Darkmage

The Rhenwars Saga, Book 1

By: M. L. Spencer

Narrated by: Simon Wright

Winner of the IndieReader Discovery Award for Fantasy

Darien Lauchlin has already lost everything. Now the only thing he has left to lose is his soul.

When his own brother unseals the Well of Tears, Darien is the last Sentinel left alive to defend his homeland. Now he is faced with an impossible decision: either watch everything he knows shatter - or forsake his oath of peace to become an instrument of pure destruction. Accompanied by Naia, a priestess of Death, Darien embarks on a harrowing journey to save the people of the Rhen. But will he lose his own soul in the process?

Darkmage is the first novel in the epic fantasy series The Rhenwars Saga. If you like morally gray heroes, addictive action, and mind-boggling plot twists, then you’ll love Spencer’s award-winning series.

Pick up a copy to begin this epic adventure today!

“Absolutely fantastic.” (Chris Fischer, Readers' Favorite)

“A masterful story with incredible depth of emotion.” (Melinda Hills, Readers’ Favorite)

©2011 Melinda L. Spencer-Crabbe (P)2018 Melinda L. Spencer-Crabbe

Confusing

It’s confusing to me and has other characters that aren’t the best and of screen deaths that confuse you, it’s not my cup of tea but the narrator did a good job, just a boring story

Dark Fantasy at its finest

You may (or may not) remember I wrote a review for Darkstorm, the precursor to Darkmage, a while back. As far as I know (yell at me if I’m wrong), Darkmage was actually written (or at least published) before Darkstorm, so this is essentially book one, and Darkstorm is book 0.5. I liked Darkstorm, but most of the first 70% or so definitely wallowed in the YA range. Darkmage is very different.

AUDIOBOOK WARNING

Standard Young Adult fare tends to be less satisfying for not Young Adults (or me anyway), as it tends to skirt over issues that less young types find appealing . ML Spencer has skilfully crafted a novel that appeals to the broader audience by dealing with the likes of morality and loss, while maintaining well drawn characters and using a writing style that will appeal to younger readers (as in 18, not 8).

Darkstorm started hard, then softened for a significant chunk of the novel, although it still entertained. Darkmage, on the other hand, starts off dark with the death of the hero’s mother, and destruction of his city. From here, it’s all downhill.

The story revolves around two men, Kyle Archer, just your average Joe, or Kyle, who gets arrested for a crime he didn’t commit, and sent to Greystone Keep to guard against invasion. This sounds bad enough, but just after he arrives, a huge army shows up ready to attack. Out of the frying pan, and so on.

The other is Darien Lauchlin, a mage and son of the Prime Warden. When his brother Aidan kills their mother and open the Well of Tears, Darien finds he is all that stands between the end of the world. Or is he?

This book has it all – friendships are made and ended, political intrigue, epic battles and most importantly, hard choices and sacrifices must be made. As mentioned earlier, I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator did a terrific job, narrating the book as if the weight of the world was on shoulders, while capturing the tone and humour.

Want to check out a new series, or interested in checking out one of indie publishing’s finest authors, look no further. But don’t take my word for it, just read the darn book.

The Scribblings Review of Darkmage

Darkmage is set in a world where the only things standing between the (mostly) peaceful kingdoms of the Rhen and the Black Lands of The Enemy are the desperate men guarding the border and the Mages of Aerysius.

The novel has a number of point of view characters, moving in and out of the story, taking the reader around the kingdoms, drawing the story together in places, expanding it where necessary. The bulk of the story though is told through the eyes of Darien Lauchlin. He begins the novel as an acolyte mage but in rapid succession is elevated to full mage and possibly the most powerful in history. He is betrayed, loses his home and just about everyone he cares for.

A very strong part of the novel is Darien’s progression from young, relatively innocent soldier to a haunted man, equally revered and cursed by those he wants to help. The reader is led through what he will do, to others and to himself, in order to do what he believes will save the lands from the agents and armies of the enemy. It’s often easy to be simultaneously appalled by his arrogance and the way he treats people but also understand why he’s doing so.

The world building in the story is very well done. There is a sense that there is a long history in the kingdoms, and pieces of that history are given out as needed. You learn everything you need to follow the plot without any large info dumps, but there is more than enough to suggest a lot more is in place, possibly being held back for future instalments. The same is true of the way magic works in this world. Again, some aspects like the passing of abilities are detailed, while others, like the orders of mages, are only alluded to.

Despite it being billed as the 1st book in the Rhenwars series, Darkmage can be read as a stand-alone novel. Both the writing and the world are strong enough to support this and I certainly had no difficulty enjoying the novel on its own terms. Having said that, I would eagerly visit the Rhen again…

Good book but lacking about 80% of backstory

I did like this book and just got #2 but it didn't give barely any history of characters. just kept getting the feeling of something missing. I would still recommend it and hopefully the second book will address this issue

Dark Fantasy

Not your typical sanderson or tolkien in terms of tone. Nor really in terms of quality. But what we have here is a dark story no one seems to win. It kind of draws on my mood reading stuff like this. a lot of popular fantasies have the good guys always winning, this story subverts that seems like nothing good come of anything.