Sorcerer

Dear Spellbook, Volume One

De: Peter J. Lee

Narrado por: Travis Baldree

Hello stranger, my name is Tal, and I’m not an adventurer—those people are crazy. I’m just a sorcerer who is masquerading as a wizard. Oh, and I’m searching for answers about my parents’ mysterious deaths. Also monsters and other foes seem to show up wherever I go.

All right, I see it.

My new traveling companions are seasoned adventurers and are teaching me their ways—or at least they were before something happened to Time.

The same day is repeating itself over and over, and I’m the only one aware of the resets. If I ever want to get past this day—and the horrific hangover it always starts with—I’ll need to find a way out by myself.

It turns out there are mysteries aplenty to unravel in this remote forest town of Crossroads, where I’m living the same day over and over. But my most vital resource might already be in my possession. My previously useless Spellbook is starting to exhibit some very strange abilities, and they could be just what I need in my quest to escape this temporal prison.

This is my story. My diary of sorts. Don’t judge too harshly, I had a rough day.

©2023 Peter J Lee (P)2023 Portal Books

More DnD then the DnD movie! You should read this.

It low key is more DnD (or what ever your TTRPG of choices is) then the new DnD move.

Its a time loop story that dose not start with someone screaming good morning. Even better the loop is varied and relatively short with events from before the loop starts thrown in to mix it up. It honestly gave me big vibes from Stargate SG-1's time loop episode and from The Adventure Zone (DnD podcast) time loop arc The Eleventh Hour.

Zero stat block clutter

The MC is likeable though spends a GREAT deal of time stuck in his own head.

It is a solid sword and board entry in to Progression Fantasy and should be celebrated.

Great

I really liked this book. It had a good balance of world building, mystery and humor. I liked the other characters a lot as well although I wish they had a bit more page time.

Looking forward to the sequel!

Finished in 4 days. Which is near "can't put it down" territory. The 12 hours went by fast, as the author did well keeping it interesting with a good mix of lore, action, dialogue, and character development. The lead characters have distinct personalities, which Travis did great portraying. I'd recommend this to any fantasy addict.

It’s good

Good time loop book with a progression system I like, wish the ending was different but will definitely get the next one.

I must have more of this!

I really enjoyed the MC and his struggles. The groundhog day'ish template from the dear diary vantage took me a few minutes to sink into and now that I am done I just want more. The thing this book reminds me of the most is running the same d and d modules with dif groups of friends. Wicked Fun!

This story is perfect for Audible

This is a story from the perspective of a book, specifically a Spellbook. Every single word is something that the main character purposely wrote inside, and if it’s not, it’s something that he copied into it and chose to show at that specific part of the story. Weirdly enough, this makes it absolutely perfect for an audiobook. It’s extremely well narrated, Travis Baldree is very good at his job, and he gives the characters a life of their own that makes this well worth listening even if you’ve already read the book. This isn’t just an audiobook adaptation to let people read it in a different form, it actually adds to the experience of the story itself.

good read

very good much good
ends to early need the next in the series good

Knows what a time loop needs

Perfect time loop story. The main problem with time loops is only the main character can grow and progress. This story fixes the issue by avoiding the other character inside the time loop an having half of the story be focused on before the time loop so yo can get to know the other characters and see them grow.

Hard to Follow

I keep having to back up because the author switches around the order of the narrative so frequently. Instead of going back and relating events in order, we get them peppered in like it's an episode of Lost. However, even Lost stays chronological in the flashbacks. At first, these flashbacks were just a few days before the loop and now they are going back to when the characters met.

What I find annoying is that there doesn't seem to be any benefit from the weird structure. Usually, writers do far less jumping around in the chronology of a narrative and they have a good reason when they do. Maybe I'll be rewriting this review after I finish the book because it will all be worth it, but right now it's a lot like my ex-boyfriend: difficult for no reason.

A Masterful Story and a Facinating Premise

This book is amazing. One part time loop, one part D&D campaign, and one part research journal, "Dear Spellbook" is an intelligent, thoughtful, and thoroughly interesting story for readers of all stripes.

The magic, which features prominently, is clearly inspired by dungeons and dragons, yet makes complete sense within the world setting, and has been expanded for the nuance and complexity necessary for a fully interactive story. Similarly, the cultures and world history are reasonable and interesting extrapolations on classic fantasy tropes. The characters are completely archetypical without being cliche in the slightest. They are colorful, grounded, and human. And while they may not be as fascinating as the world or magic, never once was the secondary cast's presence annoying or an impediment for the story. Never is anyone dumb for plot, stupid for romance, or shallow for petty conflict. I am quite pleased with the overall intelligence of the characters in this book.

Throughout the story, the prose and narration are both high quality and expressive, fully immersing the reader in the world we are being told about. Speaking of, the story structure deserves some serious praise. Framed as a series of consecutive diary entries to a non-responsive spellbook, we get both a (very nearly) unique pacing and a clever plot device, used to raise tension, clarify plot elements, summarize monotony, and show us flashbacks. This is all accomplished while staying logically consistent within the world, which is quite impressive, now that I think about it. Additionally, due to magic that I will not spoil, we can still get the traditional first-person storytelling that has proven to be so effective throughout literary history.

While I wasn't on the edge of my seat for the entire book, my interest was piqued at the very beginning and never let up. The main character will often deviate in both the story and the narration to explore interesting elements of the setting, which I personally find to be both fun and incredibly satisfying. After all, time pressure and non-stop plot are always so exhausting. The time loop itself is both typical and interestingly different, and I am dying to figure out how it works. This book will be added to the top of my waiting list without a doubt, and I highly recommend you check it out.

For anyone interested in how the time loop ranks, I would say that it has less agency and isn't as bombastic as the Perfect Run, has simpler worldbuilding but a more reasonable (and longer) time loop than the Menocht Loop, and has many core elements reminiscent of the Mother of Learning, but on a smaller scale. Overall, a wonderful addition to the genre.


TL;DR: The magic system, characters, and worldbuilding are all excellent. The writing and diary-entry premise are wonderful, and the latter is utilized to its full extent. The plot and storytelling are generally satisfying and will specifically appeal to those interested in learning about "how", "why", and "why not". In comparison to other time loops, it is clearly inspired by them but just as clearly unique.

I fully recommend.