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The Hidden Wizard #2
Vault of Silence
A fledgling wizard mastering his power. A fallen monk. A secret trial hidden in a desert temple. Alrion barely survived. His success came at a terrible cost. Driven to improve his skill and prove his worth as a wizard he pushes on. His dreams show him a vision of his next goal, the Vault of Silence. It is a secret trial guarded by an order of monks and designed to test a person’s will. To get there, he must find a guide and negotiate his way through sprawling cities and a vast desert. But the creatures of the Blight are organising. They have a leader and have infiltrated the general population. To reach the Vault of Silence Alrion will need to make new allies, learn new spells and face an old foe. Can he rise again to the challenge? Or will he be crushed by overwhelming odds? Start reading today and see Alrion forge his path as a wizard. Vault of Silence is book 2 of The Hidden Wizard Series. This four book series is outlined below. The Hidden Wizard Series Book 1: Pool of Knowledge Book 2: Vault of Silence Book 3: Spark of Truth Book 4: Soul of Light Also The Wandering Prequel to the Hidden Wizard The Hidden The Complete Series
- GenresFantasyYoung AdultMagic
306 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 31, 2017
108 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Vaughan W. Smith
21 books29 followersVaughan W. Smith is a fiction writer from Sydney, Australia, who explores big life questions through story. His favourite genres are Fantasy, Mystery, Science Fiction and Thrillers.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 30, 2025
"Vault of Silence" also known as "Gary Stu in the Land of Plot Convenience"...
This book is terrible. There is some improvement from the previous part of the series - mainly writing of scene descriptions and action got marginally better - but there are far more writing sins here than virtues to look forward to.
The most glaring writing sin is "plot exposition through dialog" - it feels like lazy, forced, redundant , stiff and repetitive storytelling. Much of the information provided this way is reiterated from the previous book in the series (blight communication is one example).
Secondly - once again we meet an overenthusiastic older wizard determined to repetitively proclaim to the main character the virtue of having "good instincts"... despite the fact that he is a daft and petulant unlikeable archetype of "Mary Sue" type energy.
Thirdly - there is no rhyme or reason to the actions of the supporting cast. They behave to conveniently push the plot forward, not to be believable or logical. There are multiple instances of that, not to get in the spoiler territory, but to name just a few: something suspicious happens and the guy takes a word of a person who took up apprenticeship at his shop recently, over the Town Guard he has a working relationship with for years; guard for weakly established personal reasons chooses to betray their post because someone asked nicely; character sneaks up from behind on the guard during the siege and doesn't get shot in the face; characters stand around and have a conversation with hugs during a fight while the enemy does what exactly?...
There are promising moments of foreshadowing, but the payoff follows too soon for them to be meaningful or impactful. Everything happens too fast, training that should take years is wrapped up within two days, because MC is so genius, I guess? There are timeline inconsistencies that have no place in a story like this. Where was the editor?
At the very end of the book it got slightly better, allowing me to hope that the next book in the series might be better, but as a whole - not really worth recommending.
This book is terrible. There is some improvement from the previous part of the series - mainly writing of scene descriptions and action got marginally better - but there are far more writing sins here than virtues to look forward to.
The most glaring writing sin is "plot exposition through dialog" - it feels like lazy, forced, redundant , stiff and repetitive storytelling. Much of the information provided this way is reiterated from the previous book in the series (blight communication is one example).
Secondly - once again we meet an overenthusiastic older wizard determined to repetitively proclaim to the main character the virtue of having "good instincts"... despite the fact that he is a daft and petulant unlikeable archetype of "Mary Sue" type energy.
Thirdly - there is no rhyme or reason to the actions of the supporting cast. They behave to conveniently push the plot forward, not to be believable or logical. There are multiple instances of that, not to get in the spoiler territory, but to name just a few: something suspicious happens and the guy takes a word of a person who took up apprenticeship at his shop recently, over the Town Guard he has a working relationship with for years; guard for weakly established personal reasons chooses to betray their post because someone asked nicely; character sneaks up from behind on the guard during the siege and doesn't get shot in the face; characters stand around and have a conversation with hugs during a fight while the enemy does what exactly?...
There are promising moments of foreshadowing, but the payoff follows too soon for them to be meaningful or impactful. Everything happens too fast, training that should take years is wrapped up within two days, because MC is so genius, I guess? There are timeline inconsistencies that have no place in a story like this. Where was the editor?
At the very end of the book it got slightly better, allowing me to hope that the next book in the series might be better, but as a whole - not really worth recommending.
August 19, 2021
Still a 3 but the grammar has improved. Character decision making and extra random facts introduced in this book are strange - his mother and father's backgrounds are both unusual, who vets people by trying to rob somewhere? and who runs into a desert with almost no prep..
Also nowhere seems more than about 3 days of travel away, even on foot. The amount of magic learning seems pretty rapid, too. I appreciate it all saves time vs weeks of travel and learning but this guy seems a savant. All visions seem to happen when someone happens to be around to explain exactly where they lead.
I hope there is not too much new stuff in this next book!
Also nowhere seems more than about 3 days of travel away, even on foot. The amount of magic learning seems pretty rapid, too. I appreciate it all saves time vs weeks of travel and learning but this guy seems a savant. All visions seem to happen when someone happens to be around to explain exactly where they lead.
I hope there is not too much new stuff in this next book!
June 2, 2017
Alrion Continues Both His Quest and Trials (part 2)
Smith has created a very interesting world, and as a reader, I really enjoyed the chance to read and experience his world. Alrion continues his quest, and it now becomes obvious that there are a series of trials to conquer before he fully understands his powers' full potential. His companions are part of his strength, and he has an opportunity to discover more about his parents...for better or worse...
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AS: SWORD AND SORCERY IN A QUEST
Smith has created a very interesting world, and as a reader, I really enjoyed the chance to read and experience his world. Alrion continues his quest, and it now becomes obvious that there are a series of trials to conquer before he fully understands his powers' full potential. His companions are part of his strength, and he has an opportunity to discover more about his parents...for better or worse...
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AS: SWORD AND SORCERY IN A QUEST
July 8, 2017
This was a great read, the reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars is some of the wording didn't make any sense at all. I would be reading along and then wham, I would hit one and have to stop to reread it. Sometimes it would be the wording and all would be needed is to remove some of the words (words that didn't seem to belong), other times it was the wrong character's name being referred to. I did read it in one sitting, that is how good it was. A Good Read Everyone!
August 12, 2019
Coming of age adventure with sword and sorcery!
A good short read with all the elements of a adventure and coming of age story. Only drawback is the predictability w.r.t plot points. Looking forward to reading the next installment of the series.
A good short read with all the elements of a adventure and coming of age story. Only drawback is the predictability w.r.t plot points. Looking forward to reading the next installment of the series.
February 6, 2021
The story was so hard to listen to (audiobook). It was all, he said, she said, he said. And the narrator made everyone sound the same so it was hard to tell who was talking. I just didn't care about the end. DNF
June 4, 2017
The style of this storyteller is somewhat dry, but it is a good story
Worth a read for sure. I am looking forward to the next story. Kind of a dry style but nicely progressed
Worth a read for sure. I am looking forward to the next story. Kind of a dry style but nicely progressed
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews