The Faded Land

A Progression Fantasy Epic (Keiran: The Eternal Mage Book 1)

By: D.E. Sherman

Narrated by: John Joseph Rogers, Rylee Kuberra

Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Keiran clawed his way from gutter rat to archmage in his first life.

His second was supposed to be easier...

Keiran of the Night Vale has staved off death for two thousand years. His mind and his magic remain as sharp as ever, but his body is old, worn out, and failing. What he needs is to reincarnate into a new, young body, and he bends his prodigious talents towards doing exactly that.

He awakens to find that he’s been reborn in a wasteland where mana has become a scarce resource. Even the internal mana generated by people is stolen away by those who rule them. And without mana, he’s no longer a mage.

It will take more than that to stop Keiran. With each passing week, he regains more of his old strength, but can he keep his secrets safely hidden? Standing in his way is his new home’s cult-like nightly mana tithing, a governor with deadly secrets, and a monster-ridden desert.

It's a deadly scramble to claim the mana he so desperately needs to survive, but Keiran didn’t become an archmage by accident.

He’s willing to use every dirty trick and tactic he knows to get there again.

©2024 D.E. Sherman (P)2024 Royal Guard Publishing LLC

great start!

loved the take on the reincarnation story, there is a lot of inner dialog that makes it drag a little. I hope on the next book the female voice actor figures out how to say tithing properly.

Great But Odd Story

Of all the reincarnated into a child stories, this is probably one of the most realistic. The MC spends most of their time dealing with people either disregarding him due to being a 9,000 year old mage in a three year old. Or people not trusting him due to his odd age. Still he manages to do things that are slow, methodical, and above all believable. The world is vast, and I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Loved the story.

I am still trying to get my thoughts together but overall this book was enjoyable. I hated the politics most because some Adults tend to think they know better and never stop to consider how antiquated and limited their vision of the world and people really are. I think a three year old super powered mage is hilarious. I am excited because there are so many ways the Author can choose to develop the MC, the storyline and the world. Btw, I know this is silly but having an adult voice coming out of a three year old is funny but creepy so for that reason, I am removing a star. The MC sounded like his dad and he is a kid:

Good book

I liked it, it's a bit slow not much happens but a lot happens. I know confusing. it's a good first story. I can't wait until he travels and gets older. the three year old thing well... but I really liked it so can't wait for the next book.

Great Story Buried in Fluff...

The overall plot and setting is interesting. Powerful and ruthless wizard is reincarnated to a small family in the village within a desert, which is starved in more ways than one. Seeing the reincarnated child trying to better himself and save his family in a world that isn't what is seems can easily hook you.

Unfortunately, there is an overabundance of internal monologuing and introspection which pretty much kills the entire story. The series narrates almost every decision the MC makes, why it's the best decision in that situation, why he doesn't consider other choices, and the repercussions for if he fails, as well as the results of what will happen if/when he succeeds. Every. Single. Time. A good 60% percent of the story is the MC considering his choices, 10% is him acting on them, and the last 30% is the actual progression of the story and small but interesting cast of family members and other side characters.

The great performance of the dual-narrators and the small amount of interesting plot offered barely makes this series worth continuing.

Solid start to a reincarnation fantasy series!

So I’m not sure if the author ever reads the reviews but hopefully this will help. Pretty good start to a reincarnation in a baby/youth story. A little slow but I enjoy the dialogue. Also I am happy that the Mc was not an idiot as so many other books end up. I really hope the next few books build on the magic and skills. The Mc is a little over powered but that’s to be expected as he was an arch mage and they are limiting him based on his age which is good. I am also glad he is ditching the family and town as they didn’t really have any good side characters or friends so it was mostly just adults complaining. It is a good example of how someone powerful would act and I think the Mc has been good at not making clearly dumb decisions or whatever just to make the plot seem suspenseful. Hopefully the author adds a few more support characters in the next book but continues to grow the Mc. It should be a good challenge for him to find a place to live, work, etc and interact with the city underbelly. He will have no money so obviously will need to step into the darker side of the city to get established. I’m sure the mana issues will increase and progress will slow. With op main characters you have to throw a lot of things in there way to slow them down so it’s not boring. Hopefully the author has a plan for the next few books and won’t just time jump or skip over everything.

loved it

Heard about the release of this book from the author on reddit. absolutely loved it and cannot wait for the next addition to the series!

Enjoyable

This definitely has 'Legend of the Arch Magus' vibes, but in a good way. Iti s not derivative and carries the story well. The characters are cohesive and all believable given the plot.
I found this quite enjoyable and am looking forward to the next installment.

a great story

One main character. Okay for teens. Fast paced story. Want to see more in this series. Hope to read more soon.

worth a credit

I loved the story, but the mc rambles a lot, but I will buy book 2 when it releases