Spellmonger

Spellmonger, Book 1

De: Terry Mancour

Narrado por: John Lee

Nominee, Audie Awards - Fantasy, 2018

Minalan gave up a promising career as a professional warmage to live the quiet life of a village spellmonger in the remote mountain valley of Boval. It was a peaceful, beautiful little fief, far from the dangerous feudal petty squabbles of the Five Duchies, on the world of Callidore. There were cows. Lots of cows. And cheese.

For six months things went well: He found a quaint little shop, he befriended the local lord, the village folk loved him, he found a sharp young apprentice to help out, and, best yet, he met a comely young widow with the prettiest eyes.

Then one night Minalan is forced to pick up his mageblade again to defend his adopted home from the vanguard of an army of goblins - gurvani, they call themselves - bent on a genocidal crusade against all mankind. And that was the good news. The bad news was that their shamans were armed with more magical power than has been seen since the days of the ancient Imperial Magocracy - and their leader, a mysterious, vengeful force of hate and dark magic, is headed directly to Boval Vale, along with a massive invading army of gurvani. The good people of Boval and their spellmonger have only one choice: To hole up in the over-sized Boval Castle and hope they can endure a siege against hundreds of thousands of goblins.

When the people look to him for hope, Minalan does his best, but the odds are depressing: There are multitudes of goblins, and they want Boval Vale as a staging ground for a vengeful invasion of the whole Five Duchies. Add to his troubles a jealous rival mage, a motley band of mercenaries, a delusional liege lord who insists victory is at hand despite the hordes at his door, a dour castellan, a moody, pregnant girlfriend, and a catty ex-girlfriend who specializes in sex magic - all trapped in a stinking, besieged castle with no hope of rescue, and you'll understand why Minalan is willing to take his chances with the goblins.

All that stands between the gurvani horde and the people of the Five Duchies is one tired, overwhelmed baker's son who wanted nothing more than to be a simple village spellmonger.

©2017 Terry Mancour (P)2017 Podium Audio

Read the series, here's why:

For those wondering if they should read the series, the simple answer is yes. Here is the why: The main story is an engaging journey through the trials and triumphs (and failures) of an imperfect mage, but that is only half of the story. The author is really good at developing side plots that all of a sudden upend the main plot in unpredictable ways. But don't expect those plots to come to fruition in the same book or, at this point ever. It keeps you on your toes. There is a lot of side stories that are not included in the main books, but you get a summary of the important points. There are a couple of compendiums of short stories that fill in those holes. The further in the series you go, the more world building there is, but there is frontline action, political intrigue and some level of romantic tension in all of the books. The books are definitely R-rated, but not generally overly explicit. They get more philosophical as it goes on, and it deals with a number of issues surrounding a flawed MC, there's a bunch of growth that all the characters go through throughout the books. It's narrated by the main character, but his descriptions of his actions are fairly frank and he doesn't spare himself his own judgement. The Audible narrator is also really good, not the best, but easily top third of narrators in ability to make it come alive (and in not pronoucing words to interfere with ease of listening if you happen to get peeved by things like that). As for what the story is about, read the publisher's summary.

Fun magic & world building, jerk protagonist

The Spellmonger books have sunk their hooks in me, for all that I often find the first person protagonist as face-punchable as the self-important nobles he despises. I'm deep in the third one and finding excuses to listen ("Oh, I'll just do a spot of housework. Say, why don't I go for a walk?"). The narrator, John Lee, is a perfect fit in the role of smart-ass wizard. The main appeal in these books is the magic, with battles and world building a close runner up. A lot of the spells and creatures are straight out of Dungeons and Dragons, but a little more grounded - things like magic missile or chain lightning are accomplished by manipulating thermodynamics, not just poof! blam! pow! The magical races are the surviving natives of a world where humanity does not quite belong. I do get the impression there's at least some medieval scholarship behind the more mundane details, too. Mancour isn't as nuts-and-bolts or brick-by-brick as some contemporary fantasy authors, but the mostly short and sweet expository tangents are enough to paint the backdrop without bogging down the pace.

The great weakness is characterization, particularly on those rare occasions a woman enters the narrative. You can tell at times Mancour is patting himself on the back for a "strong female character," but on those occasions his protagonist still sounds more like a butcher describing a fine, maybe even smart, pig. The relationships between men and women and the thoughts and actions ascribed to women are the least realistic element of this story about a wizard fighting hordes of goblins. It will depend on the reader whether that feature is made better or worse by the fact that women so seldom appear. Where the titular wizard is concerned, you can tell Mancour was going for "irrascible scamp," but he landed closer to "garbage human."

Fun story some editing errors

Any additional comments?

Really a good book and a fun to listen to. there are some grammatical errors but if you do not let them bother you them it is worth your time.

Different, and I loved it

This book was great because the author didn’t follow the standard convention of fantasy. The main character isn’t a convenient plot device. He is a real man. He has flaws and it makes the story far better for it. I appreciate that he is not some gallant knight. I also appreciate that he is not some evil being that does debase things for no reason.

I’m not certain if this is the first book or not from this author, but I expect it is. This can be seen in the various information dumps throughout the story. I would like to see more finesse from this, but it should come with time. I enjoyed this book and will be purchasing a paper copy to keep in my collection. Since the main character isn’t some perfect icon, I expect the censor mob to come around eventually.

Thank you Terry

Love!!!

I love this book and the narrator! Just completely captivated you in the story! Not to mention that it's witty and sarcastic and extremely well written! Can't wait for the next book to be in audible!

John Lee is the Bee's knees

full of witty banter in a unique world that has a couple climaxes. John Lee's performance is a wonderful reppresentation of how a voice actor can take you to another plane. Bravo

I got Hooked

A good story with a lot of description throughout that sometimes seemed like page filler. However after listening to the entire 1st book I had to go back and get the 2nd book. I got hooked on the story and characters and enjoyed both very much.

Couldn't stand the narrator....at first

What did you like best about this story?

How real the realistic the MC is. He isn't a prophesied hero, sent from such and such or birthed by the villain which is incredibly refreshing.

Which character – as performed by John Lee – was your favorite?

the "spellmonger" of course

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not at first but it actually grew on me. the narration took me a little to get used to, but I honestly came to like John Lee's narration.

got this as a gift

not into fantasy novels but was really well written and really interesting. highly recommend this book

Great story

Great story. I'm really looking forward to listening to book 2. John Lee is the best!