The White Mage Omnibus: Books 1-3

By: Ben Hale

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

Length: 32 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

A new series from the world of The Chronicles of Lumineia.

The Last Oracle, book one: Forced into hiding, the mages of Lumineia have been forgotten. In their absence the world has become known by another name: Earth. The humans have flourished with time, unaware that The Last Oracle is destined to unite them. At her touch magic will be unbound and known again as truth. But an ancient war harbors a deadly secret. Draeken, the Lord of Chaos, had a second apprentice, one who became trapped with the defeated fiends. Fueled by revenge and dark magic, he has mastered a power that Draeken himself could not, and the time is fast approaching for it to be unleashed. The Dark is waiting....

The Sword of Elseerian, book two: Led by the mysterious Master, the Harbingers have infiltrated the highest levels of the mage government. They mean to reveal the mages to the world - and then conquer it. To that end they have stolen the Sword of Elseerian and intend to open the portal to Draeken's vast army. But the fiends are gone. In their place another entity lurks. Caged for eons, the Dark feeds on fear...and light. If unleashed on Earth, it will devour every spark of illumination until mankind is left in darkness absolute. Madness and terror will rob men of their minds. Each will become an extension of the Dark, flesh without a soul. The Oracle and her allies have a desperate plan to retrieve the Sword of Elseerian before it can be used. If they fail, the Dark will be released. And the day will have its last dawn.

Descent unto Dark, book three: The Dark has been unleashed. Impervious to mage or man, its almighty power is matched only by its hunger. Unchecked it will devour the planet...until even the dawn is extinguished. Human and creature alike will become twisted, beasts slaved to the Dark's will. The leash is held by the Harbinger Master, who requires a simple offering to stay the impending slaughter. Obedience is absolute.

©2013 Ben Hale (P)2015 Podium Publishing

I wish they would label things as young adult.

TECHNICAL: Invisible as it should be.
PERFORMANCE: It was OK. I didn’t really find the characterizations as particularly listenable. (Maybe it was partially the fault of the dialog.) Still; consistent, clear diction helped the performance.
STORY/AUTHORCRAFT: It was OK. It had a young adult twang to it. (JK Rollins books managed to not have that kind of feel.) The dialog was somewhat stilted. Story line was a bit slow. I have no desire to go any further into the series. But I didn’t hate it.

WOW

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

It is a great story. Entertaining and emotional- it reminds you of other young adult fantasy works while still remaining highly unique and interesting.

What other book might you compare The White Mage Omnibus: Books 1-3 to and why?

In certain aspects it reminded me of the cycle of arawn and the harry potter series. Many themes cross over from HP but the story's uniqueness in terms of fantasy elements is very close to the cycle's own elements.

What about Derek Perkins’s performance did you like?

Variance in voices and tone was well conveyed for the most part. Derek handled accents of different characters well without allowing them to overshadow what was being said. Female voices were done convincingly and naturally.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were many but in the interest of not providing any spoilers I'll leave it at Tess and Iris's friendship. The fact that the two are so incredibly different and eventually come to love each other as sisters was absolutely lovely.

Any additional comments?

I sincerely hope the rest of this series is released on audible. Originally I was skeptical about the series as I thought the story would be juvenile due to the age of the main characters but it is anything but. All of the main characters are written as amazingly human and even those who fill a bit of an archetype are still unique in their own ways. If the great story itself isn't reason enough to release the rest of the series I think Derek Perkins' performance puts it over the top as an amazing audible experience.

Can't understand the rave reviews!

I tried reading this and got out to about Chapter 6 and just couldn't do it. Even jumped ahead to Chapter 33 to see if it got any better, but no. Not my style of writing. Think Harry Potter only with a teenage girl as the protagonist. Actually, I think HP was better. The magical world rather than unfolding organically, is presented like a long list of really cool stuff. Anyway, returning it.

Not like Harry Potter

If you could sum up The White Mage Omnibus: Books 1-3 in three words, what would they be?

I almost didn't get this book because of a review saying it was just like Harry Potter. I disagree with this. Yes, there are definitely similarities, especially in the first book. But Harry Potter doesn't have involved, loving parents. It doesn't have military involvement. It doesn't have what amounts to zombies.

What other book might you compare The White Mage Omnibus: Books 1-3 to and why?

Harry Potter, but only superficially.

What does Derek Perkins bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Awesomeness. Good distinction of characters. A deeper definition of personalities that I don't add using my internal voice.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Not really. I did enjoy it more than I thought I would. And it's the first time I got an omnibus recording where I'm actually going to get more books that come after the last that's included.

Any additional comments?

Nope

awesome series

My biggest complaint is the rest of the series is not yet on Audible. Great listen imaginative story enjoyed it immensely. would highly recommend it.

Pitiful parallel of Harry Potter

I give it two stars, instead of one, for the flying intro. ---Made me imagine. Otherwise, it took all the elements of Harry Potter and made them less fun and less creative.

Frustratingly similar to Harry Potter

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I don't think I'd recommend this book to a friend. It's just too much of a Harry Potter ripoff. I know it's hard to be original in this genre but this is ridiculous. The story is enjoyable but I'd suggest it for a preteen to early teen age range; it's pretty juvenile. The magic system isn't anything complex. It is just a system that seems to be able to do anything without conforming to a set logic.Without limitations to abilities, it's too easy say "well why didn't they just do XYZ instead?"

Have you listened to any of Derek Perkins’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I'm always happy listening to Derek's narrations. He does such a great job.

Any additional comments?

The only reason I feel this story was worth a credit was because of the length. It was an easy listen while commuting to/from work.I'm sure there are several others that will enjoy this story. I was just really disappointed with how unoriginal almost every aspect of the story and world building was.

A fun listen

This book was a great deal of fun to listen to. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I agree with past reviewers, however, that it's a shame the rest of the series isn't available on Audible yet! It's quite the cliffhanger at the end of book 3!

Great and captivating book But...

I loved the book. it was captivating, great story, and no deus ex moments where the hero can always pull through because there is plot armor. the minus one star is because it finished at book three and it took me a few moments to find out their is 2 more books in the series that are not audiobooks. other than that great story. even better books.

FIGHT after FIGHT after FIGHT then Deus Ex!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The listening experience was fine. The story just drove me crazy clearly evidenced by the fact that I listened to all of this and the two that follow. So darn dark! I hate dark.

If you’ve listened to books by Ben Hale before, how does this one compare?

The same

Which scene was your favorite?

Probably when she was tested and hit all the colors! The mage response description was a bit awesome.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The White Mage Omnibus: Books 1-3?

Too many to enumerate. But hey, in case you missed it, Tess loves flying. And also, Tess should learn to use her far sight? Just maybe?

Any additional comments?

Too many Deus Ex moments.

Very entertaining.

What did you like most about The White Mage Omnibus: Books 1-3?
The story is well written with interesting characters, that draw you in. There are hints of Harry Potter in the plot, but please don't be put off by that if you're not a fan of those stories, as the writer and his characters are very different.

What did you like best about this story?
Everything, it's not going to be a classic read by millions, and turned into a huge franchise, but it is fun and keeps you interested. Some parts are a little predictable but this just makes the unsuspected twists that bit better in my opinion.

What does Derek Perkins bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
The narration was excellent, read at the perfect speed and with a pleasant tone.

Any additional comments?
There are at least two more books in this series, but these are not on audible and may not have actually been turned into audiobooks as yet, and as I don't get many opportunities to sit and read (I listen when on the move) this has left me very frustrated.
Update. Very happy now, The next two books are available.

A very predictable story

Any additional comments?

The story is very predictable if you have read Harry Potter. The development of characters, is not good, but as book 3 is not the end of the story, that may come later. I had assumed that the story was complete in this omnibus edition, as Audible did not say it was part of a series. But other books must follow if the story is to finish.
I normally like to wait until a series of books is finished before I start reading it, so a few minus points to Audible for not pointing out this is the first part of a serirs.

Bad Harry Potter knockoff

...I will be blunt, that is all there is to this book. The author took a list of events and devices from Harry Potter and attempted to make them more cool and magical, destroying all the charm in the process. Huge segments of the book which could have been used to learn about Tess and develop her character (if she can be said to have one to develop in the first place) were instead given over to brutal battles.


if you're looking for one of those books where supremely powerful wizard heros (with all the charisma of a dish cloth) destroys cartoonishly evil baddies in their scores then this is for you, but even then you could probably do better.

Inventive storyline

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Ignore those who say it's a Harry Potter ripoff, unless you believe there can be only be one Author per fantasy type. Forgive the pun but I was spell bound with the h potter books and films particularly the early ones. Enjoy the worlds people create, I'm sure you can think of books where there are similarities
Lord of the Rings v Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.
Every single sci-fi space opera but I love them.

