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Not (Just) a Mage Lord Isekai 1: A LitRPG Adventure
Perry liked being a mechanic. Now he's a mage lord.
When Perry gets isekai’d into a young noble with newfound magical powers, he must choose between surviving on the Front, a mystical battleground with sky-high mortality, or pledging an oath to become a Magus Dominus. A mage lord.
The title sounds nice, but the responsibilities are punishing. Perry must develop and protect a domain in the hostile north. His grasp on magic leaves much to be desired, but with the help of a loyal servant and his half-sister, a tempestuous Storm mage, he has a fighting chance.
But his most potent superpower is his experience from Earth—and his mindset as a mechanic.
Who knew blending schematics and spellcraft would work so well?
Dive into an epic adventure that follows a mage-engineer MC carving out a domain on the frontier. Perfect for fans of Ends of Magic and Bog Standard Isekai!
First on Royal Road with over 4.5k followers and 2 million views, now professionally edited on Amazon and Audible narrated by Nikola Hamilton. Buy a copy or read free with Kindle Unlimited!
When Perry gets isekai’d into a young noble with newfound magical powers, he must choose between surviving on the Front, a mystical battleground with sky-high mortality, or pledging an oath to become a Magus Dominus. A mage lord.
The title sounds nice, but the responsibilities are punishing. Perry must develop and protect a domain in the hostile north. His grasp on magic leaves much to be desired, but with the help of a loyal servant and his half-sister, a tempestuous Storm mage, he has a fighting chance.
But his most potent superpower is his experience from Earth—and his mindset as a mechanic.
Who knew blending schematics and spellcraft would work so well?
Dive into an epic adventure that follows a mage-engineer MC carving out a domain on the frontier. Perfect for fans of Ends of Magic and Bog Standard Isekai!
First on Royal Road with over 4.5k followers and 2 million views, now professionally edited on Amazon and Audible narrated by Nikola Hamilton. Buy a copy or read free with Kindle Unlimited!
690 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 9, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
April 16, 2026
Has potential
I didn't finish. I stopped around the 20% mark. The writing was was technically competent. The characters seemed well thought out and the world setting was good. The issue was what many of the books that come from web serials. Web serials are rewarded for word count which means the author adds way to much superfluous information. They over describe things, add multiplele view points of the same situation, and add innocuous scenes that add nothing to the story, setting or characters. This makes reading the book a slog and boring having to wade through paragraphs of information that have no bearing on the story. This book may turn out to better later on. I just no longer cared to find.out.
I didn't finish. I stopped around the 20% mark. The writing was was technically competent. The characters seemed well thought out and the world setting was good. The issue was what many of the books that come from web serials. Web serials are rewarded for word count which means the author adds way to much superfluous information. They over describe things, add multiplele view points of the same situation, and add innocuous scenes that add nothing to the story, setting or characters. This makes reading the book a slog and boring having to wade through paragraphs of information that have no bearing on the story. This book may turn out to better later on. I just no longer cared to find.out.
May 2, 2026
This is incredibly boring. I quit about a third of the way through. The writing style stutters which makes reading this troublesome. The entire first third is set up that just drones on and on. The magic system is detailed ad nauseum but it's still somehow poorly described.
July 25, 2026
Meh. Its alright, but lots of heavy leaning on AI assisted writing. More of a kingdom builder novel than anything else. Kinda scraping at the bottom of the barrel here, but at least I finished it which is more than I can say about other AI-written novels. The MC is kinda stupid except when the author needs him to invent new stuff.
How do I know there is AI? Because one of the magic spells he uses once or twice in passing is called "Flence." It is used at a specific time involving the skinning of a monster they found in a lake. The word "flence" happens to be synonymous with skinning, only more specifically for sea whales in indigenous fashion. Only AI would ever think it appropriate to categorically match and use a spell called "flence" in such circumstances rather than something more commonly understood. Real authors would use more familiar terms such as "skin" or "flay" or "peel" or "scale."
How do I know there is AI? Because one of the magic spells he uses once or twice in passing is called "Flence." It is used at a specific time involving the skinning of a monster they found in a lake. The word "flence" happens to be synonymous with skinning, only more specifically for sea whales in indigenous fashion. Only AI would ever think it appropriate to categorically match and use a spell called "flence" in such circumstances rather than something more commonly understood. Real authors would use more familiar terms such as "skin" or "flay" or "peel" or "scale."
