The Seventh Spell

by Davis Bunn

Two planets. Seven spells. One battle for survival.



Adrian Capstan’s dream of going to
Mars and becoming a wizard is about to be realized when he travels to the red
planet armed with seven ancient spells. By connecting to magical forces on
Mars, he hopes he’ll finally be able to bring the mysterious spells alive.

 







But when Adrian lands at the Mars
spaceport, he discovers a scene of destruction. Revolt against Earth has led to
a dangerous regime ruling the planet, and the wizards are under attack. As
Adrian begins to unlock the spells, he is drawn into an epic fight for survival.
And when he unleashes the seventh spell’s true power, the stakes for the two
planets couldn’t be higher . . .

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction

233 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 6, 2024

About the author

Davis Bunn is an internationally-acclaimed author who has sold more than eight million books in twenty languages.

Honored with four Christy Awards for excellence in historical and suspense fiction, Davis was inducted into the Christy Hall of Fame in 2014.

His bestsellers include The Great Divide, Winner Take All, The Meeting Place, The Book of Hours, and The Quilt. A sought-after lecturer in the art of writing, Bunn was serves as Writer in Residence at Regent's Park College, Oxford University.

Davis Bunn also writes under the names Thomas Locke (for his epic fantasy and techno-thriller novels) and T. Davis Bunn (for books published prior to 2002).

Reviews

[Mai · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent plot, decent pace, fairly shallow characters, no deep explorations of social or political themes. Meh. There’s better books out there.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compelling story, but the author needs to work on their writing craft.

[Cecil · Rating 2 out of 5]

The 7th spell is not a good book and from the start its the title that does it, leads you to expect this grand adventure especally with the notion that the 7th spell, like the title implies and straight is said will 'change everything'

there is a clinical lack of detail in the book where there vERY much needs to be. an insanely rushed romance and really rushed everything. None of the character development feels organic, theres so much left shrowded in mystery twords the later half for the sake of the mc isnt reveling it to the other characters so we the readers dont get it that leaves u going well. okay

nothing felt impactful, nothing felt important just bland and boring. and that sucks because the concept was super cool! from birth having dreams pulling him to mars, magic doesnt exist on earth anymore for whatever reason and only on mars now and him being the piece to fix it all. he fits into his role so well theres no grwoth its all 'main man saves the day with minimal effort and gets a shmokin hawt babe out of it' like. okay

and the romance? yeah you can tell a man wrote this.

this was published in 2024? but somehow feels like the most dated book ever

i wanted so badly to like it in the first quarter, and just kept reading because 'okay well whatever i got this far in'

not sorry but this book outside of having a neat idea just. sucks

[Anahid · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. It had an interesting take on magic: certain spells being claimed by mages and the mage's power being tied to Mars. The end of the book, although it answered some questions, kind of left me wanting more. I want to hear more about who is in charge of Mars now, if Adrian does actually go back to Mars (he said he would be), and I want to know in depth what happened to Jurgen and Miles and Clara and the rest of the circle. I also want to know more about life in the new city. I would love to learn more about Earth's magic too: does anyone ever prove that there used to be magic on Earth and if it will ever come back.

Overall though, the book was well written. The book was fairly fast paced and kept me interested pretty much the whole time. Especially after Adrian starts using his magic more and lands on Mars. The world building was decent. I like the characters for the most part; I might have liked a little more character development though.

A big thank you to the author, publisher, NetGalley, and Publisher's Weekly for giving me the chance to read an e-arc of this adventurous and magic-filled science fiction book.

[Cynde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mars is a mining colony with a recent upheaval in its political systems. The miners want to govern themselves and not have Earth ruling them and gaining all the profits from their labors. There is also a dispute about the use of magic on the planet - magic has been used to find the mineral veins they mine but there are disputes about the wizards powers. Enter Adrian Capstan, who has been dreaming of going to Mars since he was a child, literally. He has been sent messages drawing him to the magical energy of the planet and now he is going as part of a Pod crew. While they are on the way the crew is stricken with a debilitating illness. Adrian finds he can draw on his connection to the planet and use some of the spells he learn in his studies on earth to cure the crew. As he reaches the planet he finds he is capable of doing much more. He and the crew begin a campaign to restore the wizards and the planet from the destruction of the revolution.
This is a thrilling, life or death race to accomplish what Adrian was drawn here to do. It is a very enjoyable read.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the idea of a kid dreaming of going to Mars and succeeding. The magic part didn’t appeal to me. Adrian feels called to go to Mars, and has spent his life learning dead languages and learning spells from ancient documents (back when Earth had magic). I thought the application of his spells to novel situations was kind of interesting (like medicine on the journey) but the miraculous expansion of his powers on Mars was a bit much. How come this Earth kid who never had access to working magic is suddenly the most powerful magician on Mars? The story did move pretty fast and had some good creative moments. I liked the ending.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting take on magic and life on Mars. I enjoyed this novel for the most part, although it was a bit slow in some places and utterly confusing in others. The main characters were fairly well developed, but some of the side characters could have used a bit more fleshing out. The ending was rather abrupt, and a little disappointing. However, in general the story was intriguing enough to be worth a read. My favorite part was the way the author combined the science fiction and fantasy elements in what (at least for me) was a unique way.

[Steve Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

some interesting sci-fi, but the fundemental power play is sad. the author didn't do any research on gold mining, missing the history of placer gold mining. no magic needed to separate the heavy element gold from the Marsian dirt. no need for magic.
interesting elements to the story, likable charactors, but the fact that no miner could figure out how to separate gold from dirt was a deal breaker.

[Jessica Jenn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Despite the interesting premise of the story, I couldn't continue reading it. The author acted like the reader should know everything that was going on but we didn't which made parts confusing and thus frustrating. Sadly, I did not finish. I just couldn't put myself through any more of the torture of doing so.

[Jim Perry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really nice blend of sci-fi and fantasy elements that is rare. The love interest seemed kind of forced, almost a reverse Florence Nightengale syndrome. I'm still deciding if I liked the abbreviated chapters and overview type narrative. It seemed like there was a lot of story that could have fit in between.

[Barbara Maddox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author constantly surprises with his range of genres. From Nicholas Sparks type novels, to science fiction and suspense, he is an easy-to-read and entertaining writer. This is a fast read novel about magic on Mars, Wizard Councils, political manuevering, space travel, and romance.

[Yascha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book because it was in the recommended section at my local library.
I wish I hadn't.
It is a mediocre-at-best retelling of The Hero's Tale. So bland in fact that I wonder if Davis Bunn uses it as a textbook for his lectures.
1/5

[Cy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a relaxing read for a lazy Sunday afternoon. Bunn has an easy way of telling a story that draws the reader in. Likeable characters and a likeable plot.

[Denise High · Rating 5 out of 5]

satisfying

A sci-fi/fantasy that combines the best of both worlds, with in-depth characters and page-turning plot lines…Another great story from Davis Bunn!

[Christina J Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Main character shared plans with everybody BUT reader....🙄😞

[Bill O'Driscoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever sci-fi novel focusing on the use of magic to colonize Mars correctly.

[Jason Albertson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't know if I'll ever read another new Bunn book. The heart is just missing.

[Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this story, apart from the end… for me, it did not finish… could be setting up for a sequel. But enjoyable

[Linda Hoover · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Seventh Spell by Davis Bunn is a good science fiction story set on Mars. It kept me turning the pages.