The Wizard's Crown

Art of the Adept, Book 5

By: Michael G. Manning

Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds

Length: 22 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Will’s journey from naïve apprentice to a mature wizard is almost complete, and his ever-growing mastery has reached unseen heights.

But his power does not exist in a vacuum. His rising star threatens to eclipse the existing powers and a new balance must be found, one that either accepts his primacy or extinguishes his light.

After Will’s resounding successes in the war with Darrow, the king plots to eliminate his young rival. Driven to desperation, Will is forced to negotiate for scraps between four brokers of power:

An ancient lich driven by vengeance, the fae queen—to whom all are just pawns in a deadly game, a nervous lord of Hell—because Will may have killed his predecessor, twice, and a primal beast—feared above all.

With mortal enemies as his allies, Will must survive to face the king...and the deadly secret he plans to unleash. Ancient foes have risen and the final battle has begun. With the world hanging in the balance, king and wizard clash, but only one can wear the Wizard’s Crown.

©2022 Michael G. Manning (P)2022 Podium Audio

why all the hate?

looking at the reviews I saw essentially nothing but people complaining about the ending. I don't get it. were they reading a different book than I was? the ending was tragic rather than triumphant but it wasn't without it's proper foreshadowing and build up. if you read the rest of the series then anticipating and understanding the ending of this book is as easy as dismissing the idea that the book will end happily.

I'm so excited for this book

I'm restarting the series for like the 3rd time. I didn't expect to get more but lucky us

Good not great, ultimately disappointing as an end

The story was promising but didn’t stay true to the characters and that’s the ultimate downfall. There were some good plot twist and some things plot wise that made no sense. Overall I’d agree with the reviews that say if you want to leave it on book 4 I wouldn’t blame you since this book definitely isn’t as good as the rest of the series. On the other hand there was certainly potential and I think with some changes the plot itself wasn’t hopeless.

Not up to par with the others

I really enjoyed the previous books in the series and even re-listened to them to prep fot the last installment. Overall, the story arc seems to have shifted. Without spoling the book for others I can only say that it felt like the author is tired of the the story line and trying to restart a different story. I was disappointed

questionable ending

a very unsatisfying ending to an otherwise enjoyable series. many characters displayed such irrational and inconsistency behavior...

Whoa! Didn't see this coming but ...

... should have.

Anyone familiar Michael G. Manning's past fantasy entries would have thought this series was different in that it seemed a bit too tame in comparison to past books. Well, without giving too much away, I will say that the old Michael G. Manning comes back unapologetically and in full adult content fashion.

There are a couple of recurring messages the author has central to all of his novels, power corrupts and magical power triply so and, the path to hell is paved with good intentions. This books makes sure the reader/listener is well and truly made sure of that.

There are betrayers, some court intrigue, epic battles, slaughter of innocents, loss of innocence and deep emotional turmoil to be had in this book.

Tim Gerard Reynolds' performance is still at his top tier best.

Not what I expected

I hope there will be more in this series, I don’t like how it ended. I don’t want to give the book away, but if that is the end, I am saddened that it went the way it did. Enjoyed the whole book right up to the ending revelations. First time I have felt this way about any of the book written by Michael G Manning. And I have read and listens to them all.

Man, the ending is tough….beyond tough.

Great book, but Celine man……damn. I’m pretty upset by the ending….I’m not happy. I’m not sure if I’m more upset with Celine, or Will who put her in that position, then left her at the end.

Why? Just... WHY!?!

Where did this come from!? It felt completely unhinged from the rest of the series with wild leaps and bounds. I get going through hell and facing insurmountable obstacles. This is just hell. I am tempted to believe someone hypothesized the worst way to torment the main character and then tried to do worse. The silver linings are all dulled by compounding horrors. 1-4 are great, but this one makes me wish I had never begun the series. If you've made it this far, then do yourself a favor and make up your own ending. I will not be reading anything else connected to this series. Ever. (The 'nosedive off a cliff' ending made me want to immediately give a 1* and deman a refund, but I took a moment to cool off. 3* is the highest I can justify. It was well written and a good series unless you finish it)

Top 5 series I’ve read in as many years!

Will has been one of my favorite characters in all the many books I listen too, 150 or more a year. It’s a fun story, great magic system and more serious than it leads you to believe.