"Rise of the Mages" by Scott Drakeford is a fantasy novel that tells the story of a group of powerful mages who band together to stop an evil force threatening to destroy their world. The book is filled with action, adventure, and magic, with a well-developed plot and a diverse cast of characters.

Drakeford's writing style is straightforward and easy to follow, making it a great choice for readers who enjoy fast-paced fantasy stories. The book is well-edited, with few grammatical errors or typos.

While the book does a good job of building a unique world filled with interesting characters, some readers may find the plot predictable and the character development lacking. Additionally, some scenes may feel rushed, and the book could benefit from more detailed descriptions of the magic and settings.

Overall, "Rise of the Mages" is a solid addition to the fantasy genre, with an exciting plot and engaging characters. While it may not be the most groundbreaking fantasy novel out there, it is a fun and entertaining read that will appeal to fans of the genre.

As it goes an interesting new fantasy featuring the rise of mages, the return of an evil god (whose hungry!) and a trainee who gains his hidden talents and rises to the occasion, despite the tragedies unfolding around him. I spent a bit of time wondering how much I really liked this somewhat predictable new offering in the Epic / sword and sorcery category. I just wasn’t as captured as I wanted to be but then this is only the first in the series so I’m reserving my judgement somewhat.
It has everything one could want—evil vs good, political junketing, mages and weaponry, familial havoc, an unrelenting quest for answers.
True to its genre, a solid beginning. BTW I love the cover.

A Macmillan-Tor/Forge ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own )

This is a book that begins with a really ominous prologue which was a great start for me because I am pro prologue. Give them to me all day. It kind of gives you a little sneak peak on what our characters are probably going to have to deal with. It gives you little snippets of the Magic. Prologues are like someone holding a delicious cake in front of you and they tell you you’re only aloud to take your finger and swipe a little frosting.

The writing, the humor, the world building, reminded me a lot of blood of an exile which funnily enough to also from the same publisher. I think what Drakeford has created here is really cool. If you are like me and enjoy your stories fast paced with a dark villain, war, mixed with found family and a pretty complex magic system then this is a book you should try out. The base of the story surrounds 2 bothers, who attempt to flee the school that they have been training at but one of them is captured, and of course through brotherly love, our main character goes on a revenge quest to punish those who took his brother. And he will literally do whatever it takes. The author does a tremendous job of taking the reader along the character’s journey and though I enjoyed that and many other aspects, there was one major factor that hindered my love for it and that was that I found it really hard to care for the main character and when that happens it will of course effect my enjoyment overall. I had a hard time feeling sympathy for him, and to root for him on his quest. There was just some depth there missing with his personality.

I ended up giving this 3 out of 5 stars, I think it was really cool idea especially for a debut and this authors strength for sure is pacing and action because there was a ton of it.

I love randomly coming across debut novels and giving them a try. The latest debut novel to come across my desk is Rise of the Mages, by Scott Drakeford. This is a new epic fantasy novel that I'm always on the lookout for (and I know I'm not the only one).

All Emrael Ire wanted was a test that would prove him worthy of becoming a weapons master. Instead, he gets to face an insurrection. A real one, to be clear. Not a test one. As if the stakes weren't high enough, Emrael's brother has been enslaved by the corrupt nobles, who are coincidentally the insurrection.

To survive what is to come and hopefully save the day, Emreal will need the help of his War Master tutor. With her help, he'll finally understand the true talents that lay beneath his skin – and the responsibility he carries.

Rise of the Mages was a fun and compelling read that leaned on many epic fantasy tropes to carry the reader along. This made the novel feel so delightfully familiar while still throwing out surprises here and there.

Truthfully, much of Rise of the Mages felt like a series I loved as a child (The Belgariad series), so I am happy to see that new authors are stepping up to fill that void (left by necessity, look it up if you must).

There are a lot of political machinations woven into the main narrative of Rise of the Mages, which significantly adds to the complexity of the tale. Personally, though, I loved the reliance on a few other tropes, mainly the found family trope. This is one of my absolute favorites, and it added a personal touch in a novel that otherwise could have run the risk of feeling more dramatic than emotional.

3.5 Stars
The first in The Age of Ire and my first read of this author, Rise of the Mages is a fast paced, action packed fantasy. Good world building and developing characters this was an overall good read and I will look to read more.

I saw this book on a twitter link (and I'm now sorry I can't say who created it!) that briefly discussed some of the most anticipated fantasy books of 2022. This one sounded interesting to me, and I was excited to get to read a review copy from netgalley!

It's obvious that a lot of planning went into this world and it's politics and magic system. I love when as a reader I can sense a world depth that isn't all explained, but is responsible for events and choices. I also thought the pacing was good - the story never dragged for me and there was always something happening - usually involving fighting :)

I liked some of the characters - especially Ban and Jaina (the weaponmaster). I did get annoyed at the main character (Emrael) a lot - he's impulsive and makes snaps decisions, and doesn't listen much to the advice of teachers. Note: this may have annoyed me more than most because I AM a teacher, and I hate when students just think their way is better. Of course, Emrael often amazed his teachers after he went and did something forbidden so, maybe he was right! But from teacher perspective - annoying! :) That said, his character was consistent throughout the story, so I can't complain.

I struggled a bit with Rise of the Mages - the characters felt a little shoe-horned into specific roles/personalities, and it never felt like they were differentiable just from their speaking voices. The world building is great; you can tell Drakeford spent the time to envision the history of his setting, and the action scenes flow well. Definitely a good novel, it just didn't grab me as I had hoped.

This has everything that I love. Political intrigue, a very unique magic system, and fantastic characters. I loved it! So many things are unresolved and I can't wait for more of this series!

Drakeford's first entry to his Age of the Ire series will be enjoyed by any who wished to read a story of young man, with unknown potential, and his ragtag group of friends embarking on a quest to save his younger brother. The magic system is interesting and constantly in present in the world built by Drakeford.

Personally, the book's main protagonist irked me. The only other person I felt was fleshed out was Jaina and I actually really did like her. While I enjoyed the world, I only ever was interested in Jaina and another character. And because this book is about Emrael you won't get to know much about them so I'm out of luck.

The past weekend, I went to a beautiful spa in the woods for a much-needed day of rest and relaxation. The spa had all sorts of wonderful saunas and a pool, but it also had a reading room with little couches to relax on. Given my love of reading, a desire to relax, and a bunch of free time, I figured I would make a large amount of headway in the books I had with me. I then picked up Rise of the Mages, by Scott Drakeford, and promptly fell asleep.

Honestly, to say Rise of the Mages is boring would be a falsehood. It’s actually too exciting to the point where it becomes a mess. The plot is a chaotic clusterf***. The real meat of the story is about a man Emrael, whose life at the capital city magic school is interrupted when a rogue element of the government attempts a hostile take over of the school to recruit its students for a genocidal war motivated by racism. As you can tell, super casual and low-key book. Emrael and his band of friends, teachers, and countrymen must run around the areas surrounding the city and come up with a plan to rescue Emrael’s captured artificer brother from the capital, before escaping to a foreign nation in a state of war that is run by Emrael’s mother, while Emrael is also in the process of discovering that he has magic— something that he thought did not exist only two days ago. There is also a ton of information I am leaving out of this description, in particular a number of events that take place around the death of Emrael’s father at the start of the book, but they mostly end up feeling like they don’t matter by the end (for at least book one).

Rise of the Mages has a bunch of positives going for it, but its negative (that it is extremely busy) overshadows most of them. There is so much extraneous information packed into this book, particularly in the first quarter, that there is almost no flow and the story can be very difficult to follow. Most of this information is clearly foreshadowing future conflicts in the story, but the book as a whole is suffering from a big old case of the cart before the horse in a number of dimensions. Rise of the Mages does a poor job establishing itself at the start and just dumps you like a sack of ham into a story that feels like it is relying on knowledge of existing fantasy tropes to carry its setup. Because of this, both the world and the characters can often feel underdeveloped and unearned. There is also little emotional investment in the stakes where we have barely gotten to know these characters before things start to explode.

On the other hand, the book is definitely exciting, with some interesting action sequences. Although the world and its conflicts feel watered down for a book about cultural wars, the Citidel war school and its artificer corps was super cool and I definitely wanted to know more. Also, there is a lot of foreshadowing of a fallen god that doesn’t mesh with the rest of the book, but it is super rad and I definitely found myself wanting to know more about their conflict. Thus, I suspect that Rise of the Mages will be the weakest book in this series and that the later ones might jive with me a lot more. However, this, once again, feels like a cart before the horse so I am not sure how much I want to reward the book for that sort of behavior.

Rise of the Mages is gritty, action-packed, and brimming with potential. But, it is also a chaotic mess that needs to put in more legwork to earn some of its setup and execution and would be better served by a slower and more fleshed-out opening. If you like fast-paced and action-oriented stories, this might be for you if you can roll with the punches. I personally felt like it was a little too much work on my end for a relaxing spa day.

Rating: Rise of the Mages – 5.5/10
-Andrew

I'm just going to straight up say that if you like fight scenes in fantasy stories, then this is the book for you. The action never stops. It also has a similar vibe to The Name of the Wind, especially in the beginning, as well as more old school fantasy series, such as Goodkind's Sword of Truth or even Paolini's Inheritance Cycle. Rise of the Mages, like those titles, is the story of a boy with mysterious gifts fighting against evil while trying not to let the power consume him.

In Rise of the Mages, we're following Emrael, who is training to become a weapons master but keeps falling short. However, when his city gets attacked during his final exam, all he wants to do is save his brother. Even if that means unlocking something that was hidden inside him. Something that could get him killed.

While I do think this book is perfect for readers who are nostalgic for that classic fantasy style, it did take a bit of time to get used to the dialogue. Some of the paragraphs were a little more formal than you'd expect, with long, what I like to call "mini-speeches" given by the main character or the side characters. It's not bad, it just takes a while to get used to.

Also, Emrael starts off as a rather average student. He's not the best fighter, but he's not the worst. And he has to work for his place in his school. However, he gets to be the leader of his ragtag group of friends very quickly for some reason. I guess because his mentor didn't ever step up and other people blindly decided to follow the young man who has never led anything in his life? It was a little odd, but nothing that overly detracted from the plot. Now, something that did detract from the plot was the violence. While I am not averse to violence in my fantasy stories, this one just Would. Not. Stop. At one point it was chapter after chapter of characters getting stabbed, burned alive, impaled, thrown into walls, etc. Only for our heroes to also be punched, kicked, stabbed, etc. Over and over and over again. Thank goodness the protagonists had a magical healing method or otherwise... Yikes.

Because of the constant insertion of fight scenes and the protagonist's anti-hero methods, I couldn't rate Rise of the Mages as high as I'd hoped. It's not a bad story by any means, I just think that if some of those fight scenes had turned into world-building scenes or character-driven scenes instead of slashing and hacking, a better story could have been made. I'm more of a character-driven-story kind of reader, so it's totally a personal preference. I will say that despite my negative reaction towards the end of the book (after getting bogged down in battle after battle), I was still intrigued with how the events were unfolding. I don't think I'll read the sequel to this one, but I may pick up Drakeford's future books. I think he has potential, and this debut will definitely appeal to a lot of swords and sorcery readers.

*Note: I received a NetGalley ARC of this book to review from the publisher. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

Wonderful first novel of a new fantasy series, from a debut author no less. 4.5 ⭐️ rounded up. I received this book as an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the start to a coming of age tale of two brothers Emrael and Ban. They are descendants of the legendary Mage Kings of old, who have become myths as they have not existed for many years. The world is in political turmoil with a group trying to unite the Provinces and overthrow neighboring kingdoms. As war is the way of life in this age of unrest, our two brothers are training at a military academy known as the Citadel learning how to become Masters of War or Crafting after something happens to their father. Crafting involves creating devices that can harness the magic of the land (called infusori) as it is thought the ability to directly manipulate this power has been lost in the Provinces. The political unrest sweeps through the Citadel and Emrael’s brother is kidnapped and Emrael is forced to flee, and deeper plots start to come to the surface as Emrael learns not everything is as it seems. Lurking in the shadows, perhaps pulling strings, is a god known as the Fallen God of Glory and his following of evil mages who use artifacts that control minds and turn people into their zombie army. Will Emrael be able to save his brother, and what is he willing to do in order to accomplish this goal?

Ok, ok I will admit for the first 50-60% of the book the main character Emrael was insufferable. So tunnel-visioned that he literally threw any common sense or logic out of the window and made incredibly stupid and frustrating decisions, but as this is a sort of coming of age tale that is kind of to be expected. As I was going through this book I was thinking to myself..it’s pretty good but for some reason not great. Then I hit the last 25% of this book and I was like YAAAASSS it was so good how plot threads came together, and twists and turns happened in the narrative breaking up the classic fantasy vibes I initially felt. This is a debut novel and is really excellent! I would highly recommend for people who are fans of Brandon Sanderson who enjoy a more graphic take on violence. With the Prologue and Epilogue I am so excited to read the sequel and find out more about the Fallen God.

This book has everything an epic fantasy fan could want, would highly recommend!
-Intense action sequences ✅
-Interesting magic system reminiscent of a mix of stormlight and Warbreaker (if you know you know) ✅
-Creepy evil magicians that enslave peoples minds and turn them into zombie armies ✅
-Political machinations and great twists and turns in the story ✅

WARNING GRAPHIC violence in this book. It’s not grim dark but does not shy away from graphic details of limbs being hacked off and throats being cut, etc.

As I was reading the summary for this book, I was thinking that this would be a really good book to help me get more into the Sci/ Fantasy realm or genre. I do like some SCFY, but not this one, while the book sounded really good, I just wasn't impressed with the way it was written, and also the plot. It seemed like it was a normal plot for every fantasy book I have started to read lately.

I would definitely not recommend this book. Hence my rating of 3 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Rise of the Mages by Scott Drakeford is an epic fantasy novel and the opening to a new series. The story starts off following two brothers, Emrael and Ban Ire, who leave their mother to train at the Citadel in order to gain their Marks as their father had. Although descendants of kings, the brothers are no more than peasants now. When an attack takes Emrael’s brother away from him, he will stop at nothing to rescue Ban. Full of epic battles, magic and friendship, Rise of the Mages is an intriguing first novel that will leave you wanting more.

A story about two brothers with magic involved had my interest and the story did not disappoint! Immediately, I was hooked by the magic system and the characters. I have little complaints and the story definitely got better and better as I kept reading, the ending being super exciting. I felt like around 100 pages in, it started to feel like the excitement from the beginning had dulled down and some of the main character’s lines were a bit repetitive. But it quickly picked back up and got even more exciting. If you enjoy epic fantasy with a lot of battles and Mages, I highly recommend.

I want to know more about the magic system and what all Mages can do. That was super fun to read about. Also the Crafting was really interesting. I can’t wait to read book 2 and see what happens next!

Favorite character: Ban and Elle, also Halrec
Favorite part: battle scene on the bridge and the ending

Warnings: violence and gore, some bad language

I’m going to round up for the good time I was shown in reading this. It is a fairly straightforward adventure story. Our bold hero and his friends need to fight back against the pretty evident evil that’s staged a bloody coup. The young man at the center of the story is bold and likable with his loyalty to his captive brother and his friends though and provided an engaging focus to the book.. The story is fast paced, I don’t know how many books the author has planned but this volume, while it ends in a satisfying way sets up a much bigger story to come. For any reader looking for a straightforward adventure fantasy series this one would be a fine choice! I’m marking this author as follow on Goodreads so I don’t miss hearing about book two.

Good first novel from Mr. Drakeford will be looking forward to reading more in the future. Good for fans of Brian McCellan or Brent Weeks.

Thanks again and again for scott Drakeford, and Netgalley for this Arc! I received in return for an Honest review and I am excited to review.

I am a Drakeford fan for sure! I devoured this book and its plot twists, that is a coming if age story but doesnt walk through the beginning...it sprints. The story is very well written, fast paced and gives you surprises from start to finish.

When a plot reveal comes quickly in a story, you begin to wonder if there be any more....this story doesn't disappoint

The story is reminiscent of another novel, if even only a little. The use of "infusori" through devices to accomplish tasks reminds me of Rothfuss books and their use if magically charged devices. It gives a unique feel, because many devices are modern ideas but in a classic fantasy setting.

The Typical fantasy Tropes are there, but so refreshing in their presentation, that i was delighted reading them.

I really enjoyed the story and genuinely cared about the characters that I cant wait for another novel in this series.

Would DEFINITELY recommend to friend, family member, co-worker, or random stranger on the street...

I received this copy from Net galley for a honest review!
PLEASE READ
Scott Drakeford's RISE OF THE MAGES ……….you really root for the underdog, good vs Evil…..
exceptionally & innovative story, with a unique magic system, In a entrancing world!

Political intrigue, a family overthrown, a fallen God….. action packed!

infusori what a name, if you wanna know what it means you gotta read the book I give this book 5 stars
⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️excellent excellent excellent!!!

Scott Drakeford’s Rise of the Mages is an ambitious epic fantasy debut that shows promise but falls short in the details.
Rise of the Mages focuses on Emrael, a young man who finds himself quickly caught up in a quest to save his brother Ban, while discovering his abilities as a mage. Emrael is determined, capable, and driven, which made it easier to be invested in his journey, although he never really became likable (for me, anyway). However, many times Emrael’s abilities seemed beyond the pale, even for a clearly cinematic-style fantasy novel like this one (for example, after being cut with a sword, and while being lassoed and strangled, Emrael kicks his attacked in the throat). Emrael often veers into histrionics, and sometimes it was hard for me to understand why he was reacting so strongly.
As a reader, I’ve had my tolerance for epic fantasy with thinly veiled loan words and unpredictable capitalization and italicization wane over the years, and unfortunately, this book relies on all of those for its worldbuilding. There are certainly original elements. Even some of the tried-and-true tropes of epic fantasy that still appeal to me (such as the fallen god who has awakened) didn’t do much for me in this book.
In part that was because there was constantly a hint of the juvenile lurking under everything—it comes through most clearly in the dialogue and the characterization, but also, as I’ve pointed above, in the worldbuilding. In part it was because I never really liked any of the characters. I was also disappointed in the final line, which was clearly meant to be dramatic and a type of hook to catch the reader, but was simply a restatement of information we’d known since the prologue.
While devotees of epic fantasy may find that this book rewards their dedication, casual readers should pass on this one.

Rise of the Mages, the start of a new fantasy trilogy, is Scott Drakeford’s debut novel, and honestly, it has the feel of a debut — some (maybe overly) familiar characters and plot points mixed in with a few more original concepts, some issues with pacing, and a sense that the author is trying to aim at something that has potential but isn’t quite hitting the mark. As a standalone, I can’t recommend it, but I’m also not writing off the projected trilogy quite yet.

For generations, Emrael Ire’s ancestors ruled the land if Iraea as Mage Kings. Two generations ago, Irae was conquered by the United Provinces and Emrael’s grandmother fled with her young son into exile in Barrow, where Emrael’s father, Janrael grew up to “take his Mark as a Master of War at the Citadel” and become a commander in the Barrows Legion. But three years ago, Janrael was either captured or killed by bandits. Fatherless, and with his mother having returned to her homeland of Ordena, Emrael and his younger brother Ban enroll at The Citadel to earn their own marks, with Emrael mostly focused on soldierly training and Bran on the quasi-magical/quasi-technological art of “Crafting.” While Crafting — instilling “infusori” energy into artifacts which allow them to perform tasks such as creating light or heat is allowed, true magic (using infusoria directly)is outlawed.

But when The Citadel is attacked by magical Malithii priests of the Fallen God, who ensorcel people with “mindbinders” and lead an army of monsters, and who are also supported by a corrupt and ambitious governor of the United Provinces (who may or may not know of the priests’ true goals), Ban is captured and Emrael forced to flee for his life with a handful of friends, including Elle, youngest daughter of Governor Barros; Jaina, his Ordenian martial arts instructor who has more to her than Emrael knew; and his childhood friend Halrec, now a soldier in the Barros Legion. Driven to rescue his brother, Emrael ends up jailed (multiple times) and nearly killed (multiple times), finds himself embroiled in the politics of conquest and rebellion, and learns that he himself may have the abilities of his ancestor Mage Kings.

Crafting is an intriguing magical, or semi-magical system in the way it mixes technology and magic, and I found myself wishing that Drakeford had devoted more pages to it rather than on Emrael learning to master his own mage-skill of using infusoria energy directly to do things like punch holes in walls or set things on fire, which is a far more run-of-the-mill kind of magic and thus, to me at least, far less interesting.

Somewhat similarly, I was intrigued by both the history and contemporary politics of the United Provinces, the old war with Iraea, the reign of the Mage Kings, etc. but while we get enough to understand the plot as it unfolded (who was opposed to whom, who might be an heir to where), I felt we could have been given a lot more detail both because it was potentially interesting but also so this world felt like its own world and not a basic stage set that could have been the background of any of a number of different fantasy plots.

As for this plot, it has its issues. It meanders a bit with characters going to and fro to little effect and then ending up back in places they’d begun, it had too many fight scenes that weren’t balanced enough by more character-driven moments (though I’ll acknowledge mileage may vary on this; certainly a lot of people love them some fight scenes), it at times relies too much on characters not doing the smart thing (more on that later), and feels rushed, particularly in the latter part of the book, where plot events that could have worked with better set up here feel implausible or contrived.

Characterization is also problematic at times. Emrael’s desperate attempt to rescue his brother is certainly believable, though I wish we had spent more time with them so it could be better felt emotionally, and the idea that such desperation would drive him to impatience, anger, and rash acts is equally plausible, but only up to a point. I feel as if here Drakewood was trying to maybe show us the consequences of such single-minded focus, but if that’s the case (and it may not be) the execution wasn’t sufficient. Which meant that too often Emrael came across as stupid, selfish, self-involved to the exclusion of caring what happened to other people, and really overall, just an ass in his treatment of people. At first you can roll with it as the inevitable response to his brother’s capture, then you tolerate it, then you roll your eyes, then, if you’re me, you start writing margin notes like “just stop!” and “he’s being a jerk” and “asshole.” Now, if that’s the goal, mission accomplished, but I’m not sure that is the ultimate goal, and even if so, that’s a fine line to walk to create a character a reader wants to follow and also strangle. On a basic level, Emrael’s yelling and table-slamming and foot-stomping about “but my brother!” is simple too repetitive. The other characters, meanwhile, are not annoying, but none particularly stand out as fully realized creations, save one or two. There are also a few times where I felt they “broke” character.

This sort of “neat idea but not fully realized execution” is, as I said in the intro, often the hallmark of a debut novel. Here, the weaknesses I think outweigh the book’s strengths, which is why I can’t recommend it on its own. But there’s enough here to warrant a second look. So my recommendation is to hold off on Rise of the Mages and see if book two evinces the sort of growth one hopes from a first-time author.


2.5