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The Spellmonger #17.5
The Golden Goblin: A Spellmonger Novel
Hell ride into the heart of shadow!
"Lilastien is missing." That's how Master Minalan the Spellmonger, the greatest wizard of the age, began the mission for his two former apprentices, Tyndal and Rondal. Both were men of means now, recently married and enjoying high positions as a reward for their past service in the war. But service does not end with an armistice; now that the war is over, the Spellmonger recruits them to track down the missing Alka Alon sorceress, Lilastien, whose knowledge of Callidore's ancient past has proven invaluable in recovering the crafts of the Ancients. She must be found and returned to safety. And they have to be quiet about it; this is a secret mission that could take them anywhere.
Thus begins an epic road trip with two brilliant young wizards who find themselves on a trail that leads through the Goblin Kingdom and into the cold, forbidding Minden mountain range, the very edge of humanity's settlement. Along the way, they see the horrors of the war's aftermath and hear tales of a legendary Golden Goblin—a unique golden-furred gurvani—which may well be a fulfillment of prophecy. They see the despair and destitution amongst the gurvani, the goblins who are attempting to settle formerly human lands they took in the war, and the humans who are exploiting them for their own profit. They discover the deep disquiet the goblins feel after the war is over, and the troubling murmurs of revolt and rebellion.
Dodging cults, goblin courtiers, bandits, and spies, the two follow the obscure trail of the Sorceress from the palace of the Goblin King into the bleakness of winter. To aid them, the Spellmonger has provided them with one of the remarkable vehicles of the Ancients, a wondrous carriage recovered from a ruin that serves as their transport, their security, and their temporary home.
But the news they learn along the way is rumors of a mysterious wizard who lives beyond the glacial wastes, the Adrian, a figure of legend amongst the goblins, who seems to be raising an army. Who is this shadowy figure? What has he to do with Lilastien? How are the enemies of humanity involved in her disappearance?
The road through the darkest mountains is troubling and leads to adventure and danger... and ultimately to the last place in the world they want to find themselves. For the forces of darkness are real, and their plots and schemes against humanity did not end when the war did. In the very heart of darkness, Tyndal and Rondal are challenged to face their worst nightmares... and discover the secrets of the Golden Goblin!
"Lilastien is missing." That's how Master Minalan the Spellmonger, the greatest wizard of the age, began the mission for his two former apprentices, Tyndal and Rondal. Both were men of means now, recently married and enjoying high positions as a reward for their past service in the war. But service does not end with an armistice; now that the war is over, the Spellmonger recruits them to track down the missing Alka Alon sorceress, Lilastien, whose knowledge of Callidore's ancient past has proven invaluable in recovering the crafts of the Ancients. She must be found and returned to safety. And they have to be quiet about it; this is a secret mission that could take them anywhere.
Thus begins an epic road trip with two brilliant young wizards who find themselves on a trail that leads through the Goblin Kingdom and into the cold, forbidding Minden mountain range, the very edge of humanity's settlement. Along the way, they see the horrors of the war's aftermath and hear tales of a legendary Golden Goblin—a unique golden-furred gurvani—which may well be a fulfillment of prophecy. They see the despair and destitution amongst the gurvani, the goblins who are attempting to settle formerly human lands they took in the war, and the humans who are exploiting them for their own profit. They discover the deep disquiet the goblins feel after the war is over, and the troubling murmurs of revolt and rebellion.
Dodging cults, goblin courtiers, bandits, and spies, the two follow the obscure trail of the Sorceress from the palace of the Goblin King into the bleakness of winter. To aid them, the Spellmonger has provided them with one of the remarkable vehicles of the Ancients, a wondrous carriage recovered from a ruin that serves as their transport, their security, and their temporary home.
But the news they learn along the way is rumors of a mysterious wizard who lives beyond the glacial wastes, the Adrian, a figure of legend amongst the goblins, who seems to be raising an army. Who is this shadowy figure? What has he to do with Lilastien? How are the enemies of humanity involved in her disappearance?
The road through the darkest mountains is troubling and leads to adventure and danger... and ultimately to the last place in the world they want to find themselves. For the forces of darkness are real, and their plots and schemes against humanity did not end when the war did. In the very heart of darkness, Tyndal and Rondal are challenged to face their worst nightmares... and discover the secrets of the Golden Goblin!
Audible Audio
Published July 15, 2025
149 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
Terry Mancour
43 books1,178 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 31 reviews
July 21, 2025
And the journey continues!
We are well into this series and things are still fun and exciting. This book, in particular, is more of a side line spin off. We get to have another adventure with just the boys. Boys that are now men. Married men! But who we have come to know and love as we watched them grow up. The original apprentices to our wonderful Spellmonger - Rondal and Tyndal.
Honestly though, the first half of the book was a little slow for me. There is a lot of stuff as the two begin their journey. They are looking for the missing Lilastien - the Alka Alon sorceress who has been on the Spellmonger's side since the beginning. As they trek into the Minden Mountains, they are both actually heading towards their boyhood homes. Into land that they fled in the original invasion that started the Spellmonger's story. But, it is a lot of travel info that I could have done without.
But.....once they get to where they are going, that is when things take off. I didn't put the book down AT ALL once we got there and before I knew it, the book was over. Without going into spoilers, it looks like we are going to FINALLY be making some real advances in civilization and we just might get to meet some of the original humans who arrived on the planet all those centuries ago. Crazy, right?
This story takes place during the same timeline as the last book in this series (The Practical Adept). So, as Tyndal and Rondal are meeting the Golden Goblin, the Spellmonger is in Farise creating chaos as Mirkander the Magnificent.
The timeline of the two books meet up with each other at the end of this book, so we are going to begin book 18 with everyone being at the same point in the story.
As usual, I alternated between listening on audio and reading the ebook. Narrator John Lee did his usual FANTASTIC job with the narration of the story and I would not hesitate to heavily suggest listening to this series on audio. There is just something about hearing his portrayal of all of the characters that brings this story to life.
So- we are now waiting on Book 18 in this series and I am still just as in love with this series as I was in the beginning. Heck, I think I'm actually MORE invested the further we get. That is not something that you can say about too many of the current series out there.
Seriously, how can you not just fall in love with Minilan and his crazy cast of characters?
We are well into this series and things are still fun and exciting. This book, in particular, is more of a side line spin off. We get to have another adventure with just the boys. Boys that are now men. Married men! But who we have come to know and love as we watched them grow up. The original apprentices to our wonderful Spellmonger - Rondal and Tyndal.
Honestly though, the first half of the book was a little slow for me. There is a lot of stuff as the two begin their journey. They are looking for the missing Lilastien - the Alka Alon sorceress who has been on the Spellmonger's side since the beginning. As they trek into the Minden Mountains, they are both actually heading towards their boyhood homes. Into land that they fled in the original invasion that started the Spellmonger's story. But, it is a lot of travel info that I could have done without.
But.....once they get to where they are going, that is when things take off. I didn't put the book down AT ALL once we got there and before I knew it, the book was over. Without going into spoilers, it looks like we are going to FINALLY be making some real advances in civilization and we just might get to meet some of the original humans who arrived on the planet all those centuries ago. Crazy, right?
This story takes place during the same timeline as the last book in this series (The Practical Adept). So, as Tyndal and Rondal are meeting the Golden Goblin, the Spellmonger is in Farise creating chaos as Mirkander the Magnificent.
The timeline of the two books meet up with each other at the end of this book, so we are going to begin book 18 with everyone being at the same point in the story.
As usual, I alternated between listening on audio and reading the ebook. Narrator John Lee did his usual FANTASTIC job with the narration of the story and I would not hesitate to heavily suggest listening to this series on audio. There is just something about hearing his portrayal of all of the characters that brings this story to life.
So- we are now waiting on Book 18 in this series and I am still just as in love with this series as I was in the beginning. Heck, I think I'm actually MORE invested the further we get. That is not something that you can say about too many of the current series out there.
Seriously, how can you not just fall in love with Minilan and his crazy cast of characters?
August 2, 2025
Another great side adventure from the perspective of everyone’s favorite knight’s magi. Learning about the goblins after so much mystery surrounding the The Dead God made this one of the top books in the series for me.
July 25, 2025
Excellent
A great road trip story for our intrepid Knights Errant. And a wonderful setup for the next phase of the Spellmonger story world. There are some minor editing issues throughout, misspellings and grammatical errors. A final editing review is in order.Mancour shows how to evolve the world his characters inhabit and make it broader and more powerful with each new novel.
A great road trip story for our intrepid Knights Errant. And a wonderful setup for the next phase of the Spellmonger story world. There are some minor editing issues throughout, misspellings and grammatical errors. A final editing review is in order.Mancour shows how to evolve the world his characters inhabit and make it broader and more powerful with each new novel.
July 26, 2025
This book just seemed uneven for me. I like diving back into this world and I enjoy the characters, but the story seemed to dwell on aspects that I found less interesting than other parts that felt glossed over. Still enjoyed and would recommend to any fans of the series, but nothing to really gush over.
August 9, 2025
Unashamedly Brilliant!!
A fantastic continuation of the series, it makes me want to reread all of the books so far back to back!
Lilastein is missing, vanished from Henga given the events carrying over from Anghysbel there are valid concerns about her sanity. The biggest fear is that she’s been taken by the enemy.
So it’s up to Tyndal and Rondal to go looking for her, heading north they aim to start their search in Ashakarl’s kingdom. What could possibly go wrong? The answer is, quite a lot. So no surprise there then. The only guarantee is that things are never dull with Minalan’s former apprentices.
A well woven story, the events take place concurrently with the events of the previous book which detailed Minalan’s adventures in Farise. Unmissable!
A fantastic continuation of the series, it makes me want to reread all of the books so far back to back!
Lilastein is missing, vanished from Henga given the events carrying over from Anghysbel there are valid concerns about her sanity. The biggest fear is that she’s been taken by the enemy.
So it’s up to Tyndal and Rondal to go looking for her, heading north they aim to start their search in Ashakarl’s kingdom. What could possibly go wrong? The answer is, quite a lot. So no surprise there then. The only guarantee is that things are never dull with Minalan’s former apprentices.
A well woven story, the events take place concurrently with the events of the previous book which detailed Minalan’s adventures in Farise. Unmissable!
August 18, 2025
Easily my favorite adventure in the series
The last book was already fantastic with bulging up farise with its own culture and history, this one does much the same but with the goblin kingdom that has been at the edge of the world for however many books. From the first chapter where Ron and Tyndall has to explain their coming absence to their new brides to the later chapters driving around a car over a glacier, and skiing down the side of it! This book is wonderful addition and much needed side story.
The last book was already fantastic with bulging up farise with its own culture and history, this one does much the same but with the goblin kingdom that has been at the edge of the world for however many books. From the first chapter where Ron and Tyndall has to explain their coming absence to their new brides to the later chapters driving around a car over a glacier, and skiing down the side of it! This book is wonderful addition and much needed side story.
July 21, 2025
Great story continued by Mancour
This story was interesting without having to one up the dangers and enemies from the past. Mancour did an excellent job expanding the storyline. I wish his editors and publisher would do a better job with these kindle editions. The last two books have been filled with errors in names, spelling, and grammar. I didn't see that as much in the first 15 books.
Keep developing the story Terry.
Y'all keep reading these. They are great.
This story was interesting without having to one up the dangers and enemies from the past. Mancour did an excellent job expanding the storyline. I wish his editors and publisher would do a better job with these kindle editions. The last two books have been filled with errors in names, spelling, and grammar. I didn't see that as much in the first 15 books.
Keep developing the story Terry.
Y'all keep reading these. They are great.
July 31, 2025
Sometimes Terry writes with a female co-writer. sometimes he doesn't. this book is a good example of what happens when he doesn't. His worst instincts come out, including talking about pedophilia and disparaging women in general. the quality of the books went downhill a bit over the first few until the co-author came on the scene. he shouldn't wrote on his own.
Stick to writing about Magic Terry, and get some female help for interpersonal relationship plot elements
Stick to writing about Magic Terry, and get some female help for interpersonal relationship plot elements
July 18, 2025
interesting and fun
I’m glad he set this as a side story. Not sure how critical events will be to the mainline plot, but since it is not focused on the Spellmonger himself it works out just fine.
A few more proofreading errors than are healthy, but easily readable. This held my attention quite well.
I await the next book eagerly.
I’m glad he set this as a side story. Not sure how critical events will be to the mainline plot, but since it is not focused on the Spellmonger himself it works out just fine.
A few more proofreading errors than are healthy, but easily readable. This held my attention quite well.
I await the next book eagerly.
July 27, 2025
Holey Moley!
First, fantastic story! Really detailed development of some old characters and the introduction of new some new ones…and the promise of more!
Lemons! Who’d have thought?
But, this needs some editorial work…there are typos and wrong words such as there, their, they’re scattered about.
Well worth reading!
First, fantastic story! Really detailed development of some old characters and the introduction of new some new ones…and the promise of more!
Lemons! Who’d have thought?
But, this needs some editorial work…there are typos and wrong words such as there, their, they’re scattered about.
Well worth reading!
August 19, 2025
An amazing adventure
I love this series, and the side quests of the spellmongers apprentices are always fun. This one was quite amazing, it really delved into the world of the gurvani. Learning a bit about the goblins was more interesting than I thought it'd be, and it tied very well into the overall story of the Spellmonger.
I can't wait for the next book!
I love this series, and the side quests of the spellmongers apprentices are always fun. This one was quite amazing, it really delved into the world of the gurvani. Learning a bit about the goblins was more interesting than I thought it'd be, and it tied very well into the overall story of the Spellmonger.
I can't wait for the next book!
August 26, 2025
Tindal and Rondal are some of the best written Duos out there. And this story was so fantastic. Such an amazing blend of Sci Fi and Fantasy. And the ending OMG is so perfect. I mean it actually trumps the ending of book 17 IMO. If you like an amazing fantasy adventure then look no further. it doesn't get any better. lots of humor and action. Just super.
September 24, 2025
I rather enjoyed seeing how Tyndal and Rondal have adjusted to growing up and getting married. Rather light on the lewdness compared to earlier events, so it's good in that regard. Great continuation of expanding the world, the magic, the characters, and the politics that I've enjoyed throughout The Spellmonger Series.
July 20, 2025
This is such a typical Spellmonger series book: if you think about it too hard, there are plot holes, and it’s so campy, but it’s such a great story - engaging, entertaining, and a great setup for 18. I can’t wait.
July 20, 2025
The Golden Goblin. A Spellmonger Novel ( the Spellmonger Series )
Terry Mancour always delivers a 5 star adventure. Now I must bide until September for the next one.. Magic, monsters, and fabulous characters..
Terry Mancour always delivers a 5 star adventure. Now I must bide until September for the next one.. Magic, monsters, and fabulous characters..
August 1, 2025
Close call!!!
That last chapter was nerve wracking but so satisfying!
I really like these Knights Errants with Tin and Ron! That great Dynamic Duo. Honestly so hilarious together.
I enjoy this series way too much and I wish I could re discover them for the first time.
Love love love!
That last chapter was nerve wracking but so satisfying!
I really like these Knights Errants with Tin and Ron! That great Dynamic Duo. Honestly so hilarious together.
I enjoy this series way too much and I wish I could re discover them for the first time.
Love love love!
November 9, 2025
As always absolutely wonderful
Pulled me straight in on page one and I was right back with Tyn and Ron on anther adventure of a lifetime. Absolutely love Terry and anything at all that is part of the Spellmonger’s world!! Back to waiting very impatiently for the next installment.
Pulled me straight in on page one and I was right back with Tyn and Ron on anther adventure of a lifetime. Absolutely love Terry and anything at all that is part of the Spellmonger’s world!! Back to waiting very impatiently for the next installment.
Read
July 21, 2025once again another amazing book from Mancour!
July 26, 2025
Awesome! Again!
Excellent mix of magic and sci-fi; well written and fun. I am looking forward to the next book of the series!
Excellent mix of magic and sci-fi; well written and fun. I am looking forward to the next book of the series!
July 27, 2025
Another home run!
July 28, 2025
Wow!
Its always a treat when he brings Rondal & Tyndal together for a sto, and wow what a storline, absolutely brilliant👍👍👍😊
Its always a treat when he brings Rondal & Tyndal together for a sto, and wow what a storline, absolutely brilliant👍👍👍😊
August 8, 2025
good side story
Took a while to get going but great read nonetheless. Seems like a book to set the groundwork for at least a few more.
Took a while to get going but great read nonetheless. Seems like a book to set the groundwork for at least a few more.
August 8, 2025
Spectacular story
Well worth the read, just keeps you sucked right in. Can't wait for the next spinoff or to see how this book affects the rest of the story
Well worth the read, just keeps you sucked right in. Can't wait for the next spinoff or to see how this book affects the rest of the story
August 12, 2025
Once again.
A great read. Where's the next one. It slowly weaves the threads together and starts the return to an industrial civilization,.
A great read. Where's the next one. It slowly weaves the threads together and starts the return to an industrial civilization,.
August 15, 2025
Another Great Read
A very well written adventure for two great characters!! Truly an enjoyable book! One of the best so far in the series.
A very well written adventure for two great characters!! Truly an enjoyable book! One of the best so far in the series.
August 19, 2025
Another great read
Always love a bit of erintery from the boys. Terry Man our has developed a world greater than middle earth. I love the spell monger series.
Always love a bit of erintery from the boys. Terry Man our has developed a world greater than middle earth. I love the spell monger series.
August 29, 2025
It really builds at the end
The end sealed the deal. You sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. I sincerely hope your shoulder feels better, keep pumping out the good books!
The end sealed the deal. You sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. I sincerely hope your shoulder feels better, keep pumping out the good books!
August 30, 2025
Might be the most pivotal book of the series so far. So freaking good!
August 30, 2025
Great spin off
October 23, 2025
As always another great read from Terry Mancour. I enjoyed this book very much. Minalan wasn't the star this time but his two protégés did well!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews