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Magemother #1-3
Magemother: The Complete Series
Yesterday, invisible. Today, saving the world...Brinley has spent most of her life pretending to be invisible, but when a magic bell summons her across time and space to the magical kingdom of Aberdeen, she finds herself in an adventure that will force her to find her own power. Normally held together by the magic of the seven mages, Aberdeen is now falling apart. One by one the mages are disappearing, and the only person who can find them has long since vanished. Swept along by strange forces, Brinley joins up with Hugo, a mischievous young prince, and Tabitha, a quirky "bird girl" from the wizard school, and together they set out to find a mysterious figure called the Magemother. Along the way they will discover real friendship, face true evil, and overcome their greatest fears to save the ones they The Complete Series includes all three stories (plus a bonus novella) in the captivating, kid-friendly fantasy series readers describe as "a magical daydream gone wild." If you like quick pacing, lovable heroes, plot twists, quirky witches (and the occasional shapeshifter), then these books are for you.1000+ pages. 200+ five-star reviews. Buy the box set and find out why tens of thousands of readers have fallen in love with Austin J. Bailey's new fantasy series!
831 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 17, 2016
326 people are currently reading
280 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 30, 2018
Brilliant
Very good read I was hooked from the start :) would definitely recommend to give it a try 5 stars
Very good read I was hooked from the start :) would definitely recommend to give it a try 5 stars
June 30, 2017
Fun read even for adults
Reading this was fun. Something to imagine with the authors words. His words brought the story imagery visible in your minds eye. THANK YOU
Reading this was fun. Something to imagine with the authors words. His words brought the story imagery visible in your minds eye. THANK YOU
June 15, 2018
An exciting, imaginative adventure for all ages. It was good having all books together, I didn't want to stop when books ended. Wonderful ending :)
September 8, 2016
Interesting series
The Magemother series is a middle grade fantasy written by Austin J. Bailey. The gorgeous cover artwork is eyecatching, and the premise, well, the premise of misfit girl being summoned to another world and uncovering her true past could be either totally lame or really work well. The first book was (and at the time of this publication still is) free, so I figured, what did I have to lose?
The Mage and the Magpie
This book was free on Amazon and had high reviews. Honestly, I usually pick up freebies with high reviews so I can give an honest negative review. Many people seem to think that if they like a book, it deserves five stars. Five stars, imo, should be reserved for the most excellent, memorable, standout books. Not every single book you read.
Sometimes, though, books deserve the praise. I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed this book. The characters were well developed, the search was enjoyable, and since we're in an unfamiliar world there are lots of surprises. Some things that I think were supposed to be "reveals" were obvious to me, but others were not.
I haven't quite figured out how I feel about the magic in this series. I think magic is neutral and you use it for good or bad, like you would a car, and it seems like the mages and apprentices possess their particular magic. Like a gift. I don't think that the wind mage's apprentice could learn the magic of the metal mage. In this world, magic is either something you have or something you don't. If you have it, but are not a mage or mage apprentice, I'm not sure what you do. That's never addressed in the series.
I liked this book so much that I immediately looked the author up and signed up to receive updates from him. I received Magemother 1.5 as a "thank you."
4.5 stars
The Empty Throne
This is a novella, not a full length novel. It was offered as a "thank you" gift for signing up to receive updates from the author.
It is a very short and quick read, but it is an important link in the story. If you don't read this, there will be things you scratch your head at in later books trying to figure out if missed something.
While I didn't find this short story as compelling as the larger series narrative, I still thought it was important and highlighted the vulnerable side of Tabitha. It also makes the reader think about how they would respond if they had to go through Tabitha's test.
4 stars
The Paradise Twin
Book 2 largely focuses on finding the hidden mages and on Hugo's struggle with Molad. And there's a dragon. Dragon's are always fun, right?
In Hugo you really get that Jekyll and Hyde feel. His struggle is real, and it's easy to empathize with him. The search for the hidden mages was not as compelling, though, and almost became tedious at times. I had guessed part of Chantra's location, Unda's hiding place was obvious to me, but Lignumis' was well done.
In this book that I started feeling like the series was very similar to the Farworld series by J. Scott Savage.* A lot of necessary things happened in this book, but overall is wasn't as compelling as the others in the series. It moved things along, but I didn't feel anyone particularly developed as a character.
3 stars
The Bridge to Nowhere
This book was very interesting - and not entirely happy. There were a couple moments where I was actually surprised at something truly bad/sad happenings. Realism! I like books that have happy endings, but when absolutely everything works out perfectly as planned, it is eye-roll worthy. You see more development in Brinley and Hugo, others hold their own, and there are a couple flat characters. Some "twists" in the book I saw coming, but the intended audience would largely find them unexpected.
The Hugo/Molad struggle continued, and while it certainly felt real at times, there was one point very near the end in a major moment (trying for no spoilers!) where the reaction seemed a little extreme. But I understand why the author wrote it that way.
There is a meeting with the gods of their world, near the end of the book, and it rather felt like a huge aside. I got it - and they had showed up in other books - but the direction they promise really hadn't been there the whole series, so it didn't feel quite genuine. They also appear to be modeled after the Mormon view of God - being God and his wife who live in another world, but sometimes interact with us. The moral underpinnings in what they say are close to what I believe as a Christian, but the framework is wrong. Not everyone will agree, but I thought I'd mention it for those who want to have conversations with their children about that aspect of the book.
The biggest thing for me is one unanswered question that is actually asked in the series - what about the bell Brinley's father heard? That is never explained. I feel that is an oversight, or maybe it was too complicated to work into the book without a huge expansion ... but in that case the question should have been removed from the book. Its one thing for a reader to have questions of their own, it's another for an author to pose a question within the series that never gets answered.
Overall, the book gets 4 stars.
Serial Thoughts
As mentioned in my review of book 1, I'm not sold on how magic works in this world. To be sure, it is a well crafted story, but something seems a tad off, but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe its the lack of complete explanation, I don't know.
*To expand on my Farworld comment from book 2's review. The Farworld and Magemother series aren't actually that similar. Just the whole looking for mages (who control the elements) that are hidden was bringing me strong vibes of the looking for the hidden elementals (basically the elements themselves). Also, the cross-world transfer of a main character. But the journeys are drastically different, as are the endings. The Magemother series actually has a more satisfying ending, but as a series I think I prefer Farworld. If you like one of the series, though, I'm pretty sure you'll like the other.
And, to reiterate from my review of book 3, I don't like unanswered questions posed within the story itself (If I missed this someone please point it out to me!). There is also the Mormon-esque deity thing going on that doesn't completely fit with the world that was built.
My biggest complaint for the series as a whole is the age of the our main cast. They're around 12 years old! Everything they do just seems better suited for someone at least an additional 5 years older. It's a little overdone in literature today to have THE FATE OF THE WORLD resting on pre-to-early teens.
I was grateful that while there is friendship (and hints of particular people probably liking each other) romance is not really in the book. Like I said, it's hinted around, but it's not the star. THANK YOU! That is so nauseously overdone, and these books show you can have a good story without the romance. Especially when we're talking this young.
Mage and the Magpie: 4.5 stars
The Empty Throne: 4 stars
The Paradise Twin: 3 stars
The Bridge to Nowhere: 4 stars
Magemother series average: 4
I received complimentary ecopies of books 2 & 3 in exchange for my honest opinion.
The Magemother series is a middle grade fantasy written by Austin J. Bailey. The gorgeous cover artwork is eyecatching, and the premise, well, the premise of misfit girl being summoned to another world and uncovering her true past could be either totally lame or really work well. The first book was (and at the time of this publication still is) free, so I figured, what did I have to lose?
The Mage and the Magpie
This book was free on Amazon and had high reviews. Honestly, I usually pick up freebies with high reviews so I can give an honest negative review. Many people seem to think that if they like a book, it deserves five stars. Five stars, imo, should be reserved for the most excellent, memorable, standout books. Not every single book you read.
Sometimes, though, books deserve the praise. I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed this book. The characters were well developed, the search was enjoyable, and since we're in an unfamiliar world there are lots of surprises. Some things that I think were supposed to be "reveals" were obvious to me, but others were not.
I haven't quite figured out how I feel about the magic in this series. I think magic is neutral and you use it for good or bad, like you would a car, and it seems like the mages and apprentices possess their particular magic. Like a gift. I don't think that the wind mage's apprentice could learn the magic of the metal mage. In this world, magic is either something you have or something you don't. If you have it, but are not a mage or mage apprentice, I'm not sure what you do. That's never addressed in the series.
I liked this book so much that I immediately looked the author up and signed up to receive updates from him. I received Magemother 1.5 as a "thank you."
4.5 stars
The Empty Throne
This is a novella, not a full length novel. It was offered as a "thank you" gift for signing up to receive updates from the author.
It is a very short and quick read, but it is an important link in the story. If you don't read this, there will be things you scratch your head at in later books trying to figure out if missed something.
While I didn't find this short story as compelling as the larger series narrative, I still thought it was important and highlighted the vulnerable side of Tabitha. It also makes the reader think about how they would respond if they had to go through Tabitha's test.
4 stars
The Paradise Twin
Book 2 largely focuses on finding the hidden mages and on Hugo's struggle with Molad. And there's a dragon. Dragon's are always fun, right?
In Hugo you really get that Jekyll and Hyde feel. His struggle is real, and it's easy to empathize with him. The search for the hidden mages was not as compelling, though, and almost became tedious at times. I had guessed part of Chantra's location, Unda's hiding place was obvious to me, but Lignumis' was well done.
In this book that I started feeling like the series was very similar to the Farworld series by J. Scott Savage.* A lot of necessary things happened in this book, but overall is wasn't as compelling as the others in the series. It moved things along, but I didn't feel anyone particularly developed as a character.
3 stars
The Bridge to Nowhere
This book was very interesting - and not entirely happy. There were a couple moments where I was actually surprised at something truly bad/sad happenings. Realism! I like books that have happy endings, but when absolutely everything works out perfectly as planned, it is eye-roll worthy. You see more development in Brinley and Hugo, others hold their own, and there are a couple flat characters. Some "twists" in the book I saw coming, but the intended audience would largely find them unexpected.
The Hugo/Molad struggle continued, and while it certainly felt real at times, there was one point very near the end in a major moment (trying for no spoilers!) where the reaction seemed a little extreme. But I understand why the author wrote it that way.
There is a meeting with the gods of their world, near the end of the book, and it rather felt like a huge aside. I got it - and they had showed up in other books - but the direction they promise really hadn't been there the whole series, so it didn't feel quite genuine. They also appear to be modeled after the Mormon view of God - being God and his wife who live in another world, but sometimes interact with us. The moral underpinnings in what they say are close to what I believe as a Christian, but the framework is wrong. Not everyone will agree, but I thought I'd mention it for those who want to have conversations with their children about that aspect of the book.
The biggest thing for me is one unanswered question that is actually asked in the series - what about the bell Brinley's father heard? That is never explained. I feel that is an oversight, or maybe it was too complicated to work into the book without a huge expansion ... but in that case the question should have been removed from the book. Its one thing for a reader to have questions of their own, it's another for an author to pose a question within the series that never gets answered.
Overall, the book gets 4 stars.
Serial Thoughts
As mentioned in my review of book 1, I'm not sold on how magic works in this world. To be sure, it is a well crafted story, but something seems a tad off, but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe its the lack of complete explanation, I don't know.
*To expand on my Farworld comment from book 2's review. The Farworld and Magemother series aren't actually that similar. Just the whole looking for mages (who control the elements) that are hidden was bringing me strong vibes of the looking for the hidden elementals (basically the elements themselves). Also, the cross-world transfer of a main character. But the journeys are drastically different, as are the endings. The Magemother series actually has a more satisfying ending, but as a series I think I prefer Farworld. If you like one of the series, though, I'm pretty sure you'll like the other.
And, to reiterate from my review of book 3, I don't like unanswered questions posed within the story itself (If I missed this someone please point it out to me!). There is also the Mormon-esque deity thing going on that doesn't completely fit with the world that was built.
My biggest complaint for the series as a whole is the age of the our main cast. They're around 12 years old! Everything they do just seems better suited for someone at least an additional 5 years older. It's a little overdone in literature today to have THE FATE OF THE WORLD resting on pre-to-early teens.
I was grateful that while there is friendship (and hints of particular people probably liking each other) romance is not really in the book. Like I said, it's hinted around, but it's not the star. THANK YOU! That is so nauseously overdone, and these books show you can have a good story without the romance. Especially when we're talking this young.
Mage and the Magpie: 4.5 stars
The Empty Throne: 4 stars
The Paradise Twin: 3 stars
The Bridge to Nowhere: 4 stars
Magemother series average: 4
I received complimentary ecopies of books 2 & 3 in exchange for my honest opinion.
September 1, 2018
This is my most favorite series! Magemother is the best books I've ever read. I loved the funny dialogue, the exciting plot and characters, lessons about responsibility and friendship, and the beautiful ending. The end of a story surely has a lasting effect. I recommend all my friends and family to read this series. Magemother is so good that I'm even writing about it in my 10th grade English homework assignment about what I read over the summer! I hope Austin writes more books!
January 10, 2019
Surprisingly well done!
I did not expect to be pulled into the kingdom of Aberdeen. I did expect the magic and the adventures, just not the full-fleshed out characters and to become a part of the story. I am so glad I downloaded all of the trilogy or I would have been left wanting more. This series is one of the best I’ve read in a while.
I did not expect to be pulled into the kingdom of Aberdeen. I did expect the magic and the adventures, just not the full-fleshed out characters and to become a part of the story. I am so glad I downloaded all of the trilogy or I would have been left wanting more. This series is one of the best I’ve read in a while.
January 17, 2021
Wonderful adventure!
My 10 year old son and I have been enjoying our bedtime reading seeing just what Brinley and Tabitha would be getting themselves into next. After reading Austin's Simon Farrer series first we couldn't help but dive into Aberdeen. Not disappointed in the least.
My 10 year old son and I have been enjoying our bedtime reading seeing just what Brinley and Tabitha would be getting themselves into next. After reading Austin's Simon Farrer series first we couldn't help but dive into Aberdeen. Not disappointed in the least.
January 5, 2022
A great read!
This may be a book meant for kids but I found it compelling and thoroughly enjoyable! The characters are well developed, the pace is perfect and there's lovely surprises all along the way. I love that it's a clean read....no smut, no swear words. Just beautiful story telling. Loved every moment!!
This may be a book meant for kids but I found it compelling and thoroughly enjoyable! The characters are well developed, the pace is perfect and there's lovely surprises all along the way. I love that it's a clean read....no smut, no swear words. Just beautiful story telling. Loved every moment!!
October 6, 2017
Awesome!
I’m glad all three books were together, so I could just keep reading! I like this kind of book, where there is a grand challenge, and you get swept into the feelings, and the intensity of the actions. Makes me feel so good at the end of it!
I’m glad all three books were together, so I could just keep reading! I like this kind of book, where there is a grand challenge, and you get swept into the feelings, and the intensity of the actions. Makes me feel so good at the end of it!
January 10, 2019
New World!
Engaging real characters. Unique, but relatable world. A classic tale with a new spin and exciting and original details and scenes. Loved it! Can't wait to see what happens with the Mage of Water!
Engaging real characters. Unique, but relatable world. A classic tale with a new spin and exciting and original details and scenes. Loved it! Can't wait to see what happens with the Mage of Water!
March 8, 2019
Good series. It wedges itself between children's literature and YA. I liked the world that Bailey created, and enjoyed the characters. Tabitha never ceased to make me laugh--the crazy girl that is so protective, she loses all rational thought.
November 19, 2019
A good read
The story is unique and has many entertaining elements. The characters and dram go along very well. My only con was the ongoing description of “inner thoughts” went on too long at times, longer than necessary to get the point.
All in all, I enjoyed all 3 books.
The story is unique and has many entertaining elements. The characters and dram go along very well. My only con was the ongoing description of “inner thoughts” went on too long at times, longer than necessary to get the point.
All in all, I enjoyed all 3 books.
August 25, 2021
Very imaginative
What a wonderful, imaginative series. Having a mage for each type of magic and a mage mother to pull them all together is a truly great idea, and works very well. Great plots and character development.
What a wonderful, imaginative series. Having a mage for each type of magic and a mage mother to pull them all together is a truly great idea, and works very well. Great plots and character development.
November 28, 2019
a good read for the young reader getting into fantasy. Lots of imagination and adventure.
March 6, 2020
Love this. They’re a great family together. Sorta.
One word. Tabitha.
Also Cannon.
Ttaaaakkkkiiinnnggg upppp spaaaaaacccee e e e e e e e e e e e e e e
One word. Tabitha.
Also Cannon.
Ttaaaakkkkiiinnnggg upppp spaaaaaacccee e e e e e e e e e e e e e e
May 6, 2020
This was an excellent set of books. I really enjoyed them.
Read
November 6, 2021I love this series. Can't wait for more to be written.
August 2, 2017
I absolutely loved it.
It was such a good series. It didn't have anything bad and was a sweet adventure to go on. Would totally recommend.
It was such a good series. It didn't have anything bad and was a sweet adventure to go on. Would totally recommend.
February 21, 2018
Just brilliant
Read all of the books within a few weeks, couldn't put them down. Loved the magic from start to finish, definitely a must read!
Read all of the books within a few weeks, couldn't put them down. Loved the magic from start to finish, definitely a must read!
May 6, 2017
Overall, the series was just a bit too simplistic, but it was still enjoyable. 3.5 stars.
August 9, 2016
I really enjoyed this fantasy book series! The author promotes it as "A Kids Fantasy Adventure Book Series for Teens and Young Adults," which pretty much sums up the intended audience. The general tone seems to be set for upper tweens or early teens, sometimes seeming even younger, and very occasionally delving into a darker area more suited for young adults. The main characters were all quite intriguing, and I enjoyed watching them develop throughout the story. I would have enjoyed seeing even more development of some of them. The slight religious overtures in the last book appear rather at odds with the rest of the story, not really seeming to mesh as well as the author probably would have liked. But the writing was very good, drawing me along more and more into the story, to the extent that I never wanted to put the work down until I was totally finished reading the entire thing. The ending was definitive, good enough to be considered a "happy" ending, but with some sad parts to make it believable. Overall, a series that I would definitely recommend!
May 1, 2022
Just fantastic!
The world building in this series is wonderfully done. It was lovely to be enveloped by these characters and their story. It is one of those cases where you don't want the book to end because you continually want to know what happens next. What will their next adventure be? I'm torn as I would love to see this translated into visual art, but of course it can never quite be what you imagine. So many elements could be simply breathtaking on the big screen, but how short would it fall of expectations?
The world building in this series is wonderfully done. It was lovely to be enveloped by these characters and their story. It is one of those cases where you don't want the book to end because you continually want to know what happens next. What will their next adventure be? I'm torn as I would love to see this translated into visual art, but of course it can never quite be what you imagine. So many elements could be simply breathtaking on the big screen, but how short would it fall of expectations?
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews