Citybound

A Slice of Life, Progression Fantasy (Millennial Mage, Book 9)

By: J.L. Mullins

Narrated by: Tess Irondale

The iron-clad reality of the world will not be denied. Arcanes and humanity continue in an incidental peace, the true threats to Zeme contained for the moment. Gated-humanity thrives within their cycle of cities in their hostile wilderness. Mages and Archons devote their expansive—sometimes immortal—lives to give their people a chance.

Tala, a newly Refined Archon with extraordinary power, grapples with the challenges of immortality, including shedding her mortal mindset and looking toward eternity. In the waning city of Alefast, where potent threats are gathering faster than ever before, Tala begins to fill in the gaps in her knowledge and learn of the potential consequences of her immortality. As she confronts the harsh realities of her existence, she must forge her own path and find meaning in a life that stretches endlessly before her.

Beyond questions of existence, her unique magics and relentless training have left her craving worthy opponents and a sense of purpose. With new friends—and powerful foes—her own immortal life as a Defender of Humanity has just begun.

©2025 J.L.Mullins (P)2025 J.L.Mullins

Story building title

This edition to the story is primarily setup for future events. I am excited for the next.

Phenomenal as always

Another great installment in the series! This book has an excellent balance of slice of life and magic. I love learning more about the world

Not As Good As I Had Hoped

I was severely underwhelmed with the previous book but it ended in a way that made me excited for the release of this one. While this book was certainly not bad and was better than the previous one, I was still left disappointed. It felt like nine tenths of it was the author trying to codify the unique but ridiculous magic system to make it less catastrophicly incohesive. Unfortunately, this came in the form of hours and hours of characters explaining this to Tala or Tala trying to suss it out on her own. So once again, here I am, taunted by an ending that promises good things ahead with the bitter taste of a previous disappointment still in my mouth. Fingers crossed. P.S. Tala also seems to be getting dumber each book.

Great Series! Excellent Narrator! Little Progress

By ‘little progress’, I’m referring to the fact this installment is more focused on consolidation of gains than jumping into another adventure. As such, it is heavily skewed towards slice of life and exploration/deep dive of the magic system. I can’t say it’s what I was hoping for, but I still found the listen worthwhile and enjoyable. I certainly could’ve done without sitting through multiple chapters of Mistress T. recalibrating her vernacular as a vehicle to ‘green light’ the acceptance of the desired changes for the author. Sometimes we really don’t care or want to see how the sausage is made.

I felt like I was taking a stroll through the garden rather than preparing for a crisis or dealing with an emergency. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but the change of pace was a little jarring. I’m a little miffed that during this breather/timeout there was no significant changes or positive strides to our MC’s social ineptitudes. After 9 books, can’t we just agree it’s time to let go of the awkward and dysfunctional relationship skills and allow for real growth in this department as well? Enough already…. The story would benefit more with T and R progressing in the same vein as other successful partnerships: Lindon/Yerrin, Rand/Min-Elayne-Avi, Richard/Kahlan, Violator/Anthem, Kip/Tysis-Dazin/Karris, Jake/Villy (best bromance ever), Jason Asano/Cassandra-Dawn-Humphrey’s Mom (last one is a total ship on my part)…

Again, not a lot of action significant to a relevant and meaningful story arc, but there are enough crumbs lying about to make a decent snack. Hopefully the next book gets back to the steak and taters this Texan views as appropriate sustenance.

Tess is easily one of the best and most consistent narrators. The recordings are always professional. Good range of voices. Not overly dramatic or obnoxious. Top tier in my book!

In short, I wasn’t ‘wow’d’ by this book, but I wasn’t punished for listening to it either. Best way I can describe it is a feeling similar to ‘chilling on the beach with some friends’…. Recommend to those who can curb expectations and enjoy the ride.