Title: Dragon Mage
Author: ML Spencer
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 2020
Pages: 819
Goodreads Rating: 4.61
Rating: 5/10
“Fear is your enemy. Don’t surrender to it.”
A centuries-long enemy has been strengthening in the shadows. Champions to defend all that is good have been targeted and eliminated from the world. There is little chance of victory if there is no Champion to lead the way. But hope can be found even in the darkest of times with the unlikeliest of people.
Pros
Grimdark/random horror
Nothing bonds you to a story’s characters better than random horror. And Dragon Mage is packed with grimdark elements.
Side characters
The secondary characters add so much to the story. Because we have a neurodiverse main character, we don’t get a ton of storyline or world building details from his perspective. Luckily, we get a nice, if infrequent, variety of POVs from the side characters in order to build our knowledge of what exactly is going on in this massive epic fantasy.
Cons
Magic system
There is very little explanation as to how the magic system works in this book. How exactly do colorful knots produce magic? What does it look like when Aram creates these knots? How can Aram use his magic without training? Why does Aram lack a teacher or trainer who has experience using these magical knots? Don’t expect any real answers to any of these questions.
Too convenient
How did a True Savant and a True Impervious end up in the same town at about the same age? Again… don’t expect any answers to this extreme plot convenience. I understand that the two main characters needed to meet in order for the story to begin. I just wish there had been some explanation as to how they conveniently ended up in the same town as young boys.
Main character
This is likely an unpopular opinion regarding Spencer’s choice of main character… So let me start by saying that I appreciate diverse characters. But not at the detriment of the storyline. Choosing an ASD main character felt like a cop out to avoid detailed storyline and world building.
Overall…
For an 800+ page book with a mediocre rating, I don’t know if I can recommend it. It was an epic fantasy story that could… but didn’t.
Caroline’s Library 