First Mage on the Moon

By: Cameron Johnston

Narrated by: Tess Irondale

Cameron Johnston returns in this innovative space fantasy, where wizards race to be the first on the moon, also known as the land of the gods. A fast-paced listen perfect for fans of Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Ella Pickering is drowning in debt. Once a Unity skymage trained to make aerial supply runs in the Great War with the Ranneas Empire, following a crash, she now uses a wheelchair and works gruelling shifts making magical weapons in the Unity workshops, thinking of better days.

One night, Ella witnesses an experiment by engineer Jackan Grissom go awry. His device morphs into a crude rocket blasting skywards before falling into the war's spell-ravaged No Man's Land. But this inspires a dangerous dream: could such a device reach the moon—the forbidden home of the gods? Could they go and beg them to stop the war?

They will need help, but as more folk get involved in their blasphemous plot, can they keep it under wraps? Can magic get them to the moon? Or will their heresy lead them to the gallows?

©2026 Cameron Johnston (P)2026 Podium Audio

Excellent, Fun, Moving

Don’t know this author but saw a podcast with him and was super intrigued. Incredibly inventive sci fi interpretation of 1950s geopolitics with a beautifully moving dash of whimsy. Particularly r enjoyed relationship between father and daughter. Wish more books in this genre sustained the same level of literary rigor. I sometimes get bored by sci fi because the world building can overtake good storytelling but enjoyed his thoroughly.