June 12, 2026
Almost more stars
After the intro, the story slowed down quite a bit with the main character just grinding skills. I almost stopped reading because it just wasn't that interesting to me. I'm glad I hung in there, because once he got off the boat and parted ways with his sister, things got a lot more interesting. I particularly enjoyed his exploration of the (formerly hidden) parts of his domain and the bits that had him interacting with others, both his companions and the folks from the town.
All said, I was going to give this four stars, but I didn't like the second half of the epilogue. I really don't like it when authors use an epilogue to ramp up tension or make us worry about things; it detracts from the sense of a satisfying conclusion and feels more like a cheap marketing trick. Good books should stand on their own; you come back for more because you enjoyed the ride and want more of the same, not because someone threw an "oh no!" at you at the last moment-- which, sadly, is what the second half of the epilogue did. I might read book two; I might not. The story had some interesting elements, once the characters started interacting (we have some interesting minor characters), but it didn't come close to making my favorites list.
After the intro, the story slowed down quite a bit with the main character just grinding skills. I almost stopped reading because it just wasn't that interesting to me. I'm glad I hung in there, because once he got off the boat and parted ways with his sister, things got a lot more interesting. I particularly enjoyed his exploration of the (formerly hidden) parts of his domain and the bits that had him interacting with others, both his companions and the folks from the town.
All said, I was going to give this four stars, but I didn't like the second half of the epilogue. I really don't like it when authors use an epilogue to ramp up tension or make us worry about things; it detracts from the sense of a satisfying conclusion and feels more like a cheap marketing trick. Good books should stand on their own; you come back for more because you enjoyed the ride and want more of the same, not because someone threw an "oh no!" at you at the last moment-- which, sadly, is what the second half of the epilogue did. I might read book two; I might not. The story had some interesting elements, once the characters started interacting (we have some interesting minor characters), but it didn't come close to making my favorites list.
July 29, 2026
I think everyone has that friend or family member who rambles and spends so much time on nonessential details that the relevant bits are buried. You dread asking them how their day went because they will talk for 10 minutes to basically say I did a load of laundry. This is a book written by that type of person.
I made it about 55% because I was feeling more patient, or masochistic, than usual. Mostly, I was just trying to survive until the point where the MC gets to their domain to find out if the story would actually start doing something. The MC only got to his destination around the halfway point of the book, and by then I had so little tolerance for how the prose is written that there just wasn't enough to sell me on the second half of the story.
The writing will definitely be the reason a person will struggle to engage with this story. Maybe it's a symptom of originating in a webnovel environment that rewards quantity of words rather than quality, but I don't think that's a sufficient excuse because I can generally tolerate a bit of fluff when there's a good skeletal structure of a story underneath. But here, despite all the words used, it seemed very little was actually said.
There was a bit of novelty with the various settings, but ultimately the plot and characters were bland and the writing below average. I don't have the patience for this.
It's a tragedy that I can't seem to find a good kingdom-building story to save my life. Something to scratch that itch because I really don't have time to play 4x or RTS games anymore. I guess the search continues.
I made it about 55% because I was feeling more patient, or masochistic, than usual. Mostly, I was just trying to survive until the point where the MC gets to their domain to find out if the story would actually start doing something. The MC only got to his destination around the halfway point of the book, and by then I had so little tolerance for how the prose is written that there just wasn't enough to sell me on the second half of the story.
The writing will definitely be the reason a person will struggle to engage with this story. Maybe it's a symptom of originating in a webnovel environment that rewards quantity of words rather than quality, but I don't think that's a sufficient excuse because I can generally tolerate a bit of fluff when there's a good skeletal structure of a story underneath. But here, despite all the words used, it seemed very little was actually said.
There was a bit of novelty with the various settings, but ultimately the plot and characters were bland and the writing below average. I don't have the patience for this.
It's a tragedy that I can't seem to find a good kingdom-building story to save my life. Something to scratch that itch because I really don't have time to play 4x or RTS games anymore. I guess the search continues.
August 3, 2026
Started strong...and then... I quit at 70%
First and foremost, this book is slow due to the nature of being more theoretical than adventure.
I actually thought it started out strong. It could have used some more backstory on how magic works in this world. And the fact it is a first person perspective but the person doesn't identify as the host so he thinks in third(?) Person.
And then in my opinion the author completely lost me when Perry got to the village in his domain. The author started speaking in terminology that only seems to apply to the culture of the village. It kept pulling me out of the story while I attempted to figure out the meaning of the phrases. It was not an enjoyable experience.
I gave up at 70% of the book because the voice of the story changed. It was no longer what the story started as. It almost feels like two books written by two different people. I just couldn't.
Good luck.
First and foremost, this book is slow due to the nature of being more theoretical than adventure.
I actually thought it started out strong. It could have used some more backstory on how magic works in this world. And the fact it is a first person perspective but the person doesn't identify as the host so he thinks in third(?) Person.
And then in my opinion the author completely lost me when Perry got to the village in his domain. The author started speaking in terminology that only seems to apply to the culture of the village. It kept pulling me out of the story while I attempted to figure out the meaning of the phrases. It was not an enjoyable experience.
I gave up at 70% of the book because the voice of the story changed. It was no longer what the story started as. It almost feels like two books written by two different people. I just couldn't.
Good luck.
July 11, 2026
reads like a summary or third person story, very slow and sloggy. The MC is an absolute moron, he's leaving people trying to kill him alive, people that are torturers and rapists..."No no we can't just kill the killers!" gets angry at people for killing the leader of the old power structure...like what? you were just going to leave the old leader that tried to kill you and was torturing your new'people' alive to constantly worry about stabbing you in the back...
I was kind of onboard for the first quarter, the mc wasn't OP but seemed willing to come up with creative solutions. But his was still struggling after a third and four hours of reading he is still failing to do basic things and getting pushed around, I was skipping entire chapters to get through it.
Also, it's not a litrpg, and not even in the unconventional way, there isn't a system, no menu, no stats...I think there was one time an interface popped up, and it's more like a computer console and not a litrpg.
I was kind of onboard for the first quarter, the mc wasn't OP but seemed willing to come up with creative solutions. But his was still struggling after a third and four hours of reading he is still failing to do basic things and getting pushed around, I was skipping entire chapters to get through it.
Also, it's not a litrpg, and not even in the unconventional way, there isn't a system, no menu, no stats...I think there was one time an interface popped up, and it's more like a computer console and not a litrpg.
April 21, 2026
Not (Just) a Mage Lord Isekai
When Perry gets Isekaied into the body of a noble with magic abilities, he finds himself with two options. He can have a glorious (and probably short) life on the fronts battling monsters or become a Mage Lord. Not much of a choice as he is not combat trained. He will need to learn about a lot to protect his people, if there are any where he is sent too.
This was a great start to an Isekai base building litrpg! Perry was a mechanic back on Earth, so he has influenced how he approaches any problem he comes across. All of the characters are very enjoyable. The last two hours were quite the roller coaster! Nikola Hamilton does a great job with the narration!
Content Warning: none
When Perry gets Isekaied into the body of a noble with magic abilities, he finds himself with two options. He can have a glorious (and probably short) life on the fronts battling monsters or become a Mage Lord. Not much of a choice as he is not combat trained. He will need to learn about a lot to protect his people, if there are any where he is sent too.
This was a great start to an Isekai base building litrpg! Perry was a mechanic back on Earth, so he has influenced how he approaches any problem he comes across. All of the characters are very enjoyable. The last two hours were quite the roller coaster! Nikola Hamilton does a great job with the narration!
Content Warning: none
July 3, 2026
Enjoyed the family dynamics what with the bully older brother and nice sister. And of course the prick father. The world building was good too.
Didn’t care for the over explained description of how he built fang. Read it reread it and thought that wouldn’t work. Just like the glider. Then thought it’s a fn fantasy book.
Also the thing I don’t like about reincarnation books is the fact the MC has decades of experience but always makes the stupidest mistakes.
Like telling his sister what happened.
I mean he couldn’t even think about how she would react. What a moron!!
That aside I’ll probably read the next book
Didn’t care for the over explained description of how he built fang. Read it reread it and thought that wouldn’t work. Just like the glider. Then thought it’s a fn fantasy book.
Also the thing I don’t like about reincarnation books is the fact the MC has decades of experience but always makes the stupidest mistakes.
Like telling his sister what happened.
I mean he couldn’t even think about how she would react. What a moron!!
That aside I’ll probably read the next book
April 24, 2026
An Enjoyable Read.
