Wage Slave Rebellion

Firesign #1

by Stephen W. Gee

The world of Aegis is a terrifying and fantastic place, full of magick, monsters, and gods that meddle in the lives of men. It's a world of danger and excitement, and Mazik Kil'Raeus is . . . a door-to-door salesman.

Though a skilled spellcaster, Mazik couldn't get a good job out of college, and now he's stuck in a dead-end one he hates. Along with his friends, Gavi Ven'Kalil (waiter at a local bar) and Raedren Ian'Moro (apprentice healer . . . it's not as glamorous as it sounds), Mazik is not happy with the way his life is going.

Frustrated with boring work, selfish bosses, and wasting their lives for meager pay, the three friends decide to do something crazy—they're going to become monster-slaying adventurers. Not that it will be easy. With a consortium of powerful guilds determined to keep people like them out, they'll have to wow everyone to make it. That's when they set their eyes on a difficult quest: stopping a group of kidnappers who have been terrorizing their city for months.

But when the kidnappers turn out to be acolytes of a power-hungry god, the quest transforms into an explosive battle that rampages across the city. The three friends are in over their heads, and nobody expects them to come out on top.

That's an adventure they relish. After all, it's better to risk uncertainty and death now, than to accept mediocrity and die without ever having lived.

WAGE SLAVE REBELLION combines the fantasy adventure of The Hobbit with the pulse-pounding combat of a Marvel action movie. It's medieval sword & sorcery meets urban high fantasy, in a tale about refusing to accept limits and living life to its fullest, no matter what anyone else has to say.


WHO SHOULDN'T READ THIS BOOK: Anyone who doesn't like stories with drinking, cussing, fighting, or killing likely won't enjoy this book. The main characters are adults, and they live in a dangerous world; they act accordingly. Anyone who prefers their books serious or grimdark may be disappointed. This book has adult themes and situations, but above all else it's intended to be fun. If that doesn't sound like something you would enjoy, this book may not be for you.

WHO SHOULD READ WITH BOOK: Anyone looking for an action-packed, fun-filled fantasy adventure. If you enjoy friendly banter, thrilling heroics, and tons of explosions, this book is for you. If you like stories with a certain lightness of tone which eschew angst in favor of punching problems in the face, this book is definitely for you. And if you've ever loathed your job or dreamed about going on adventures with your best friends, this book was written with you in mind.


Want behind-the-scenes info, sneak peeks, and to be the first to learn about sequel announcements? Sign up for the author’s email list at www.stephenwgee.com. You’ll get a free prequel short story when you sign up.

NOW AVAILABLE: The exciting sequel to WAGE SLAVE REBELLION and the second book in the FIRESIGN series. Join Mazik, Gavi, and Raedren as they continue their adventures in FREELANCE HEROICS.

Genres: Fantasy

362 pages, Paperback

First published December 10, 2014

About the author

Stephen W. Gee is a fantasy author, anime blogger, craft beer lover, and exceedingly tall man. He writes sword & sorcery adventures with an urban/high fantasy twist. He's released two books in his Firesign series so far. He's only getting started.

He hails from the great land of Texas, where everything is bigger, including the authors. He maintains a personal website at stephenwgee.com, and prattles on about anime at randomc.net, under the pen name Stilts.

Reviews

[Archit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wage Slave Rebellion : A book full of adventures and fast-paced actions. What really amused me in this book was the writing style, quick-tempered dialogue and a well-planned plot.

Three young sorcerers are doing mundane jobs that they don't enjoy and finally caught up in solving a mystery. The characters were naturally fun to watch. The flow of the story went well.

One thing I liked about this novel was that after reading Wage Slave Rebellion, you realize that to do a job which satisfies you is an important step you take. Rather than living somebody else's life and dream, do what your heart says.

Although the names of the characters might seem you as a block in the flow of reading but as you'll move further, it won't be much of a trouble. The ideas with this books are nice and can be improved.

I enjoyed it very much. There's a room for improvement for everything and so is for this. However, I am definitely going to read the next installments.

Overall, I'll suggest this book to fantasy readers looking for something different than usual.

[Marianna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I enjoyed the little part with the Tyrant - she's really a lot of fun! - and I also loved the epilogue, which makes me want to go on with the series, but unfortunately that's all for this book. I couldn't empathize with any of the characters, I didn't really like any of them or feel them real. I got bored while reading the action-packed scenes therefore it took me a month and a half to finish the book. I think some ideas or things that happen are somewhat childish and ruin the rest of the story. That purple monsters part instantly destroyed all the suspence!
That said, I guess some things were needed to introduct the world building and let us know the main characters, so this book could be only an introduction or an experiment. For I am curious to read the story anticipated in the epilogue, I will try the second book in the series, and I'm also quite sure the author has improved the plot development.

[Carles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got Wage Slave Rebellion in a giveaway so to be fair I will review it.

I don't like to make spoilers so making a review its a bit harder but its also better than having the story and characters discovered before reading the book.

One of the hardest things to get used about the book were the names of the characters: Mazik Kil'Raeus, Gavi Ven'Kalil, Raedrem Ian'Moro for example. When I read them the first time I think I said WTF or the equivalent on my own lenguage but that only happened in the first pages, then you got used to them.

Another thing that I really love it were the problems that the protagonists had with their respective job. It provided realism in a world with magic, adventurers, gods, swords... that I haven't found in others books.

I despised not beeing able to emphatize with the protagonists; I knew few things about them, I needed more details about what moved them at the start, then I started to emphatize with them and enjoyed a lot more the story.

Wage Slave Rebellion combines the lightness and humor of Terry Pratchett, the fantasy adventure of The Hobbit, and the pulse-sounding combat of a Marvel action movie.

I just don't like it. It makes me make a preconceived idea of the writing style and how the story is told, it makes me expect thing that maybe aren't there. In this case i Expected something differebt but I didn't find it but I wasn't disappointed as it usually happens. The combat part was the only thing that I expected to be like it was, amazing; really graphic and really amazing.

Thw worldbuilding felt pretty well-done, but I won't know until I reread it. I just will say a thing, a part of the magic system felt a bit soft to me.

I don't know how many stars I give to the book. But because I enjoy it, thing that I want to do while I'm reading, I will give 4 stars.

I may edit the review to add things, correct gramatical and ortografic errors and other things.

[Candice Landau · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable read with a cast of characters you can't help but like, and a city, world and style of magic that feels both unique and familiar. This is easy reading.

I particularly enjoyed the thread of romance and look forward to following it into the next book. Excited to see where Stephen will go from here...

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wage Slave Rebellion is a well written book and full of adventure, magick and action. It would be the perfect book for my ten year old grandson (and for me) if it were not for the inappropriate language generously sprinkled throughout the story. That is the reason I did not give it 5 stars. The language did not add anything to the book, and, in my opinion, actually took away from the book. Mr. Gee, your book is a good story and would be a good book even without the use of the superfluous rude language. I believe you would have a wider audience without it as well.

I received this book free from Goodreads First Reads.

[William Howe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like it but

The author needs to make his mind what kind of world he is building. Anachronistic word play interferes with the plot. Fantasy worlds don't usually have nuclear explosions as a comparison. Since pistols and sunglasses don't exist in the world, THEY REALLY SHOULD NOT BE USED FOR COMPARISON!!! Cannonballs are likewise unlikely when mages toss fireballs with abandon.

The writing is good, the dialogue snappy, the plot moves well. But the world building is shaky and the prose keeps making wrong turns into modern concepts that don't fit.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining book that more than a little reminded me of my own dreary job and having the courage to do what you want rather than what you should.

[Ian Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much fun

A lot of magic mayhem. A bit like playing d&d with magical explosives, a lot of drinking, and a maniac leading the group. Cheers with bar fights and long swords

[Emily Suvannasankha · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting. a good read over all