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The Dark Wizard of Donkerk
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About the author
Alexander Wales
39 books135 followersAlexander Wales is the pseudonym of Ben Friesen. Ben is a writer and stay-at-home dad located in Duluth, MN with his wife, their son, and cat.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 3, 2017
link: http://www.alexanderwales.com/darkWiz...
An AMAZING book, set in a world with 3 forms of magic, all of which are unique and interesting.
read it.
An AMAZING book, set in a world with 3 forms of magic, all of which are unique and interesting.
read it.
April 16, 2022
Would you kill a baby to save two others? Sacrifice a finger for teleportation? Draw some blood to lock a door? Then you're a dark wizard! (there are no normal wizards though?)
Would you take an inconvenient vow for supernatural power? Maybe two or ten? The more you resist the temptation of breaking it the stronger you get. The more inconvenient the better! Break a single one and you lose all your power! Now take a vow of fealty to the king and you're now a slave paladin Denialist, able to be free at any time at the cost of losing your life's work.
Want something a little less lethal? Be a Mentalist. They're basically psychics but cooler.
Think everything above is for losers? Just be born with magical powers to do dark magic without sacrifice and Denialism without taking an oath! Be a Spirit Caller! Just not Mentalism since you actually need to be smart for that. Luckily it's not the protagonist who has it, that would be boring.
And don't even get me started on whatever the heck eloists are.
Overall it's extremely good. The magic system and world building are top notch and the characters actually have reasonable actions that take into account their circumstances and beliefs
It is kind of short though and you can read it online.
Would you take an inconvenient vow for supernatural power? Maybe two or ten? The more you resist the temptation of breaking it the stronger you get. The more inconvenient the better! Break a single one and you lose all your power! Now take a vow of fealty to the king and you're now a slave paladin Denialist, able to be free at any time at the cost of losing your life's work.
Want something a little less lethal? Be a Mentalist. They're basically psychics but cooler.
Think everything above is for losers? Just be born with magical powers to do dark magic without sacrifice and Denialism without taking an oath! Be a Spirit Caller! Just not Mentalism since you actually need to be smart for that. Luckily it's not the protagonist who has it, that would be boring.
And don't even get me started on whatever the heck eloists are.
Overall it's extremely good. The magic system and world building are top notch and the characters actually have reasonable actions that take into account their circumstances and beliefs
It is kind of short though and you can read it online.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 23, 2019
Pretty darn good rationalist fantasy story set in a world with a few different types of magic that explores both the magic systems and the ways they interact. The story itself is quite simple but it's pursued by intelligent protagonists and antagonists and that makes it interesting.
The only reason this story gets 4 stars from me rather than 5 is that, while it well and truly avoided the common rationalist fiction trap of unlikeable protagonists - both male and female protagonists were interesting and likeable - the book did still feel a bit emotionally flat to me.
But that's a minor criticism - this book is still a strong recommend from me.
The only reason this story gets 4 stars from me rather than 5 is that, while it well and truly avoided the common rationalist fiction trap of unlikeable protagonists - both male and female protagonists were interesting and likeable - the book did still feel a bit emotionally flat to me.
But that's a minor criticism - this book is still a strong recommend from me.
October 18, 2021
Leaving aside the heavy handed Socratic seminars on utilitarianism or whatever that was, I really enjoyed things like the two gay dark wizards arguing over how to sacrifice an adorable baby (poke him with the ritual dagger so he stops cooing at us. No, YOU poke him. How about we just kidnap a less cute baby to sacrifice next month?), the three competing systems of magic and the incredibly fucked up martyr paladins, the way the princess reasons with the spirits and cares about their problems instead of simply ordering them around or receiving their unquestioning fealty, and complicated and bittersweet choices and relationships, and all the weird psychic conversations people have with themselves. A fun read, especially for a NaNoWriMo first draft! I was very surprised to find it on Goodreads, but I'm glad I gambled on it. Maybe don't use the word "market forces" in the final draft, though.
August 23, 2019
Setting presentation, design and originality (how cool is the setting?): 4
Setting verisimillitude and detail (how much sense does the setting make?): 5
Plot design, presentation and originality (How well-crafted was the plot, in the dramaturgic sense?): 5
Plot and character verisimillitude (How much sense did the plot and motivations make? Did events follow from motivations?): 5
Characterization and character development: 4
Character sympatheticness: 5
Prose: 4
Page turner factor: 4
Mind blown factor: 4
Final (weighted) score: 4.4
Setting verisimillitude and detail (how much sense does the setting make?): 5
Plot design, presentation and originality (How well-crafted was the plot, in the dramaturgic sense?): 5
Plot and character verisimillitude (How much sense did the plot and motivations make? Did events follow from motivations?): 5
Characterization and character development: 4
Character sympatheticness: 5
Prose: 4
Page turner factor: 4
Mind blown factor: 4
Final (weighted) score: 4.4
June 5, 2019
I super enjoyed this short book! :)
SPOILERS:
I would have loved to have seen more exploration of Sofia's powers, especially near the end. She was a compelling character, but under empowered.
Also, standard bechdel test complaints that tend to accompany fantasy (even if probably slightly better than most).
SPOILERS:
I would have loved to have seen more exploration of Sofia's powers, especially near the end. She was a compelling character, but under empowered.
Also, standard bechdel test complaints that tend to accompany fantasy (even if probably slightly better than most).
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November 12, 2025Henry's chief problem in life is being called out for not having any toys by spoiled brats.
October 9, 2025
1st read: Fantastic. Definitely 5 stars, IMHO.
2nd read: First ~70% were awesome. Felt like it was my favorite book ever (though not the best book I have ever read). The last ~30% didn't feel as amazing, though they were still very good. Overall: 5/5.
2nd read: First ~70% were awesome. Felt like it was my favorite book ever (though not the best book I have ever read). The last ~30% didn't feel as amazing, though they were still very good. Overall: 5/5.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews