The Mage-Born Child

Servants of Ark #3

by Jonathan Wylie

1st edition paperback, vg++

Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Novels, Science Fiction Fantasy

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Jonathan Wylie is the pseudonym of Mark and Julia Smith, a married couple who live and work in Norfolk. Having met while they were both working for a major London publishing house, they sparked each other into creative life, and began writing as a team a few months after setting up home together. They have been writing full time since 1991. The pen-name they have used most recently is Julia Gray, author of Ice Mage, Fire Music, Isle of the Dead and the popular 'Guardian' Cycle.

Reviews

[Grianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si conclude qui questa trilogia dei coniugi Smith.
E lo fa in maniera non del tutto soddisfacente.
Questo volume conclusivo mi è piaciuto meno del precedente, ho trovato la trama meno coerente, e i personaggi più piatti, un po' abbandonati dagli autori.
Ferragamo aveva già perso dei punti ai miei occhi tra il primo e secondo libro, ma qui davvero è pessimo, così come lo è Mark.
I due protagonisti del romanzo d'apertura vengono qui completamente disintegrati. Folle e irresponsabile uno, depresso e deprimente l'altro, non capisco affatto la scelta degli autori di ridurre in questa maniera il Re di Ark e il suo Mago. Non l'ho capito e neanche apprezzato.
Yve è invece un bel personaggio, ma anche le scelte fatte in quanto la riguarda mi hanno lasciato alquanto perplessa.
Tutta la prima parte della storia, metà del libro praticamente, non è servita a nulla, se non a ricevere la profezia. Era anche carina come parte, ma in un libro dove le spiegazioni mancanti e le scelte fatte senza motivo apparente si impilano una sull'altra in un ammasso assai voluminoso, non comprendo davvero il motivo di andare a sprecare tutte quelle pagine per qualcosa che non aggiunge quasi nulla al resto.
Tante, anzi troppe azioni dei protagonisti sono rese in maniera superficiale e un po' troppo scontati...la rinuncia di Moroski alla magia, la depressione di Mark, il ruolo di Tzigane in tutta la faccenda, i draghi e il loro mondo. Niente di tutto questo è ben giustificato.
Lo stile rimane piacevole, ma a livello di trama quest'ultimo libro della trilogia mi ha lasciata con molte molte perplessità.

[Federica Leva · Rating 3 out of 5]

L'elenco delle debolezze di questo ciclo è lungo: originalità povera, stile trasandato, umorismo non sempre brillante, ecc..., eppure, nonostante questo, le storie si sorreggono, in parte appoggiandosi alla trama, che stuzzica la curiosità del lettore, in parte alla struttura, veloce, coinvolgente, scenografica. I tre libri sono concatenati temporalmente fra loro, ma narrano di vicende a sé stanti, di facile abbordaggio anche per un lettore che ignori quel che è stato raccontato in precedenza. Sullo sfondo narrativo s'intrecciano, in tutti e tre i capitoli, i lacci di misteriose profezie che guidano i protagonisti nell'incessante lotta contro il perfido mago Alzedo, l'oscura creatura dell'occulto che brama d'impossessarsi d'ogni isola abitata del mondo immaginario creato dagli autori. Protagonista del primo libro è Mark, terzo figlio d'un re assassinato da una figlia di Alzedo; scortato dal suo buffo famiglio, il gatto Longfur, e dalla Principessa Fontaine, sarà lui a dover affrontare la bella Amarino e liberare l'isola dall'usurpatore. Divenuto re, inaugura il secondo libro, dove cede lo scettro d'attore principale al figlio Luke, e alla bella Jiulia, figlia di Alzedo e innamorata del giovane principe. Nel romanzo conclusivo, sin dalle prime pagine emergono due nuove - e gradevoli - figure, la coraggiosa Maga Yve e il suo simpatico amico, il drago semitrasparente, Dolcezza. Saranno loro, assieme alla piccola figlia di un mago, a giocare un ruolo essenziale nell'ultima partita contro la morte. E il lieto fine, questa volta, non sarà scontato... 6 ½

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

c1988 2BTA Jonathan Wylie is actually the pen name of Mark and Julia Smith who also write as Julia Clay. British authors. Published in 1988, this is the 3rd book in the Servants of Ark series. Now out of print, the heroine Yve needs to vanquish evil by following the words of an age old prophecy "A child, mage-born, and marked for flight, /Shall add her voice but utter naught. /Daughter of time, her fate foretold, /Must heed the words of ages past." Enjoyable read if you like High Fantasy (which I do)

[Myles Harrold · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a pretty good ending, but there was no substance to most of the book until the very end. It is never a good sign when you find yourself asking why you are even reading a book half way through the book. I liked the characters and the pace, but I wasn't sure what the direction was.

[Catsalive · Rating 3 out of 5]

An OK series with few surprises. The ending was a little different from most. Very easy to read.

[Kevin Pimbblet · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final entry of the Servants of Ark trilogy is a bit of a mixed bag for me. The book moves the timeline along by a generation and the heroes of the old books have been very much reduced and undergone a personality alteration which grated on me. The plot centres around a prophecy and the bulk of the book (first half pretty much) centres around the prophecy, but hardly goes anywhere. The book at least introduces Yve who is well written, along with her half-there invisible dragon which was a nice addition. The book only really picks up toward the end but also leaves open some issues and questions. Perhaps that was intended. Glad I read the series, it doesn't take too much time or concentration, and for the main part is fine so long as you set expectations accordingly.

[Nikolai Norris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m glad we got a little bit of depth on different cultures and other islands! The ending was very confusing and I’m not totally sure how Azeldo was defeated but again it was a very comfortable book to read.

[Massimo Penazzi · Rating 2 out of 5]

un buon fantasy. Il solito fantasy.

[David Sarkies · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another fantasy book with a prophecy
22 August 2013

Well, there are only two other commentaries on this book and neither of them give one any reason to actually go an read it (or the entire trilogy to be precise). Okay, one does say that it is enjoyable if you like high fantasy, however I must admit that I am somewhat past that stage of my life, and though I may still, and probably will, read more fantasy, I am not in any rush to go out and do so.

It seems that this book is about a prophecy that, when fulfilled, will pretty much solve all of the world's problems. It is interesting how a lot of fantasy books evolve around prophecies (that tend to be really short) about a person will come and solve all of the world's problems. I suspect that this comes out of our own Christian heritage, though it is interesting that the idea of the prophecy is somewhat different to how it came about in reality.

If you are interested to see how prophecy works in real world religions the best example would be the gospel of Matthew because that entire book is orientated around proving that Jesus Christ was the prophesied one. However, the other interesting thing is that the prophecies of Christ (if you believe in their authenticity) tend to be quite long and complicated, and open to misinterpretation. I say that because people have, and still do, believe that the prophesied Messiah would be some sort of warrior king, when in reality the Messiah was more like a sacrificial lamb. However, that does not change the fact that further prophecies still predict the second coming of Jesus as a warrior king.

Many of the stories that revolve around prophecies tend to revolve around short prophecies that are easy to understand and when the event happens everybody knows what is happening. Mind you, when Jesus came and started doing things the Jews, where were very familiar with the Old Testament, did recognise him, but then they still went out and killed him (because he wasn't the Messiah they wanted, but the whole idea of the death of Jesus is quite complicated with numerous competing interests, including the fact that the death was actually a part of the prophecy itself). Also, it is interesting that the fulfilment of the Christian prophecies are, in a way, only half fulfilled because it appears that the world has gone on in much the way that it has gone on before. Okay, things and attitudes have changed, and we do have human rights, democracy, and more empowerment, at least here in the Western World, but in many other ways we are still ruled by our selfish passions and our greedy nature.

[Althea Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

The last in the Servants of Ark trilogy, this book, again, takes place a generation after the previous one. We meet Yve, an exceptional female wizard, and her familiar, a dragon who only halfway exists in this world. The characters and situations that the book mentions are interesting enough, but the characters never really come to life, and events are repeatedly just left kinda hanging.... Yeah, the world has to be saved, or destroyed, or something, but I just wasn't feeling it.