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The Silent Archmage #1
The Silent Archmage
An archmage enrolls in magical university, glad to finally be free of war. Unfortunately, trouble seems to follow him everywhere...
After dealing with monsters spilling from magical Gates and Towers—and worse, the people fighting over the resources of the new world—Syl is happy to be no more than an unremarkable class 3 student with dismal practical scores and a powerful secret at an Aurian magic academy. Assigned to guard the undercover princess, he is content to live school life—right up until people start trying to kill them both.
As outside forces start to close in and Auria hides its weakness from its people, Syl refuses to allow his peace to be trampled on. Once, he was legendary on the battlefield, a voiceless sovereign who left nothing in his wake.
He will show the world why they feared the Silent Archmage.
After dealing with monsters spilling from magical Gates and Towers—and worse, the people fighting over the resources of the new world—Syl is happy to be no more than an unremarkable class 3 student with dismal practical scores and a powerful secret at an Aurian magic academy. Assigned to guard the undercover princess, he is content to live school life—right up until people start trying to kill them both.
As outside forces start to close in and Auria hides its weakness from its people, Syl refuses to allow his peace to be trampled on. Once, he was legendary on the battlefield, a voiceless sovereign who left nothing in his wake.
He will show the world why they feared the Silent Archmage.
- GenresFantasyLitrpgYoung Adult
349 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 14, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
February 2, 2025
The irregular ripoff
The book itself was interesting; however, it is blatantly a ripoff of The Irregular at Magic High School. The author changed enough to make it, probably, not actionable with a lawsuit, but it is completely blatant if you’ve seen the anime.
If the author hasn’t copied the MC so much and just come up with his own premise for him, it actually would have been a really great book. The world was interesting and the magic system was good, but having a blatant ripoff for not just the MC but his partner too, it just left a huge sour taste while reading it.
The book itself was interesting; however, it is blatantly a ripoff of The Irregular at Magic High School. The author changed enough to make it, probably, not actionable with a lawsuit, but it is completely blatant if you’ve seen the anime.
If the author hasn’t copied the MC so much and just come up with his own premise for him, it actually would have been a really great book. The world was interesting and the magic system was good, but having a blatant ripoff for not just the MC but his partner too, it just left a huge sour taste while reading it.
June 4, 2026
This is a straight forward manga-flavored power fantasy*. Sylvester and Bianca are completely overpowered for the elite academy they are joining and the novel plays coy about their hidden capabilities until a big reveal at the very end.
There's frankly more character development than I expected for how dialed-in the power fantasy is. Sylvester ("call me Syl") is working hard to protect Bianca and deal with a bunch of clandestine threats clandestinely. And while he is completely overpowered for the student environment, the story takes some pains to give him the titular handicap (having no voice complicates his magic and makes him slower than average so he has to compensate by planning ahead and being extra keen).
Bianca is a little shallower characterization-wise, but I feel that's mainly because we never get her PoV. Which is a strange choice if I think about it because we get many other PoVs from other people, some of whom just don't matter to the main arc at all.
The action is good and the pace with escalating threat worked for me, helped along by me being engaged with the main characters who have a lot going on under the surface. We learn, over time, that their attendance at the academy has multiple purposes and none of those have to do with actually learning things. So the author isn't showing off how neat the magic system is all the time with classes built around exposition and I found that kind of refreshing.
I'm giving this a full five stars, but want to call out this is a genre-specific rating and that it fit my mood very well. If you like power fantasy and don't mind the manga flavoring, you could do worse than giving this a shot.
* A note about manga flavor: This is so manga-flavored that it has pulled criticism of being a knock off of a popular story and/or being AI slop fed from mangaville. I read the synopsis of the chief plagiarism claim and that doesn't survive even a cursory inspection. If it borrowed from that source, then it changed so much, including key character and worldbuilding elements, that only a shallow reading makes that seem feasible. As for being AI slop, I kind of doubt it. Maybe if it were generated on the latest thing, but this was published a year and a half ago and frankly, AI wasn't that good then. Probably still isn't. So those claims sound like witch-hunt material to me. Or sore loser material.
A note about Chaste: Sylvester isn't really clued in to romantic overtures. There are a couple thrown out his way and he just breezes right on by. You can see that Bianca picks up on some of it and may even be interested herself but that's kind of what I mean by being better characterization than people are giving credit for. At any rate, there's no intimacy or steam, so this is very chaste.
