The Gorgon Incident and Other Stories: A Mage Errant Anthology

Mage Errant

by John Bierce

A fugitive child finds shelter with a monster of legend. A mind-blind scholar outwits the mages who disdain him. A gold mage must secure a bank vault from a monster capable of obliterating entire cities. An aging basketweaver wakes up one morning to find a brand new river in front of her house. A palace-sized octopus seeks to defend his city from a living fortress of bone—if he can get his arms to cooperate.

In these twenty-four short stories set in the world of Mage Errant, John Bierce explores the murky depths of history, forgotten corners of Ithos and beyond, and the strangest reaches of magic itself.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Anthologies, Fiction, Magic, Young Adult

424 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 27, 2024

About the author

John Bierce is a fantasy novelist, history and science buff, SFF fan, and general all-around dork. He currently lives in Lisbon, Portugal.

https://johnbierce.com/

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the world building in the Mage Errant series, and these stories were a delightful addition. We get to see some of the history and great powers that weren't fleshed out in the main series, and I felt like the stories (for the most part) had the same spark of humor that made the rest of the series such an enjoyable read.

[Andrews WizardlyReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed going on short story adventures into the past of Mage Errant!

2/3 of this book takes place prior to mage errant starting at 500 years prior. Sooooo good.

I enjoyed the stories that take place during the main series but not as much as those that take place from 500-35 years prior to the start of the series. Those are some of John Bierce’s best writing

[Darnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

More "Mage Errant bonus content" than a short story collection, but that's not a bad thing.

[Sibil · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I'll probably be back with a better review soon, but I just want to jot some thoughts down.
I loved almost all the stories in there, and there are a lot of stories! But I loved that we got to explore this highly fascinating world. The author invented a Universe that is magical and full of diversity, and with these stories, we can go around and explore magical and magnificent places. It was bliss.
And the characters! One of the strongest suits of The Mage Errant series is the characters. They all are amazing, and here we meet new characters that are just sooo good. Sure, we meet them for a short period of time (even if some of them are the protagonists of more than one story) but they are all so great!
And I love the way in which they always come back on top, they do it with an elegance that made these stories soooo satisfying to read, too!

[Alec Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Bierce has the kind of mind that I hope to one day approach even a cheap imitation of.
His writing is great, yes, but what brings his works from their three and four star writing is the sheer beauty, wonder, and sensical complexity of the ideas he is able to put down on the page.
At this point, I'm certain there have been multiple qualities I've stated as being the "most important" quality I look for in a book(so perhaps I should stop saying it), but I am certain that among those is the quality of a work pushing me to be a better writer. While there are other authors that push me to be a better writer in the technical sense, John Bierce is a writer who pushes me to be a better in the creative sense.
That preface serves to sum up the impression this anthology had on me. A collection of short stories in the world of Mage Errant, each story written in a different style of prose with a wildly varying structure and tale. It is everything I could have wanted from this sort of work. It almost feels like a love letter to the Mage Errant readers, and I certainly appreciated it as though it were.

tldr: very good, puts me to shame, a whole bunch of different and funky stories, read mage errant btw

[Sundeep · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read an ARC version of this anthology. Mage Errant is one of my favorite magical academy books and this collection of short stories was a great addition to this amazing setting. We got to meet several side characters from the main series, as well as past stories, origin of named weapons, visit other continents, etc.

Some of my favorites include:

* The Wanderer
* Test of Magic
* Old Setah and the River (wouldn't mind a novella/novel with Setah as the MC)
* Counterfeit
* The Gorgon Incident
* Mudflat Nights (mostly for the worldbuilding and pepper vs glass matchup)
* Luthe of Clan Castis

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. I enjoyed the additional world building and the stories were enjoyable. However, we didn’t get enough about the incident in the books name! The Gorgon incident is alluded to a lot especially in the 2nd Mage Errant book and the characters continually say they will get the story later. I expected this to be the story from Alustin’s POV or someone more closely involved. Instead we really only get the barebones of what happened with many gaps in the story. The books was still enjoyable but having “The Gorgon incident” in the title is a bit of a bait and switch.

[Nirkatze · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping for stories that fell between the cracks during our team's time at school, or on adventure... but instead, this is a ton of tiny shorts that flesh out the world--especially science=magic bits. Many of the shorts feel like little appendices, really digging into the how of magic in Bierce's multiverse. Some are like diary or news entries, interviews, reports... a variety of formats. Interesting on an individual basis, but a bit much in a rather large tome, with no real connecting thread in the stories.

[Shil Modi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written

While this compendium of short stories is an excellent addition to the existing worldbuilding of Mage Errant, it stands on its own as a beautifully-written work. It managed to make me become invested in the stories of characters that had only just been introduced, something that entire series fail to do. Highly recommended for fans of Mage Errant and worldbuilding in general.

[Scott Wozniak · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you don't read the Mage Errant series, you won't understand this book. It assumes you know the world and how the magic works. And then this book dives deep into stories mostly based on the combination of physical materials science and his magic system.

The characters are a bit odd, the plot twists are really good but a few of the stories were way too technical (pages detailing the alchemy experiments).

Fun, but not amazing.

[PunkHazard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book! I wasn’t the hugest fan of the Mage Errant series but I think the author is at his best when he’s focused on world building, magic usage and action. The stories focused on that were definitely my favorites in this book. I didn’t care for a few of them and a few others were just so-so but there were definitely some I absolutely loved.

[Wildwind · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series of short stories to go with Mage Errant

I thought this was a great selection of short stories to go with the Mage errant series. I think my favorite has to Be Luthe's story followed by Calrin's tale, just because someone is not as good as you in one area doesn't mean it is ok to dismiss them out of hand.

[Timelord Iain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just wanted it to end. So many short stories, so few that felt like they mattered to me as a reader of the main series. More like a collection of the author's worldbuilding notes.

There were a few great ones mixed in. Diamonds in the rough. Like the dragon murder investigation for the reward. Loved that one :D

[Vishal Patel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, clever, and deep

Suffice to say, the author is just as talented at writing short stories as novels. Each story presents a new and interesting perspective on the world(s) of the books and each character has distinct personality and interests. I particularly liked Fool's Silver and Quokeen.

[Tuftears · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astonishing and fascinating

A rich world full of magic and history, the stories are wonderful and bite-sized, perfect for reading a few at a time. Bierce's affinity-based magic is intriguing, giving his mages the chance to be endlessly creative. Bonus science facts at the end!

[Joe Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not normally a fan of anthologies, but this one was so good. I love the world that Bierce created in the Mage Errant universe and am so sad that the main story has ended. This served as a perfect reminder of that world. Most/all the short stories were great

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

World building perfection

The ability to write fascinating short stories from so many different perspectives, all building on each other to create a deep and immersive world, is incredible. John Bierce is a master at creating the impression of thousands of years of history with just a few words.

[Cole Benford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing short stories. I love this world and getting to read bits and pieces of history and events was so much fun. It took me a long time because I savoured every story slowly and it was so worth it.

[Isaiah Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

if you love the world you will love these

Coming off of waybound to read this and this is exactly what I had hoped waybound would be, it just expands the world and shows fun stuff that is going on unrelated to old stories.

[Chris Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent look into the Mage Errant world. Good stories, we learn a bit more about what magic can do, and get a few answers to questions that arose in the main series. Would love more stories like this.

[Dragos Macelaru · Rating 5 out of 5]

VERY entertaining

Very well written short stories, very imaginative, with lots of humor. It would be helpful to read the Mage Errant series first.

[Devin Driggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of short stories, both individually interesting, and adding depth to the world.

[Zebulon Griggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you were a fan of the Mage Errant series, you will assuredly enjoy this arrangement of short stories set in the same universe.

[Mr. J · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of stories todd expand on The amazing world of Mage Errant. If you liked the series, it is a must read.

[Steve Kosovskiy · Rating 4 out of 5]

more of Hugh

More hugh and his friends their story is the one people want to read. Need to continue their story please

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great world building

More fleshing out of the fantastic worlds of John’s creating is always appreciated. Looking forward to the next series in this multiverse.

[Adam Clements · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, it lacks the best part of the main series - the character development. I liked the backstories on the characters peripherally mentioned in the main storyline.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really nice semi eclectic set of short stories. Definitely helps to read the series first.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wouldn't recommend it unless you are already a fan of the mage errant universe. If you are though, great fun seeing more corners of the world.

[Jona Christensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of world building