Naila is supposedly a mage, or at least that is what she keeps being told. She is, however, completely unable to wield magic. Because of this she is stuck in limbo, because even though she can't wield her magic just having it marks her as something possibly dangerous if she can't learn to control it, but how could she possibly control what she can't even touch. This makes her an outcast among her peers at The Academy and thanks to the rise of Lieno Oriven and his hateful attacks on the "Hollows", or non-mages shes even been driven from the one place in all of Amoria she's called home because she's been marked as a mage. Just as the divide between the non-mages and mages reach a Flashpoint Naila does the unthinkable she defends herself against not just promising mages of The Academy but the daughter of the most politically powerful man in the city, none other than Lieno Oriven. Just when she thinks her life is over Haelius Akana, a man so powerful he's called the Mage of a Generation steps into help Naila, unfortunately for them both not only does Oriven hate Haelius with a passion, things have awakened in the world, myths straight out of legend and they are coming for Naila.

I do not believe Outcast Mage could be coming out at a better time, with a large number of readers across social media asserting that politics have "no place in reading" this is unashamedly political. In all honesty, there is no way Campbell or her publisher could have known this backlash to the American elections would take place. This was definitely the read I needed right now. Campbell firmly not only establishes how politicians turn fear into hate, but just how ridiculously easy it is for one man in the right position to wield that hate to his own ends. This alone makes this brilliant for me.

On top of being pretty blunt when it comes to how one political party can easily turn a people against each other, she has created some truly wonderful characters here. I was honestly surprised when I read her authors bio at the end and she said she wrote "tropes", because while yes I suppose many of the character's actions in this could be considered "trope-y" I found she did such an excellent job of establishing these characters personalities that they were less tropes and simply just the way this character was. Haelius especially does so many things that normally I'd call out as a trope, but that's genuinely just who he is as a person. What's more is that Entonin, who I expected to be just a walking trope, was really not only the exact opposite but emerged as one of my favorite characters. This was incredibly surprising to me because I assumed I was going to hate him as soon as he was introduced. I can not express how annoyed I'll be if he goes sideways, though. 😂 I hate Dailem. With every fiber of my being.

The pacing on this was the edge of your seat as well. The tension was palpable. From the minute the book opens and the first blow was struck between the Mages and the non-mages until the very end I found myself racing to actually get to the end with a desperate hope that something might go right for once. This, of course, did not happen, and now I have to wait forever to find out what the hell happened at the end. The cliffhanger here was brutal.

I've only got a couple of small complaints. This story is told from the perspectives of each individual character, and while for the most part the story ran smoothly, some chapters I found to be disjointed. Like we'd skipped just a little too far ahead and never circled back to an issue the previous characters' chapter faced. This really didn't happen very often, but enough that I went back and reread chapters a couple of times because I felt like I missed something. And the world building was well done, but I still feel like I'm missing a lot of information, especially with the mass killings of the Mages by the Ellathian Empire and the Dragon Myths. That being said, I can see this being addressed more in depth in the next book.

Overall, this was an excellent debut fantasy, and I highly recommend it.

As always, thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the eArc!

A compelling story for class warfare between magic and non-magic users. Also the use of magical artifacts was done well. My issue with this novel is the pacing and some of the character choices.

A fantastic debut that ends on a cliffhanger. Will be patiently waiting for the next book in the series.

In The Outcast Mage by Annabel Campbell, a young girl who doesn’t know magic is at a magic school because one wizard believed that she did have magic. When she gets in trouble, the wizard decides to try and teach her magic. Meanwhile, the rest of the city is mysteriously falling apart and the rift between mages and non-mages is getting wider. Can the girl learn magic? Who’s causing trouble in the city? A magical fantasy with a touch of mystery unfolds as this fantastic novel progresses. The Outcast Mage is only the start of a brand-new series!

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher, I got to read The Outcast Mage early. I didn’t know it was the beginning of a series but I started to suspect that was so halfway through the book. It didn’t seem like there was any way everything could be wrapped up by the end of the book. I was right. This book ends with a shocking cliffhanger.

The Outcast Mage starts off a bit slow, perhaps a little bit too focused on describing a lot of things, but once it gets going, wow, this book hooked me. The characters, especially the main character and the wizard are really good. Like many books I’ve seen recently, The Outcast Mage shifts perspectives a lot. The book is told in third person but we do get the thoughts of that chapter’s character with each perspective change. The titles to each chapter are the characters’ name that the chapter focuses on. Thats pretty handy to let us know who this chapter will be about.

This is a fantasy novel but there is a lot of mystery and we do get an answer to one of the book’s biggest mysteries by the end. Not everything is revealed but there’s enough there to hook readers. I know I’m hooked. I can’t wait to read the next book! I have to know what’ll happen to everyone.

The Outcast Mage is an excellent book. It has complex characters in a very unique and interesting world that you’ll want to know more about. There is so much potential and its likely that further books will be even better than this one. I’m looking forward to reading (and hopefully reviewing) more of this series!

The Outcast Mage releases on January 28th, 2025. If you love fantasy novels set in unique worlds, than you’ll want to read this one. Thank you again to Net Galley and the publisher for letting me reading this book early.

Gosh, what a great debut book for high fantasy! I had a bit of a hard time understanding what was going on especially with the multiple povs. But as the book progressed I got more into the book and couldn’t put it down! Naila’s story was intriguing, I loved seeing her progress as a character and fully trust her found family. Cannot wait to continue reading this series!

The Outcast Mage by Annabel Campbell is a truly intriguing read, packed with layers and depth. The world-building is immersive, with twists and turns that keep you guessing at what’s to come—or what each revelation might mean. It was refreshing to read a fantasy that steers clear of romance, focusing instead on rich, complex storytelling. This is definitely one for readers who enjoy solid, traditional fantasy! I'm interested to see more from this author.

What a wonderful debut! I loved the magic system and the characters. The plot was interesting and drew me in. Looking forward to more from Campbell!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC!
I will be taking a break from ARCs for a little while.

Beginning a High Fantasy story by being thrown into the world with no explanation is definitely not the best way to go. I know some people love to be thrown into an ongoing story and go with the flow - but I find it hard to get into… especially if it’s a High Fantasy.

I like to believe I’m smart - but that book made me feel like my IQ was inferior to what it is. I was confused as to what the stakes were. I also dislike when stories tell you things without showing it. So you’re just meant to accept what’s going on or what the stakes are without explanations or a deep understanding of the world.

Moving on to multi POV… that’s another thing that can be a big hit or miss aspect. And in that case - I did feel like the characters blended in and I couldn’t really tell them apart.

In summary, I do think this book has an interesting concept and will appeal to some readers. But I couldn’t get into it and found it a bit confusing to navigate.

In a world where magic is king, a mage who can feel the magic of others but not use her own is in real trouble. Naila is a student at the magic academy, and she won't be able to leave until she can control her magic. The problem? She doesn't seem to have any magic to control even though all the tests say she is definitely a mage. When events happen that threaten Naila's safety and her very existence in the city she calls home; Haelius, the most powerful mage of his time, steps in to try to help her find and harness her power. But things are changing, power is shifting, and danger is lurking that neither of them can foresee. They will both have to decide what's important, who they are, and how they can survive long enough to figure out what's going on. This is the first in a debut fantasy series, and it will leave the reader anxiously awaiting the next installment.

I enjoyed this book. The magic is interesting, and the contrast between those with and without magic is well-done. I think this book is actually a good transition between YA and true adult fantasy. One of our MC's, Naila, is a young adult and deals with young adult issues like friendship and bullying, but most of the other characters are adults dealing with adult issues like politics and power. It's a good mix and a good balance that I think lends itself well the crossing from the YA into the adult genre. In addition, the romance is minimal and not overly spicy.

There is a lot going on in this book: magic, politics, family drama, slight romance, and more that I can't name without spoilers. I did, at times, feel that some elements were thrown in without warning; and that was slightly jarring, but given that this is only the first in the series, I'm withholding judgement to see where it goes. I'm thinking that the world building will probably continue in the second book giving it a much broader scope that we are originally led to believe. This could be a great choice for a fantasy reader who enjoys a complex world with lots of different fantastical elements to keep them on the edge of their seats.

Overall, I enjoyed both the characters and the plot of this book, and I'm looking forward to reading more in the series.

I'm happy I stuck around this book. The beginning was slow and hard for me to get into but I think it sped up and picked up in the second half. I like the relationship between characters and seeing them unfold. I just think the pacing could have used some work

This was such a strong story and enjoyed the fantasy element that worked well overall in the world. The element worked overall with the genre and was enjoying the overall feel of this. Annabel Campbell has a strong writing style and had that overall feel that I was looking for. I was invested in what was happening and glad I got to read this.

Dnf, too many povs. But other people might like the book. I originally picked up the book because of the synopsis, but ot was disappointing.

I almost dnf’d this, but I’m glad I stuck it through. Honestly only kept with it because I enjoyed Haelius and later his mentor/mentee relationship with Naila. Which I absolutely loved. More relationships like this over romance centered novels would be lovely. The story really caught my attention more halfway through and then I didn’t put it down until I had finished.

The beginning was slow and I regularly felt lost or as though I was missing something. The world building leaves it up to the reader to try and scrounge up any clues they can, and the more I read the more I wanted some actual clarification of the setting. Apparently, there are a lot of background politics going on both within the city and between the city and the rest of the outside world, but none of it really made sense to me. I feel as if I only picked up on the surface level of everything. Most of the information I got on those topics were slipped into moments in the later part of the story. Even the glossary in the back that I stopped to read before continuing wasn’t all that much help. It mostly helped keep characters straight. The characters needed a bit more background also. What drove most of them? Why are they the way they are? Especially the villain Oriven. So, he just wanted power? And while this all may sound more on the negative side this story had something good that it is building. It had a unique magic system and an interesting world even through my own confusion. As a debut fantasy novel I’m curious as to where the rest of the series is heading and if anything will be more clear in the sequel.
All in all though it wasn’t a bad read.