Magic's Mantle

Ard's Oath, Book 1

By: Bruce Sentar

Narrated by: Jessica Threet, Chris Boucher

Arden was left in the village by a dying mage, who never returned. With no way out of the village on his own, he had always held onto the hope that one day his magic would awaken and give him access to his spheres.

But he’s about to turn eighteen and it’s never come. Instead, he’s settled into his lot as a sarcastic and quick-witted innkeeper.

That all changes one night when his old flame, who escaped the village to become a mage’s anchor, returns.

Ard’s life is about to go through some dramatic changes, and he’s not ready for them.

Too bad, with magic comes responsibility and Ard needs to adapt quickly because he’s making more enemies than friends with his glib tongue. Thankfully, he’s got some help along the way.

Because he’ll need it. As the most powerful mage in the nation, he’s about to be thrown headfirst into the elite of the kingdom and a few jokes won’t stop a sword.

©2023 Sentar Publishing LLC (P)2024 Sentar Publishing LLC

Consistent storytelling with a balanced power dynamic.

A stand out in the genre, with both the MC and his companions having equal roles in the plot/combat.

Very refreshing compared to the normal formula of “powerful women” that must be protected by even stronger male MC’s.

Combined that with a solid performance by both of the narrators that really bring to life the snarky MC and the girl next door makes this my favorite series by Bruce.

Excellent story and start of a new series with fantastic narrators.

This story is a start of a new series and I believe it will be the author’s best yet. The storyline is very intriguing, the MC is not too OP. The MC is just very relatable and his behavior is believable for his age and situation. I really also found the character interactions very enjoyable and fun.

The narrators were very good. The MC’s voice and speech patterns matched my mental image very closely. The other characters voices were consistently done very well. It is a pleasure to have both the male and female voices done so well. I have read the book and I have to say that the audio book is even better than the written book. This is not to common for me so I know it was an excellent narration. I can’t wait for the next audio books in the series to be released and I hope the same narrators are used.

another good book from Mr Sentar

I love how this series has started, and Jessica Threet puts on a good performance as alwYs

Awesome

Really good story and narration hopefully we won't have to wait too long for the second book to come out

Very enjoyable book. I like the unique magic system.

The magic in the book works in a fairly unique way that also makes the sexy bits in the book feel more grounded, so it's not like unrealistic porno logic like most harem books.
Being a mage is a genetic trait and about 4% of the population can use magic. There are 4 main "spheres" of magic, but each one has a flip side. Any born able to use magic has either 0 (more on that later), 1, 2, 3, or all 4 spheres. The MC has all 4. if you use magic from a sphere, it basically builds up the opposite side of the sphere in the mages body. Example: mage casts ice magic, they build up excess fire magic in their body. Build up too much extra magic, you turn into a mindless monster. So how do you get rid of the excess magic? You give it to a mage that has zero spheres. So 1-4 sphere are called Mages can cast magic from any sphere they have, and 0 sphere are called Anchors and can't cast their own magic, but they can be given the extra magic and use that. And the method of giving the magic is physical contact like kissing (or other things). Also out of the %4 of the population that are magic users, there is a ratio of about 8 Anchors to every 1 Mage.
That means that it is very common for mages to have multiple romantic partners, or to just casually give out kisses to multiple different people.
So the harem (and reverse harem) aspects of the story are built into the very way the magic in the world works.

Also the MC is kind of a monthly jackass, but not in a rude way, more mildly annoying.