The Mage from Nowhere

Legends of the Tainted, Book 1

By: B.T. Narro

Narrated by: Nick Podehl

Not a legend. Not a protector. Not even a sorcerer. Tarak was just fine with that until, in a single day, his whole world was taken from him.

Tarak is thrown into a strange city with just a few coppers in his pocket and the tainted shadow of his family following him. At least the ale is better, but famine and poverty make it a little hard to enjoy that. With no one to call his friend and almost no knowledge of sorcery, Tarak will have to compete with the best sorcerers if he wishes to remain free.

Tarak has done a pretty good job of avoiding what his single-minded father called his "destiny" for seventeen years, but now his identity is revealed, and it's drawing more attention than a tear through the rump of his pants.

It's looking like an uphill road, but there are some major bonuses. It turns out sorcery is not as complicated as his father made it seem, and not every sorcerer has to be as virtuous as the old dog.

©2023 B.T. Narro (P)2024 Podium Audio

Unlikable MC

I could only get about 6 hours into the book before I had to put it down.

The MC is an idiot that spouts a bunch of self righteous garbage, ignores reality, acts on any and every impulse he has, and walks right into every obvious setup just to get repeatedly humiliated and apparently secretly enjoys it because he just accepts it and spits out another stupid line to beg for more.

I would think the author was setting him up for some huge character development (more like complete reconstruction) except other reviewers have said there is no change at all. He’s still complete cringe by the end of the book.

Masochists may enjoy this story but everyone else I will warn away.

Another good Fantasy novel narrated by Nick Podehl

The dialog and plot could use some more passion, depth and introspection. It doesn't seem to have an obvious objective/goal for the reader to look forward. The magic system is very well developed.

Fun set up and then just goes to waste

I really enjoyed the magic system and how it works but then it got over explained over and over again. The characters feel really shallow and 1 dimensional. I tried so hard to finish this book but the peak of the 3rd act just could not keep my attention and I finally gave up and moved onto a new book.
Love Nick Podehl though! He’s always worth listening to.

It is oddly refreshing.

Honestly, I bought this book because it was 18 hours but now I'm glad I got it.
It starts rough with the MC being too whiny once over it, the MC mellows out to a mischievous f*ck doing mischievous things for entertainment. That loki-esque attitude is what I like about this book you see.
And there is kingdom politics.
Everything else makes sense the king and his retinue are new and there are god-like beings so there is almost no pomp and ceremony.
Some books treat risque scenes either as taboo and just gloss over it or almost in your face pounding but this book has a good balance I think enough to entertain but not to disgust.

The only thing I would say to disparage is that the book doesn't give me a sense of scale the environment is a bit off anytime there is travel it feels like they fast traveled there or the climatic battle is just a few paces away from the wall. if I wanted to draw a map from imagination I would draw a circle call it the city and a line for the forest.
All in all I can't wait for the second book.

Unique magic system

The overall story is pretty good. I enjoyed seeing a story with actual character development. It's not something we get to much now a days.

I enjoyed how the author used music as his magic system. While it was not exactly the same it helped me international understand with the different notes and octives.

overall the story was enjoyable and I would definitely read more from this author.