Masters of Magic

Warhammer

by Chris Wraight

Under constant pressure from its enemies, the human Empire maintains mighty armies to protect itself. Crucial among these troops are the Imperial battle wizards, trained to rain fiery death upon their foes, or summon the fury of the heavens. When Grey wizard Lothar and his colleagues ride to war against a massive orc invasion, can the wizards control their rivalry and ambition long enough to defeat the enemy?

Genres: Fantasy

300 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 29, 2008

About the author

Chris Wraight is a British author of fantasy and science fiction.

His first novel was published in 2008; since then, he has published books set in the Warhammer Fantasy and Stargate:Atlantis universes, and has upcoming titles in the Warhammer 40K setting.

He is based in the south-west of England.

Reviews

[Robert Hausladen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is just fun. Enough twists and turns in the plot to keep things interesting and some "insights" into the magic of the Warhammer world.

[Michael Haase · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a treat! 4 different schools of magic up for display, PLUS Schwarzhelm makes an appearance, PLUS my man, Balthasar Gelt himself shows up too! Count me in!

[Patrick Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly this is a pretty fun book, full of Wiz Biz, scheming and magical wind. I would have rated this three stars but it's very short so it gets an extra point for getting out of its own way.

[Paulo "paper books only" · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the second book I read with magicians... It was also the first book of Chris Wraight and so far he's got my approval. It was way better than Magestorm. The plot, the characters and the "use" of magic was pretty good. The only problem with this book is the end because I hope there is going to be a sequel.

There are some interesting characters starting with Lothar our main character who is a grey wizard. This characters needs a sequel so we can find what happens to him. Even Katerina Lautermann (Amethysts Wizard) needs a book of her own. I know that a Ludwig Schwarzhelm has two books and I am looking forward to it.

The book starts with an attack against the fortress of Helmgart by a huge horde of orcs with a powerful sharman. Here we meet Lothat and Helmut who fight for the empire. Then Helmut is killed and the survivors of the attack flee to the Empire. With Lothar is Karsten the castellan (another interesting character). From there we go to Altdorf and the intrigue between the factions within the colleges. Then we are again back to Lothar were we meet yet another wizard called Joachim an amber Wizard and one of the most powerful wizards travelling the lands of the Empire. There is also intrigue between two imperial generals for the fighting the orcs.

There are simple too many points of views that we get to know the head of several characters... That's why I said that some of them needed their own book. In the climax there are four wizards fighining besides the army (each one with their own ideal/purpose)... Grey wizard Lothar Auerbach is there from the beginning. Katerina the Amethyst wizard. Ambrosius, Gold Wizard and the infamous Marius an Amber Wizard.. All of them are rivals (with the exception for Lothat who only wants revenge) and an fight between them can start anytime...
In the end as I said before there are several plot lines that get no answer and another book is needed. But I enjoyed it. Believe me... I think Chris Wraight really knows how the Empire works and all the intrigues that befalls it. The fighting in the end was long but a good one and I didn't thought that the end was rushed as some of the BL tend to be.

The Grey Wizards draw from shadows and mostly deal with illusions.
The Gold Wizards draw from minerals, such as within the earth, and may change the forms.
The Amethyst Wizards are weakest, until death begins. They draw from chaos and deal with mainly shadows, deception, and death.
The Amber Wizards draw from nature, its various beasts and forests.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Masters of Magic is a great for for finding detail of how magic is perceived and used in the Empire of Warhammer Fantasy. The story shows us all this in a plot that pretty basic, battle wizards going with an army to face an invasion from an orc army. It does its job well and a good book overall

[Christoph Weber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Das Erstlingswerk von Chris Wraight, ganz okay, kommt aber nicht an die, ähem, Klasse anderer Warhammer Bücher ran.

http://www.weberseite.at/buecher/mast...