But sometimes.... I'm sorry I just can't do it
There will be spoilers.... but only up to where i stopped. This is also my personal opinion.
Alright... lets set the scene shall we?
After finishing A Touch of Magic By Gregory Mahan i was left in a fairly positive mood... the book wasn't the best thing I had ever read but it left me interested enough were i'm willing to read the sequel.... in fact I wanted to have more fantasy to read right there.... oh but what to pick?
My kindle gave me a few recommendations and Amazon did as well and this book jumped out at me.
Wizards rising... interesting title.... not a horribly designed cover (yes.... i judge books by their cover... I can't help it, it's the graphic designer in me) and a synopsis that promised adventure. it's rating was good... 4.5 stars...
.99 cents? yeah I can give it a shot.
It's been a long time since i've felt this ripped off. The last time was "THE GATEWAY" by Glenn G. Thater... and that book was free on the kindle....
Anyways I start the book and it's not the worst writing style I've ever seen... it felt very...
Zollin was a carpenter but Zollin sucked at it and Zollin's father, Quinn, was annoyed that Zollin sucked at carpentry so Quinn hired the tanners youngest son to fill the void cause Zollin sucked so much.
yes that is an extreme exaggeration but it's how I felt... things were repeated constantly and nothing felt fluid... it was all very stiff.
So not too far in Zollin, who sucks at carpentry, realized that he mad the handle of a bag levitate into his hand... and his reaction is. "Oh wow, I have magic.... I don't know how I know it's magic but I KNOW it's magic, oh all I have to do is say words and things happen... and I can feel the magic in other things... not only that but i can tell if it's good magic or bad magic."
In my last review I started quite clearly that i HATE when characters can do all these things with no training because it's unrealistic.... i don't mind if they don't have training as long as it's balanced with a lack of control and or strength...
Zollin on the other hand not only seem to have great control but he's also the most powerful wizard ever at the ripe age of... 14? 16?
So I'm looking for something to smash my head into when we cut to the Wizards of Torr, the men sense Zollin's birth but they take this long to actually pinpoint the boys location.. now these guys are obviously the villains since they want to control Zollin's power and one even wants to use him to overthrow their current master wizard.... there's some plot about how the wizards want to take over the kingdom but they already seem to be shadow kinds so.... I don't really see the point... anyways...
They find Zollin's village the day of Zollin's best friends marriage to the prettiest girl in town whom he hasn't spoken with much. The Wizards being jerks instead of bartering or appearing kind to Zollin to falsely gain the boys trust just threaten the entire village.... yeah thats a smart idea... you have a wizard who is strong and you threaten to kill the people he cares for... yeah i'm sure he'll go along with your evil plan.
Cause the thing about the best evil plans... the people who are doing them THINK they are doing good... Nobody... or at least no one who in an interesting character just goes "oh yes i'm evil, now i'll go kidnap a maiden and tie her to the railroad tracks".
ugh getting off topic again...
so at this point Zollin has obtained a willow belt that give +5 to magic and a Staff which give +30 (you read the book and tell me it doesn't feel like an rpg character equipping items...) and he manages to... ugh... Blast the wizards that have had DECADES of training and research off their horses and majorly injure them... enough where he can run away.
...
...
...
No... I'm sorry.... stupid child with no training should never defeat the powerful wizard in one attack...
but thats not where i stopped...
so his best friend gets killed, zollin is unable to heal him... well no he does heal the skin but not the severed artery... His wife for a day Brianna doesn't even seem all that sad and she, along with his father and the apprentice leave town and head to the mountains figuring that the snow would protect them for a few months.
so they travel, get found, the one wizard tries to befriend Zollin but the boy goes. "i don't trust you... even though your acting nice and helped my friend the plot says i should trust you so i wont..." So the wizard tries to control their mind... but Brianna is immune....
oh right i didn't mention that... Zollin gave his best friends Fiancee a ring that makes her immune to magic.... becuase.... um.... the plot says so... but still... remember this for later...
anyways Brianna helps them snap out of it and when the wizard attacks Brianna and his fire spell bounces back and burns the man.
so more traveling and they bump into one of the other wizrds and he manages to kill the man.... a boy with no training kills one of the wizards without too much of a fight... so then they travel some more and they reach the mountain town that is supposed to keep them safe in the winter.
End of book one... wait what? i'm only 30ish% of the way through the book... maybe they meant Act 1 or Part 1... i mean... had i read that as a book i would have done my completed as one extremely angry customer.... which i guess isn't too different from what i'm doing now... hm...
Anyways i got pretty mad at the fact that the word Book 1 was used because to me when that happens it means two+ books were merged into one... and if that isn't the case then the words Part or Act would probably work better. however after a little bit of research still don't know if this war really a book that had 2 or 3 books in it or it was just a horrible choice in words cause like i said before... had that first part been it's own book i would have been mad. The climax was pitiful and there was no structure to the story at all... anyways...
Then something odd happened... in book two fairly early on he meets The Mentor Archetype. YAY finally! someone to teach this stupid child the ways of magic, what it's rules are and where it's from of course Brianna being the main love interest (who zollin refuses to be interested in cause it's his best friends Widow and thinking about her would tarnish his memory... a fact that is mentions MULTIPLE times almost every chapter) follows Zollin around... and at some point she nearly falls of her horse and he levitates her.
wait.... WAIT... what?! she has the ring that you gave her that makes NO MAGIC work on her.... you can't just.... change the rules like that... ugh.... off topic again...
anyways at this point i'm thinking "okay we've finally established the world and the magic system and maybe this will be interesting... i'm glad i pushed through...."
Reads the paragraph
"Impressive," Kelvich said. "Most people can't sense the Augmire weed in its frozen state. Certain plants and herbs contain magic and can be used for healing, like the weed in this clearing. It's used to treat upset stomach and Digestive diseases."No.... no it's not okay.... where do i even start.
"Di- What?"
"Digestion is the function of your body to break down food into nutrients, and the rest is waste."
"what do you mean?"
"you can study anatomy later," Kelvich said. "Digestion is what happens to the food you eat as it passes through your body and crap it out. Okay?"
First of that that is direct quote, no exaggerations... 52% of the way through the book at location 2544 of 4883 on my kindle... so yeah...
now keep in mind Kelvich (The Mentor) is an old hermit who prefers to study over everything else... he presents himself as a wise man.... i have hard time believing that anyone... let alone this wise old sorcerer would say that last line. that line doesn't add to the plot it doesn't need to be in the story and it was the last straw.
but like i said... i'm stubborn... I tried to read for a few more chapters but this was the point where i gave up...
so yeah.... in case you didn't gather.... I really didn't like this book... It may get better in the second half but i'm so far beyond not caring..
However... this is all just my opinion... i'm not saying i'm right i'm just saying this is how i felt while reading this.
If you have read this book and enjoyed it please tell me why cause I really want to see the potential that this story holds since so far the only interesting thing was the Hierarchy of magic he had in place.
Toby Neighbors website just because I didn't like it doesn't mean you will feel the same... so it's only fair that i post a link to his website.
now I have to find a book to renew my faith in the fantasy genre.... hm....
Also sorry this was so long.... I can talk a lot when i'm annoyed...
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