I got “The Innocent Mage” by Karen Miller as a gift, and I had never read her writing or heard of her before.
Imagine my surprise at having this awesome talent just dropped in my lap! These two books are the entire Kingmaker, Kingbreaker Series. A very arresting, interesting couple of books. I found the story fun, the concepts a bit different, and the writing exquisite.
It was a great classic story with the innocent young one starting so naive. After struggling through some tough times, he learns about the world, meets his friends. Then he works, builds ties to community, learns talents and skills, then after some luck and work, comes into power. Then decisions have to be made and the kingdom needs to be saved.
Somehow it sounds predictable, but believe me, it is not. The kingdom unique, the magical talents and government system is different from any I’ve seen before (and I’ve read a lot believe me!). There are no dwarves, dragons, or goblins in this story. There are two races of people, who are sharing the same endangered land. There is also a conspiracy, a horrible nemisis, a prophecy, some powerful magic wielded by very few, and …oh, trying to prevent the end of the world. = )
It’s enjoyable to follow poor fisherman Asher, forced to work his way up from nothing using his rustic manners, unmitigated honesty, and biting wit. Of course he is somehow thrust into high society, where there is an uppity peerage of Asher’s race as well as the ethereal Doranen race who do mysterious magic.
Very well written and involved, I could NOT stop turning the pages! The characters are alive and realistic with fun flaws that you love to hate and can’t help but relate. I love in depth people who are real and alive and make decisions like real people would. Each person has their own motivations, but they all impact each other and that is what makes the story so great.
The only problem with these books were that they were broken into two books, with the first one basically stopping right in the middle with a, “….to be continued”.
ARGHhhh!!
I threw the book across the room. It hit the wall with a resounding and satisfying smack.
I understand that publishers and distributers have limits. And both of these books are very long, like more than 700 pages. But it still pisses me off to no end to buy a book and that it would not have its own conclusion. There should be some resolution, some plot line that ends, and then the next book picks up where the first left off. But not so for this one, it just basically hangs, with many if not all of the plot lines just dangling.
You MUST buy these books as a set and read them together, and then you will have no problem. If I hadn’t been that interested, then the “brutal cliff-hanger” wouldn’t have been a problem. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did!
