O! The wizards weep and witches leap On the Road To Sevendor! The adepts smile, footwizards beguile, On the Road To Sevendor! Gleaming castle, enchanted mountain Skyward spires, dancing fountains More magi than a man can count on The Road To Sevendor! The very first Spellmonger anthology! Contains the full and complete versions of the previously-published short stories The River Mists of Talry, Victory Soup, and The Spellmonger's Wedding! But wait! There's MORE! Also contains FOUR PREVIOUSLY UNPUBLISHED SPELLMONGER STORIES! You'll "The Wizard of Birchroot Bridge" "The Secret of Westwood Hall" "The Road to Sevendor" and "The Iron Ring"! All for ONE LOW PRICE! So while you're waiting for Spellmonger Book 4, enjoy a few of these scraps from the Spellmonger's table, and enjoy the fantasy world of Callidore - where they put the evil back into medieval!
Terry Mancour is a New York Times Best-Selling Author who has written more than 30 books, under his own name and pseudonyms, including Star Trek: The Next Generation #20, Spartacus, the Spellmonger Series (more than 11 books and growing), among other works.
He was born in Flint, Michigan in 1968 (according to his mother) and wisely relocated to North Carolina in 1978 where he embraced Southern culture and its dedication to compelling narratives and intriguing characterizations. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he majored in Religious Studies.
Terry, his beautiful wife and three children live just outside of Durham, N.C. atop Red Mountain. He was nominated for the 2018 Audie Award for Best Fantasy for the audiobook for Spellmonger (narrated by John Lee), the first book in his Spellmonger Series.
He has plotted the Spellmonger Series for at least thirty books, in addition to his Spellmonger Cadet (young adult) series, stand-alone novels, short stories and novellas set within the Spellmonger Universe, all of which will be published by Podium as audiobooks. He is also the author of a series of sequels to Golden Age sci-fi master H. Beam Piper's novel, Space Viking, as well as original sci-fi novels.
I'm not generally a fan of anthologizing short stories that don't make the cut into the main series. For many reasons.
But, I found myself reading book 11.5 (along with rereading everything else) while I awaited the release of book 12, arcanist, and it was actually a good read. Anyone who's read the series knows that *something* happened at the spellmongers wedding. You probably caught that onranion did something to the spellmongers sphere... Somewhere... But you probably don't remember how or why. There are other stories here that you probably don't know you're missing. They're all good. Why they aren't in the main books, I'll never know, but if you're a fan of the series and you're trying to choose between this or court wizard, or knights magi, pick this.
So, I saw that this anthology was available on Audible, but then I realized that I had already read some of the novellas. But, after investigating a little bit, I realized that there were 2 "new" additions to the Audible version, so I thought is it worth it for a whole credit? Absolutely!
I ended up listening to almost ALL of the short stories because I have grown to love the world of Minilan and his followers and it has been a really REALLY long time since I've immersed myself in it. There were supposedly 2 new stories, but there were three that I didn't remember reading -
*Stonesinger was a fun story about the Karshaks findings when they sing the mountain for Minilan and end up calling in the Grandsire.
*The Ugliest Maid in Castal was hilarious. This one actually made me laugh. I'm not even going to say what it is about because I went in cold, and that made it funnier.
*Checkered Past was interesting because it shows us some going ons far away from Minilan and the goings on in Castal. Since I was listening, I actually had to rewind a couple of times to hear the exact prophecy that was given to the Grand Marshall of the Censorite of Magic. Interesting......
Anyway, it looks like book 12 is coming out October 1 2020. That is only 2 weeks away, so there is that. This was a great appetizer while I wait for the next course. :)
- Quote: “Just because I have incredible power doesn’t always mean I’ve got the wit to use it.” - Thoughts: A collection of short stories between This anthology includes some short stories I had read already: The Spellmonger's Wedding: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... Victory Soup: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... The river mysts of Talry: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... The other stories are: The Wizard of Birchroot Bridge The Secret Of Westwood Hall The Road To Sevendor The Iron Ring ▶◀ These are my personal opinions, you may discord, my final rating of the book is not necessarily linked to this system and may diverge from it. Book Storyline - Originality: 5/5 stars - Development: 5/5 stars - Enjoyment: 5/5 stars - Writing stile: 5/5 stars - Funnyness: 2/5 stars - Epicness: 1/5 stars - Scaryness: 1/5 stars - Smartness: 4/5 stars - Addictiveness: 4/5 stars - Plot twists: 1/5 stars - Pace: 4/5 stars - Storyline planning: 4/5 stars OR /5 negative stars - Ending: 3/5 stars OR /5 negative stars - Holes: 2/5 negative stars - Self contained (Y/N): ✓ - Cliffhanger (Y/N): × - Adult (Y/N): × - Mystery (Y/N): × - Treasure Hunting (Y/N): × - Violence level: Limited - Tech level: Medieval Feudalism - Religion level: Some fictional religions - Main genre: Fantasy - Subgenre: Sword and Sorcery - Point of view: Various - Best of it: Good stories that are actually part of the series, they introduce new characters and possibilities for the Spellmonger - Worst of it: I bought the individual short stories before realizing they are here. - Aftertaste: Sevendor seens like a great place. Cover - Quality: 4/5 stars - Traces: 4/5 stars - Colors: 4/5 stars - Style: 5/5 stars - In a few words: looks like those old pictures in history books of school. World - Originality: 5/5 stars - Variety: 4/5 stars - Consistency: 4/5 stars - Impact on the story: 5/5 stars - Maps: -/5 stars - Real world (Y/N): × - Fantasy based on real world (Y/N): × - Journey (Y/N): × - Main scenario: Sevendor Characters - Some characters in each story, easily manageable, there is a visible evolution in most personas and most characters feels believable Series Storyline These are scored based on the series up to the end of this book: - Impact of this book in storyline: 4/5 stars - Can be read as a standalone (✓/×): ×
Little by little, I'm listening to the Spellmonger series in order. Before continuing to book #3, Magelord, I wanted to get caught up on the short stories that are set before it.
So, I picked up The Road to Sevendor & listened to the first three stories in the collection: #1.1 The River Mists of Talry (events in this short story are concurrent with some events in #2, Magelord) #2.1 Victory Soup #2.2 The Spellmonger's Wedding
I am enjoying this series. Some of the sex scenes are kind of eye-roll inducing, but overall I really get a kick out of these books: John Lee's narration is great, the stories are fun & they make me laugh.
I'll listen to more in this short story collection as I move along with this series. I look forward to listening to more.
Not required reading, but helpful in explaining some events that happened between main books. I read this out of order and there are references in the main books that had me scratching my head until I read this anthology.
Simply entertaining and informative ronthe series. Gaps filled and new secrets learned....that color the views we hold on some important allies of Baron Min.
I love this. It gave more context on a few stores I am glad has been shown. The Spellmonger series and the offshoot stories are so great. I love all of them.
There are some really good stories in this anthology. They explained some important events that just happened in other books. They definitely helped fill in some blanks and brought some additional character depth. The stories were also very entertaining.
Would have been better to read early in the series instead of after book 11 like it was presented on Audible. Was fine but can see why these short stories/side plots never made it into the main story
This is an excellent book for anyone who loves magic, adventure, love, and blood and gore! Terry Mancour is an amazing magi with words, has an awesome command of the English language and does feudal history, extremely well! He paints so much of a picture, both in the story and the characters, that it's addicting! I find myself not wanting to put these books down and I hope that he continues to write for as long as I live! Enjoy!!
The stories about Minalin's apprentices in this anthology are some of my favorite stories in the whole Spellmonger series. The rest of these stories are also good.