Fellian is a Lamplighter, an indentured servant using her magic to provide illumination. Rebel Monarchists free her and bring her with them to rescue their trapped compatriots from an underground complex of mines. There's a conspiracy to kill the royal child and wipe out the Monarchist movement, and Fellian is caught up in it. But she has more than just her Lamplighter skills to work with.

We see Fellian as a servant, bound to serve the state by cleaning bathrooms and creating Lamps to light the way for others. Reading and writing is a crime, especially for the poor, and any infraction or benefit is bought or paid for with added days of labor. It's a stark existence, with few highlights, and Fellian is abducted by those willing to use her services for their own gain. Royalty isn't determined by direct lineage as we would think, but by the presence of the rare birth of "a five-souled child," or a baby that is infused with the ability to command five elements of magic. While it's posited as a Liberation vs. Monarchist issue, Fellian points out how similar their actions can be. In either government style, the poor aren't seen to have any value for those with titles and riches. Either government would've had her humble beginnings as a farmer as a stumbling block for her advancement. Between the two, the Monarchist government valued teaching, but only for the element that she could control.

I was fascinated by the world building here. Wraiths imbued in bodies gifted them with magic, one of the five elements. Alternate planes of reality exist, and the feeling of a large kingdom is hinted at even if we're shown only small pieces of it. Fellian grew up with an Older Father and Younger Father as well as her mother, a situation treated as normal and beneficial for the families involved. Magic cuts down on travel, which would take too long by foot to cross the territories and cities involved in this story.

I get the feeling that this book is the start of a series, given that there are threads throughout the rest of the world that are left dangling. Fellian is at a crossroads, and (somewhat of a spoiler) is known as an Apprentice by virtue of her skill level. She learned this all on her own, so any formal schooling for her gift will undoubtedly bring her further up the chain. I liked Fellian, for all that she could blurt out questions and try to find out from others what they know. She's new to their world, as we are to hers, and I liked reading her story. If there is more to it, I'd definitely go looking for the books.

I wish I could tell you that this is a must read novella, because everything about this novella and the cover sound and look good. Unfortunately it couldn't grab me in the way I hoped it would.

Fellion is a lamplighter and an indentured servant mage just for having the misforture of having had parents who did the right thing and were hanged for it. As a servant mage she is required to do servant tasks throughout the day like cleaning. At night she has to light the lamps. And for that reason a group of rebels kidnap her and give her, her freedom. If she will help them rescue some trapped compatriots from the mines.

There is so much potential in this story. From the kind of mages this world has to offer, to the history the country had before its current state and the relationships between the various characters. Unfortunately the actual story lacked in depth. And with that I mean it felt like I was only getting surface level things.

I did not get swept up in this story of Fellion and this world because it just needed more room to expand. There was so much going on. From Fellion's history to her current life and wants and needs, to her fellow travellers to the monarchs history and the current battle to take it back and to keep the royal line alive. There just wasn't enough room for all these things. And for me it felt like we only got a little bit of everything.

I hope Kate Elliott is willing to write more in this world because like I said, it has the potential and there is so much room to expand on. That ending of Fellion alone.

I've had this author on my radar for a while so the opportunity to read this slightly shorter work was too good to pass up. Indeed if you fancy dipping your toe in fantasy without committing to a really long tome that lets face it can often put readers off then yes I do recommend this book.
Our heroine Fellion, is an indentured servant although to my mind she's treated like a slave. All she wants is the freedom to go home but in a world that subjugates those with magic her fears and trepidation when she's virtually kidnapped are understandable. Will she help those who seek to restore the old ways or does Fellion have secrets and a mission of her own ?
A very likeable protagonist, interesting, fully fledged magical abilities and also political machinations all come together to capture the readers interest. I'd love to further explore this world because it's clear that this story barely touches the surface. I eagerly turned the pages and desperately want to know what happens next.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

Servant Mage is a potentially great fantasy novel unfortunately constrained to a good fantasy novella. Kate Elliott packs it with enough backstory and world-building to anchor a full-length fantasy epic, but it's kept largely superficial, denied the depth and complexity of which she's more than capable.

The world-building is where this shines the brightest, especially in its magic system, which involves demons, dragons, and elemental powers. I was fascinated by how it all works, not to mention how and why the Liberationists fear it so much, making servants of mages and denying them their true potential. There's a deep political struggle behind it all as well, between those Liberationists and the Monarchists they defeated years ago, but it's a muddy sort of conflict with a lot of ugliness on both sides.

And that brings me to my biggest challenge with the world and its characters - it's an ugly place and not one of them is even marginally likable. I was curious about who they were and where their loyalties might lie, and there was a hint one one romance and a suggestion of another, either of which might reveal a little personality, but there's too many characters and too few pages to do them justice. There are seeds of doubt planted early on, details that make us wonder if the Monarchists we're following are any better than their opponents, and that moral grey space . . . well, it's just not that appealing.

There are some great moments here, beautiful acts of magic that give the story some life, some brightness, and some color, but they're just not enough to turn the mood. I liked Servant Mage as a novella, and I can see how I might even love it as a novel, but we're sadly not given the chance.

Fellian is a Lamplighter, gifted with fire magic in a world that considers free mages so dangerous that all with magic are enslaved, unless they come from powerful families. When revolutionaries seeking to restore the monarchy demand her help, Fellian joins their quest to save a newborn member of the royal family, while discovering secrets that could undo the entire power structure of her world. Deep, thoughtful, and enjoyable, sparkling with originality and rage. Fellian's demand to be treated as a person, not a tool, falls on deaf ears both with the ruling government and the monarchists, so she finds a way to bring them both down.

"In Kate Elliott's Servant Mage, a lowly fire mage finds herself entangled in an empire-spanning conspiracy on her way to discovering her true power.

They choose their laws to secure their power.

Fellian is a Lamplighter, able to provide illumination through magic. A group of rebel Monarchists free her from indentured servitude and take her on a journey to rescue trapped compatriots from an underground complex of mines.

Along the way they get caught up in a conspiracy to kill the latest royal child and wipe out the Monarchist movement for good.

But Fellian has more than just her Lamplighting skills up her sleeve..."

Dragons!!!

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for providing me with this advance reader copy.

Description from NetGalley:
Fellian is a Lamplighter, able to provide illumination through magic. A group of rebel Monarchists free her from indentured servitude and take her on a journey to rescue trapped compatriots from an underground complex of mines.

Along the way they get caught up in a conspiracy to kill the latest royal child and wipe out the Monarchist movement for good.

But Fellian has more than just her Lamplighting skills up her sleeve…

I loved this. I wish there was more as I was quickly drawn into the world by the snippets of world building and by the main character, Fellian. Let’s start with Fellian, actually. She’s got a lot going on in her head. She’s got the tragic backstory with her mother and father, the re-education from the ruling government, a difficult set of choices to make, etc. She’s a fire mage that has been taught that only magic that is good for all is the proper magic, aka being a Lamplighter. She cannot move freely and is stuck working as a servant.

Because this is a novella and not a full length novel, Fellian’s adventure/story starts out from the get go and doesn’t slow down the pacing at all. I could see this being frustrating for some readers, but I enjoyed the quick pacing and decision making as Fellian traverses between two sides that are both trying to rule the land, affecting how she’ll live and be seen. This would be a good novella for someone who wanted to try out the fantasy genre.

Fellion is an indentured slave called a servant mage who's affinity is fire. She is stolen from her owner to help rescue a bunch of refugees, but of course they are detoured on their quest. I don't want to say much else as we will get into spoiler territory for this novella.
I liked the magic system, atmosphere and the characters in here and I hope this isn't a standalone as I'd like to spend more time in this world.

This was a well written novella about a Lamplighter who is on a journey to rescue compatriots from mines but get caught in a dangerous solution. I enjoyed this novella as it's super short and everything gets to the point. The world building is simple so it's easy to understand in a short amount of time. This book is very fast paced which I enjoyed and I enjoyed how the author didn't add all the extra imagery to the book as it was more conflicts and page turners then world building. The story line was well structured and wasn't messy at all.

This book is written in Fellion's pov who is a complex character but is brave and such a true character. In a short novel, I was shocked how good her character development was. There aren't many main side characters in this novella which I was disappointed about but at least the main character was amazing. There also isn't any romance which I was sad about but then again it makes sense since this book is less then 200 pages.

The ending was well done with no cliffhanger. Overall this was a great story but I wish it was longer because I think the author could have brought so much more plus some romance. I totally recommend reading this novella as it has great world building, a bada** MC and dragons!

This was such an interesting story. It took a conflict with two obvious sides -- the Liberationists and the Monarchists -- and yet neither side came out of it looking very good.

The Liberationists are obviously corrupt and no-good from the start, in some ways cartoonishly so. And on the surface, the Monarchists *seem* to be better. But this story peels back some of the surface layers to show that at their heart, the two sides aren't all that different. They both have some serious class issues.

Fellian is an outcast in both groups and treated as a lower class of citizen, and clearly has no patience with either group. I like that she doesn't immediately fall in with the Monarchists as her saviors, and I like that they respect her enough to make her own choice.

This story overall was a tough read because a lot of information is left unsaid and readers are left trying to piece together what's going on for a lot of it. I like stories that don't give you all the information, but I could have used just a little more.

The magic system was very interesting and I feel like we barely scratched the surface. I'm definitely left intrigued.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Tordotcom for providing an e-arc for review.

This was such a great read! First, I adore the cover. It sucked me in and told me that this was definitely a story I want to read. The book starts off quickly and grabs your attention immediately. It’s fast-paced with fantastic mage action. The story didn’t follow the path I expected, and I’m so glad it didn’t. I couldn’t put it down.

Fellian is an indentured servant mage in a world where mages are used for their powers but not respected. When she is freed by a group of rebels who need her help, she finds out there’s a lot more to the world than she ever knew.

The characters are interesting and so is the world the author created. I want to know more about it! While this works as a stand-alone novel, I’d love to read a sequel. Servant Mage comes out on January 18 so you don’t have to wait long to read it. Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan/Tor-Forge, and Tordotcom for my copy.

FIRST IMPRESSION:

I read Kate Elliott’s 'Court of Fives' years back and I loved it. The world-building was great and I loved that her stories weren’t centred around romance. I was excited to hear that Elliott would be releasing a new fantasy standalone, so I grabbed a copy on NetGalley as soon as it went up!

THE STORY:

In a world where mages are looked down on because of the demon wraiths they house in themselves, Fellian is a Lamp, meaning she uses her power over the fire element to form lamps in the establishment she worked in.

Fellian gets recruited by rebel Monarchists who want to free fellow men who are trapped in a mine. However, they soon run across a scheme to murder the latest royal baby by the Liberationists and are soon caught up in a race against time.

THE GOOD BITS:

- The worldbuilding was absolutely intriguing! I was fascinated by the war-ridden history of Fellian’s world and the story behind the mages.
- The magic system gave me major 'Avatar The Last Airbender' vibes! Elemental magic and the fact that some people could sub-specialise was so cool! I was disappointed that we couldn’t see more of this magic system in 'Servant Mage'.
- I liked the political intrigue with its focus on power, class and choice in this novella. In addition to being believable, it echoed real-life issues we see in the world and in history.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD BITS:

- This novella is packed with way too many events and details. I honestly feel that 'Servant Mage' would have done a lot better as a full-length novel or even a series. I have no idea if the author intends to re-visit this universe in the future, but I would certainly be there if she does!
- The pace of the story was too rushed so I did not really have the time to relate to the characters or really see much development.
- Since the characters weren’t really delved into or developed enough, they were quite forgettable. I did not like that because these were major players in the Monarchists’ plan to take back their cities and I kept forgetting who was who.

FINAL VERDICT:

The worldbuilding and magic system in 'Servant Mage' was great to read about and showed so much potential. However, the rushed pace, the unnecessary details in the writing and the poor character development kept me from really falling in love with what the author was trying to achieve here.

3⭐️

This is only a novella and although I enjoyed this I felt that I wanted a bit more from the story and characters at times.
The world building, magic system and characters were good and a full length story would have filled these out even more .and allowed for a more free flowing and even paced book.
Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan - Tor/Forge for the opportunity to read and advance copy of this novella

Solidly written novella. It’s always nice to read a stand alone. It’s been a while since I’ve read anything else by this author but everything I had read by her in the past was also good! The main character of this book easy to feel for. She’s lived with years of abuse since watching her family executed. Of course she’s going to do whatever she has to do to escape! Despite the shortness of the book the setting feels well fleshed out too.

I really liked Servant Mage. We get thrown in this fantasy world in which magic is divided in 5 categories, all linked to elements of the Earth. I enjoyed this concept of magic being linked to nature!

Fellio, the main character, wields fire and light. When she is rescued from her prison by a mysterious rebel group, she ends up on a quest to save other enslaved prisoners, as well as to put an end to the Monarchy currently ruling.

This book has massive green flags. Fellion is a fantastic character, and I enjoyed reading about a group that is put together because they need to, but without them being really friends or close to each other. They are cordial, but they are juste making do. I love a good found family trope, but this was so much more realistic, and I was here for it.

The magic was also super cool to read about. Linking it to the elements is something I like, and also enjoyed in Night Spinner. There were awesome moments in the story featuring magic, and Fellion's power, fire/light is soooooooo cool! Unfortunately, it also leads me to the biggest issue I had with the book.

WHY DOES IT NEED TO BE SO SHORT????? The book flew by way too fast. I mean, it's a compliment, but in this case, the book really is short : around 180 pages. It would be perfect for other books, but Servant Mage is so dense and captivating I think it deserved way more descriptions, details about the magic system, and how the action is developping. I remember liking the book a lot, but it lacked details so much that I struggle remembering a lot about the plot, about a month later.

It's still a really good read, that you can go through pretty fast, and that will make you go on a great magic journey!

This novella has an amazing and unique premise, but it tries to do too many things in not enough pages. I love the idea of this magic system, but we never really understand it well enough. I love the idea of the characters, but we don't have enough time to care about them. I think it could make an awesome novel, or even trilogy, but as a novella it didn't make me care about the plot or characters.

This universe is completely unique in how it treats mages. Mages are subservient, basically enslaved, instead of the powerful beings we typically see. Fellion's is indentured to a wealthy tavern owner, cleaning during the day and creating lamps with her fire mage abilities at night. Until one day a group of rebels frees her in exchange for helping save a group of trapped rebels from an underground mine. But the adventure doesn't go exactly to plan.

First off, after reading some reviews, I want to point out this is a novella and it feels like a novella. I personally like novellas but, apparently, a lot of people don't. This book feels like an introduction to an universe or a series, maybe something set 20 years prior to the events of a series, but definitely a book I'd love to read. The characters are fine, though not hugely fleshed out due to the length of the book. All this story really did was introduce us to the universe but I think it did that extremely well.

Kate Elliott’s Servant Mage is an underdeveloped fantasy with interesting potential.
Servant Mage follows Lamplighter Fellion, who is recruited (under pressure) by rebels to help overthrow an oppressive regime. Although competent and shown to be a good person, Fellion failed to engage me as a reader—she felt like any other blandly ‘good’ magic-using protagonist. While many fantasy stories fall into the trap of over-explaining and excessive worldbuilding, Servant Mage errs in the other direction, with too little explanation given, so that the details that are provided feel like standard fantasy tropes cribbed from other novels. The title epitomizes what felt, to this reader, as a kind of disengaged lack of effort on the author’s part.
Recommended for dedicated readers of fantasy who prefer a female protagonist and short(er) books.

When a young enslaved lamplighter (someone who can magically call fire) is freed by rebels against the current oppressive government to free a young dragon who could return the world to "rights" in their eyes, she grapples with who she can trust and where she belongs. Servant Mage is an adventurous, magical, and subversive take on the "found family/group of friends" trope. It has an ensemble cast of rebels who each have different magical and fighting abilities, large-canvas political intrigue and civil war, elemental style magics, and a twisty and perfect ending.

I love this book so much. I am incredibly sad that it was so short and will be entirely a standalone because I enjoyed the world.