Magicians Impossible

By: Brad Abraham

Narrated by: Bradford Hastings

Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Twentysomething bartender Jason Bishop's world is shattered when his estranged father commits suicide, but the greater shock comes when he learns his father was a secret agent in the employ of the Invisible Hand, an ancient society of spies wielding magic in a centuries-spanning war. Now, the Golden Dawn, the shadowy cabal of witches and warlocks responsible for Daniel Bishop's murder and for the death of Jason's mother years before, have Jason in their sights. His survival will depend on mastering his own dormant magic abilities, providing he makes it through the training.

From New York to Paris and to a world between worlds, Jason's journey through the realm of magic will be fraught with peril. But with enemies and allies on both sides of this war, whom can he trust? The Invisible Hand, who have been more of a family than his own family ever was? The Golden Dawn, who may know the secrets behind his mysterious lineage?

For Jason Bishop, only one thing is for certain: The magic he has slowly been mastering is telling him not to trust anybody.

©2017 Brad Abraham (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

A compelling enough story...

Magician’s Impossible kept me listening because it was a fresh take on warring magicians stories. The warring factions are more like high level spies and use their varying forms of magic of infiltrate and cripple the enemy organization whom they’re trying to stop from obtaining a precious relic that can win either faction the war. The protagonist was okay. A little boring at first, his life uninteresting. He climbs through the ranks very quickly. Even though he is uncommonly powerful for being new, I would have really liked to see more failure in his attempts at becoming the next level.

Speaking of next level, this is one of the cooler parts of this story. In these factions, the type of mage you are and the current abilities you possess eventually stack as you become more powerful. All of these powers they learn lend toward the idea of what spies require to be successful and the best in their craft. However, that being said, like my previous comment, I think would have liked to see a backfire element developed in the stacking of abilities. In the current set up, any mage can grow and become just like any other. They are no longer unique. They all have the same abilities. An involved consequence would have made those stakes of intense training a little more interesting.

The rest of the story is okay. Only okay. It moves both fast and slow at times. General tropes are a plenty in this story, none of which I’ll say to keep it spoiler free. The tropes are actually glaring at sometimes. At one point, I asked myself, “the author didn’t really do that, just to achieve this reaction.” But, he did.

Anyway, Magician’s Impossible is a good read. Worth the 8+ hours. Narrator is great. Voice changes are spot on, especially with dialect shifts.

great read, page turner, left wanting more..

thought the book was great, excellent plot, and great concept. I felt lost at times but overall really enjoyed the book. left wanting a sequel

Great Debut novel

What did you love best about Magicians Impossible?

This story is fast-paced from the first page and pulls you in for a wonderful ride full of action where things are not as they seem. The author really paints pictures in your mind with words and you feel like you're there in the middle of the action.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Magicians Impossible?

The daring ride down Murder Hill.

What does Bradford Hastings bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Wonderful narrator who really helps to pull you into the author's world.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Many moments of betrayal and revelations that prove that you're when you think you know the direction the story is heading in. Many twists and turns in this novel

Any additional comments?

I'm not generally a fan of Sci-Fi or Fantasy but you don't have to be to enjoy this book.

Little kitchy, but a good story.

I liked the story, but I was a little kitchy. However, the author makes it a point to call it out in a humorous way.

overall good book.

Good start

This was a great, fast paced, easily read, action packed story. It was very interesting and worth the read. The world within Magicians Impossible is enthralling and fascinating, but it's paired with a simple, to a point of it seeming convenient plot. I felt like there was more story to read, but there were no more words. The ending gave me no resolution whatsoever because the entire story read in a very run of the mill way.

Which really sucked because the characters are awesome; all the supporting characters and foes (there are many) are all terrific. There are twist and turns in this fantasy paranormal novel.

The mundanes, humans without magic, live in a world unaware that magic exists. In this world, changes in the mundane world are not permanent. There are 2 fractions fighting each other. The Invisible Hand which stands for Order, and the Golden Dawn which stands for chaos. The Invisible Hand is comprised of actual mages, while the Golden Dawn is comprised of wizards, (non-magical humans who cast spells).

The protagonist is Jason. He is a thirty-year-old bartender. We meet him going to the funeral of his estranged father who committed suicide. His world is turned upside down when he is told that his father was a magician. That begins his discovery of his magic.

Jason is with the Invisible Hand, the same organization as his father. Jason’s father was murdered by the Red Queen of the Golden Dawn. These groups are chasing the Sphere of Destiny. Of course, Jason is the main character needed in obtaining and using the sphere. The Hogwarts of Magicians Impossible is the Citadel. It is filled with doors to every location on Earth. It is pretty much impregnable.

Jason begins as a person who needs love and to believe in something. Finding his magic and others like him infuses him with life. As he is drawn further and further into the conflict between The Invisible Hand and The Golden Dawn, he finds that he is not sure who he can trust, if anybody. At that point Brad Abraham plants to many twist and turns in the plot that it becomes overwhelming.

I'm a person who really needs to know the why. I like things to make sense and be justified. I know the reader must suspend their belief in things to enjoy the paranormal. A few of the major things were not sufficiently explained that I had to take off points.

There is lots of action with mages and wizards blinking around the world chasing each other for the elusive sphere. There is a great fight in Paris. At this point the action is moving at such a fast paced that I had to go over some parts.

The characters repeat that magic is an illusion. It was a mantra that saved Jason. There was a major question of why and how at the end of the book that was left as a cliff hanger. This was another reason for a deduction of a star.

Brad Abraham has great characters and world to build a series. Jason is trained and there are mages and wizards who need to help shape the new age.

Not bad.

Ran better than I thought it would and over all it maintained an interesting profile for a story. Surprise me. Expected it to be story that suddenly became a lead in to a series. Though, that could still happen.

A Good Beginning To A New Series

"Magicians Impossible" is the first book in what I am assuming will be a series. The book is a cross between Mission Impossible and Harry Potter, only, the Harry Potter similarities have a twist, in that it's about an adult and not a child. Basically, bartender, Jason Bishop, finds himself caught up in a battle between two warring magical communities that he never knew he was a part of. There are a lot of elements in the story that regular readers of action, adventure and urban fantasy stories will find familiar. But that's okay with me as long as the writer does something great with those familiar elements. For me, however, author Brad Abraham didn't do anything great with the familiar elements, but he did do something good. I liked the premise of the story and I liked the execution of it. I just didn't love it. I think part of the problem was that other than the main character, none of the others, and there are a lot of them, are really fleshed out. Therefore, I didn't and I don't think you will either, care about them, I didn't have much of an investment in them.

I also didn't care for Bradford Hastings, the narrator, I think his delivery was uneven. It seemed like sometimes he would deliver lines convincingly, like an actor in a movie. Other times it felt as if he was just reading words.

All in all, I would definitely try the next book in the series when it becomes available, but I won't be chomping at the bit waiting for book two to come out. And if there is no book two, I won't feel sad about it either.