This is a well written first book in a series. It does start, not slow, but not as quick as most LitRPG books. Instead of being iskaied and immediately jumping into action, the main character has a chance to figure a few things out. This is a longer book with probably 3 or 3.5 phases in it. Without going into details, I found the main character enjoyable and relatable.
The book struck a good balance world building, character development, figuring things out, and action.
I look forward to the sequel.
This is a well written first book in a series. It does start, not slow, but not as quick as most LitRPG books. Instead of being iskaied and immediately jumping into action, the main character has a chance to figure a few things out. This is a longer book with probably 3 or 3.5 phases in it. Without going into details, I found the main character enjoyable and relatable.
The book struck a good balance world building, character development, figuring things out, and action.
I look forward to the sequel.
July 29, 2026
This one started out as pretty interesting, I love a good magical world. Two issues I had was that the mc knew about how magic worked in the world and the exposition didn’t fully explain the world to me. I believe it did so slowly, but if I’m stopping and picking up often, I might have missed a connection or two. The second big thing, was that it became a bit tiresome. It felt like something big was building, but the payoff didn’t hit hard enough for the buildup. This lead to me just dragging the ending out. I love a good magical world, but this one isn’t for me.
July 29, 2026
A kingdom builder isekai with both strengths and flaws.
On the one hand I enjoyed the family dynamics between brother and sister despite the excess of boons for the MC and the overall plot. On the other i disliked the rather slow pace, the MC's rural drawl and his strong naivety and last but not least the constant use of they/them for single entities..
Regarding the MC'S progress i had mixed feelings. I found it good that he had to work hard to progress but he's still annoyingly weak and clumsy at the end of the book.
I will continue reading..
On the one hand I enjoyed the family dynamics between brother and sister despite the excess of boons for the MC and the overall plot. On the other i disliked the rather slow pace, the MC's rural drawl and his strong naivety and last but not least the constant use of they/them for single entities..
Regarding the MC'S progress i had mixed feelings. I found it good that he had to work hard to progress but he's still annoyingly weak and clumsy at the end of the book.
I will continue reading..
May 20, 2026
Good read
Interesting world. We learn about it with the mc. Small things, large mysteries. The MC's life has not been easy. It did not get easier in the new world. There are so many things that we hear about, small hints, that make me think this could be a very good, solid, story. So many things to find out about. The mc is just keeping his head above water. The epilog gave a brief idea of what more to is to come. I'm looking forward to it.
Interesting world. We learn about it with the mc. Small things, large mysteries. The MC's life has not been easy. It did not get easier in the new world. There are so many things that we hear about, small hints, that make me think this could be a very good, solid, story. So many things to find out about. The mc is just keeping his head above water. The epilog gave a brief idea of what more to is to come. I'm looking forward to it.
Did Not Finish
July 23, 2026DNF @ 16%
Not a LitRPG.
Starts the same as many 'tower mage' isekais, except it doesn't really seem like our MC is going to be that interesting. Despite his age, he acts like a child. I can already tell he is going to be quippy/jokey like too many MCs in the genre.
Additionally, I have zero interest in the mechanic -> mage as it seems forced. Also, can we follow the much more talented sister?
Regardless, seems more like checking off boxes than telling a compelling story.
Not a LitRPG.
Starts the same as many 'tower mage' isekais, except it doesn't really seem like our MC is going to be that interesting. Despite his age, he acts like a child. I can already tell he is going to be quippy/jokey like too many MCs in the genre.
Additionally, I have zero interest in the mechanic -> mage as it seems forced. Also, can we follow the much more talented sister?
Regardless, seems more like checking off boxes than telling a compelling story.
July 26, 2026
excellent
Two or three times longer than the norm for RPGLit; remarkably free of error (though I found a few). Doesn’t waste many pages with list of attributes gained and instead concentrates on telling a story. Which is done well; openings are made but not filled immediately, so adding to entertainment.
I am impressed. This is the first time I have given five stars in maybe 400 books.
Two or three times longer than the norm for RPGLit; remarkably free of error (though I found a few). Doesn’t waste many pages with list of attributes gained and instead concentrates on telling a story. Which is done well; openings are made but not filled immediately, so adding to entertainment.
I am impressed. This is the first time I have given five stars in maybe 400 books.
May 3, 2026
OK, leaving aside the fact that being a car mechanic would in no way help you become a supermage (and the story doesn't really bother pretending to come up with a rationale, just sort of handwaves around it), this was pretty fun. I don't feel like he needed a tragic backstory but, gotta nuke something I guess. Keep it up.
