Monday 27 October 2014

A Blight of Mages - Karen Miller

Hundreds of years before the great Mage War, a land lies, unknowing, on the edge of catastrophe...

Barl is young and impulsive, but she has a power within that calls to her. In her city, however, only those of noble blood and with the right connections learn the ways of the arcane. Barl is desperate to learn-but her eagerness to use her power leads her astray and she is banned from ever learning the mystic arts.

Morgan holds the key to her education. A member of the Council of Mages, he lives to maintain the status quo, preserve the mage bloodlines, and pursue his scholarly experiments. But Barl's power intrigues him-in spite of her low status.

Together, he realizes they can create extraordinary new incantations. Morgan's ambition and Barl's power make a potent combination. What she does not see is the darkness in him that won't be denied. 

My thoughts:
You can read this before the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker series, or afterwards. I read it after and I liked it that way. I got to see how the mages came to Lur and who Morgan was. But this is a prequel that takes place hundreds of years before the other series so, your choice ;)

In the land of Dorana everyone is a mage. But the Higher families have more power and can go to College. Barl does not belong to the finer families, but she has so much power and potential and she wants to attend a good school. She is an artisan, but she wants so much more. She really should keep that temper in check. 

Then we have Morgan who is so absorbed in his work, and who falls hard and fast for her. Well let's call it what it really is, obsession. An obsession that will still echo in the next series.

But these two together is not good. They want to explore new kinds of magic, all while their country is falling apart.

Damn how things went badly here. I mean I knew things would be bad cos I read the series that comes after this book, but still!

Conclusion:
This could easily have been an own series too. But I liked it as one book

Cover
meh

Paperback, 767 pages
Published May 1st 2012 by Orbit (first published January 1st 2011)
Kingmaker, Kingbreaker 0.5
Fantasy
own

29 comments:

  1. I should really check out this series and/or the author.

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  2. Yay, more Karen Miller! After reading The Falcon Throne I'm definitely a lot more interested in picking up her older books.

    ~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum

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    1. Yes please do :D I have read most by her now. I got the sequel to this series and of course the new book

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  3. Sounds like a good prequel series

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  4. I love that you felt this was strong enough to stand on its own as a series, but that it also gave you insight into current characters.

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    1. And soon I will try to read the sequel ;)

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  5. I haven't heard of this series before; I'll have to look her up on GoodReads to find out where I should start.

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  6. Oh I'm glad you enjoyed this one even though in a way it is reading backwards. Not that I know anything about that. ;)

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  7. If this can be read as a standalone, I may just have to give it a shot.

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  8. I like the title, but agree with you on the cover.

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  9. I love Karen Miller and her books and this is the ONE book I'm missing from my collection and now I've read your review I'm going to have to rectify that asap!

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    1. She is so good! :D I still got 2 more books to read by her, and I need her newest book

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  10. I like how the plot sounds, but not actually convinced. :/

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  11. I'm curious to see how badly it turned out.

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  12. I own Kingmaker, but I haven't read it yet. I'm glad to hear the series is good. I don't like the sounds of the obsessive love though.

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    1. It's all part of the bigger picture, and she does love him, and he is nice...doooom

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  13. And I wish I could squeeze this series in somewhere. Sounds like a great read I'd enjoy. :)

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    1. I have been telling you to try her books ;)

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  14. I love it when you can read books in any order and still be so absorbed! Sounds like the new magic Morgan and Barl are working on is bad news bears!

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