Marshal Arcane

Spellmonger, Book 15

By: Terry Mancour

Narrated by: John Lee

The Witch Queen strikes!

Minalan the Spellmonger has a problem: Mycin Amana, the undead consort of Korbal the Necromancer, is not only occupying one of the largest castles in the kingdom; she’s also occupying the recently-dead body of his former lover, rapist, and mother of his children, Isily of Greenflower.

As the crises in the heart of the kingdom grows, Minalan is tasked to force the so-called Witch Queen of Darkfaller from her new stronghold using any means necessary. Unfortunately, the castle belongs to his rival in the royal court and future monarch Prince Tavard, whose ideas about how to do this are archaic and doomed to failure.

Mycin Amana is a master sorceress who is more than 4,000 years old; Prince Tavard is an entirely mundane and completely self-absorbed knight in his 20s. If Darkfaller is to be retaken, Minalan knows he will have to use the cacophony of ancient memories inside his head to do it.

Alas, those memories are driving him mad as they daily impede his progress as much as they advance it. His bouts of depression, obsession, anxiety, and rage are only getting worse as he plans a daring raid to rescue the hundreds of magi that Mycin Amana plans to turn into an army of undead Nemovorti.

Even as he is producing incredible wonders from his workshop at breakneck speed, whispers flow across the kingdom about his sanity to the point where Minalan is now referred to as the Mad Mage of Sevendor. His best friends begin to conspire to murder him. His allies question his judgement. And his foes close in as they sense his weakness.

But Minalan’s challenge is clear: become the greatest wizard in history, or not only see his war against Darkfaller fail, but leave his entire world to certain doom. Threading the needle between catastrophe and salvation has never been more difficult or cost so much.

Yet as King Rard promotes him to Marshal Arcane—the official responsible for facing the magical threats to the kingdom—Minalan is forced to balance his temporal powers with his thaumaturgical ones and navigate the violent shoals of insanity.

But can he do that without losing the confidence of his friends and the trust of his allies? The hope of his people? The goodwill of the enormously powerful Sea Folk? A new title and position is helpful, but it will take courage and daring to see Minalan the Spellmonger become the Marshal Arcane!

©2022 Terry Mancour (P)2022 Podium Audio

Read Mad Mage First

First off, if you haven't read The Mad Mage: book 14.5 first, you really won't understand this installment. That is the only novella in the series that is strictly necessary, the rest just shed extra light, but get explained in passing in the main books.

Even the other books that aren't from Min's POV can be skipped, but not 14.5. Marshall Arcane really sees the author experimenting with multiple points of view so as to not be repetitive, but too much will be missed if you don't read the novella.

The series is far from ending, but this book did a nice job reeling in some of the side stories and characters while still leaving them open for further fleshing out. And almost all the interactions with other characters where satisfying "Wake. Up. BOY!"

It was shorter than many of the spellmonger focused novels, but it was also a much quicker pace. I really enjoyed the slice of life and world building aspects from the earlier novels, but as the series progresses, it doesn't make as much sense to focus on that.

As with all of these books, I love that they don't often take themselves too seriously. It's compelling with minimal emotional investment and a lot of humor as well as excitement. You can't wait for the next one, but know you don't have to wait 15 years for the next one *coughs Martin* *coughs Rothfuss* because each one isn't meant to be a master piece.

Overall, I have mixed feelings on all the shifting POVs. Several of them were necessary as a plot device, but sometimes it left you feeling like you had whiplash. But it's still another great Spellmonger book.

Quality remains consistent, no major plot holes, and plenty of room for more.

Another hit

Seriously we are like 15 books in and I’m still hooked. This book was very entertaining, ps read the mad mage of sevendor before reading this one it ties in the main plot heavily

The first weak story in 15 books

This is the first time in this series that I wasn't overly impressed with the main plot of the book. Overall everything is still great, John Lee's performance is excellent as always. The overall plot is developing nicely and this book answered enough questions and raised enough new ones to maintain a strong interest. However the overarching plot of this book was how Minalan was now mad and how his friends were dealing with it. The only problem for me was that the story wasn't strong enough to bring home that point to a degree that warranted the doubt and disparaging reactions of of Minalan's friends and colleagues. Including what we learned in book 14.5, Minalan could at best be described as becoming more eccentric and somewhat erratic, He only did two thing in the entirety of book 15 that warranted concern. The barrier around Sevendor and whatever it was that he was making at the end of the book. As a reader I needed more justification than what I was given for his friends conspiring to take him out of power and to kill him if necessary. Over the course of 14 books and several companion stories we have been built up to trust what the Spellmonger is doing even if we don't understand it. His friends have been the same all the way up until now, If he had just randomly killed someone or blown up part of the mountain that would have been enough for me but all we got is odd behavior and a few demonstrations of power that were a little extreme. Looking forward to the next one, hopefully we go back to at least the mages trusting the Spellmonger. I will say though I've been waiting for so long to see a certain prince get his due and it was well worth the wait.

incredible.

What a wonder from both Mancour and Lee. and I'm pissed off about the wait for the next entry. it was so good, can't sing the praises enough. my favorites in this genre are Feist, Sanderson, or Jordan with their audio book narrators, and this group is right there in the mix of the best.

Awesome

I love the series. The dialogue and characters are amazing. I cannot wait for the next book!!