Ard is hunkering down in the mountains for the winter as the war cools with the snow. That means it’s time to practice his magic and stay out of trouble. Well… Ard might not be entirely proficient at the last one. At the very least, he’s staying away from the city and his penchant for annoying other people. Except that doesn’t work out so well when he’s forced to attend a ball held by the Brighthavens, though they’ll certainly regret forcing Ard’s attendance. No matter how it goes down, you’re sure that Ard is going to have as much fun with it as he can.
Born and raised in the agricultural midwest, I moved every year after school even as far as Shanghai before settling down with my wife in Chicago.
I have always enjoyed Wuxia stories and became thrilled when I discovered harem stories spreading to western books. I've written down my day dreams for years as an idle hobby. Inspired by the harem genre I'm finally fleshing them out into full blown novels.
I'm excited to share my stories with you as I turn them into novels and series.
OK, so I have given up on this one and will not be following the series any further. I figured by the time we got to book 3 we would have more that a 12yrold man child for an mc that can do more the fight the powers of good and evil with the power of quips and sass. But nope we get the same old 12yr old man child doing stupid childish stuff and relying on anyone competent around him to keep out of trouble/alive all while acting like he is some tactical and political savant. It just comes off as dumb and annoying as that was all book.1 and 2 were!
So book 1 had so much promise and potential, book 2 was just awful, and now with book 3 he seems to be trying to bring it back to a semblance of the story.
That being said, there are still so many things that are irritating. Ard is just so unlikeable. I get the nervous energy and making glib remarks, but he just constantly says the dumbest things and thinks they’re witty or appropriate. He gets away with acting a complete twit simply because he’s “the 4 sphere mage” and honestly that excuse was used up entirely in book 2. He has some character growth, but also doesn’t show consistency with it. When Aurelia is hurt he goes above and beyond with power to heal her; however, when Emlyn is brutally death rolled by an alligator he is just kinda meh about it. Like his first wife and he doesn’t go nuclear when she is almost killed.
Honestly the side characters are so much better and more interesting than Ard. He could be killed or removed from the book and it would still be an interesting read, but his entire personality is just awful. I’m hoping that in book 4 he grows the heck up and stops being such a tool.
Book 3 continued much in the same vein as book 2. Decent story, but the overall threads and plots did not progress very far. This was my criticism of the previous book. Still, good enough to continue the series.
I borrowed this book thanks to my Kindle Unlimited subscription, and I read it between my tablet and phone using the Kindle app.
Third part of Ard, the four-sphere mage. He keeps evolving her power and knowledge of his magic and more importantly, he keeps growing his relationship with all his female anchors. Emlyn jeeps being my favourite, her sharpness and conversations with Ard are the best thing of the story. Also, if you are looking for more action and battle scenes, this one will provide quite well, I really think this book is a step forward. I simply can't wait to keep reading Ard's story.
Alternate universe, magic, base building, skill building, harem adult situations
Arden and his warrior women continue to tackle pirates, monsters, assassins, and restore Freddie. A lot happening. Well edited. Now the wait until the next book in the series is written. Absorbing, and unique magic system. Enjoyed.
Plenty of Action Continuing focus on Ard's need to improve his focus and skill as a four sphere mage.
Lots of intrigue and build up to potential future major conflicts with the current monarchy.
Things continue to progress in most of the team relationships.
Ard's mother quickly recovers after Ard re-enters her life. Hecate's involvement no doubt helps. This allows her to become a prominent character, using her experience and insight to explain the political landscape, know the needs for strategic moves such as relocating temporarily to a relatively small coastal town outside the immediate influence of the queen. She also sees the need for Ard to be trained in soul magic and brings in a mysterious person from Ard's father's past to take that role.
Ard's development of Soul magic, above and beyond any of the normal four spheres, leads to delving more into his history. It also leads him into a lot of developments in his personal relationships, both positive and negative. By looking into one soul he knows he can trust them completely with his life, even though to others they appear to be a sociopathic homicidal maniac. Conversely admitting to someone you are trying to develop trust with that you didn't trust them so verified something by looking into their soul, not a good plan.
I truly enjoy the adventures of Ard and his anchors. This book was able to move past some of the more individual and political components of the last two books and really start to show what Ard is capable of. Being a 4 sphere mage really opens up the possibilities and allows Mr. Sentar to really play with his abilities and the world around him. The introduction of more intrigue with the court and royalty, including bringing his duel with Zuri's brothers. The book moved nicely as we see how Ard is able to begin to trust and utilize each of the girls more unique skills. The introduction of what his Mother can do is also starting to open up an entirely new avenue of both adventure and intrigue to see how she will impact the Royal power play of the magic gild. With both of their demonstration of power, its only a matter of time before they become a major target and potential inconvenience for the Royals as their house becomes a power player in society. I can not wait for the next book.
I've been reading books from this author for a while now. I'm really enjoying this series. The next installment can't come soon enough. That being said, there were some instances where the wrong word was used (e.g. balling instead of bawling). I'll be happy to be an early reader for the next book to catch these typos. 😁
This series I grabbed on the recommendation of Amazon Kindle, which has not had the best track record for book suggestions.
So far I have enjoyed this series. We have another lion harem (one male with all female harem) who only sleep with the male and each other. Although in this series I like how not all the women in the harem are bisexual, it's a nice change of pace from other books in this genre.
I like how there is no free lunch. The MC has to dump corruption into his anchors depending on how much magic he casts. I like that the MC can't go around casting magic with impunity like Gandalf or any other great fantasy wizard.
There is a limit to how much magic the MC can use before he is required to dump corruption into his anchors. Seeing as the MC is straight all his anchors are female.
My only major issue in this book is the MC's mother who cast some serious magic towards the end of this book, but does not have any anchors (that we know of). Is the MC's mother going to become corrupted or does she have "secret" anchors that the author has not revealed. Had I been a proofreader or a beta reader I would have pointed out that inconsistency to the author.
Other than some minor grammar and editing mistakes (probably spell checker failures, as the word is spelled correctly but used in the wrong way) this is an enjoyable book in this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
He's so darn naive it's silly, his "second wife" lies about how much or why she's with him or chased him and he learns the truth by a "cheat" which is a power of his and he feels bad about learning the truth of why she likes him and HE apologizes to her by rewriting the contract is the actions of a fucking moron he's clearly a kid in a mans body or has the brainpower or emotionial maturity of a toddler to not understand he's being used as a peasant in her and her familys game. Whatever her reason is for running after him like a stalker it's not for HIM but for what he is and that is so sad, he recognize others doing it but not "Her" and she's not even that special. OR in other words he's simping for her love and is a stupid tool for her to be used.... In this series it seems like all the anchors are just tools to be over their heads in love with the mc and the one mage bitch that he likes is a lying bitch to be tossed aside in my opinion...
The MC and his anchors continue to develop their relationships. Meanwhile, sinister forces continue to amass, from pirates to wicked princesses. Ard continues to level his magic, even expanding his understanding of souls. He causes havoc with noble families as well as with brigands, while getting ragged on for his ice cream making skills. He also finds out just how powerful his mom is, while annoying his goddess patron (and everyone else but Emlyn) with his irreverent attitude. All this paints a target on his back, but he does gain some additional familial allies to help out.
I look forward to finding out how Ard and his team put the hurt on Carmella and her supporters, while Hecate deals with Martin's plots.
My review of book 2 imo was accurate, and I still feel that it and this book, or even book one, could have been merged. That said, onto this review...
Great character development for all support characters. MC is still under development and I love how he is not so overpowered as to ruin the story.
Plot: not going to ruin it, but the royal family is in for a world of hurt when Ard reaches "Full Mage" status.
Ending: right on point to lead into the next book unlike book 2 that made me feel like the author got tired of writing.
Overall: while this book was as good as book one, the author has been inconsistent in book content. The overall story so far has been great and I hope that he keeps up the great work. Still wish book 2 was labeled 1.5...
Arden is an insecure, arrogant asshole and he's far more cringy than funny. He is a very unlikeable character and I don't know why anyone put's up with his bullshit. He seriously needs to get his ass kicked so he can learn to be more respectful...maybe his mother can smack him around a bit more or something.
Almost all the sex, what little there is, is implied (fade to black). Lame. What kind of a tool marries a woman and then never has sex with her (not even once)?
This series could be so much better IMO because the author obviously has a lot of talent (he does seem to be ashamed of the human body and sex though).
There was so much happening this time around that I had to read it a few times before I could leave a proper review. I loved seeing just how crazy Mari is and the growth with Aurelia. I feel like Zori didn't have enough involvement and that around the 75% mark Izzy was just non-existent as far as side characters go Izzy is a fun one. I also don't like that Zori is the only anchor without a protective gift feels like some kind of foreshadowing that scares me a bit but overall another amazing addition
Honestly it’s a fantasy pulp fiction book. The protagonist is a scruffy, impulsive guy with a big heart and an underused big brain. The writer is having way too much fun. Sometimes the author is just talking out of his but. Having so much fun he doesn’t even look back at the script written. And for all of that, it is so much fun to read. I found myself laughing out loud at points and hoping Ard would get his head out of his nether regions before he blew it. The series just keeps getting better. And unusual. Great author.
I have read and enjoyed other books and series from Bruce Sentar, just not this one.
I slogged through about a quarter of this book before I gave up.
The main character is annoying and far less appealing than most of the supporting characters.
The plot appears to be a meandering mess. Instead of exploring any of the interesting plot points from the previous books, the MC just runs away to go on vacation and do whatever.
I am looking forward to the next book in another series by Bruce Sentar, but I am done with Ard's Oath series.
As another reviewer stated eloquently, the author doesn't just develop his characters, he creates individual personalities for each. This provides much more depth to their relationships, and is particularly important in a harem book. It serves to make the interactions between them more interesting and believable. Mr. Sentar has a real gift for this which along with well-written dialogue makes for a very fun read. As I said in my edited review, I am so glad I reread book one giving myself a much improved understanding of Art's world!👐
Better, but didn't knock it out of the park. At this point I think Ard's power curve should be picking up more, as he's still lagging behind where I think he needs to be to deal with the challenges coming his way.
This one sets thing on a collision course with the monarchy; something we could see coming, but the gloves are loosening if not quite dropped. We'll see where this goes, as this book has earned the series a stay of execution from my reading list.
Frigid Magic follow's Ard and his anchors after the events of Noble Bearings. Ard has more agency in this book than the last. The book continues Ard's search for pirates and monsters in the mountains above the port city. We get more magic development and relationship development. Confirmation of the crazy that is Maribelle. The book finishes with a climatic battle on multiple fronts. Overall a big improvement to me over the last entry.
Another great addition to a fun and quirky series!
The strength of the characters and their adventures are taking leaps and bounds; getting to a point for anticipated epic conclusion.. hopefully in the next book?
I had a great time devouring this book and have only positive things to say about the experience. The spice has managed to show up in even the more mundane chapters, but I don’t think it’s gone too far to become a burden on the flow of reading.
This book was a lot of fun. The author seems to steer the story to a lot of the political ramification of Ard's existence. His power is growing. However, the book doesn't focus on as much of the magic theory. That said there is plenty of fighting, but magic itself is back to being a tool. A lot of politics introduced here, so the next book should really be interesting.
Once again, Bruce sets himself apart from all others in this genre. Truly mastering his craft as his storytelling and character development just seem to outdo themselves, which each book he finishes. This book leaves the reader salivating for what's to come and is such an easy read you won't want to put it down.
These are fun books to read with a lot of back and forth between Ard and his anchors. Ard is slowly powering up and it looks live events are pushing him hard to improve or die. Fun characters, quirky dialogue and some magical action sequences to spice things up, what more could you want (except more!)
I feel like Bruce Sentar has a writing style that I've been looking for over 30 years! I love the banter of his characters in the 2 series that I've read so far, and it's got me on the hunt for his other books! The latest book in Ard's Oath enriched the story enough that I can't wait until the next book!
The witty sarcasm of Ard is truely a delight to read, and being able to bounce the wit off his beautiful and deadly anchors is just as entertaining as the antics, battles and magic thrown around in this book.
With plots and schemes and revelations, I'm loving every page and looking forward to reading more!
The books keep getting better and better and the whole theme of pirates and monsters embraced this volume and I loved it. This took us into the world further and expanded it greatly, this is a no spoilers review so enjoy the book it was filled with adventure, politics and many more fun things.
Ard is gaining power rapidly but making many enemies. The first princess gives up trying to recruit him and now is trying to assassinate him seeing him as to big a risk to her plans. Ards soul magic continues to grow and has several interesting applications ever against a mega Wyrm. Very good read definitely a must read chapter is this sequel.
Great series with interesting characters and world building
This series has been really good so far, especially for harem-lit, which is often poorly written. The sex scenes do not dominate the story and are often simply referenced in passing which helps to keep the story moving along.
I really loved reading this book. This series is quickly becoming one of my favorites. It was fun and entertaining. The story and characters were incredibly interesting and engaging. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next. This book is definitely worth checking out.