like the MC finds they have wild magic. Then has to leave her castle to go learn, that is not the case.

The whole book takes place at the castle and is more slice of life learning magic and 3 fight scenes.
While still enjoyable, I think the author didnt put much thought in timelines. The MC is supposed to be talented at magic but by the end of the book is still reading spells out of her journal after all that time. Meanwhile the place she wants to go to would have thier mages doing it in a fraction of the time. Humans her age by the end would be master mages with tons of experience while shes still learning basic spells.
Making mistakes like doing 5 spells wasting mana to fight a monster that could be killed with 1 spell that is empowered.

Either she is VERY slow learned or the timeline makes no sense for how talented people claim she is.

really enjoyed the story. can't wait for the next books to come out

love the book just wish it was duet narration instead of duel narration. but all in all can't wait for more

Masterful

The story is beautifully written, and features a fascinating approach to the affect of magic on the evolution of a society. There narrative is filled with glimpses of the world’s layers of history. Guild Mage: Apprentice is clearly the beginning of a well crafted series.

The fiirst 3/4ths of the book is really good.

The majority of the story is very written, until you hit a tad into the time skip phase. Nothing of plot relevance has occured, and it very much feels rushed and unpolished compared to the rest of the tale. A great amount of time is skipped for seemingly no reason or consequences beyond a attempt to show off a rlf's lifespan; the issue is we simply are not allowed enough interested or detail on those around the main character to care. It very much feels like a atrempt to provoke a emotional response similar to that found in the tales of Friren, but without the emotional context or weight. The story may have been better served by a more immdient call to action rather than a time skip.

To avoid spoiling the book, though the enemy in the time skip portion is shakily built up, it simply left the audience in question bored and uncaring towards it. It seems like a thin attempt to change the genre themes with less than a third of the book left. But up until that point, the writing narritively is rather good. Worth a read, but be aware you may lose interest before it finishes.