Return of the High Mage King

Age of Heroes, Book 1

By: Shane Hammond

Narrated by: Jessica Threet, Boise Blue

All of the incredibly powerful high mages died out centuries ago. Nobody expected one to return.

I was just a simple blacksmith apprentice when a visit by the mages of Essalin confirmed what I’d long suspected—I could touch the aether. Destined to be a mage, I’m plucked from my village alongside a feisty redhead so we could journey to the fabled city of the high mages to learn how to control and wield the aether.

The road there isn’t going to be easy though. Brutal orc raiders are spreading across the continent for the first time in a hundred years, and rogue mages are stirring chaos in their wake. I find some allies along the way, including a highborn blonde with a sassy mouth, but it’s clear to me that I’ll need all the help I can get.

Especially when my coming shakes the foundations of the entire continent—all the way to the long-dormant throne of the High Mage King itself.

I hope they’re ready for me.

©2024 Royal Guard Publishing LLC (P)2025 Royal Guard Publishing LLC

Nice start, Jessica Threet is amazing!

Nice start to another series. only critique is male voice actor is just so-so but the story carries you through. Jessica Threet is amazing!

Excellent first book in series

Really enjoyed this book more than I expected. The MC was competent, the LIs and relationship building felt real, and the action and consequences were both exciting and realistic. Great job, can’t wait for book 2!

Issues, but worth a listen

If you're in the market for a solid fantasy harem story absolutely give it a shot; the story is decent, and it lays the groundwork for a series with a lot of potential. That being said...

I've never been a fan of Boise Blue's narration. His voice has this soft, lispy quality to it that just grates on me. If he'd been the primary narrator I'm not sure I'd have been able to get through the book. He also has more trouble with pronunciation than most narrators (not to the point of screwing up constantly, but things like pronouncing 'signet' as 'SIN-yet' are painful). Fortunately, Jessica Threet handles nearly everything, and she's always excellent.

As far as the writing itself goes, there are a number of issues that crop up throughout the book. Some of it is just basic editorial failure and bad/redundant adjective/adverb choices (e.g., things like 'flaming wall of fire' show up way too often). However, there's a frankly insane number of things that just don't make any sense. How is it that 'concern' can be 'written into every pore'? What on earth does it mean that 'there are forces at work that are beyond any one man’s comprehension'? What if we have two men? Then is it immediately comprehensible? Or one of my favorites: 'He was very fluid with his movements, as graceful and talented as was necessary to be a good swordsman.'--so he's exactly as graceful and talented as a good swordsman? What? Ordinarily I just overlook these kinds of things, but in this book this stuff is all over the place. It made for a listening experience where I was routinely having to do mental double takes to make sure I'd heard things correctly, which was beyond distracting.

All of that being said, I'll reiterate: it's still worth a listen. Just be aware of the drawbacks.

Jessica Threet

I've found myself picking my next series based on clicking Jessica's name. She does such a good job of putting life into the characters she plays and her range is incredible. voice actors make all the difference for me when listening. theres a number of series that ive purchased that I stopped early in just because how the voice acting sounds. The story is alright so far while the relationship was cute and endearing; it reminded me of the good ol days ;-)

Good one

Honestly while I found the story entertaining I doubt i will be getting book 2 because how useless both of the love interests were, like on the early chapters Eva was able to hold her own with a bow but then she is just useless and apparently forgot the bow in some inn because she never used it again. the mc is really competent so that's good just having to spend a lot of time saving both tess and Eva over and over

Great Start!!!

I really like how this book started off. The story was great.The voice actors were great, and i'm really looking forward to what comes next.

Great

Great story and characters! I can't wait for the next book! this series is seriously amazing and entertaining!

Excellent

I am not sure what I can say other than excellent all the way around. Writing, Editing, Narration. Just great!

Pretty awesome

I loved the book. The only negative thing is that it was sometimes hard to tell which character the male VA was speaking for because he had almost the same voice for a couple characters. But keep developing your skills Blue!

writing and performing

I loved the writing and performances. This book had the ability to transport me to another place. I am genuinely concerned about the characters, wondering what awaits them.