Warrior Mage: Chains of Honor, Book 1
His mother was one of the most powerful wizards in the Nurian Empire until she abandoned her people to become a notorious pirate. That choice doomed the family she left behind to a life of disgrace.
Yanko White Fox doesn’t remember his mother, but as the only gifted child in the family, he is expected to erase the mark she left on them all. With an affinity for earth magic and communicating with animals, he’s not the most natural candidate to become a warrior mage, but it’s the only sure route back into the Great Chief’s good graces. He has resigned himself to training for that destiny, whether it matches his passions or not.
Long before he’s ready for his first battle, insurrection comes to his distant corner of the empire. Rebels take over the salt mine his family manages and slay the only relative who ever supported Yanko. On the heels of the tragedy, a courier brings a message from the Great Chief’s son. Whether he is prepared or not, Yanko must undertake a quest, one that could save millions of lives… or fail utterly, leaving him dead, his family forgotten, and his people the victims of starvation and endless war.
Strong start to the series…,
This book combines fantasy, steampunk, adventure, thriller, comedy and drama, together with light hints of romance. At first I was a bit wary of this book; it is centered around the start of a quest of a younger, rather sheltered male character, whilst my favourite series’ by Lindsay Buroker (The Emperor’s Edge and Rust & Relics) both centre themselves around strong women in their mid-twenties. this shift in focus took a little while for me to get used to, but after a bit I approached the change, and found it made for a fresh feel.
The romance here is like it used to be in the TV show NCIS; it is limited to the odd hint of it between the characters here and there, but it isn’t the main focus of the plot. Just how I like my non-romance books – it doesn’t overpower the plot, it is like a garnish that tops everything off.
Warrior Mage is set in the same universe as The Emperor’s Edge books and some of the characters from those books show up here too. You don’t need to have read that series, but for those of us who enjoy TEE it’s a kick to see how those characters are doing.
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|Fun, well paced action adventure. Enjoyed every page….,
The story of this book does follow on from a couple of short Novellas that she wrote but if you haven’t read those it does not detract from the enjoyment of this book and there are no holes in the story for those who have not read them.
In short if you are after an entertaining read that will have you smiling, gasping and wondering ‘how will they get out of this’ then this book ticks those boxes.
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|Now in Nuria and loving it!,
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> I dropped straight back into the Nurian world and Yanko’s struggles to live up to the expectations of his father, finding myself 70% of the way through before I knew it. To put off the inevitable I then did my usual trick of rationing my reading to make my stay last longer but found I was swept up in events regardless.
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> As usual the evocative descriptions are enough to perfectly visualise the different environments of village, port, salt mine etc without taking over the narrative. We get the flavour of cultural obedience and family honour inherent in Yanko’s slightly old-fashioned upbringing and discover his journey is about so much more than learning the skills of the warrior mage .
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> His attempts to ‘do the right thing’ both within and beyond the relatively protected world he grew up in felt neither forced nor farcical, and his discomfort when events don’t always go as expected shows he is genuine. Although his internal arguments veer from understandable anguish to possible mental disturbance towards the end (can you really argue with yourself that much?) it does give his character some depth and allows others less invested in the moral dilemmas to express their irritation at his prevarication.
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Lots going on and a good pacy story. Loved seeing Akstyr and his new ‘friend’. Can’t wait for more!
Have to say I was lucky enough to get a review copy but due to my ineptitude I couldn’t leave a review so have bought the book just so that I could. Yup, I enjoy her work that much!
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