Robots and Vamps

Reviewed by Matt

The Awakened Mage is the second and final book in Karen Miller’s Kingmaker Kingbreaker series. It is somewhat unusual to only have a two book series instead of the typical three. But in many respects this works out well as it kept the story tighter and more focused instead of a lot of filler plot. I had some issues with the pacing of the first novel, The Innocent Mage. Ms. Miller resolved this issue with The Awakened Mage as it moves in more of an even fashion all the way to the nail biting ending.

The Awakened Mage begins at the exact point that The Innocent Mage ended. The Royal family was involved in a tragic accident leaving only Prince Gar and Master Magician Durm alive. As we learned in the last book, the evil Morg inhabited Durm’s body and is planing to destroy Barl’s Wall. This would allow him and his evil forces to take over the Kingdom of Lur. Ms. Miller provides an interesting twist at the beginning of the novel by making the bad guy disappear for about half the story as she did in the book. Durm’s body is badly injured and is confined to the hospital until he is able to recover. This allows the story to build without having Morg interfering.

With the King dead and the Master Magician incapacitated, the Kingdom will need a Weatherworker before Barl’s Wall comes crashing down. Prince Gar is the next in line but he only recently came into his magical powers and soon learns it is only temporary. Eventually Prince Gar comes to terms with his fleeting powers and discovers a surprising fact, Asher, an Olken, is able perform Weatherworking magic. It is against the law for Olkens to practice magic and anyone caught doing it will be put to death. Prince Gar convinces Asher to cover for him until he can find out why his powers suddenly disappeared. With this revelation the Innocent Mage has arrived but this also means that the Final Days is upon the Kingdom.

I liked that several of minor characters from the first book have a bigger part in this story. My favorite character, next to Asher, Pellen Orrick comes through in vivid detail as man of virtue. In fact, I would have liked to have read entire novel involving Orrick. Dathne also moves to the forefront and I enjoyed the direction Ms. Miller took with Dathne and Asher.

Honestly, I had no real quibbles with this book. It captured my attention so much that I devoured the 700 page book in 2 days. Ms. Miller’s prose flows so smoothly that it really takes no real effort to read. Ms. Miller also allows the tension and danger to build slowly throughout the story when it comes to a boiling point at the end. I was squirming at portions when bad things would happen to the characters. Like I said, this novel sucked me in hard.

I cannot recommend the Kingmaker Kingbreaker series highly enough. I haven’t had this much fun reading a fantasy series since the summer I slammed through David Edding’s Belgariad series. Now I have to find a few days to read The Prodigal Mage, the first book in the Fisherman’s Children series. There is never enough time.

Author’s website: Karen Miller

To discuss this book, please visit Robots and Vamps Book Club