Mageling

Millennial Mage, Book 1

De: J.L. Mullins

Narrado por: Tess Irondale

The Wilds relentlessly reclaim all things. Humanity shelters within their ever-dying cities. Mages create the only path forward.

Tala had to fight tooth and nail in the Magic Academy to forge a path to power that was her own. She knows it’s her duty to use that power to serve humanity, defending them against the creatures of the untamable wilds. However, she skipped a few steps in her education, like apprenticing to someone who actually knows what they’re doing.

Now, Tala has to balance learning as fast as she can with paying off the veritable mountain of debt the Magic Academy dropped on her shoulders for the opportunity; not to mention staying alive.

Even though she should only be a Mageling, the world considers her a Mage. Bless the stars she directed most of her magic toward survival.

©2023 J.L.Mullins (P)2023 J.L.Mullins

great book

a great slice of life book. i cant wait for more. def recommend for easy listening

a bit easy for the main character

the author falls into the usual trap of the main character being the only one with creativity and insight. it's a unique magic system and overall a good relaxing listen. but it feels like a young adult book because of how easy it is for the main character. that might change as this first book felt a bit short, but that's my review so far

completely captivating and delightful.

The story is as delightful and entertaining as it is slightly odd and unconventional, just like Tala.

This isn’t your standard fantasy adventure of a plucky hero running off to save the world from magical beasts. It is not grandiose; no big bad evil dude needs defeating; no calamity, crisis, or existential threat needs tackling. It’s just an odd girl, with odd mannerisms, odd powers, and an odd outlook on life, learning how to survive in a dangerous world and pay off her debts. Tala is an unconventional main character but is positively delightful and well written. She doesn’t possess some unflappable moral compass that forces her to do good, she doesn’t have a chip on her shoulder that forces her to be evil and vengeful, she’s simply going about her life in the most direct way she can.

Tala approaches Mary Sue status, but I don’t think she crosses it. Her powers are strange but not unheard of. She’s just weird, and it’s so refreshing to see a character that feels like a real person, odd quirks and all. She is the embodiment of the “Poke it with a stick and see what happens” scientific mindset. Everything is a question that needs to be solved. Everything is more data, and sometimes the results of poking something with a stick and seeing what happens might just kill you.

The magic system within this series is probably my favorite in any novel I’ve read, which is a lot. It has hard set rules, it follows its rules, and then pushes and expands the borders of those rules as the story goes without ever breaking them. The reader learns the boundaries of the rules and where they can be pushed and stretched along with Tala as she experiments with things beyond her understanding.

I highly recommend this book if you like stories with a simple premise but deep exploration of the world with a very unique main character. For comparison, I’d liken the writing style to Denis E Taylor and the Bobiverse series, or Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, but set in a fantasy world where the tone is more Slice of Life and less “Save the world”.

It goes without mentioning, but Tess Irondale crushes the performance at every step of the way, as always. She nails the delivery and tone throughout for all of the characters. It’s always easy to differentiate who is speaking even when multiple characters are involved.

Good intro to a new world

Good story, loved the new magic system, did a good job with the world building, and I am looking forward to the next book.

Very fun. MC who's a dummy on purpose .....I hope

fun story. Frustrating main character. slowly expanding world so stick with it. three words remaining