I have to say I'm so p....d off with the slagging off that make up bad reviews there are either 5 star or 1 star completely polarised opinions.
What made me try this series was the three book bundle for 1 credit if I had only the option of 1 book I wouldn't have tried them and it would have been my loss and frankly why I'm writing this rant

Re the book review!
It's not perfect but I liked the magic system and the world it is set in. Overall the story line is good, The gathering storm is well done. However I agree the Villains are a little two dimensional,
It does jump around a bit, so I found myself rewinding to find my place as they are often mini cliff hangers. It's not game of thrones but it is a reasonable story and in my view worth a credit

What did you like best about this story?

The Darkness, it is a very good evil weapon.

Which character – as performed by Derek Perkins – was your favourite?

No favourite.

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

No, just escapism

A poorly derived Harry Potter and Avartar story

The Good

The book is not boring, its not exciting but its also not boring. Its the sort of thing you can have playing in the background and paying scant attention to. There is a lot of bang for your buck in terms of number of hours for 1 credit.

The Bad

The problem is that I paid attention to this omnibus. This book is a straight up rip off and while in music we have cover songs, the covers usually bring something exciting, new and inventive to the original song (they also pay royalties). This book doesn't do that.

The plot is poor and the story is very predictable. When a book is inventive, engaging, and exciting, you forgive the occasional plot hole because you start to get absorbed by it. But when it is a luke-warm highly derived story it gets quite irritating. This book is also full of plot holes.

Hindsight writing. One thing that occurs many times during this story is hindsight writing or rather very poor character/situational resolution. I won't give examples since it may spoil things for some people but the guy writes characters and then stuffs in random reasons why they do what they do that is at odds with their nature as you understood. It's not really a surprise (I have seen that plot line before), but there is no good reason why those things happen - you get the worst of both worlds. Its like watching a really poor magician at work, where he clumsily stuffs the card up his sleeve and then asks you were it is and then randomly throws a paper aeroplane.

Me too. This whole book is one long "me too story". It looks as if the author simply started writing stuff and would see something interesting on tv or read an actual good book and then shoe-horn that plot in the most jarring and finesse-lacking manner. Yeah, now, I'll throw in some bravo-2-zero type stuff blah blah... Some authors are capable of simply sitting down and writing a story that is exciting, fully fledged and original without planning or plots etc. This author doesn't seem to be one of them.

Books should be like a magic trick, or like hypnosis. It takes a lot of skill to hypnotise the audience into investing themselves in a story. It takes finesse to do this properly. These books do not demonstrate this. It seems as if the author has just slapped any random thing that came into their head, or what happened to be popular at the time. The funny thing is that if there is enough technical effort in the concept, character development, and plotting readers/listeners would forgive a multitude of sins. They want believe!

Oh yeah, lastly it is a total Harry Potter and Avatar ripoff! Mostly H.P. right down to Dumbledore's Army. Have you no shame sir? Have you no shame!? J.K. should send the lawyers round.

Highly derived stories show a lack of effort in their conception. Is it any wonder that there is also a lack of effort in everything else resulting in a poor story experience?

The Narrator

The narrator was clear and pleasant to listen to. My criticisms are:

1. Every kind of exclamation sounds like an evil witch, and it doesn't matter which character gets agitated or excited, they sound like an evil witch.
2. For a story largely based in the US, there are scant number of American accents. I'm not sure the narrator is to blame since the book mostly feels like it is written in an english rather than american style. Who knows!

Absolute rubbish ... Mostly a Harry Potter ripoff

The characters are all overly powerful morons up to until the last second when they finally understand everything and save the day.

Good fantasy

If you’ve listened to books by Ben Hale before, how does this one compare?

Not as good as his first series which was fantastic, but I still very much enjoyed it

Have you listened to any of Derek Perkins’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I'm a big fan of Derek Perkins he has a great voice and is easy to listen to

Any additional comments?

I have to admit that whilst I really liked this book, the way its written, and the characters. I kept coming back to the fact that it's a variation of the Harry Potter idea. I mean young girl finds out that she can cast magic and gets sent to a school that teaches magic... Any of that sound familiar.

brilliant

this series goes from strength to strength in can't wait for the next instalment keep this series going on audible

JK Rowling should sue.

First three books were pretty good. But this was just a rip off of harry potter.

Just couldnt get i to it

Tried time and again to get into these books as downloaded the trilogy but just didnt buy into the characters and didnt like the narration. Seemed very wooden