4.4 KiB
Morcyth Saga - Book #1, Free on Amazon
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Author: u/xamueljones My arch-enemy is entropy*
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URL: https://www.amazon.com/Unsuspecting-Mage-Morcyth-Saga-Book-ebook/dp/B001A40H0I
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Score: 1
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Created: 2016-06-21T12:09:04
Post:
Comments:
u/xamueljones [+1] My arch-enemy is entropy (7 minutes later)
I read this book a while ago and I liked reading about a smart character transported to a new world as a newbie wizard. I think this was one of the earlier books in the portal fantasy genre, so some of the tropes might be old hat to you (especially the D&D references). But I like how fast-paced it is and the main character is fairly clever in inventing uses for his magic as well as being somewhat rational in how he approaches dealing with the natives of the world. Side note, the magic is not the same as D&D magic, but it was based off of it.
It's slightly tricky for me to say if this is actually a rational story, but there are no moments where anyone is holding the idiot ball and this is a story I think people here would like. Also it's free so people aren't losing anything money-wise if they buy it. Although the other six books in the series aren't free, so the first book is most likely free to entice you into buying it.
Let me know if anyone else has read it. I'm curious to hear if other people think the story has elements of rationality in it.
EDIT: Oops after a few comments, it looks people here don't agree with the idea that this is a good story to recommend to this subreddit. My apologies!
u/elevul [+6] Cyoria Observer (4 hours later)
This review seems to indicate that the story is not rational at all: https://www.amazon.com/review/R3OITZLMBTNLPX/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B001A40H0I&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=133140011&store=digital-text
u/pje [+2] (7 hours later)
no moments where anyone is holding the idiot ball
I'm only a couple chapters in and screaming at him to experiment with magic more. He flipped an effing coin to decide which way to go, at a moment I was thinking he should be trying "As surely as my name's not Wendell / Transport me to the village of Trendle". For that matter, "As I wish upon a star / duplicate this candy bar." I mean, experiment a little FFS. :(
On this basis, I don't think James qualifies as even a level 1 intelligent character, as he fails the "does stuff the audience would instantly shout at him to do" test.
u/gommm [+1] (a day later)
Same here, I've finished the book. It's a fun and quick read but there's multiple times when I wanted to shout at the character and tell him to do something.
He has magic but instead of using tried and true methods, he tends to try new impressive feats of magic without even knowing if they'll exhaust him or not. Just as an example, he already used once magic to kill 3 people in the same room almost instantly by throwing pieces of wood through their heart.
He's later confronted with four riders that he could just kill in the same way by throwing stones, instead he decides to create a tornado that nearly exhausts him.
It's also repeated that he might die of exhaustion by doing magic if he doesn't know the energy requirements of a spell but he repeatedly tries new and never tested spells during battles. A more clever character would have spent more time testing and exploring the limits of the magic system instead of just winging it.
That said, it's like schooled in magic (a barely rational book recommended in this sub recently), it's a good way to pass time without thinking much...
EDIT: I quite agree with the amazon review...
u/pje [+1] (2 days later)
Eh, I actually enjoyed Schooled in Magic, for the most part, with some minor irritations growing stronger over multiple books. But this one, I gave up on before the plot got any further than the idiot losing the book on magic that he never took much time to read.
u/gommm [+1] (2 days later)
Well yes, I actually read all the books of Schooled in Magic. It's not rational and there's been a few times when I wanted to shout at Emily for being too emotional or behaving stupidly but it was still fun enough that I read all the books so it's got a point in it's favor :)
I don't think I'll read the next book of Morcyth saga though.