May 4, 2026
This claims to be LitRPG but there is essentially no quantification of the MC's character in hundreds of pages. For a while I was waiting for the "epic adventure" to crawl out of the "summary-of-life" (not even slice, way too wordy), but realized that was never going to happen.
Not to self, do not continue.
Not to self, do not continue.
June 1, 2026
It's fantastic
Great story and lots of action great characters well done in every aspect. Really liked the premise great action, the world feels well grounded things like food and dealing with monster bodies shelter from the weather and logistics, but not at the expense of the story. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series.👍😁👍
Great story and lots of action great characters well done in every aspect. Really liked the premise great action, the world feels well grounded things like food and dealing with monster bodies shelter from the weather and logistics, but not at the expense of the story. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series.👍😁👍
June 1, 2026
Fair ’nuff
The story is fine so far, promising even. Except for the MC's catchphrase. For the love of all that is holy, I hope that the next book contains 80% less "Fair ’nuff". I normally dont mind little quirks in dialogue, but wow this one wore out fast. Why is it that the MC only defiles the word "enough"? Enough is enough. Please just stop. Please.
The story is fine so far, promising even. Except for the MC's catchphrase. For the love of all that is holy, I hope that the next book contains 80% less "Fair ’nuff". I normally dont mind little quirks in dialogue, but wow this one wore out fast. Why is it that the MC only defiles the word "enough"? Enough is enough. Please just stop. Please.
April 12, 2026
Interesting, more Progression than Litrpg
This is more a Progression Fantasy than a LitRPG, and is a good story or at least the beginnings of one.
Hopefully the next one is just as good!!!
This is more a Progression Fantasy than a LitRPG, and is a good story or at least the beginnings of one.
Hopefully the next one is just as good!!!
April 15, 2026
I enjoyed who this story utilized the MC’s previous life experience to help him in his new life. The mechanic background was pretty novel too. The magic system was cool. It had a cultivation feel to it that made it feel original. I enjoyed the story.
May 6, 2026
Good story
Got hooked on this early and the story continued well. Deep pool of characters. Very interesting epilogue. And one comment that will haunt me for the rest of my life.
Necessary is an evil word.
Got hooked on this early and the story continued well. Deep pool of characters. Very interesting epilogue. And one comment that will haunt me for the rest of my life.
Necessary is an evil word.
May 9, 2026
delightful first book
I read a lot of this genre and at first I thought this was just another isekai trope. But there is real depth in the world building here, in its magic system, in the real struggles of the MC. I enjoyed it a lot. Well done.
I read a lot of this genre and at first I thought this was just another isekai trope. But there is real depth in the world building here, in its magic system, in the real struggles of the MC. I enjoyed it a lot. Well done.
July 27, 2026
Low info given about magic
I was thrown off by the lack of initial detail about the schools of magic. Everything has to be done by assumption of what "Order, World's, and the various elemental schools of magic" are or represent.
I was thrown off by the lack of initial detail about the schools of magic. Everything has to be done by assumption of what "Order, World's, and the various elemental schools of magic" are or represent.
August 5, 2026
Great read
Had this as a sample and finally got a chance to read it and found it to be a great read. It had some good bits of action and some interesting setup for Perry to start building up his town and the mystery of his beacon location.
Had this as a sample and finally got a chance to read it and found it to be a great read. It had some good bits of action and some interesting setup for Perry to start building up his town and the mystery of his beacon location.
May 17, 2026
Dnf
Really early started out okay but quickly became very boring and nothing seemed to happen or progress also very little to no discussion or use of magic abilities etc
Really early started out okay but quickly became very boring and nothing seemed to happen or progress also very little to no discussion or use of magic abilities etc
May 27, 2026
Pretty good, just needs some work IMO. Not enough details and things that the MC should know ( or his previous bodies owner should know) are unknown and a mystery. Just needs more something
June 2, 2026
Great story.
Good book.
I highly enjoyed visiting this universe.
I would read the next four books in the series right now.
That's how good they are.
Good book.
I highly enjoyed visiting this universe.
I would read the next four books in the series right now.
That's how good they are.
June 20, 2026
Great book
Great book I can't wait to read the next book in the series I would recommend this author to anyone
Great book I can't wait to read the next book in the series I would recommend this author to anyone
June 29, 2026
read book 1
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews