What do you think?
A Mage is Sometimes Late
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Indie Reviewers
I was reading on the dock, and more than once I called out across the water to whoever was swimming to come listen to a line, then turned around and made my sister put her own book down so I could read it to her too.
A Mage is Sometimes Late by E.M. Peterson is fantasy with a cast whose ages, magic types, and species are never pinned down or explained away, which somehow makes the found family at the center of it feel bigger instead of harder to follow. They come together to rescue a sentient plant from certain death, and every one of them risks their own future to do it. That premise alone tells you what kind of book this is: tenacity, acceptance of people who are nothing like you, and a group of characters who show up for each other without needing a reason spelled out first.
One quote that had me pulling people away from the water came from a side character with a violent past. Someone tells him they never expected such a gentle response from him, and he says, "It takes a lot of scars to get this gentle." That line stopped me cold on the dock. It is the kind of thing that applies just as much to real people as it does to a fantasy side character, and I have not stopped thinking about it since.
I read this one on vacation, and by the time I finished, three different people in my life were already asking where they could get their own copy. This is going on my permanent shelf. It has intrigue, real friendship, conflict that matters, magic that feels woven into the world instead of bolted on, and enough fun in the middle of all of it that I never once felt like I was working to get through a chapter.
Finding out at the end that this was not E.M. Peterson's first book felt like a gift. I get to go find the rest of the backlist now.
This is a fantasy for readers of any age who want a found family quest with a plant worth risking everything for, characters who defy easy categories, and at least one line you will want to read out loud to whoever is closest, even if they are treading water twenty feet away.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book.
What's the last book quote you stopped everything to read out loud to someone?
A Mage is Sometimes Late by E.M. Peterson is fantasy with a cast whose ages, magic types, and species are never pinned down or explained away, which somehow makes the found family at the center of it feel bigger instead of harder to follow. They come together to rescue a sentient plant from certain death, and every one of them risks their own future to do it. That premise alone tells you what kind of book this is: tenacity, acceptance of people who are nothing like you, and a group of characters who show up for each other without needing a reason spelled out first.
One quote that had me pulling people away from the water came from a side character with a violent past. Someone tells him they never expected such a gentle response from him, and he says, "It takes a lot of scars to get this gentle." That line stopped me cold on the dock. It is the kind of thing that applies just as much to real people as it does to a fantasy side character, and I have not stopped thinking about it since.
I read this one on vacation, and by the time I finished, three different people in my life were already asking where they could get their own copy. This is going on my permanent shelf. It has intrigue, real friendship, conflict that matters, magic that feels woven into the world instead of bolted on, and enough fun in the middle of all of it that I never once felt like I was working to get through a chapter.
Finding out at the end that this was not E.M. Peterson's first book felt like a gift. I get to go find the rest of the backlist now.
This is a fantasy for readers of any age who want a found family quest with a plant worth risking everything for, characters who defy easy categories, and at least one line you will want to read out loud to whoever is closest, even if they are treading water twenty feet away.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book.
What's the last book quote you stopped everything to read out loud to someone?
August 3, 2026
Such a fun read! A lighthearted, funny fantasy with relatable characters. After reading turbulent magic it was nice to get back into this world and see more of university life. This book is best read with lots of good tea, if you don’t like tea you will by the end of the book trust me.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews