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

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.

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

if you have two voice actors why not do duet narration instead of duel narration. its significantly better.

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.