eBOOK REVIEW - The Dark Mage
Mike
www.mysticmoonpress.com 196 pages ebook $5.99 (U.S.)
This is a fantasy novel by one my (rapidly becoming) favorite
authors. In the past, I wasn’t a big fan of ebooks, but I have
overcome this dislike. (Okay, mostly overcome it…I still prefer the
feel of a book in hand as opposed to a book on s disc or hard-drive.)
I was a little conflicted when I started reading this book. Some of
the character motivations, and some of the dialogue seemed juvenile
(bordering on infantile in a couple of instances) to be believable.
But I was willing to hold that conflict in check and give the author a
chance to makes changes and show character growth.
This story shares a few characters with an earlier one of Ciarin’s
(Soulbreaker, which I reviewed last year), although it is not a sequel
to that story. It is set in a magical city and in the land of fairie,
and features a few well-known characters from fairy-lore such as
Oberon and Maeb, and shows some novel approaches to life in their
realm.
The questions I had about motivations and dialogue worked themselves
out the further along in the book I read. As the central characters
became more aware of their own inner reality (Kerberos has a lot to
learn about himself) and their own relationships to each other and the
fairie realm (Seana finds an unexpected side to herself) they overcome
the initial awkwardness which troubled me at the beginning of the
story.
If I had one complain to make about this book, it would have nothing
to do with the book. About the time it arrived I found myself with a
series of time-consuming, unplanned, real world interruptions, and I
wasn’t able to just sit back and enjoy the book in only a couple of
sittings. It caught my interest and carried me off to the land of
fairie. I begrudged every moment I had to spend away from it.
Over the years, as readers of my reviews have discovered, I have been
relentless in my disapproval of what has been, in my opinion, a
consistent laxness in editing in the publishing world. It still
bothers me (especially in works by larger, “mainstream,” publishers),
but I have come to accept the fact that most writers and publishers
rely on spell-checking programs to do their corrections. Thus, when I
find minor glitches I may note them in passing but that is about it.
Major problems get noted and commented upon. I am happy to say that I
found no such problems with this book.
There is at least one more book with some of the same shared
characters coming out (The Phoenix Mage) in the near future. I am
looking forward to seeing it, and I recommend that you check back with
www.mysticmoonpress.com frequently so you can get it as soon as it is
available.
Baird Stafford
<20fbbc1c-2170-4f3f...@t3g2000yqa.googlegroups.com>,
Mike <gleaso...@comcast.net> wrote:
> This is a fantasy novel by one my (rapidly becoming) favorite
> authors. In the past, I wasnąt a big fan of ebooks, but I have
> overcome this dislike. (Okay, mostly overcome itŠI still prefer the
> feel of a book in hand as opposed to a book on s disc or hard-drive.)
One other benefit to having a physical book in your hand: the
technology doesn't change so quickly that stuff you already own becomes
unreadable in five years or less. A book in the hand is the same book a
hundred years hence - and just as easy to read.
<snip>
Blessed be,
Baird
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