There's frankly more character development than I expected for how dialed-in the power fantasy is. Sylvester ("call me Syl") is working hard to protect Bianca and deal with a bunch of clandestine threats clandestinely. And while he is completely overpowered for the student environment, the story takes some pains to give him the titular handicap (having no voice complicates his magic and makes him slower than average so he has to compensate by planning ahead and being extra keen).
Bianca is a little shallower characterization-wise, but I feel that's mainly because we never get her PoV. Which is a strange choice if I think about it because we get many other PoVs from other people, some of whom just don't matter to the main arc at all.
The action is good and the pace with escalating threat worked for me, helped along by me being engaged with the main characters who have a lot going on under the surface. We learn, over time, that their attendance at the academy has multiple purposes and none of those have to do with actually learning things. So the author isn't showing off how neat the magic system is all the time with classes built around exposition and I found that kind of refreshing.
I'm giving this a full five stars, but want to call out this is a genre-specific rating and that it fit my mood very well. If you like power fantasy and don't mind the manga flavoring, you could do worse than giving this a shot.
* A note about manga flavor: This is so manga-flavored that it has pulled criticism of being a knock off of a popular story and/or being AI slop fed from mangaville. I read the synopsis of the chief plagiarism claim and that doesn't survive even a cursory inspection. If it borrowed from that source, then it changed so much, including key character and worldbuilding elements, that only a shallow reading makes that seem feasible. As for being AI slop, I kind of doubt it. Maybe if it were generated on the latest thing, but this was published a year and a half ago and frankly, AI wasn't that good then. Probably still isn't. So those claims sound like witch-hunt material to me. Or sore loser material.
A note about Chaste: Sylvester isn't really clued in to romantic overtures. There are a couple thrown out his way and he just breezes right on by. You can see that Bianca picks up on some of it and may even be interested herself but that's kind of what I mean by being better characterization than people are giving credit for. At any rate, there's no intimacy or steam, so this is very chaste.
February 7, 2025
I can't give this more than 1 star
This story is a very blatant knock off of another series. You can get the name from the other low reviews. Sometimes people take some ideas and make them into their own story. This is not that. I would not be surprised if the original work was put into an AI and then kicked out this book. It's like a bad reskin that's worse in just about every way. The only exception is the apparent lack of incest. All the characters and their traits from the original story were seemingly jumbled together in a randomizer and out popped the characters for this story. While the magic could have been cool it's explained so superficially that it ruins any potential it had. The writer or AI or whatever makes it sound smart at first but then you notice the explanations are all long-winded and lacking in consistent details. Would not recommended
This story is a very blatant knock off of another series. You can get the name from the other low reviews. Sometimes people take some ideas and make them into their own story. This is not that. I would not be surprised if the original work was put into an AI and then kicked out this book. It's like a bad reskin that's worse in just about every way. The only exception is the apparent lack of incest. All the characters and their traits from the original story were seemingly jumbled together in a randomizer and out popped the characters for this story. While the magic could have been cool it's explained so superficially that it ruins any potential it had. The writer or AI or whatever makes it sound smart at first but then you notice the explanations are all long-winded and lacking in consistent details. Would not recommended
March 7, 2025
Not gonna lie, I only started reading this today as I got distracted by Royal Road and Patreon authors. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m tipsy or not, but I honestly struggled to get through the first few chapters of this book. I just couldn’t get into the story, it didn’t grab me as much as the synopsis did to get me to pick up the book in the first place. Bit disappointing really…
May 15, 2025
I generally enjoy a powerful MC but here the author failed to make either the MC or world interesting to me. I have read books with actual robot MCs and enjoyed them. Here the MC is robotic, apparently due to past trauma although it seemed clear that the author was heading for some sort of reveal. The author spends so much time hiding the reveal that the MC comes across as drab and boring. Twice I went to quit this book but forced myself to keep going since the general set up of the story is the kind I typically enjoy. I finally gave up just as the MC was starting the climatic battle because I realized I just didn’t care about any of it. (Since I was reading in Kindle I can tell you I was 90% of the way through the book.)
I am glad others are able to enjoy this book (it currently has a 4.3 on 596 ratings on Goodreads.com) but for me it proved a waste of time and frankly I was so bored throughout most of the book that I cannot explain others enjoyment. I decided to give 2 stars instead of one because the book wasn’t actively bad, just boring.
I am glad others are able to enjoy this book (it currently has a 4.3 on 596 ratings on Goodreads.com) but for me it proved a waste of time and frankly I was so bored throughout most of the book that I cannot explain others enjoyment. I decided to give 2 stars instead of one because the book wasn’t actively bad, just boring.
January 22, 2025
While coming from an anime, this is different enough to be its own work. It's a good idea, but has very choppy writing. This needs some polish.
February 18, 2025
I've no comment on the rumours of plagiarism, but I enjoyed this book. Things accelerated too quickly toward the end, but when it ended, I wanted more.
January 23, 2025
"Irregular at magic high school" for good and ill
I actually picked this up when I found out it was a lot like "Irregular...". I didn't fully appreciate the mc in that one and thought a few changes might make me like it more.
I got 20% into this book... and gave up. There was a lot to like. There were even enough differences from the other story that I was enjoying it. As much as I appreciated the minor differences, I wasn't expecting practically a blow by blow retelling of the events and side characters of "Irregular...". When I got to the talk in the cafe it was too much. I didn't enjoy the original enough to read a fan fic remake/rewrite so I'm passing on this one. I would have much preffered 'heavily inspired by...', with similiar universe and maybe even characters but different events and emphasis.
With that said, if you did like the original enough or you didn't watch/read the original then this is probably a good read.
I actually picked this up when I found out it was a lot like "Irregular...". I didn't fully appreciate the mc in that one and thought a few changes might make me like it more.
I got 20% into this book... and gave up. There was a lot to like. There were even enough differences from the other story that I was enjoying it. As much as I appreciated the minor differences, I wasn't expecting practically a blow by blow retelling of the events and side characters of "Irregular...". When I got to the talk in the cafe it was too much. I didn't enjoy the original enough to read a fan fic remake/rewrite so I'm passing on this one. I would have much preffered 'heavily inspired by...', with similiar universe and maybe even characters but different events and emphasis.
With that said, if you did like the original enough or you didn't watch/read the original then this is probably a good read.
February 22, 2025
I finished it
There’s some good stuff, but let’s hit the bad notes:
There are far too many editing errors in the first quarter of the book. Noticeable levels of bad grammar, bad spelling, and even incomplete sentences. Stuff that makes it a little difficult to read.
I also have to note, this is not an easy read. Several layers of complexity that aren’t fully explained and designations that don’t clearly rank versus each other. A lot of discussion about “Prismatics” that isn’t well defined other than ‘colors’. Ranks of mages that aren’t clear as to ‘why’.
That said, I *did* read the whole thing. The complexity and lack of explanations lent flexibility to the narrative. And the juggling of secrets served well as reason for why combat was occurring.
I am not fully certain I will read a sequel, but I am open to it. It doesn’t dethrone any favorites, but it does make me curious.
There’s some good stuff, but let’s hit the bad notes:
There are far too many editing errors in the first quarter of the book. Noticeable levels of bad grammar, bad spelling, and even incomplete sentences. Stuff that makes it a little difficult to read.
I also have to note, this is not an easy read. Several layers of complexity that aren’t fully explained and designations that don’t clearly rank versus each other. A lot of discussion about “Prismatics” that isn’t well defined other than ‘colors’. Ranks of mages that aren’t clear as to ‘why’.
That said, I *did* read the whole thing. The complexity and lack of explanations lent flexibility to the narrative. And the juggling of secrets served well as reason for why combat was occurring.
I am not fully certain I will read a sequel, but I am open to it. It doesn’t dethrone any favorites, but it does make me curious.
March 14, 2025
Needs an editor
The story starts out like a AI rip off of the anime irregular at magic high school. It then morphs into a progression fantasy with gates and towers in a dystopian setting. To a seven deadly sins/fullmetal alchemist plot lines.
Honestly, it’s a decently thought out mashup of stories. What holds it back is that it feels like an AI wrote it. It definitely needs an editor to fix the little errors.
Characters are development is lacking.
World building is slow and disjointed. I had a hard time conceptualizing what was going on until the climax.
Interesting enough to read not good enough to recommend.
The story starts out like a AI rip off of the anime irregular at magic high school. It then morphs into a progression fantasy with gates and towers in a dystopian setting. To a seven deadly sins/fullmetal alchemist plot lines.
Honestly, it’s a decently thought out mashup of stories. What holds it back is that it feels like an AI wrote it. It definitely needs an editor to fix the little errors.
Characters are development is lacking.
World building is slow and disjointed. I had a hard time conceptualizing what was going on until the climax.
Interesting enough to read not good enough to recommend.
July 20, 2025
Maybe i am too old to enjoy this..
DNF at 26%
The starts without proper world building and introduction of the characters. Therefore, found it hard to care about anything that happens.
