The Hedge Wizard

A LitRPG / Progression Fantasy Adventure (The Hedge Wizard, Book 1)

By: Alex Maher

Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds

Legends speak of wizards with the power to rival Gods....

To Hump, it’s just a story. Apprenticed to a wandering wizard, he grew up on the road, following the coin on whatever quest it took them. He always believed his master was just an ordinary hedge wizard, until the old man suddenly died, and his book of spells bound to Hump’s soul.

Knowing no other life, Hump takes up his master’s staff and heads out alone into a world of dungeons and monsters. Scorned by the gods, wizards can trust only their own wit and skill to survive.

Lacking the godly gifts and grand ideals of the Chosen few, Hump fights for something else. If he wants to eat, he needs to work. And with a new Dungeon opening in Bledsbury, where better for a young hedge wizard to earn some coin?

So begins the path of The Wanderer. The White Flame. The Hedge Wizard.

Experience the start of a Progression Fantasy LitRPG Series about a working-class wizard out to forge his own path and prove that one does not have to be Chosen to do great deeds.

About the Series: Multiple magic systems, spells stolen from the gods, and an undefined path of progression, The Hedge Wizard brings a realism-focused spin to GameLit/LitRPG. Explore a world of long forgotten legends, where the Gods now reign and monsters roam.

©2022 Alex Maher (P)2022 Podium Audio

Lively magical adventure!!

I really enjoyed the character development and playfully encouraging conversations of the main characters.

I'll be first in line to pick-up the next book!

What an amazing experience Hedge Wizard was. Reviews have mentioned that this book is like a traditional tabletop D&D and although it might seem strange I admit I've never played it, or any RPG's. But be that as it's may. I found this story to have a great magic system and plot with lotsa action. Which makes my heart sing.
But, that ending was just Wow! Not a cliffhanger, but Wow! It turned up what would have been a great story, a dungeon crawl, to a whole new level and I've found myself fixated on it! Saying anything about that would be wrong as I would be plunging deep, Deep into Spoiler Territory!!! And I wouldn't do that. But now all I can think about is what happened and all the posibities of what's gonna happen next! It's a sure bet that I'll be first in line to pick-up the next book when it's released!
And of course I'll be getting the audio version because Tim Gerard Reynolds the narrator is awesome!

As good as they get

Alex Maher crafted a unique coming-of-age story around something called a hedge wizard, a loosely bonded group of magic wielders who who have learned their arcane arts out in the wild and without formal training. The MC, 16 year old Hump, was acting as an apprentice to a senior hedge wizard who befell from a grievous wound and inherited his senior's spell book and medallion. He eventually, through happenstance or providence (unclear from Book 1) meets up with 3 other companions who decide to form a party and take on a dungeon. What follows is lots of intrigue, betrayals and battle encounters that soon become more dangerous than what was originally believed.

While given both the litRPG AND Progression genre category, it's clearly not a litRPG novel. With that said, the story itself was enjoyable in that the author provided ample backstories for the primary protagonists to make them interesting and allow me to become invested in their exploits and the story in turn.

There was one area that was troublesome at times having to do with Hump's elongated temporizing during frantic battle encounters, all the while telling himself he had to stay focused!

Tim Gerard Reynolds' performance was superb, as I've come to expect.

On to book 2.

way better than expected. litTTRPG

highly recommend this book. It has some slight litrpg features (think d&d spell book with wizard levels). reviews complaining about false advertisement seem to forget not all games are PC or console. The story is wrapped up well enough while also opening a whole world of possible next adventures for the main party. it's a solid entry for a new series.

Good Start, Not GameLit

Overall good start to a fantasy story. The MCs have a Royce/Hadrian dynamic that is nice and balanced. This is really just a fantasy though, nothing about this really marks it as GameLit or even Progression Fantasy, as other reviews have said. I’m curious to see how the world pans out because it briefly touches on ranks/tiers of adventurers but nothing is really fleshed out, and the power levels all seem rather nebulous at this stage.