Battlemage

By: Stephen Aryan

Narrated by: Matt Addis

"I can command storms, summon fire and unmake stone. Animals have nothing interesting to say, and no one can see the future because it has not been written," growled Balfruss. "It's dangerous to meddle with things you don't understand. When you fight magic with magic, nothing is certain."

Balfruss is a battlemage, one of a vanishing breed, sworn to fight and die for a country that fears and despises him.

Vargus is a soldier, and while mages shoot lightning from the walls of his city, he's down in the frontlines getting blood on his blade.

Talandra is a princess and her father's spymaster, but the war may force her to take up a greater responsibility and make the greatest sacrifice of all.

Known for their unpredictable, dangerous power, society has left battlemages untrained and shunned. But when a force unlike anything ever imagined attacks their home, the few remaining magic users must go to war - to save those who fear them most and herald in a new age of peace built upon the corpses of their enemies.

©2015 Stephen Aryan (P)2015 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

Stephen Aryan puts the epic into Epic Fantasy. This is a ground-shaking debut, full of fiery promise (Den Patrick, author of THE BOY WITH THE PORCELAIN BLADE)

Aryan's battle scenes are visceral masterpieces that transport the reader deep into the melee. Read. This. Book. (Taran Matharu, author of the Summoner series)

Outstating :)

If you could sum up Battlemage in three words, what would they be?

Magic andddddd Fireball (Clan wars) blah blah blah

What other book might you compare Battlemage to and why?

Don't know

Which scene was your favorite?

The end with the epic battle

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Lose of friends

Any additional comments?

Sword and sorcery tale that grew on me

The reader is dropped into the sword and sorcery fantasy world of Seveldrom without an introduction, which is sometimes interesting but often confusing for a while. While listening to the audiobook, I'm afraid it was the latter. But it grew on me. This is the first of three in the Age of Darkness series by Aryan.

The story follows three main characters and switches between their points of view, and it took me some time to work out who was who. Talandra, the main female character, was a lesbian, of course. Balfruss is a powerful mage. Vargus is a soldier with a past. There are other compelling characters and several side stories that I wish had been followed; maybe there will be more in the next two books.

The plot was actually pretty dark, as the enemy is very powerful and has a bigger and stronger army. Much of the book was bleak, and I wondered how the "good guys" were going to get out of it. Many battles and tons of death, lots of blood and gore, a little foul language, no sexual content.

Matt Addis did an excellent job of narrating the audiobook.

Hidden Gem

I don't understand why this title has so few reviews, was a very solid fantasy book with good world building and exciting combat moments. would highly recommend to fans of fantasy!

Great for fans of Song of Fire and Ice

great story, very compelling and excellent performance. would definitely read again and already have the next book.

So what?

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Create a point to it all. It is boring because I just don't care about the characters or what happens to them.

Any additional comments?

Long and tedious. Can't recommend.