What do you think?
Rate this book
Arcane Awakening #5
Imperial Wizard 5: Seeds of Corruption
The bitter taste of treachery mars what should be a triumph.
Morale is low as the allied forces recover from betrayal, loss and worrying news from the south. Elder Vanarr is in trouble.
The northern Host was thrown back, but the war isn’t over, and an old enemy has returned once more. Devastation spreads and there are many who will seek opportunity within the chaos.
Victory can still be achieved, if they are willing to bear the cost.
Morale is low as the allied forces recover from betrayal, loss and worrying news from the south. Elder Vanarr is in trouble.
The northern Host was thrown back, but the war isn’t over, and an old enemy has returned once more. Devastation spreads and there are many who will seek opportunity within the chaos.
Victory can still be achieved, if they are willing to bear the cost.
- GenresFantasy
508 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 28, 2025
139 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
J. Parsons
15 books73 followersA long time lover of fantasy adventures, I've finally moved from just writing for family and friends to publishing my books online.
I hope you enjoy my work.
I hope you enjoy my work.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 30, 2025
couldn’t finish
I made it 2/3 of the way through, but couldn’t finish. This by far the most boring installment in the series. Dry little action. The characters are pretty flat so without action there’s just not much to hold the story together. Also the MC seems to have very little agency. He just spends most of his time following orders and fulfilling requests from others. He basically just goes with the flow.
I made it 2/3 of the way through, but couldn’t finish. This by far the most boring installment in the series. Dry little action. The characters are pretty flat so without action there’s just not much to hold the story together. Also the MC seems to have very little agency. He just spends most of his time following orders and fulfilling requests from others. He basically just goes with the flow.
August 6, 2025
Fun, but predictable plots & many flat characters
You can pretty much see every plot point coming a mile away. The author even makes this extra easy, as multiple times Verdan will see something weird, think "huh, that's weird", shrug and continue on. Obviously it then comes up later.
Even the movements of the Cyth are predictable. Hint - them and the human enemies are targeting the same locations they have been for the whole series.
My other complaint is how flat and one dimensional most characters are, made worse by just how many of them there are. Even the main character's supposed love interest only has like two interactions the whole book: an expression of concern over Verdan and anger over the person who attacked her family. Otherwise she just putters around giving out health potions. Every character can basically be completely summed up in one short sentence and it makes the world boring, especially all the army scenes. There is very little complex emotion, just anger at enemies and worry over friends.
You can pretty much see every plot point coming a mile away. The author even makes this extra easy, as multiple times Verdan will see something weird, think "huh, that's weird", shrug and continue on. Obviously it then comes up later.
Even the movements of the Cyth are predictable. Hint - them and the human enemies are targeting the same locations they have been for the whole series.
My other complaint is how flat and one dimensional most characters are, made worse by just how many of them there are. Even the main character's supposed love interest only has like two interactions the whole book: an expression of concern over Verdan and anger over the person who attacked her family. Otherwise she just putters around giving out health potions. Every character can basically be completely summed up in one short sentence and it makes the world boring, especially all the army scenes. There is very little complex emotion, just anger at enemies and worry over friends.
July 3, 2025
A interesting story, but the author has really got into the whole 'death and destruction' thing.
I was OK with this for a while, but it became just one long depressing fight. The individual combats became repetitive and I became tired of the 'last moment' misses and saves. At times the author had characters able to dodge attacks they can't see, that they don't know are coming and are travelling at the speed of light, the ridiculousness of it does get a bit irritating
The book has a lot about corruption and by the end I came away with the strong impression that the author had been corrupted by Hollywood screen writers, who work on the principle that if you just keep pouring on the action people won't notice the problems and inconsistencies in the story.
I was OK with this for a while, but it became just one long depressing fight. The individual combats became repetitive and I became tired of the 'last moment' misses and saves. At times the author had characters able to dodge attacks they can't see, that they don't know are coming and are travelling at the speed of light, the ridiculousness of it does get a bit irritating
The book has a lot about corruption and by the end I came away with the strong impression that the author had been corrupted by Hollywood screen writers, who work on the principle that if you just keep pouring on the action people won't notice the problems and inconsistencies in the story.
December 19, 2025
Definetly diversity of creatures here
Took everything and extra to take care of this monster. It really is kind of frustrating with all the infighting. I do wonder if we ever find the reason? They just seem kind of stupid. But the way wizards disappeared was cool. Genes hidden for twelve generations … wonder how they planned that!
Took everything and extra to take care of this monster. It really is kind of frustrating with all the infighting. I do wonder if we ever find the reason? They just seem kind of stupid. But the way wizards disappeared was cool. Genes hidden for twelve generations … wonder how they planned that!
July 6, 2025
Great Stuff
This story of a guy going night night for thousands of years and waking up to a whole new world was a fascinating read. This book leaves off as he must rebuild his home town after he has boot to buttocks evil creatures and folks
This story of a guy going night night for thousands of years and waking up to a whole new world was a fascinating read. This book leaves off as he must rebuild his home town after he has boot to buttocks evil creatures and folks
June 29, 2025
Very good book
This is a fine fantasy adventure novel. It is well written and edited. I especially like Tim. I anxiously await the sequel.
This is a fine fantasy adventure novel. It is well written and edited. I especially like Tim. I anxiously await the sequel.
October 5, 2025
Overall a good book, but it's only really ever conflict. I would love to see Verdan spend some more time on his own growth without some immediate conflict underway
December 1, 2025
Very good read
I enjoyed reading this book very much and I recommend this book to anyone who likes LitRPG and progression types of books with lots of action.
I enjoyed reading this book very much and I recommend this book to anyone who likes LitRPG and progression types of books with lots of action.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews