Warcaster

Mage Song #1

by J.C. Staudt

What becomes of a hero after he saves the world?

In his younger days, Sir Darion Ulther rose to become the greatest Warcaster the realms have ever known. Once skilled in combat both martial and magical, he now spends his days hunting, hawking, drinking, and dining; he has wed the beautiful Lady Alynor Mirrowell and left his days of adventure and glory behind.

Or so he believes.

When a messenger arrives with dire news - a horde of savage northmen marches on the eastern kingdoms, razing all in its wake - Sir Darion must shed his new-found life of ease and wade into the fray once more.

This adventure, however, may prove an unfamiliar challenge for the washed-up hero, who finds himself accompanied by an unlikely traveling companion - the young wife he barely knows. Through the perils that mark their way, she'll discover more about him than she bargained for - perhaps more than she ever wanted to.

Genres: Fantasy

ebook

Published July 30, 2016

About the author

J.C. Staudt was born in Oceanside, New York, and moved to Virginia at the age of four, where he has lived ever since. He is a graduate of George Mason University, with a B.A. in Integrative Multimedia Studies, and he works for an Engineering and Consulting firm as a New Media Designer. He lives with his beautiful wife in a house lacking pets and children in Manassas, Virginia.

Staudt has been an unrepentant nerd for three decades and counting. He spends his weekends playing D&D and theorizing about every possible plot twist and untimely death (and undeath) that might occur in the next Game of Thrones novel. He writes science-fiction and fantasy across three distinct universes:

The Aionach - A dying world whose sun is so hot and close it's turned the entire planet into a wasteland. For fans of the Fallout video games, the Mad Max movies, and Stephen King's Dark Tower novels.

Esperon - A planet shattered centuries ago after a cataclysmic event of unknown origin, which gave rise to super-human beings called techsouls and islands that float on an anti-gravitational element called driftmetal.

Orothwain - A realm of goblins, elves, and dragons, where everyone talks like they're fresh off the boat from middle-ages Europe. You know the place. Magic and nature exist in polar opposition to one another, so magic users battle nature users like a fantasy rendition of crips and bloods.

Find him on Twitter @JCStaudtWrites or on his website, jcstaudt.com

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's rare that I get to the end of a book and choose to stop reading - this may actually be the first time. But I think this is the worst character motivation I've ever read.
The following contains spoilers, however please read so that you steer clear of this mess.

This book opens alright, it shows a lot of the standard high fantasy tropes, which is fine.

What's not fine are the ridiculous actions of the protagonist in the climax of the book. He learned the king he was serving was behind the murder of his own subjects and was a power hungry megalomaniac. The king secured his cooperation in a dire ritual by threatening his pregnant wife. After which he had pledged to have him killed. He also had the wife imprisoned and tortured. Following the disruption of dire ritual, the protagonist chose to work with his father's murderer to help protect the king against a prince he had imprisoned and tortured. The actions are so incongruent with basic human motivation it's horrendous.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my kind of book- I like chivalry, strength, and women who are strong characters. Here is a book where marriages are arranged. Darion was in love once but lost out when he was elevated to a higher status and was given a different woman. He is a hero- one who can cast magic- who has fought and saved the kings- but now, he is slovenly and drinking- he and his wife are basically passing strangers. When the king summons him to come save the kingdom again, he decides he doesn't want anything to do with it, so his wife intervenes. They go off to the king and find others along the way to make the journey quite endearing. Through a series of campfire stories, we discover how Darion learned his magic and the things he has done. I liked the story- the female character has spunk and determination to get him to love her and become more than just a yes milord kind of person. The three people they meet and who become traveling companions are also pretty interesting characters. Despite his flaws, Darion is a good man and I like Alynor too.

[Mihir · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked Warcaster’s blurb and had high hopes from this book. The story however didn’t quite match my expectations and while the story was very simplistic. The characters and plot pace did help the story but not enough to make it a standout one. Another title which started well but couldn’t carry through on its execution.

[Victor Salinas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pathetic !!

The story line is ridiculous and poorly written so badly that I could not finish this book.the pace of the book was off from the start .the author world building and attention to detail is lacking .the main characters especially the warcaster is a complete joke ! This more a failed attempt at a comedy then anything else .

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read. A richly woven world. Magic, war, justice, love and complicated nature of family and friendship. I look forward to reading the next in the Mage-Song series.

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book through voracious readers only. While I did really enjoy this book at times I felt it was predictable. Loved the idea of the Mage song and watching some of the characters grow