Conrad Brent exists somewhere between the pages of Percy Jackson and Harry Dresden. He is a smart-mouthed unconventional modern-day wizard in the middle of New York's bustling metropolis. Brooklyn, to be exact.

Nothing he does is by the book, but he is one of the few entrusted with the task of protecting muggles (I mean mundies) from the things that use magic in the night. Or the middle of broad daylight. See, the magical world isn't hidden so much as those who live outside of it can't see it for what it is.

It keeps things interesting.

A delightful blend of sarcastic wit and fast-paced storytelling kept me riveted throughout the pages of The Middling Affliction. It's been a long time since an urban fantasy grabbed me, and this one had me on page one. If you want an extra treat, consider Middling Affliction in audio so you can hear the range of characters in their element. And believe me, do they vary. Every character is colorful and three-dimensional right down to the ogre at the front desk. (But I'll let you meet Tiny for yourself.)

In all honesty the only thing I didn't love were the sheer number of point-blank pop culture references. I'm talking Ready Player One tongue-in-cheek, there's no escaping them pop culture references. While I was able to understand and appreciate all of the nerd culture interwoven in the narrative, I couldn't help but wonder if it really made an impact on the story. Or if it might outdate the series too quickly.

Overall Middling Affliction was a magical roller coaster cover-to-cover and I cannot wait to follow Conrad Brent on his future adventures.

[Thank you to NetGalley and Arc Manor for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.]

The Middling Affliction (Conradverse Chronicles) by Alex Shvartsman
Cover Artist: Tulio Brito
Review by Sam Lubell
Caezik SF & Fantasy Trade Paperback / eBook ISBN/ITEM#: 9781647100544
Date: 31 May 2022

The Middling Affliction by Alex Shvartsman is a fun light urban fantasy with some mystery elements.

Conrad Brent lives in a world where magic is real but hidden from the ordinary citizens of New York and the world. He is part of the Watch, a volunteer group of magic users who protect regular people from dangerous magical creatures and evil magically Gifted.

But Conrad has a secret he keeps even from his friends in the Watch. He is not himself a powerful Gifted but a lowly middling, who can see magic but not cast spells. He survives in the Watch by using amulets and other magical objects and by outwitting his adversaries. He thinks of himself as a Batman-type, using gadgets to keep up with magical superheroes. But if he is discovered, his fellow members of the Watch would kill him since middlings are anathema and hated by the traditional Gifted.

When Conrad learns that a Travelling Faire plans on auctioning off another middling for the winner to kill, he resolves to rescue her. Although this enables him to discover a threat that would remove the powers of all the Gifted, his efforts to rally the Watch are stymied when a former apprentice exposes him as a middling. Now, stripped of all his magical resources, with only another middling, completely new to this world, on his side, he must use his wits, his bluffing ability, and his attitude to uncover and defeat a worldwide plot.

Conrad is a great character. He is smart and resourceful, always with a quip or a smart-aleck comment. He is clearly modeled after the film noir private detectives. Although Shvartsman says he had not read Jim Butcher's Dresden Files books, its main character, Harry Dresden, is also based on this model. So fans of the Dresden Files will enjoy The Middling Affliction.

While the book is short for a modern fantasy novel at 239 pages, the cover declares it to be Book One of the Conradverse Chronicles. Book Two, Kakistocracy, was just published this October. I look forward to reading it.

Note that while The Middling Affliction is available in paper and ebook through all the usual sources, its publisher, Arc Manor, offers an interesting alternative. Its Book Bale program has a $5.95 a month membership that allows a member to download up to $30 worth of ebooks from its catalog per month. Unlike with Amazon's Kindle Unlimited program, users get to keep the books even if they end their subscription. However, be aware the Book Bale catalog has a very limited selection.

I received a free copy of this book and my thanks to the author-translator team and the team of NetGalley for the copy.

All views expressed in this review are my own and based on my reading of this book. Some of the initial comments were made as I progressed in this book and I have not tried editing them as it expresses my contiguous thoughts as I proceeded with the story.

"What would you do if you lost everything that mattered to you, as well as all means to protect yourself and others, but still had to save the day? Conrad Brent is about to find out."

This was a very interesting blurb with the protagonist basically a hero in a magical world but in a world full of supermen. Initial feel was very much like a witching/wizarding world where magical ability is common and there are three categories, many who are people with no ability, some who are gifted and others who are half magical and ironically the most despised.
The story and its connotations both obvious and read between the lines is tailor made for mayhem and the book delivers at many levels especially in terms of action and displays of superpower. This is also a well crafted world with the characters very well defined and varied and their wisecracks. The world is varied and has a lot of potential and Alex has made an effort to map it perfectly.
There is quite a bit of back and forth between incidents but for such a massive world that is par for the course and ultimately it is the sarcasm and wisecracks dripping all over that takes this book beyond the mundane and the middling.
Waiting to read the next one. Cheers.

I don’t read a lot of urban fantasy, but I had so much fun reading this one that I feel like I should check out the genre more often! I really liked the magic system and the world building here. I was intrigued right away, and I found the story unique and thought-provoking, on top of being plain fun. Not to mention, I feel like I found a cast of characters that I’d love to follow through subsequent books. If I had any complaints, I’d say that the pacing was a little hectic and uneven at times, but as this was a book that I was just having fun with and not taking too seriously, I didn’t mind too much. Overall, I thought this was a great read & I’m looking forward to the next book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions presented here are my own.

ARC Review ~ The Middling Affliction~

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When this popped up on NetGalley I was intrigued by the premise and it looked like a lot of fun and it really is. The writing is fast paced and witty. The magical system is unique and fun, who wouldn’t love a cross between supernatural elements and comic book-esque vigilante superheroes. The characters are fun, not just Conrad (the main character) but also the myriad of enemies and allies he finds along the way. The dialogue is full of sarcasm and pop culture references that are a good way to break up the nonstop action and once I finished the first I had to jump right into the sequel.

Thank you NetGalley and Arc Manor for this ARC

This is great fun to read. Original and engaging, snarky and funny. I will keep an eye out for more in this series. Well done.