About

Dragon Mage is a standalone novel in the Rivenworld series written by M.L. Spencer.

See this /r/Fantasy thread for author AMA.

Dragon Mage book cover

Blurb

Aram Raythe has the power to challenge the gods. He just doesn't know it yet.

Aram thinks he's nothing but a misfit from a small fishing village in a dark corner of the world. As far as Aram knows, he has nothing, with hardly a possession to his name other than a desire to make friends and be accepted by those around him, which is something he’s never known.

But Aram is more. Much, much more.

Unknown to him, Aram bears within him a gift so old and rare that many people would kill him for it, and there are others who would twist him to use for their own sinister purposes. These magics are so potent that Aram earns a place at an academy for warrior mages training to earn for themselves the greatest place of honor among the armies of men: dragon riders.

Aram will have to fight for respect by becoming not just a dragon rider, but a Champion, the caliber of mage that hasn’t existed in the world for hundreds of years. And the land needs a Champion. Because when a dark god out of ancient myth arises to threaten the world of magic, it is Aram the world will turn to in its hour of need.

Review

I have mixed feelings about this book.

I finished this huge tome in less than two days. The setting was interesting, I liked the two main characters and found one of the antagonists interesting. Props to the author for giving us a lead character on the autism spectrum (a small portion of which I could relate to as well). The pacing was great for the most part, preventing me from getting any real work done.

Oh, and I liked the illustrations, wish more books did that even if it was just a few.

I would've loved more slice-of-life scenes to contrast with the imminent danger. For example, a couple of scenes where Aram is setting up a place to stay was a welcome relief (I even laughed about the two chickens, which would've been a forgettable note normally). At one point, a birthday is brought up and a celebration promised, but it was never shown.

The number of times the characters got injured and woke up after losing consciousness got super repetitive.

The person responsible for training is old and experienced, but I couldn't believe that a particular tactic used against the main leads wasn't even discussed. That tactic should've been obvious given centuries of experience, but let's say it didn't come up in the past, they should've at least adapted it after seeing the opponent use it effectively.

Some minor timeline inconsistency is understandable for such a big book, but one of them stood out badly. There was supposed to be a two month gap between armor and sword being ready, but then they get them at the same time. It is possible that they got it once the sword was ready, but if I was following correctly only the armor would've been ready at that time and they even had a worrying discussion about the sword a few chapters before.

Overall, this was my kinda book but the issues kept stacking up and by the last quarter I was skimming to finish it asap. The ending was mixed as well.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟☆

What others are saying

From Bender's review on goodreads:

ML Spencer has a way with words, the prose is delicately balanced between actions and worldbuilding. The pace rarely dips and book flows seamlessly across chapters having plenty of surprises along the way. Couple of times initially I expected a coming of age story that we've seen plenty in this genre, but everytime, I got my legs pulled out under me as plot just smashes my expectations. The macro plot and background is woven brilliantly within the current action and we get to unravel both without a explicit flashback.

From C.T. Phipps's review on goodreads:

I very much enjoyed this novel and I think people looking for an enjoyable old school fantasy novel will find this to be a welcome antidote to the grimdark explosion currently out there. It reminded me of Dragonlance with all its dragon riders, focus on the power of friendship, and other fun.

Bingo

/r/Fantasy/ 2021 bingo categories:

  • New to You Author
  • Published in 2021
  • Cat Squasher: 500+ Pages (HM)
  • Self-Published