The MC has a character like Andy from Prometheus. He is highly knowledgeable, highly capable in several areas, always helpful and just wants to protect and serve seemingly without any motivation of his own which makes him really dull.
Unfortunately, there seems to be no character progression. The MC starts out like an average modern female hero, already knowing everything and total op..
I am no fan of the magic-through-pit-boy magic system.
DNF at 26%
The starts without proper world building and introduction of the characters. Therefore, found it hard to care about anything that happens.
The MC has a character like Andy from Prometheus. He is highly knowledgeable, highly capable in several areas, always helpful and just wants to protect and serve seemingly without any motivation of his own which makes him really dull.
Unfortunately, there seems to be no character progression. The MC starts out like an average modern female hero, already knowing everything and total op..
I am no fan of the magic-through-pit-boy magic system.
April 29, 2025
How is this not plagiarism?
Blatant ripoff of The Irregular at Magic High School. Different names, but same characters and events. I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t know if this goes over the legal line to plagiarism, but this should probably be taken down. Also reads like something AI written.
I don’t do written reviews often. This one deserves pointing out however — just for all the wrong reasons. Just read or watch the original.
Blatant ripoff of The Irregular at Magic High School. Different names, but same characters and events. I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t know if this goes over the legal line to plagiarism, but this should probably be taken down. Also reads like something AI written.
I don’t do written reviews often. This one deserves pointing out however — just for all the wrong reasons. Just read or watch the original.
January 7, 2026
Fun story akin to anime/manga/LN like The Silent Witch or Iceblade Sorcerer, and aspects of Irregular at Magic High School (minus the excessive sis/bro-con).
Main character hiding in plain-sight as an everyday student, while secretly a powerhouse in their own right, albeit with some caveats, running in circles that are much bigger than the events they're initially involved in suggest, at first glance.
Main character hiding in plain-sight as an everyday student, while secretly a powerhouse in their own right, albeit with some caveats, running in circles that are much bigger than the events they're initially involved in suggest, at first glance.
February 15, 2025
Blatant Rip-Off
This is clearly a light re-skin of An Irregular at Magic High School. It does diverge and isn't exactly the same, but SO MANY plot points are the same with noun substitution. It's fine to take inspiration from something, but decent fanfic has more creativity than this.
Go watch the anime or read the light novel that this is aping instead.
This is clearly a light re-skin of An Irregular at Magic High School. It does diverge and isn't exactly the same, but SO MANY plot points are the same with noun substitution. It's fine to take inspiration from something, but decent fanfic has more creativity than this.
Go watch the anime or read the light novel that this is aping instead.
March 2, 2025
Simply awful
I think the author doesn't know what progression is. This book is not that.
The whole book is boring with no character development at all. There's no world building. While there is action, the action is dead before it starts. There's never a close fight.
I don't know who would enjoy this.
I think the author doesn't know what progression is. This book is not that.
The whole book is boring with no character development at all. There's no world building. While there is action, the action is dead before it starts. There's never a close fight.
I don't know who would enjoy this.
April 23, 2025
Poorly Structured
This book introduces a very interesting magic system, but waits until the very end of the book to really give any background on the main characters. The motivations of everyone remain cloudy throughout, and you never get a real picture of where this story is going.
This book introduces a very interesting magic system, but waits until the very end of the book to really give any background on the main characters. The motivations of everyone remain cloudy throughout, and you never get a real picture of where this story is going.
April 29, 2025
Blatant Plagiarism
A near 1 to 1 copy of Irregular without some of the more “odd” troupes. Almost every single plot point, world building event, and even the magic system are the same. We really said “can I copy your homework? I’ll make it look like my own.” And just changed some character names and locations. The fastest DNF I’ve ever done.
A near 1 to 1 copy of Irregular without some of the more “odd” troupes. Almost every single plot point, world building event, and even the magic system are the same. We really said “can I copy your homework? I’ll make it look like my own.” And just changed some character names and locations. The fastest DNF I’ve ever done.
March 1, 2025
Good story, needs editing
There are a couple of places with incorrect spelling/punctuation-- nothing that spell check would catch, but still, this story deserves better. I almost quit when I realized that it starts with a data dump. Author, if you're reading this, please reformat that. Best practice is to start out with "Excerpt from a speech given by [name] on [occasion]." Then put the excerpt in italics. Or mimic the methodology that you used for the reports that are included later on. Just make sure that you separate this material from the rest of the text via formating and/or via a chapter break.
Something else to consider: While I loved getting Syl's backstory, you may find that delivering these details one at a time over the course of the series (woven into the storyline) would be more effective. Stories like this are equal parts adventure and mystery. Resolving all of the mystery in book one will make it more difficult to keep the audience hooked for future books. (Future books won't have as much of a backstory mystery element.) When the next book comes out, I'll probably give it a go. (I would read it right now if it was out.) But, having my questions about Syl's past answered, if I don't happen to notice book 2 coming out, it won't bother me. I like Syl and Bianca, but if they're going to war, I don't know how much I want to read that. If you do a good enough job of balancing things out with Syl's research/engineering, his relationship with Bianca, some struggles with trying to pass as normal, and an ongoing desire to not out himself and/or not kill anyone he doesn't have to (ie civilians)... not to mention the potential mystery element of just what kind of relationship (if any) the various "sinners" have with one another... You could add another couple books that I would enjoy as much as this first one. Hope that helps :)
There are a couple of places with incorrect spelling/punctuation-- nothing that spell check would catch, but still, this story deserves better. I almost quit when I realized that it starts with a data dump. Author, if you're reading this, please reformat that. Best practice is to start out with "Excerpt from a speech given by [name] on [occasion]." Then put the excerpt in italics. Or mimic the methodology that you used for the reports that are included later on. Just make sure that you separate this material from the rest of the text via formating and/or via a chapter break.
Something else to consider: While I loved getting Syl's backstory, you may find that delivering these details one at a time over the course of the series (woven into the storyline) would be more effective. Stories like this are equal parts adventure and mystery. Resolving all of the mystery in book one will make it more difficult to keep the audience hooked for future books. (Future books won't have as much of a backstory mystery element.) When the next book comes out, I'll probably give it a go. (I would read it right now if it was out.) But, having my questions about Syl's past answered, if I don't happen to notice book 2 coming out, it won't bother me. I like Syl and Bianca, but if they're going to war, I don't know how much I want to read that. If you do a good enough job of balancing things out with Syl's research/engineering, his relationship with Bianca, some struggles with trying to pass as normal, and an ongoing desire to not out himself and/or not kill anyone he doesn't have to (ie civilians)... not to mention the potential mystery element of just what kind of relationship (if any) the various "sinners" have with one another... You could add another couple books that I would enjoy as much as this first one. Hope that helps :)
November 17, 2025
To take inspiration from another story is ok, but it should have limits.
Far too many similarities to the anime The Irregular at Magic High School.
The World in itself is extremely similar, it has pretty much the same magic system.
They use some somewhat weird casting devices, which can be pretty much everything, including batons and smartphones (smartphone lookalikes).
There are elite mage families. In one story it's the numbers, in the other, the colours.
Story:
A boy and girl who grew up together join a magic school.
The girl is secretly something like a princess, and the boy is her bodyguard, and both are pretty much far too competent for that school.
Both are very good at magic, but the boy's abilities don't really fit the test, so he gets in the lowest course at the school, while she gets in the highest.
The boy is very good at magic but has a bad casting speed.
There is bullying from the higher course towards the lower one.
Because the high-course girl wants to sit with the low-course boy in the cafeteria, the boy gets challenged to a duel, which he obviously wins.
The boy is an engineer for the magic casting devices they have in that story and takes care of the one of the girl.
There is a red-haired person with a baton as a casting device who becomes friends with the boy and girl pretty early on.
The boy is good at countermagic.
There is an attack on the school from people using guns.
There is a person who wears glasses cause she has a special vision.
These descriptions are true for both stories.
In my opinion, these are far too many similarities, and I count this story as a bad copy of the original.
Far too many similarities to the anime The Irregular at Magic High School.
The World in itself is extremely similar, it has pretty much the same magic system.
They use some somewhat weird casting devices, which can be pretty much everything, including batons and smartphones (smartphone lookalikes).
There are elite mage families. In one story it's the numbers, in the other, the colours.
Story:
A boy and girl who grew up together join a magic school.
The girl is secretly something like a princess, and the boy is her bodyguard, and both are pretty much far too competent for that school.
Both are very good at magic, but the boy's abilities don't really fit the test, so he gets in the lowest course at the school, while she gets in the highest.
The boy is very good at magic but has a bad casting speed.
There is bullying from the higher course towards the lower one.
Because the high-course girl wants to sit with the low-course boy in the cafeteria, the boy gets challenged to a duel, which he obviously wins.
The boy is an engineer for the magic casting devices they have in that story and takes care of the one of the girl.
There is a red-haired person with a baton as a casting device who becomes friends with the boy and girl pretty early on.
The boy is good at countermagic.
There is an attack on the school from people using guns.
There is a person who wears glasses cause she has a special vision.
These descriptions are true for both stories.
In my opinion, these are far too many similarities, and I count this story as a bad copy of the original.
June 19, 2026
There is some controversy surrounding this book, since it closely parallels the setup of the anime series, THE IRREGULAR--one of my favorites. Both have a young couple clandestinely attending a military magical college, Syl and Bianca in the book, with the woman seen as top tier and her partner as third tier (the lowest level) based on some technicalities of their magical system when the reality is that Syl is ridiculously overpowered. In the show, they pose as brother and sister, with some creepy incest vibes (until we later realize they are not related), but here Syl merely serves as her personal engineer (for the magical devices they wear) with him seeming almost asexual. In both, Syl is not only an advanced warrior but an engineering prodigy who secretly runs a top corporate magical tech company. In both, the Syl character is early on pushed into an allegedly unfair duel, which he easily wins. In both, the student council runs the school, with Bianca becoming the first years' representative and Syl becoming a person of interest to its leaders. There are more parallels but around the halfway point, the novel plots its own course and diverges from the show. I will let others debate whether this is plagiarism versus homage and stick to the quality of the book. Since I am a fan of the show, I loved being able to read a new expression of this storyline and even follow the characters as they move in new directions. As is true of many books in this genre, the author spends too much time explaining tech, magic, and possibilities, but I have learned to skim those portions. So I had a blast focusing on the action and reading it quickly.
February 15, 2025
Found it boring and drawn out with zero suspense.
This book seems to want to be more than what it is. Character development and world building and plotlines were very simple and drawn out, the foreshadowing told the reader everything that was going to happen. The main characters reveal was within the last four pages and it really was meaningless because, 1) you don't care, and 2) it was so foreshadowed that he was some higher being within the world building paradigm of elites that was dragged out through the story. The author kept trying to give hints of how important the main character was going to be, is hidden talents kept being revealed and would lead the reader to believe there was a big reveal coming eventually.
The problem is there was zero suspense for the reveal nor did the reader hold any emotional response to it. If anything it was boring because you knew nothing was going to happen until the reveal happened. The whole reveals purpose was to set up the next storyline. And that happened within 30 pages. The whole book was just a failed attempt to try to be bigger than it was.
I will not read the second book of this because it was too hard to stay awake reading this book. I have no interest in what happens more with the story.
This book seems to want to be more than what it is. Character development and world building and plotlines were very simple and drawn out, the foreshadowing told the reader everything that was going to happen. The main characters reveal was within the last four pages and it really was meaningless because, 1) you don't care, and 2) it was so foreshadowed that he was some higher being within the world building paradigm of elites that was dragged out through the story. The author kept trying to give hints of how important the main character was going to be, is hidden talents kept being revealed and would lead the reader to believe there was a big reveal coming eventually.
The problem is there was zero suspense for the reveal nor did the reader hold any emotional response to it. If anything it was boring because you knew nothing was going to happen until the reveal happened. The whole reveals purpose was to set up the next storyline. And that happened within 30 pages. The whole book was just a failed attempt to try to be bigger than it was.
I will not read the second book of this because it was too hard to stay awake reading this book. I have no interest in what happens more with the story.
May 8, 2026
fun but hard to follow
This story was fun but hard to follow. A lot of the language was confusing. Since the story is based on a future earth, I would have expected some references to old names for countries …. Eg it wasn’t clear where the boundaries for Auria and Cascadia were. I think they are both in North America but the names are too weird. Even a map picture would have helped.
And some of the motivations were not clear. Like why are these countries fighting each other. Sure desire for power is easy to understand but usually conflict between countries tend to be based on much more than just desire for power. Usually nations are motivated by much more complex factors. And the idea of sinners is very confusing. I can understand there being super powerful mages but their motivations and kill lists also don’t make sense to me. Like the book documents how many people each sinner has killed. And yet that is such a narrow world view on power.
The whole concept of magic in this storyline is confusing. I am not able to understand why the main character is limited and yet not limited? The terminology is made overtly complicated. I haven’t read the rest of the series but I definitely think that this book needs more editing.
This story was fun but hard to follow. A lot of the language was confusing. Since the story is based on a future earth, I would have expected some references to old names for countries …. Eg it wasn’t clear where the boundaries for Auria and Cascadia were. I think they are both in North America but the names are too weird. Even a map picture would have helped.
And some of the motivations were not clear. Like why are these countries fighting each other. Sure desire for power is easy to understand but usually conflict between countries tend to be based on much more than just desire for power. Usually nations are motivated by much more complex factors. And the idea of sinners is very confusing. I can understand there being super powerful mages but their motivations and kill lists also don’t make sense to me. Like the book documents how many people each sinner has killed. And yet that is such a narrow world view on power.
The whole concept of magic in this storyline is confusing. I am not able to understand why the main character is limited and yet not limited? The terminology is made overtly complicated. I haven’t read the rest of the series but I definitely think that this book needs more editing.
April 6, 2025
Extremely well written and engaging - like old-fashioned SF
This book blends science fiction and fantasy with talented precision. It doesn’t do a lot of explaining though, so you’re gonna have to really pay attention and deduce what’s going on and what all the tech means. This reminds me of how some of the great science fiction writers attacked their stories. I actually enjoy it when authors put their faith in the reader to figure things out. What there isn’t a lot of, however, is characterization. We don’t really know what makes these characters tick because the author wants their identities to remain a secret until the end. Despite that, the writing made me want to know more, and left me fully engaged. I’m hoping the next books will flesh out who the main characters are as humans. Also, and this is nitpicking, is Bianca the princess of “Austria” or is that a typo? I was having so much trouble with the geography. For anyone reading this, it takes place on the West Coast of what was in United States. I have no idea what Austria asked to do with anything.
This book blends science fiction and fantasy with talented precision. It doesn’t do a lot of explaining though, so you’re gonna have to really pay attention and deduce what’s going on and what all the tech means. This reminds me of how some of the great science fiction writers attacked their stories. I actually enjoy it when authors put their faith in the reader to figure things out. What there isn’t a lot of, however, is characterization. We don’t really know what makes these characters tick because the author wants their identities to remain a secret until the end. Despite that, the writing made me want to know more, and left me fully engaged. I’m hoping the next books will flesh out who the main characters are as humans. Also, and this is nitpicking, is Bianca the princess of “Austria” or is that a typo? I was having so much trouble with the geography. For anyone reading this, it takes place on the West Coast of what was in United States. I have no idea what Austria asked to do with anything.
February 5, 2026
3.4 stars. This book had a lot of interesting ideas, and the world and magic system felt layered and complex, but the execution didn’t fully deliver. I often felt distant from the story, even when a lot was happening.
I did really like the MC, though. He was capable and OP, and even though he keeps parts of himself hidden, he never came across as a doormat.
My biggest issue is that the story feels like it starts too late, almost like you are being dropped into book 3 instead of book 1. There is clearly a lot of history between the MC, the princess, and the world itself, but not enough context is given to feel invested. The side characters also felt underdeveloped, and since the MC did not seem to care much about most of them, it was hard for me to care either.
Overall, it was an okay read, but I felt disappointed by the execution and will probably stop here instead of continuing the series.
I did really like the MC, though. He was capable and OP, and even though he keeps parts of himself hidden, he never came across as a doormat.
My biggest issue is that the story feels like it starts too late, almost like you are being dropped into book 3 instead of book 1. There is clearly a lot of history between the MC, the princess, and the world itself, but not enough context is given to feel invested. The side characters also felt underdeveloped, and since the MC did not seem to care much about most of them, it was hard for me to care either.
Overall, it was an okay read, but I felt disappointed by the execution and will probably stop here instead of continuing the series.
February 20, 2025
This is a retelling of "Irregular at magic high school", the anime. The differences are so minor that I can't believe this hasn't been marked as plagiarism. I knew everything that would happen because the author followed VERY closely to the anime, and the rest was too easy to guess. No surprises. Not even unique characters.
That aside, the magic system was too complex - I stopped paying attention and started skimming at about 40% in. There was too much exposition and worldbuilding and not enough character development (there was zero development, to be clear).
There's no romance. Not a knock, just an observation for those who were looking for it.
Overall, this was poorly written and a complete rip-off of other work. I won't be continuing the series.
That aside, the magic system was too complex - I stopped paying attention and started skimming at about 40% in. There was too much exposition and worldbuilding and not enough character development (there was zero development, to be clear).
There's no romance. Not a knock, just an observation for those who were looking for it.
Overall, this was poorly written and a complete rip-off of other work. I won't be continuing the series.
January 24, 2025
nicely done
When I first read this I was thinking it’s a very interesting retelling of a rather interesting anime . Now I feel like it’s a bit more than that , it takes the bones of what it was , an improves on it . We get actual background information and reasons why things are the way they are . More flushed out characters with if not understandable motivations rather human ones . So from this point forward I’m going to think of this as a homage to the original concept , but something that it’s own thing . That good cause I didn’t particularly like the other seasons . Here to making your own strides, I will continue this story .
When I first read this I was thinking it’s a very interesting retelling of a rather interesting anime . Now I feel like it’s a bit more than that , it takes the bones of what it was , an improves on it . We get actual background information and reasons why things are the way they are . More flushed out characters with if not understandable motivations rather human ones . So from this point forward I’m going to think of this as a homage to the original concept , but something that it’s own thing . That good cause I didn’t particularly like the other seasons . Here to making your own strides, I will continue this story .
March 1, 2025
Interesting if a bit off
It's Irregular at Magic High School but with Ghost Flower's own interpretation (such as no brother/sister dynamic). It makes the first book a bit predictable and that fact detracts a bit from the potential for this series. I would love to see it develop more organic material. On top of that, it has all of the rough edges of a new author working out their style and pacing. Plot wise, it might be something I will continue reading but I'm not sure. I suppose it will depend on how starved I am for reading material. I like IMHS so I may be a bit predisposed to continuing.
It's Irregular at Magic High School but with Ghost Flower's own interpretation (such as no brother/sister dynamic). It makes the first book a bit predictable and that fact detracts a bit from the potential for this series. I would love to see it develop more organic material. On top of that, it has all of the rough edges of a new author working out their style and pacing. Plot wise, it might be something I will continue reading but I'm not sure. I suppose it will depend on how starved I am for reading material. I like IMHS so I may be a bit predisposed to continuing.
March 8, 2025
The story, what there is anyway, is decent
Wow. The story is not terrible. I have most assuredly read worse. The MC’s personality (the little we get anyway) is pretty good. The side characters are cardboard cutouts but that is not exactly far from the norm in progression fantasy.No, I would have given the book 4 or 5 stars if the above were the worse flaws in the book.
The biggest issue with this novel is it is 65-70% exposition. There is barely a story here at all. All the dialogue in the entire book would fit on 10 pages or less. If you enjoy reading about stories instead of reading actual stories this book is for you.
Wow. The story is not terrible. I have most assuredly read worse. The MC’s personality (the little we get anyway) is pretty good. The side characters are cardboard cutouts but that is not exactly far from the norm in progression fantasy.No, I would have given the book 4 or 5 stars if the above were the worse flaws in the book.
The biggest issue with this novel is it is 65-70% exposition. There is barely a story here at all. All the dialogue in the entire book would fit on 10 pages or less. If you enjoy reading about stories instead of reading actual stories this book is for you.
May 30, 2025
I rarely give a 5 star
This isn't exquisite prose. So it wouldn't meet my six star rating. The story line is great, wonderfully entertaining. If you're interested litrpg/urban fantasy/sci fi genre story, it's worth reading it. It doesn't fit any of those categories. It has bits of all of them. Strong to explicitly strong, if the title didn't give that away.
It's in/part of a larger universe. The continuation of that storyline adds to the appeal of this novel. I'm not sure if that novel was written by GF as well. Regardless, this series stands on its own and you don't need to be aware (or read) that novel.
This isn't exquisite prose. So it wouldn't meet my six star rating. The story line is great, wonderfully entertaining. If you're interested litrpg/urban fantasy/sci fi genre story, it's worth reading it. It doesn't fit any of those categories. It has bits of all of them. Strong to explicitly strong, if the title didn't give that away.
It's in/part of a larger universe. The continuation of that storyline adds to the appeal of this novel. I'm not sure if that novel was written by GF as well. Regardless, this series stands on its own and you don't need to be aware (or read) that novel.
March 20, 2025
Great blending of technology and magic smart excellent MC
Smart, likable, MC, no nonsense, a very good strategically Minded character. Good world building, fast paced, excellent blending of science and technology. Could use some more world building and more explanation about the main characters origin. Would like to see more MC character development as well as the princess, his companion. Might have to read this book or should I say the continuation of the story on Patreon. Well worth the read.
Smart, likable, MC, no nonsense, a very good strategically Minded character. Good world building, fast paced, excellent blending of science and technology. Could use some more world building and more explanation about the main characters origin. Would like to see more MC character development as well as the princess, his companion. Might have to read this book or should I say the continuation of the story on Patreon. Well worth the read.
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