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The Spellmonger #2.3
The Spellmonger's Honeymoon
It was a simple ryhme, a honeymoon folk blessing from the Riverlands, Minalan's home.
Seven bottles of mead to share
For seven nights or more.
Each cup a toast, each sip a wish
To bind their lives forevermore:
A bottle first for happiness, a bottle then for health
A bottle for togetherness, a bottle next for wealth
A bottle sipped for harmony, the equilibrium of desire
A bottle savored for purest lust, which brings the marriage fire!
A bottle last for love to endure as long as life shall last,
Saved for they who toast their love when five full years have passed!
But those seven bottles of mead were more than just a folk blessing. As Lord Minalan the Spellmonger began his honeymoon on a decadent river barge with his very pregnant bride, he had no idea that the occasion would have anything more complicated than eating, drinking, and making love on the agenda. But a frantic message from one of the Tree Folk indicating he and Alya may be in danger compels him to skip the lazy repose and travel to a far away ruin to speak with a possibly-crazy Alka Alon mage - Lilastien, the Sorceress of Sartha Wood. After river pirates, trolls, and the sheer difficulty of adjusting to married life, the answers to the questions he has for her may be more than he, his wife, and his marriage can handle.
Come sail down the languid Burine river with the Spellmonger, and see how seven bottles of mead and a pregnant bride can turn a holiday jaunt into a potential interspecies disaster!
(NOTE: This novella fits chronologically just before the events of Magelord. And it's 52,000 words)
Seven bottles of mead to share
For seven nights or more.
Each cup a toast, each sip a wish
To bind their lives forevermore:
A bottle first for happiness, a bottle then for health
A bottle for togetherness, a bottle next for wealth
A bottle sipped for harmony, the equilibrium of desire
A bottle savored for purest lust, which brings the marriage fire!
A bottle last for love to endure as long as life shall last,
Saved for they who toast their love when five full years have passed!
But those seven bottles of mead were more than just a folk blessing. As Lord Minalan the Spellmonger began his honeymoon on a decadent river barge with his very pregnant bride, he had no idea that the occasion would have anything more complicated than eating, drinking, and making love on the agenda. But a frantic message from one of the Tree Folk indicating he and Alya may be in danger compels him to skip the lazy repose and travel to a far away ruin to speak with a possibly-crazy Alka Alon mage - Lilastien, the Sorceress of Sartha Wood. After river pirates, trolls, and the sheer difficulty of adjusting to married life, the answers to the questions he has for her may be more than he, his wife, and his marriage can handle.
Come sail down the languid Burine river with the Spellmonger, and see how seven bottles of mead and a pregnant bride can turn a holiday jaunt into a potential interspecies disaster!
(NOTE: This novella fits chronologically just before the events of Magelord. And it's 52,000 words)
164 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 17, 2014
About the author
Terry Mancour
42 books1,214 followersTerry Mancour is a New York Times Best-Selling Author who has written more than 30 books, under his own name and pseudonyms, including Star Trek: The Next Generation #20, Spartacus, the Spellmonger Series (more than 11 books and growing), among other works.
He was born in Flint, Michigan in 1968 (according to his mother) and wisely relocated to North Carolina in 1978 where he embraced Southern culture and its dedication to compelling narratives and intriguing characterizations. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he majored in Religious Studies.
Terry, his beautiful wife and three children live just outside of Durham, N.C. atop Red Mountain. He was nominated for the 2018 Audie Award for Best Fantasy for the audiobook for Spellmonger (narrated by John Lee), the first book in his Spellmonger Series.
He has plotted the Spellmonger Series for at least thirty books, in addition to his Spellmonger Cadet (young adult) series, stand-alone novels, short stories and novellas set within the Spellmonger Universe, all of which will be published by Podium as audiobooks. He is also the author of a series of sequels to Golden Age sci-fi master H. Beam Piper's novel, Space Viking, as well as original sci-fi novels.
He was born in Flint, Michigan in 1968 (according to his mother) and wisely relocated to North Carolina in 1978 where he embraced Southern culture and its dedication to compelling narratives and intriguing characterizations. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he majored in Religious Studies.
Terry, his beautiful wife and three children live just outside of Durham, N.C. atop Red Mountain. He was nominated for the 2018 Audie Award for Best Fantasy for the audiobook for Spellmonger (narrated by John Lee), the first book in his Spellmonger Series.
He has plotted the Spellmonger Series for at least thirty books, in addition to his Spellmonger Cadet (young adult) series, stand-alone novels, short stories and novellas set within the Spellmonger Universe, all of which will be published by Podium as audiobooks. He is also the author of a series of sequels to Golden Age sci-fi master H. Beam Piper's novel, Space Viking, as well as original sci-fi novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
July 22, 2026
Mandatory caveat: I listened to this in audio form, so my review won't contain my usual specifics.
First, I'll presume that anyone reading The Spellmonger's Honeymoon is already familiar with the series. If you choose this time to jump into the Spellmonger series...you're gonna be confused. (Conversely, if you're reading chronologically, as I am, you evidently won't regret hearing this story, which fills in gaps from later novels.)
The novella, which traces the nautical travels of Minalan and Ayla on their long-awaited honeymoon, showcases Mancour in his full form, leaning hard into all of his signatures: inappropriate humor, both gruesome and sexual (sometimes mixed into the same scene); distinctive, if one-sided, characters; a splendid sense of worldbuilding. As usual, the fantastic narrator John Lee is a huge part of the charm.
I can't give the story five or even four stars. Ayla's stereotypical "mother bear" personality, which oscillates between maudlin and ferocious, is overplayed and underdeveloped. It's similarly hard to believe that Minalan's biggest worry is "spoiling their honeymoon" when they're facing a global terror that has only temporarily subsided. Some readers will undoubtedly find his unquenchable lust tiresome, even if the frequency of his deviant thoughts is a good way to understand his personality.
All this aside, my biggest complaint may be silly, but I couldn't get past it: in Callidore, drinking--binge-drinking, in fact--is apparently a requisite honeymoon tradition. Ayla, several months pregnant, partakes with no explanation or justification. I'm totally confused; did Mancour forget to create a contrivance that alcohol is nontoxic to fetuses in his universe? Is he unaware of the dangers of fetal alcohol syndrome? Call me a killjoy, but it's been drilled into me since before I knew how babies were made that the dangers of drinking while pregnant are real and serious and mom's just going to have to wait on the booze. I cringed every time Minalan placated her with this or that hard liquor--and it happened a hell of a lot.
...So, in case you haven't seen the signs on your wine bottle or restaurant's bathroom mirror, I'll be the P.S.A.: don't do like Ayla, at least if you live on Earth.
But if you're committed to Spellmonger, read this novella. Expect to be saturated--perhaps oversaturated--with all the things that make Mancour's writing what it is.
First, I'll presume that anyone reading The Spellmonger's Honeymoon is already familiar with the series. If you choose this time to jump into the Spellmonger series...you're gonna be confused. (Conversely, if you're reading chronologically, as I am, you evidently won't regret hearing this story, which fills in gaps from later novels.)
The novella, which traces the nautical travels of Minalan and Ayla on their long-awaited honeymoon, showcases Mancour in his full form, leaning hard into all of his signatures: inappropriate humor, both gruesome and sexual (sometimes mixed into the same scene); distinctive, if one-sided, characters; a splendid sense of worldbuilding. As usual, the fantastic narrator John Lee is a huge part of the charm.
I can't give the story five or even four stars. Ayla's stereotypical "mother bear" personality, which oscillates between maudlin and ferocious, is overplayed and underdeveloped. It's similarly hard to believe that Minalan's biggest worry is "spoiling their honeymoon" when they're facing a global terror that has only temporarily subsided. Some readers will undoubtedly find his unquenchable lust tiresome, even if the frequency of his deviant thoughts is a good way to understand his personality.
All this aside, my biggest complaint may be silly, but I couldn't get past it: in Callidore, drinking--binge-drinking, in fact--is apparently a requisite honeymoon tradition. Ayla, several months pregnant, partakes with no explanation or justification. I'm totally confused; did Mancour forget to create a contrivance that alcohol is nontoxic to fetuses in his universe? Is he unaware of the dangers of fetal alcohol syndrome? Call me a killjoy, but it's been drilled into me since before I knew how babies were made that the dangers of drinking while pregnant are real and serious and mom's just going to have to wait on the booze. I cringed every time Minalan placated her with this or that hard liquor--and it happened a hell of a lot.
...So, in case you haven't seen the signs on your wine bottle or restaurant's bathroom mirror, I'll be the P.S.A.: don't do like Ayla, at least if you live on Earth.
But if you're committed to Spellmonger, read this novella. Expect to be saturated--perhaps oversaturated--with all the things that make Mancour's writing what it is.
April 23, 2022
Audiobook, Audible exclusive
Narrated by John Lee
This is my first taste of the Spellmonger series, and I admit I'm intrigued. If only by the highly detailed worldbuilding. But yeah, the humor is a big draw too.
Minalan the Spellmonger and his bride, Alya, take off down a river on a luxurious barge for some well-earned relaxation, after the events of the previous books. But it seems that trouble follows them, and from comments about their courtship, in the middle of a war, and enemies he has made, they should have expected trouble rather than a lazy honeymoon voyage.
This story takes place after the second book in the series, and is a good introduction to the series, the world, and the characters. The dangers come from many levels, many layers of society, and give a taste of what has happened and threatens to happen in the other books. There's also enough that isn't explained to make any reader curious to pick up the previous books and find out what happened, all the little events and people and history referred to in this story.
Will Minalan and Alya succeed in their plan to hold onto the memories and experiences that others want to erase -- without endangering their future and especially their unborn child?
I guess I'll have to pick up book 3 in the series to find out ...
Narrated by John Lee
This is my first taste of the Spellmonger series, and I admit I'm intrigued. If only by the highly detailed worldbuilding. But yeah, the humor is a big draw too.
Minalan the Spellmonger and his bride, Alya, take off down a river on a luxurious barge for some well-earned relaxation, after the events of the previous books. But it seems that trouble follows them, and from comments about their courtship, in the middle of a war, and enemies he has made, they should have expected trouble rather than a lazy honeymoon voyage.
This story takes place after the second book in the series, and is a good introduction to the series, the world, and the characters. The dangers come from many levels, many layers of society, and give a taste of what has happened and threatens to happen in the other books. There's also enough that isn't explained to make any reader curious to pick up the previous books and find out what happened, all the little events and people and history referred to in this story.
Will Minalan and Alya succeed in their plan to hold onto the memories and experiences that others want to erase -- without endangering their future and especially their unborn child?
I guess I'll have to pick up book 3 in the series to find out ...
July 19, 2019
Wow
With such a sappy sounding title, there's a lot of cool stuff in this book. The largest Novella so far, it does an awesome jobat both showing the reader more of the Alka Alon culture and background, as well as explaining why this information isn't available through most of the series.
Having just finished reading the Shadowmage novel, I wonder if the beverage Pentandra mentions is the one left over in this book. I'm hoping to find out on the Road to Venedor.
With such a sappy sounding title, there's a lot of cool stuff in this book. The largest Novella so far, it does an awesome jobat both showing the reader more of the Alka Alon culture and background, as well as explaining why this information isn't available through most of the series.
Having just finished reading the Shadowmage novel, I wonder if the beverage Pentandra mentions is the one left over in this book. I'm hoping to find out on the Road to Venedor.
April 12, 2023
Min takes his new pregnant bride to get checked (magically) by the tree people and on the way they encounter hot baths, hot springs and pirates. The novella is divided up by the seven bottles of wine custom for newlyweds. It was a cute, quick story giving Min and his love some time together. It was endearing hearing about why Min chose his new lands and the hopes he has for them and his new family.
November 25, 2017
Good. Enticing. Slightly disappointed in Min.
We learn important things that Min does nor..... For now. Good story and adds depth to other important characters and events. Min makes a slightly out of character choice thay could spell disaaster..... To temporarily protect wife and child.
We learn important things that Min does nor..... For now. Good story and adds depth to other important characters and events. Min makes a slightly out of character choice thay could spell disaaster..... To temporarily protect wife and child.
August 10, 2022
This is just so very close to 5 star but I can't put my finger on what is holding me back. The narration is fantastic and the author does a really fantastic job of presenting a well crafting story that is rich in detail and depth. I guess my only real complaint would be that at times it is a bit overly descriptive and the pacing drags at times. Maybe I am just being nit picky.
November 19, 2019
Wow. This series went straight into the gutter, and this is the worst entry. No conversation in book doesn't sound like an amateur commercial on local TV, all trying to praise itself and its protagonist.
January 18, 2021
Fun addition to the series. I am guessing that this is not mandatory reading for complete understanding of the series but it helps with the lore and the world building. Overall, it was a fun story that will add depth to the Spellmonger universe if you decide to read it.
March 20, 2021
Riveting story
This is another excellent book of the Spellmonger series. Action-packed and funny- the books are definitely enjoyable to read. A glass of wine and a pipe sound good. Mayhap I’ll read it again.
This is another excellent book of the Spellmonger series. Action-packed and funny- the books are definitely enjoyable to read. A glass of wine and a pipe sound good. Mayhap I’ll read it again.
May 23, 2022
An interlude in a much longer series--but one I haven't read. It's hard to feel like I'm judging fairly out of context; I'll say that it was just intriguing enough that I might start reading the main series one day but I'm not going to rush into it.
January 30, 2025
I loved this audiobook. Highly recommended for fans of the Spellmonger series.
The narration was great, too. I'm not a huge fan of how John Lee does the voices of some of the female characters but I love listening to his narration despite that.
The narration was great, too. I'm not a huge fan of how John Lee does the voices of some of the female characters but I love listening to his narration despite that.
May 11, 2018
Well done
Dislike that the author hides important information in side stories like this. Was in the beginning of book 10 when not only this story but the yul e one was mentioned
Dislike that the author hides important information in side stories like this. Was in the beginning of book 10 when not only this story but the yul e one was mentioned
September 21, 2019
Very fun for a fan!
Lots of candy for a fan of the books. If you're not at least to Highmage then wait until after. It will be better if you are in the know.
Lots of candy for a fan of the books. If you're not at least to Highmage then wait until after. It will be better if you are in the know.
October 23, 2019
Great short read, It filled in quite a few gaps and gave some fun and interesting backstory!
April 23, 2020
Nice followup to the series.
Read
May 6, 2020Really enjoyed the twists this one added.
November 29, 2020
The prose are well done, the dialogue is well done, the characters seem deep and well flushed out, the world seems real.
And while it has it's moments, it's mostly filled with pages and pages of boring info-dump.
And while it has it's moments, it's mostly filled with pages and pages of boring info-dump.
August 22, 2021
A short that came with another book. I think you miss something in later books if you don't read this.
November 19, 2022
16 I would’ve enjoyed this more had I read the first two books in the series. Unable to recommend to the normal crew.
January 23, 2023
I think these books might be better in smaller doses. I quite enjoyed this little slice of Spellmonger in a way I didn't enjoy the previous two novels.
June 19, 2023
Pretty spicy. I should have read the other books first though... Probably gonna go back and read them
December 17, 2023
Not my type.
December 28, 2023
This was a fun short story that has me wanting to pick up the series.
February 10, 2024
4.25 / 5
May 7, 2025
yet another short story after the first novel. Contains some essential plot information so must be read. Quite an interesting diversion and change of scenery.
February 22, 2026
Very interesting and works well read after the second book. If you want more of a surprise, read after book 9.
May 25, 2026
A delightful side quest that has no immediate affect on the story line, but will become important later. Don't skip it
August 30, 2026
Not great. Feels like an unneeded side quest.
December 24, 2025
Great read! I was struggling with deciding whether I should read this book or not, but I think it gives a lot of context for the greater story and great context with the spell monger in his new wife
Fun read
Fun read
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews