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The Mage Chronicles
The Gilded Empire: A magical empire so ancient it's name has been forgotten to the mist of time. Its citizens believe they are in their golden age, but already the rot is showing underneath the gold veneer. The Mage Chronicles: A mage level healer, Mary is unprepared when the Council of Mages wants her to intervene in a border dispute in a distant part of the empire. What does she know of nobility or war? Not one to back down, she must confront the harsh realities of life outside the central core, a legion of unstoppable warriors and the ghosts of her own past.
462 pages, Paperback
First published December 8, 2014
18 people are currently reading
467 people want to read
About the author
R.J. Eliason
32 books11 followersR. J. Eliason writes immersive science fiction and fantasy stories that feature diverse characters. Her writing spans many sub-genres from alien contact, apocalyptic stories and epic fantasy. She also writes in a wide variety of formats, from full length novels to an ongoing serialized adventure. Her writing can be found in digital and print formats anywhere online that books are sold. Or check out her website at rj.eliason.com and sign up for a free book.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 18, 2018
3 From me
I really liked the world's building. I cheered for Mary for 3/4 of the book. The writing is good, but I could not help but feel the personal agenda being threaded heavily in the second half detracted from the story. I lost interest around 70 percent and rushed through the rest.
I really liked the world's building. I cheered for Mary for 3/4 of the book. The writing is good, but I could not help but feel the personal agenda being threaded heavily in the second half detracted from the story. I lost interest around 70 percent and rushed through the rest.
August 4, 2016
R.J. Eliason likes to mix things up, from writing style to subject matter.
It was interesting to read a fantasy without all the formal language. Her characters, for the most part, speak as we would speak, contractions, slang and all. It threw me off at first, but the story was compelling enough that it became common place.
R.J.’s world building is interesting.
The divisions of the Empire and ways of travel to each realm through magical gates, but once at your destination there are the usual ways of travel. No popping in and out of waring factions through magic. There was magic, but it wasn’t over used.
You have your typical divide between wealthy and poor, magic users and non-magical, soldier and civilian, but without these you would have no conflict, no story. It’s what she does with these tropes I found interesting. Through Mary’s eyes we see people, not labels. Like the real world there is no set rule on good and evil, but many layers in-between.
There is a touch of unexpected romance for Mary. It didn’t feel pushed or unwarranted, it was an integral part of the plot and Mary’s growth.
The violence wasn’t overdone, war is messy, but R.J. didn’t use the gore factor as a crutch.
To me this is a tale of acceptance, not only of the world or others, but of yourself. Accepting who and what we are is a step toward understanding others and enacting change. Mary embodies this, she must accept herself to move forward.
It was interesting to read a fantasy without all the formal language. Her characters, for the most part, speak as we would speak, contractions, slang and all. It threw me off at first, but the story was compelling enough that it became common place.
R.J.’s world building is interesting.
The divisions of the Empire and ways of travel to each realm through magical gates, but once at your destination there are the usual ways of travel. No popping in and out of waring factions through magic. There was magic, but it wasn’t over used.
You have your typical divide between wealthy and poor, magic users and non-magical, soldier and civilian, but without these you would have no conflict, no story. It’s what she does with these tropes I found interesting. Through Mary’s eyes we see people, not labels. Like the real world there is no set rule on good and evil, but many layers in-between.
There is a touch of unexpected romance for Mary. It didn’t feel pushed or unwarranted, it was an integral part of the plot and Mary’s growth.
The violence wasn’t overdone, war is messy, but R.J. didn’t use the gore factor as a crutch.
To me this is a tale of acceptance, not only of the world or others, but of yourself. Accepting who and what we are is a step toward understanding others and enacting change. Mary embodies this, she must accept herself to move forward.
November 16, 2016
I greatly enjoyed this book with its themes of power, self-acceptance, and self-transformation. Mary is a mage with a great deal of untapped power. Sent to stop a war on a strange world, she is forced to confront her past and make new decisions about her future.
In general, I found this a compelling story. I did feel that it started off with too much detail about her travel; the number of characters introduced who had nothing to do with the main story were a bit excessive. But the story really picks up when Mary gets to her destination, and is trying to do the job she was sent to do, while finding that it is not straightforward in any way.
I also had some issues with her relationship to Jordan – there seemed to be no real foundation for it, and though Mary has a certain passive character throughout most of the book, I could not see anything that made it make sense. However, the denouement of the book was satisfying, the transgender issues were addressed, and the plot built up well to its climax.
On the whole, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good fantasy read.
In general, I found this a compelling story. I did feel that it started off with too much detail about her travel; the number of characters introduced who had nothing to do with the main story were a bit excessive. But the story really picks up when Mary gets to her destination, and is trying to do the job she was sent to do, while finding that it is not straightforward in any way.
I also had some issues with her relationship to Jordan – there seemed to be no real foundation for it, and though Mary has a certain passive character throughout most of the book, I could not see anything that made it make sense. However, the denouement of the book was satisfying, the transgender issues were addressed, and the plot built up well to its climax.
On the whole, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good fantasy read.
February 24, 2015
I won this on GoodReads.
This is a charming story and I hope there is a sequel. In “The Mage Chronicles”, R.J. Eliason creates a vast, but slowly decaying empire. In the central core magic is an acceptable part of life, and of all the people with magical ability, the mages are the most powerful. Mary was an orphan who’s innate ability and a lot of hard work has elevated her to a mage level healer. So why was she sent to a backwater corner of the empire, where the culture is completely different, to stop a war? In this story we follow Mary as she struggles with social, political, medical, and emotional problems she was not trained to deal with, not to mention a deep, dark secret she’s been hiding all these years. This reads well with believable characters and situations. I was rooting for Mary the whole way, even though I didn’t know where life was going to take her.
This is a charming story and I hope there is a sequel. In “The Mage Chronicles”, R.J. Eliason creates a vast, but slowly decaying empire. In the central core magic is an acceptable part of life, and of all the people with magical ability, the mages are the most powerful. Mary was an orphan who’s innate ability and a lot of hard work has elevated her to a mage level healer. So why was she sent to a backwater corner of the empire, where the culture is completely different, to stop a war? In this story we follow Mary as she struggles with social, political, medical, and emotional problems she was not trained to deal with, not to mention a deep, dark secret she’s been hiding all these years. This reads well with believable characters and situations. I was rooting for Mary the whole way, even though I didn’t know where life was going to take her.
January 28, 2015
I'll try to put words to the awesomeness that is this novel. It is certainly a masterful tale, an archetypal masterpiece. However, it very much feels like an old friend. I didn't want the journey to end, frankly, and I wish there might be a sequel in the works. I'm thankful I found this treasure via GoodReads, and I hope others will discover it for themselves. I cannot say enough about it. Fantasy fanatics, read this; that is all.
July 5, 2016
I won this book in a Goodread giveaway (thanks.) I found the story of Mary, a healer, and her assignment to make peace between 2 leaders in a different land to be very interesting. There were many themes that I am not used to reading about, and I think that those only made the book more interesting to me. It made me think quite a bit. This is my first time reading R.J. Eliason but I might check out some of her other books.
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February 14, 2015This is the first true fantasy I've put out and I am very proud of it. As always, I hope it's as good on print as it was in my head when I wrote it.
March 8, 2015
I hope there is another one!
Can't wait to find out what else happens to Mary.
Can't wait to find out what else happens to Mary.
March 26, 2015
I'm not one to get long winded about a review, but I can say that I enjoyed this book. If you like the synopsis I would say give it a shot because the synopsis is pretty spot on.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews