Awesome.

'Battlemage' by Stephen Aryan reminds me of the works of David Gemmell, I can give no higher praise than that.

Talk about action packed. We’re immediately into battle within 50 pages. The political strategy, the battles, the friends, the smidge bit of supernatural, it all worked really well. It’s not something I would normally pick up and read but I’m glad I did.

I’ve been reading a lot of fantasy lately. This one ended up meh. The Big Bad’s were too predictable and one Big Bad does a huge fade out in the end which was disappointing. The climactic battle scene had no dialog, nothing to break up the pages of paragraphs of the battle. I found that really, really, really boring. The protagonists plans all went according to plan. There weren’t any mess ups. The back teased that the princess would be something. She sort of was but not really. I read it. There are two more books in the trilogy. I liked the characters but the writing style just kept irking me.

I heard about this book a few years back when it first came out and thought it sounded interesting. I have always liked a good wizard/sorcerer/mage in fantasy books.

I picked this up and before starting was worried that I'd be disappointed. Sometimes we get an author trying to relay something from D&D or some other game into a story and it doesn't work. (Note: I'm a long time gamer and love D&D and a few of those books do work very well.)

This was a very solid story. Magic used to be a much bigger thing in this world with sorcerers who were able to use magic for a variety of things. These days it is only battlemages who know how to fight with magic. To make it worse, the one place that trained them is not really doing that any longer.

A group of battlemages are called to protect a nation under attack by an evil group of nations. The bag guys have a battlemage too, named the Warlock.

In addition to the battlemages, we also have some other very interesting characters including the princess, a warrior, and a spy. The varying viewpoints and story is well crafted and interesting. The pace and dialogue are good.

All in all, a very solid novel. I'll be checking out the sequel.

I found this to be a fairly middle of the road fantasy novel, at no point did I want to stop my read entirely nor was I particularly motivated to continue reading it. Quite predictable at times and I found the characters a little two-dimensional. The author manages to make grand magic-based battles somewhat engaging. There's a 'twist' about 2/3rds of the way through which you would've hoped plays a signficant role in the end of the story, unfortunately not. Instead it just helps tie up a loose end, clearly leaving this particular story thread to be explored in the sequel.

Not a bad book by any means, I finished it and got some enjoyment from it, but not a great book either.

Review from Tenacious Reader: http://www.tenaciousreader.com/2015/10/19/audiobook-review-battlemage-by-stephen-aryan/


3.5/5 stars


Battlemage is a bloody battle ridden book that is fun in the familiarities and interesting for its differences. It is a classic good versus evil story, complete with a mad emperor, religious zealots and lots of battles. Like, lots of battles. The story is told through three points of view, each providing a unique vantage point giving the reader the inside track of the different way the war was being waged.

Balfrus is one of the battlemages who are fighting for the King of Seveldrom. They are at war against Zecorria, which is led by a mad Emperor who has a powerful battlemage of his own called The Warlock. Don’t names like that just make characters sound more ominous? But of course a powerful battlemage who does the bidding of a mad emperor is bound to inspire a good amount of enmity to earn his name. While there is a good deal more magic going on in this book than a typical grimdark book, there is actually a good deal amount of mundane human battle occurring as well. I enjoyed Balfrus’ perspective, and gaining insight to what it was like for him, as well as other battlemages to be separated from their families at a young age to be trained to prepare to serve in the capacity they are now serving.

Vargus is an mercenary that is down in the trenches, getting dirty and bloody fighting this war. While battlemages pit against each other, using magic, sorcery, mind control to serve their ends, Vargus and his comrades are swords length from their enemies fighting up close and personal, putting their own life and blood on the line to serve. They all make sacrifices, but the seeing the difference between the two groups was interesting.

Talandra is a princess of Seveldrom. But, don’t make the mistake of pegging her as a vapid girl with her sights only on potential marriage prospects or the latest fashions. Talandra is bright and crafty, and, well, she also happens to be a spymaster. Her actions prove that physical strength and magical strength are not the only ways to fight a war. Intelligence and planning are crucial and can make all the difference. See, this is the type of female character I can’t help but love.

The plot and story were undeniable enjoyable and exciting. My only issue while reading is that at times I just wished some of the battles were a little shorter, or certain aspects a tad less predictable. But also keeping in mind this is a debut book, I think the author is worth watching, and the series worthy of reading on.

Audiobook Note: Matt Addis delivers a good performance in this with a pleasing voice. His inflection and tone helped reinforce the characterizations and added to the reading experience.