What do you think?
Rate this book
Mageborn #4
The God-Stone War
Alternate cover edition of ASIN B00CH3ASSM
Seven years have passed since Mordecai’s battle with the Shining God, Celior, and since that time his control of his abilities has vastly improved. He has at last envisioned a use for the ‘God-Stone’, but the gods want vengeance and now seek to destroy everything he has built. The secrets of the past threaten the future of his kingdom, his family, and perhaps humanity itself, unless Mordecai can discover the meaning of ‘Illeniel’s Doom’. How far will a desperate wizard go to protect his children… or will his efforts merely damn them all?
Seven years have passed since Mordecai’s battle with the Shining God, Celior, and since that time his control of his abilities has vastly improved. He has at last envisioned a use for the ‘God-Stone’, but the gods want vengeance and now seek to destroy everything he has built. The secrets of the past threaten the future of his kingdom, his family, and perhaps humanity itself, unless Mordecai can discover the meaning of ‘Illeniel’s Doom’. How far will a desperate wizard go to protect his children… or will his efforts merely damn them all?
561 pages, ebook
First published April 27, 2013
697 people are currently reading
1162 people want to read
About the author
Michael G. Manning
30 books2,094 followersMichael Manning was born in Cleveland, Texas and spent his formative years there, reading fantasy and science fiction, concocting home grown experiments in his backyard, and generally avoiding schoolwork.
Eventually he went to college, starting at Sam Houston State University, where his love of beer blossomed and his obsession with playing role-playing games led him to what he calls 'his best year ever' and what most of his family calls 'the lost year'.
Several years and a few crappy jobs later, he decided to pursue college again and was somehow accepted into the University of Houston Honors program (we won't get into the particulars of that miracle). This led to a degree in pharmacy and it followed from there that he wound up with a license to practice said profession.
Unfortunately, Michael was not a very good pharmacist. Being relatively lawless and free spirited were not particularly good traits to possess in a career focused on perfection, patient safety, and the letter-of-the-law. Nevertheless, he persisted and after a stint as a hospital pharmacy manager wound up as a pharmacist working in correctional managed care for the State of Texas.
He gave drugs to prisoners.
After a year or two at UTMB he became bored and taught himself entirely too much about networking, programming, and database design and administration. At first his supervisors warned him (repeatedly) to do his assigned tasks and stop designing programs to help his coworkers do theirs, but eventually they gave up and just let him do whatever he liked since it seemed to be generally working out well for them.
Ten or eleven years later and he got bored with that too. So he wrote a book. We won't talk about where he was when he wrote 'The Blacksmith's Son', but let's just assume he was probably supposed to be doing something else at the time.
Some people liked the book and told other people. Now they won't leave him alone.
After another year or two, he decided to just give up and stop pretending to be a pharmacist/programmer, much to the chagrin of his mother (who had only ever wanted him to grow up to be a doctor and had finally become content with the fact that he had settled on pharmacy instead).
Michael's wife supported his decision, even as she stubbornly refused to believe he would make any money at it. It turned out later that she was just telling him this because she knew that nothing made Michael more contrary than his never ending desire to prove her wrong. Once he was able to prove said fact she promptly admitted her tricky ruse and he has since given up on trying to win.
Today he lives at home with his stubborn wife, teenage twins, a giant moose-poodle, two yorkies, a green-cheeked conure, a massive prehistoric tortoise, and a head full of imaginary people. There are also some fish, but he refuses to talk about them.
Sign Up for Email Updates!
Eventually he went to college, starting at Sam Houston State University, where his love of beer blossomed and his obsession with playing role-playing games led him to what he calls 'his best year ever' and what most of his family calls 'the lost year'.
Several years and a few crappy jobs later, he decided to pursue college again and was somehow accepted into the University of Houston Honors program (we won't get into the particulars of that miracle). This led to a degree in pharmacy and it followed from there that he wound up with a license to practice said profession.
Unfortunately, Michael was not a very good pharmacist. Being relatively lawless and free spirited were not particularly good traits to possess in a career focused on perfection, patient safety, and the letter-of-the-law. Nevertheless, he persisted and after a stint as a hospital pharmacy manager wound up as a pharmacist working in correctional managed care for the State of Texas.
He gave drugs to prisoners.
After a year or two at UTMB he became bored and taught himself entirely too much about networking, programming, and database design and administration. At first his supervisors warned him (repeatedly) to do his assigned tasks and stop designing programs to help his coworkers do theirs, but eventually they gave up and just let him do whatever he liked since it seemed to be generally working out well for them.
Ten or eleven years later and he got bored with that too. So he wrote a book. We won't talk about where he was when he wrote 'The Blacksmith's Son', but let's just assume he was probably supposed to be doing something else at the time.
Some people liked the book and told other people. Now they won't leave him alone.
After another year or two, he decided to just give up and stop pretending to be a pharmacist/programmer, much to the chagrin of his mother (who had only ever wanted him to grow up to be a doctor and had finally become content with the fact that he had settled on pharmacy instead).
Michael's wife supported his decision, even as she stubbornly refused to believe he would make any money at it. It turned out later that she was just telling him this because she knew that nothing made Michael more contrary than his never ending desire to prove her wrong. Once he was able to prove said fact she promptly admitted her tricky ruse and he has since given up on trying to win.
Today he lives at home with his stubborn wife, teenage twins, a giant moose-poodle, two yorkies, a green-cheeked conure, a massive prehistoric tortoise, and a head full of imaginary people. There are also some fish, but he refuses to talk about them.
Sign Up for Email Updates!
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
August 22, 2015
I can't wait for this book to come out! I'm rating it a Five star because I can't give it a Six. Plus I'm rating it prior to the book being published because I know it'll be that
good!
good!
June 13, 2013
Whereas the previous books really gripped me and were well put together I felt this one was a bit out of sorts compared to the others. The huge jumps in time might have been part of why I felt less emotionally involved in this story but the main flaw for me was the pacing of this book. Overall there was a slow pace at which it got annoying at points to read about the inner turmoils of the main character and then when action did come it felt rushed. On top of all that the book had quite an open ending and a rather unsatisfactory one at that which leaves me with no choice but to give this 3 stars. I will pick up the next book as soon as it comes out though as I still like the main character, the magic system and the author's humor
January 7, 2020
Rating 2.5 stars
I didn't really like this book. I thought it was very slow. The magic that was introduced was boring. It was seven years after the last book so my biggest gripe about this being a YA story from the previous books was solved, but everything else was worse. The majority of the story was Mort putting off things he was supposed to do. There were long periods of nothing followed by short periods of intense action that seemed very rushed. While Mort did interact with other characters still, there wasn't that emotional connection any more. I started skipping through pages that didn't have any dialog, it was all just internal monologue. One of the good things about the previous books is that the author made me emotionally connected to the characters. That wasn't there in this book. This book lost all the good things I felt were present in the previous books. At this point I don't care how it ends.
I didn't really like this book. I thought it was very slow. The magic that was introduced was boring. It was seven years after the last book so my biggest gripe about this being a YA story from the previous books was solved, but everything else was worse. The majority of the story was Mort putting off things he was supposed to do. There were long periods of nothing followed by short periods of intense action that seemed very rushed. While Mort did interact with other characters still, there wasn't that emotional connection any more. I started skipping through pages that didn't have any dialog, it was all just internal monologue. One of the good things about the previous books is that the author made me emotionally connected to the characters. That wasn't there in this book. This book lost all the good things I felt were present in the previous books. At this point I don't care how it ends.
May 10, 2013
This series just keeps getting better. Flew threw this book in 3 hours (I read rather voraciously). I really like the way the author treats his version of magic, and the rules for his universe. Since it is so different than what most people read for standard sci-fi, the rules make me think and always seem to surprise me. I like the characters and I think I like the bad characters as well, mostly because they aren't fitting into predetermined molds of what I expect. I wish there was more "other species" background and development, which in this book seems to start happening. Watching some of the central characters personalities and interactions change and grow has been fun. The pace of the book seemed to race at parts, then become stagnant almost in places. But overall the flow of the book kept moving forward. Overall a nice read, and a great addition to this series.
August 9, 2025
my heart 😭😭😭😭
August 13, 2013
Certainly not as good as the previous ones. Eventhough I really enjoy Mordecai's wit, his trades with his lady-warrior and the relationship with his people, the rest of the book felt "wrong".
Spoilers ahead!
Seriously, a lot of spoilers!
I really think that Michael had a good story to begin with, added some action, and had a really good cliffhanger idea. Between those parts he just added whatever sounded "passable" and left a lot of stuff to be discovered on his next book.
Spoilers ahead!
Seriously, a lot of spoilers!
I really think that Michael had a good story to begin with, added some action, and had a really good cliffhanger idea. Between those parts he just added whatever sounded "passable" and left a lot of stuff to be discovered on his next book.
July 16, 2014
As expected, Manning weaves a convoluted tapestry of narrative that is infinitely appealing. This entry in the mageborn series illustrates how the unassuming proses aided readers in delving into the story. No barriers of vocabulary, metaphors or grammar to interfere with comprehension.
This book made me realise the value of simple, plain and forthright storytelling. It still irks me sometimes that he uses contemporary metaphors, swear-words and description. It forces me to engage my imagination to wade past his stylistic choices and just enjoy the story.
And what a magnificent story it is. It has been a pleasure to witness Mordecai's life and just as thought it is now on a linear progression, Manning infuses a new complexity that will add a new dimension to our young Illeniel's story.
I look forward to the next entry and the prequel.
This book made me realise the value of simple, plain and forthright storytelling. It still irks me sometimes that he uses contemporary metaphors, swear-words and description. It forces me to engage my imagination to wade past his stylistic choices and just enjoy the story.
And what a magnificent story it is. It has been a pleasure to witness Mordecai's life and just as thought it is now on a linear progression, Manning infuses a new complexity that will add a new dimension to our young Illeniel's story.
I look forward to the next entry and the prequel.
April 18, 2024
Spoiler warning
Just finished reading it thought it was kinda rushed at the end, but after the epilogue it turns out there's another book to the series called redemption. Wonder if Matthew the counts first son will also carry the doom/promise? The battle with Timmy was way to short. The idea of spell weaving makes me think of the wheel of time. The score in the end one dark God left one shining God hiding two captured and one outstanding. It's will be interesting to see where everything goes from here. I can only hope that country will unbecome death, as he has earth wind and fire. All in all I liked this book a good deal while I only mentioned the detractors that's only beside the end was a little sour for me.
Just finished reading it thought it was kinda rushed at the end, but after the epilogue it turns out there's another book to the series called redemption. Wonder if Matthew the counts first son will also carry the doom/promise? The battle with Timmy was way to short. The idea of spell weaving makes me think of the wheel of time. The score in the end one dark God left one shining God hiding two captured and one outstanding. It's will be interesting to see where everything goes from here. I can only hope that country will unbecome death, as he has earth wind and fire. All in all I liked this book a good deal while I only mentioned the detractors that's only beside the end was a little sour for me.
September 23, 2014
Seven years have passed since Mordecai's battle with the Shining God, Celior, and since that time his control of his abilities has vastly improved. He has at last envisioned a use for the 'God-Stone', but the gods want vengeance and now seek to destroy everything he has built. The secrets of the past threaten the future of his kingdom, his family, and perhaps humanity itself, unless Mordecai can discover the meaning of 'Illeniel's Doom'. How far will a desperate wizard go to protect his children... or will his efforts merely damn them all? Love this series! Imprisoning gods with pure luck, transporting, mysterios dead race that resembles elves, nefarious ancestor curses, zombies, paladin knights, and archmages! What more does one need?
May 18, 2013
4 stars would be my real vote, but i give it 5 anyway to award the positive trend of quality in the serie. The are still some problems from the previous books, but i've to admit that the good points keep increasing and they outshine the few bad things that bothered me before.
I think the best part of it is how the author conveys a light atmosphere typical of YA novels and then in a moment the plot takes a dark turn leaving you happily (at least in my case) surprised about the unexpected realism.
Easy to say the ending of this book has been my favourite part from the beginning of the serie and it has left me with a lot expectations for the rest of the story.
I think the best part of it is how the author conveys a light atmosphere typical of YA novels and then in a moment the plot takes a dark turn leaving you happily (at least in my case) surprised about the unexpected realism.
Easy to say the ending of this book has been my favourite part from the beginning of the serie and it has left me with a lot expectations for the rest of the story.
February 10, 2014
Wow ! WOW !!
What to say ? This series just gets better and better.
As for the cliffhanger, (the reason why I didn't read this book until I had the following one), I've been waiting for it since I first read that there was one. I cannot honestly say that I knew what would happen but I was waiting for such an ending (something along those lines anyway). Mr Manning did not disappoint me.
May I say that I had my "crying" moments ? Ah , I already miss you :(
On my way to The Final Redemption now.
I just cannot wait !
What to say ? This series just gets better and better.
As for the cliffhanger, (the reason why I didn't read this book until I had the following one), I've been waiting for it since I first read that there was one. I cannot honestly say that I knew what would happen but I was waiting for such an ending (something along those lines anyway). Mr Manning did not disappoint me.
May I say that I had my "crying" moments ? Ah , I already miss you :(
On my way to The Final Redemption now.
I just cannot wait !
February 9, 2015
Decent epic fantasy series. A lot of the usual tropes, but with enough surprises to keep things fresh. Interesting take on religion in the world building (even the 'Good' gods are not particularly good - the main character spends most of his time fighting 'good' gods). Stretches the genre norms a tad, but does not really break out of them. Magic system has both direct magic and enchantment (item based magic). I tend to like enchantment a bit more as the author is slightly less likely to do the whole deus ex machina thing where the hero 'digs deep' and wins out. I prefer the hero to plan ahead. This series has a bit of both.
April 29, 2013
For £3.35 I can't complain. I pre-ordered this book and it even arrived earlier than I thought it might.
I wasn't quite sure where this series was going and in fact thought that it was quite good at three and perhaps could have been left at that length. However...
What a forth instalment to the series. Wonderful plot and good twists and turns at every corner. As for the ending?
What can I say! A wonderful way to end it and I already want to read book five. I can't recommend highly enough. A must read!
I wasn't quite sure where this series was going and in fact thought that it was quite good at three and perhaps could have been left at that length. However...
What a forth instalment to the series. Wonderful plot and good twists and turns at every corner. As for the ending?
What can I say! A wonderful way to end it and I already want to read book five. I can't recommend highly enough. A must read!
March 5, 2014
This is a great story. The plot moves quickly and there's subtle, clever developments that blossom to a truly powerful ending. The characters have matured, with honest flaws and believable motivations. And the magic system is more nuanced and shapes the story more significantly. And the way all of this is written is with tighter language--few cliches and hardly any wasted paragraphs.
This story shows that the author has really matured with each additional book release. I can't wait for the final book of the series. And since it's already out I don't actually have to wait. :)
This story shows that the author has really matured with each additional book release. I can't wait for the final book of the series. And since it's already out I don't actually have to wait. :)
August 16, 2015
Another really enjoyable read in the series.The interaction between Mordecai and his family in this one was really funny and heart-warming.His kids are cute as can be and all of the family hijinks rang true to life.I like that Michael Manning can give you laughs,action,and a interesting story that keeps you involved as a reader.Some might say this is smaller scale fantasy but in my opinion it is fantasy done right.
June 23, 2013
This is truly a great series! The editing was better on this one. Still some punctuation issues but not as noticeable. He really fleshes out his characters. They are easy to relate to. This one even made me teary eyed a couple of times. The cliffhanger ended made me mad which is exactly what it's supposed to do. Always leave them wanting more. Well I personally can't wait for number 5!
July 14, 2017
Sort of a love/hate relationship with this book. It's what I was waiting for. It was good (though the beginning was exposition heavy). But it's delivery on a much-awaitied climax was teasingly short. So glad I can jump straight to the next one. A full review of this book is to come on my blog (these are more like notes to myself) at some point.
July 2, 2013
Wow, awesome! So much action in this book, and yet still a lot of humor and love and insight to their world. Possibly the best book of the series since the excitement of the first book. The ending is definitely unexpected... wow. Can't wait for the next book! I love this series.
July 17, 2013
I really enjoyed this book. It had been a while since I read the other books in this series, but the author did a good job of catching me up. All of the characters are well drawn out and I found it easy to identify with them. Really can't wait for the next book in this series!
September 15, 2013
Thought he would finish with this one, and it seemed to be leading to that but twisted off at the end. Found time a problem in this one, as sometimes you would find a year had passed.
Like the ripostes between Mort and his family and friends
Like the ripostes between Mort and his family and friends
January 29, 2014
wish the gods in the books were delved a little more deeper... or it might be explained further in the next instalment.. waiting to read the next book. this one left me wanting for more and did not want the story to end.
June 9, 2016
Didn't see that coming
Just when I thought Mordecai and Penny with Dorian with Lady Rose were getting over the latest battle with the God's. To have him finally learning the truths leads to him being so changed. So glad this whole story is out. Got the next bk. Been a great read.
Just when I thought Mordecai and Penny with Dorian with Lady Rose were getting over the latest battle with the God's. To have him finally learning the truths leads to him being so changed. So glad this whole story is out. Got the next bk. Been a great read.
December 27, 2013
I loved it , but the ending left me feeling very uneasy - i cannot wait for the next book.
August 18, 2013
Thought it started a bit slow but once it got going it was hare to leave down. Looking forward to next one
August 10, 2013
it's good and make me curious for next book.
December 18, 2013
He better be able to fix this in the next book!!!
September 28, 2018
5 stars, great series, I love this book and series.
October 13, 2016
Jeez...
This series is a rollercoaster ride of emotions... I really hope that the next book is actually the final one in the series because I don't think I can take much more
This series is a rollercoaster ride of emotions... I really hope that the next book is actually the final one in the series because I don't think I can take much more
October 5, 2017
A growing saga!
The twists and turns just keep coming. The demise of a friend. The ending with gods. Will the Dragon be the hero needed for Mort? Can't wait for the next book.
The twists and turns just keep coming. The demise of a friend. The ending with gods. Will the Dragon be the hero needed for Mort? Can't wait for the next book.
December 6, 2017
The irreverence and modern day dialog make the series more entertaining than perhaps the story .
Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews