Hand of Mars

Starship’s Mage #2

by Glynn Stewart

ROGUE MAGE TURNED INTERPLANETARY ENVOY

Three years ago, as Ship's Mage of the starship Blue Jay, Damien Montgomery was pursued to the edge of human space by both the agents and enemies of the Mage-King of Mars -- before being brought in from the cold.

Now, trained in new skills by the Mage-King himself, Damien has been sent to the planet Ardennes alongside Alaura Stealey, Hand of the King. A rebel movement there has destroyed cities fighting a Governor seemingly lost to corruption.

But not all on Ardennes is as it seems. As allies becomes enemies and an entire world comes apart in chaos around him, Damien will find both his skills and integrity tested to the utter limit.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Space Opera, Magic, Audiobook, Fiction, Space

343 pages, Paperback

First published September 24, 2015

About the author

Glynn Stewart is the author of over 60 books, including Starship’s Mage, a bestselling science fiction and fantasy series where faster-than-light travel is possible–but only because of magic.

Writing managed to liberate Glynn from a bleak future as an accountant. With his personality and hope for a high-tech future intact, he lives in Southern Ontario with his partner, their cats, and an unstoppable writing habit.

Reviews

[Tam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was wary of this book due to the (now) top Amazon review. Having finished the book, I think the review is incredibly harsh.

We open with Damien being sent out in to the field for the first time as an Envoy of the King. He's meant to be under the guidance of Hand Steally whom we met in the previous book. Effectively, this is his on the job training. Damien is putting theory into practice and learning how to be a speaker for the King. Effectively, he's the apprentice. A very high level one, but still.

Then the situation changes dramatically and he has to step up and be the Master. A daunting prospect for anyone.

I really enjoyed this story. I thought it was a progression for Damien, in a different direction that what we had previously experienced. On finishing I checked to find out if there is a future book (there is!).

There are still some grammatical errors and sentences that are clunky. I'm not sure if this book is being professionally edited but I found some basic typos. For me, there was nothing unforgivable or that I couldn't overlook and carry on enjoying the story.

I'm looking forward to the next installment.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 4 out of 5]

We continue our story here. Damien Montgomery having been drafted (shanghaied) into service of the mage King on Mars is now ready to be sent out to "do service".

And he's needed. With a despot doing awful...well despotic things he and the Hand are badly needed. Of course things won't be simple and no one will be what they seem and of course death and disaster will ensue.

These are shaping up to be good continuing stories with a blend of science fiction and fantasy. There is a danger rearing it's head here. Damien is in danger of becoming TOO powerful a la the JLA or Avengers. I mean he's going to require a really BA type opponent from now on. He's the kind of hero who walks through a wall of fire casually smashing every foe aside. I guess we'll see what happens. So far not bad but the possibility is there based on how things went here.

Anyway, this is a good book and the possibility I mention under the spoiler warning have not and may not happen. Recommended, enjoy.

[Ivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

U nastavku svog serijala "Mag zvezdanog broda", Glin Stjuart pokušava da bude Lois Mekmaster Bižol, ali mu ne polazi za rukom. Njegov Demijan Montgomeri očito je kopija Majlsa Vorkosigana - ili makar hibrid Majlsa i Honor Harington, uz poneku kapljicu Bučerovog Drezdena - ali daleko je Stjuart od višestruke dobitnice Hugoa i Nebula.

To rekavši, ne kažem da ovaj roman nije zabavan - u nekoj meri jeste. Donekle je savršena eskapistička zabava za harkor (tm) oldskul gika, ali je kakvoća pisanja i karakterizacije za zvezdicu niža nego u prvom delu. Da se razumemo, Hand of Mars je daleko ambiciozniji roman, kompleksnije radnje i kompleksnijih tema. Idejno je dobro zamišljen, samo što se realizacija pokazala odveć krupnim zalogajem za pisca Stjuartovog kalibra.

Svakako ću nastaviti da čitam ovaj serijal, premda ima i bolje napisanih i pametnijih i kakvih god hoćete, ali Hand of Mars je taman dovoljno loš roman da moram da umetnem jednu-dve pametnije knjige u mozak pre nego što mi padne na pamet da pređem na treći u ovom serijalu.

2*

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wish I'd liked this a lot more; it's probably barely a 2.5. It passed the time, but unlike #1 (the omnibus edition) there was little here that excited. There was so much that was cliche 'still inexperienced guy thrown into the middle of a big political/military crisis'. Way too much politics and stuck on the ground action. Virtually no use of the MC's special ability that was the whole supposed reason for his years of training under the king. MC is his job here. This is an impressive achievement in making battles, even in space, seem rather dull.

I dislike when a character only seems insightful because another character that was previously great at their job and very clever has been given a surprise downgrade to be at best mediocre. I dislike when the author feels a need to remind us every few chapters of the MC's "underwhelming height" to the point it's like he's mocking him because there was no reason to remind us more than once. I've noticed in a review for #3 that this continues in the next book too. The author also mentions not only Mars so many times, but also Olympus Mons, for no particular reason. And I don't care about that officer's waffles. If that's the best he could do for characterization is "she likes waffles", when I'd like to have understood her background or motivations better, just ugh.

All in all this comes across as a sequel that was made just because one was expected, because it otherwise has little to nothing new or interesting to say about anything. #1 wasn't the best SF/F out there, but it had interesting world-building especially in how magic and tech were used in complimentary ways, lots of better action, and a crew who mostly liked and cared about each other that we could root for. This volume managed to seem lesser despite greater stakes, and instead of a fun team dynamic there's a large range of characters who tolerate or dislike each other.

Maybe it'll work for you, but I can't recommend it.

[Jess Crafts · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 but I'm rounding up just because I enjoy this series so much. It's awesome! Magic in space. I mean what else do I need to say?

This book picks up 3 years after the events of Starship's Mage, which initially i was sceptical of but it's done really well and we get to learn things as we go along. And just - it was amazing, okay? I love Damien, the main character, he has plenty of badass moments that had me grinning but he's also not so all powerful that nothing is difficult. The only thing that I would say that goes against this book for me is the collateral death count. At times it felt a bit like a DC film where the good and bad guys are smashing everything to pieces and loads of people die. After a while I was just okay, really? Was that necessary? It didn't take away from the story at all, and I still really enjoyed it and just - go and read this series, okay? I actually don't have anything else to say but that I'm in love. The first book is Starship's Mage which I read last year and gave 5 stars and was one of my favourite books of the year. I read this one on my kindle unlimited trial and now I'm going to attempt to read the next three books in the series before my trial runs out next month. Wish me luck!

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audio book.

More magic and spaceships. There's a rebellion where a whole town was destroyed, and the Hand and her apprentice are sent to find the culprits. It's soon clear that there's deception running through the government, and this simple mission is anything but.

One thing the audio book makes very noticeable is the use of repeated words within a sentence. But it's overall enjoyable, despite some clunky sentences.

There's plenty of action and magic, and a whole bunch of fighting.

[András Sztrinkó · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was also a definite improvement in the writing and the dynamics of the story, so I initially wanted to give it a rating of 4/5, but there were there are many things that need further improvement in my opinion.

Just like the first book, this continuation provides an interesting story set in a world of technology and magic, and again I found this blend interesting and it's stories enjoyable. But magic is really under utilised in a sense, that it is mostly established as a means for space travel and a solve-it-all/weapon for the protagonist. (Someone also wrote, that Damien got too strong if one considered that it's the second book in a long, long series, and I agree.)

The dynamics of the story is much better. In comparison to the first book this one had a much more cohesive progression. I have nothing against the episodic nature of the first book, but many times the plot was immensely rushed to get from one episode to the other.
However the ending was incredibly abrupt, and it genuinely made me go '???????'. There is barely any conclusion other than the fact that they won, and there is no closure with the other characters.

My last point is, again with a contrast, that I enjoyed that there were real stakes for the characters, but at the same time many of the plot points were solved in a 'deus ex machina' way, and the plans the characters came up with were never too complex. (I'm thinking the Hand Device, the use of magic etc.)

In the end I liked the book mainly for the story, and despite all my criticism I read it in like two days. There is potential for improvement, but I would also continue with this series just for the plots. I'll see what's next.

[Suz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm enjoying these stories. I still find the copy editing disappointing, but the stories and characters are good.

[benebean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed his but found one plot twist unrealistic the death of the senior hand seemed unrealistic given how she’s supposed to be talented at dealing with these situations. It doesn’t seem to make sense that she along with her no doubt talented body guarding party should get wiped out so easily..

I did very much enjoy the mage controlled space weapons massive battle scene. It's a special blend of sci fi and fantasy that made for a very cool image.

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first Starship's Mage (technically omnibus) and this is a worthy follow up. An evil governor has taken over his planet and destroyed a city while blaming rebels for it. This idiotic plan results in the Hand of the Martian King coming to investigate with Damien in tow. Unfortunately, idiots can do an immense amount of damage and they soon find themselves on a world where the government believe killing everyone will cover up their crimes. Damien comes into his own here and while I miss his plucky crew of merchantmen versus working as basically a Jedi Knight, this is pretty solid.

I recommend the Jeffrey Kafer narrated audiobook version because, well, Jeffrey Kafer's narration is awesome.

[Truls Ljungström · Rating 5 out of 5]

Återigen utmärkt Scifi. Grundkonceptet är enkelt - intendent för kronan i ett stjärnimperium gör vad han kan för att inte göra situationer värre. Känslan är det tidiga sjuttonhundratalets absoluta monarkier - den där härliga kombinationen av öppen brutalitet och sofistikerade artigheter. Det som är utmärkt med denna serie är att författaren har tänkt igenom vilka effekter hans teknologi och magi har. Resultatet är lite som det som beskrevs under napoleonkrigen - Englands flotta kunde behärska allt till dessa att kanonerna inte nådde längre innåt land, där innanför härskade lokalmakten, vilket för det mesta var den lokala skurken, militärledaren eller feodalherren. Det är riktigt bra.

[Anatoly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice progression from the first book, but a bit narrower scope and felt like less character development for the main character.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.5/10*
An uptick from #1, has a bit more of the good stuff

[Mettesknit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook narrated by
Jeffrey Kafer
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Not as good as the first, but still entertaining.

[Matt Hart · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book does a good job of continuing the story of Damien Montgomery and his rare gift of being able to see the flows of magic. I didn't like it as much as the first "book", which I actually read as the 1-5 series. There were three reasons I gave it three instead of four stars: first, it started out vveerryy ssllooww. I typically couldn't put down the previous books, but this one took me three or four tries to get started. I'm just not a fan of books that focus on politics.

The second reason was the language - the author got away without profanity in the first one, why add it here?

The third reason is that there just wasn't much that was particularly interesting or unique about Damien anymore. He's no longer a kid trying to stay alive with his friends, he's no longer bearing much in the way of unique gifts (he only uses his special rune wright gift once I think? And that was to boringly find magical listening devices), and his powerful magic, well, doesn't seem to be all the powerful. Yes, it surprises some people with its power, but it doesn't seem special to me.

However, getting past the profanity, I enjoyed his progression from the uncertain Envoy he started as into his further roles as needed by the King of Mars, and I hope the stories continue.

[Jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first book was good, intriguing. This second book falls into the second book trap. Run and Fight. Skills introduced in the first book are hardly mentioned. I understand giving characters overwhelming strength can trap them into being boring for lack of challenge. But here the skills aspect goes into hiding.

This book focuses on a planet where a ruthless dictator kills millions to keep control of the planet. The body count becomes mind numbing. Author does a good job of following multiple threads of plot but all in all it is rather cliche.

[Meggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hand of Mars was an excellent fast paced and well developed second book in Starship’s Mage series. Damien Montgomery story continues with this training to be a Hand of the King himself. In overall I enjoyoed narrators work, well done audio experience.

[Fred · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing sequel. The story of our Mage didn’t move in the direction I wanted and instead of more cool space battles and mage stuff, we got a pretty average freedom war on a boring planet with 90 % of the book without any magic at all.

[Ay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good solid fun. Start with book 1.

[JPT · Rating 4 out of 5]

ebook
B

Not a review, just my personal thoughts and a recap for future reference. Spoilers!

The story picks up 3 years after the first book with Damien, just having completed his training with the Mage-King, accompanying Alaura Stealey to the planet of Ardennes as her #2 guy while she investigates a series of serious incidents, including the nuking of an entire city, presumably by a rebel faction. The city was actually destroyed by the the Martian navy fleet stationed above the planet--the commodore (Cor) and all of her senior officers were taking bribes from the governor, and he then placed the blame on the rebels.

Alaura was suspicious of the governor from the outset, and we later learn she was already in possession of enough evidence to arrest him for treason when she arrived but wanted to solidify the case against her. When the captain of Alaura's ship informed her that he'd determined the weapon that destroyed the city was from the Martian navy, more of the pieces fell into place and she was ready to act. Unfortunately, the governor and Cor acted first, destroying Alaura's ship, killing her, and killing all of her entourage with the exception of Damien and several soldiers who were with him on an away mission elsewhere. When Damien's craft was attacked, everyone else was killed, leaving him injured and alone in hostile territory. Damien was able to contact an undercover Martian agent--it turned out to be Amiri, the smuggler who went to work with Alaura in the first book. Amiri was able to retrieve Damien, take him to a safe place, and put him in touch with the rebels.

Damien had accompanied Alaura as an Envoy of the Mage-King, but, before her death, she gave him his own Hand. He felt he wasn't ready to be a true Hand since he hadn't finished his training, so he didn't openly wear the Hand and used its power sparingly. At one point, tho, Amiri told him he basically needed to suck it up and start being the Hand he needed to be to replace Alaura. With the help of the rebels, Damien was able to contact the Mage-King, who promised to send help in the form of a naval battle group to take on Cor. Damien was able to rescue some political prisoners and captured rebels, and then prepare an assault on the governor's bunker at the capital. Circumstances made it so that Damien had to go alone, with the rest of the rebels following. When Damien gets inside, most of the people are gone and the governor has been shot by his co-conspirator general friend. The general has had bombs planted throughout the planet and is threatening to detonate them, but he's attacked by the dying governor and killed. When the treasonous navy ships are defeated by the force sent by the Mage-King, the planet is secured. It is placed back under Martian control until things stabilize. Amiri hooks up with one of the rebels. Damien returns to Mars for Alaura's funeral and whatever future plans the king has for him.

(The Mage-King's young daughter has a crush on Damien. Wonder if that goes anywhere?)

This book started very slowly for me. In fact, the first part was kind of a slog for me and I was casting around for something else to read instead. I stuck with it, tho, and things picked up around the 30% mark. . . before dragging a bit at the end. But I ultimately enjoyed the book quite a bit and have started on the next.

One concern I have is that I hope Damien doesn't become ridiculously powerful. He started this book undeniably strong, but still tentative and unsure of himself. By the end, he's almost god-like.
If nothing else, I hope he has more of a growing period.

[Echo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hand of Mars was as amazing as or more amazing than Starship's Mage, the first book of the series.

I am a total sucker for the kind of obsessively goodhearted hero(ines) in books. In this book, Damien is faced with a question of what would be the worse evil. When both of the options lead to bad outcomes, he has to choose what to do. More than just that, he has received a Hand from the Mage-King and is forced to take control when Hand Alaura Stealey is killed by Mage-Governor Vaughn. Not only that, but he's been sent to the planet to end the revolution that Vaughn has reported to Mars as a problem, only to find the real problem: Vaughn's corruption and determination to control the planet no matter what happens.

This story has a lot of moving parts which I found to be weaved together pretty well. There was less of a short story feeling to each part of the story, which was helpful in understanding it. I did find the parts of the story to still be a little disjointed. There were a few too many moving parts and main characters to be easily understood. However, I was able to get the point of what was going on, and I eventually knew who the characters were and what they were doing.

I love the worldbuilding of this story. The complexity of the society, the interplanetary government, the Mage-King, the way the worlds have their own governments but also are under an interworld government. The complicated way the Mages interact with non-Mages interests me greatly. I like to see the manner by which a Mage becomes a Hand of the Mage-King.

The dialogue doesn't bore a reader. In few places if any does the book simply describe the words as "said" or "asked". Rather, the characters come to life, "ordering" characters, "commanding", or any other descriptive, imaginative, lively words.

One big thing that I disliked about the first book was that the women were less alive than than the men, but here the women actually lived more. I appreciated that. I hate when we have three dimensional men and two dimensional women who should be just as important as the men in the story. This second book did better than the first one with alive women.

Finally, the action was very good. I love book with a lot of action when it's done well, and here it was great. The author didn't put too much, but I found it to be just enough. I appreciate an author who knows the perfect moderation of action and calm. This is perfection.

Overall, this was good book!! I would definitely recommend it to those who are into action, sci-fi, and war in space.

- Echo (they/them) ⚧️

[Shane Jardine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally posted at www.archeddoorway.com

I think one of the best choices I made last year was picking up a copy of Starship’s Mage by GLynn Stewart, I loved it from the moment I picked it up and I still think there is something really special about it that makes it stand out when compared to other book in the genre. So I was both excited and apprehensive when I bought the audiobook for the second book in the series. But Hand of Mars turned out to be an amazing book that I thought was so much better than the first that it was hard to believe. I actually ended up going a day without sleep because I stayed up too late listening to it, but I think it was well wroth being tired for the day.

There really wasn’t much that I didn’t enjoy about this book and I could probably go on for paragraphs about why I think everyone should go out now and pick up a copy, so I will have to focus on just one or two aspects of the book. I think my favorite part of the entire book would be the characters — they are all so well written that I think its very easy to empathize with them and get sucked into their various stories. Even the bad guys are great, they are the kind of bad guys you just love to hate.

Second would be how much I think Glynn Stewart improved on the story. In Starship’s Mage, Damien and the crew of the Blue Jay are jumping from world to world and so much of the story was driven by the technology and magic. In Hand of Mars the story takes place almost entirely on a single planet and I really think that helps focus the story and make it really driven by the characters more than anything else.

Like the first book, I listened to Hand of Mars instead of reading it and my opinion on the narrator hasn’t really changed. Jeffrey Kafer does a great job narrating this book. I think every character has their own unique voice which were easy to tell apart. He also manages to infuse his reading with a lot of emotion you can really feel what the characters are feeling when he narrates.

I can’t suggest this book and series to people enough and while I think anyone would enjoy reading it, I think fans of science fiction and fantasy would appreciate it the most. It’s a great combination of the two genres.

[D. Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Good Story

I was actually thinking of titling this as A Good Read but decided, nah! Too obvious.
Confession made, I will now say that I have enjoyed the two books I've read in this series (typos and a couple of grammar issues aside).
Basically, the underlying story is pretty typical of the genre: Damien Montgomery is a "Mage by Right", meaning he doesn't come from one of the "Mage by Birth" aristocratic families. This means he doesn't get picked for the more lucrative positions as a ship's mage, the people whose magical abilities actually allows humanity to travel the galaxy. Turns out, this is a good thing. The freighter that does hire him takes him to places and puts him in situations that stretch his self-perceived abilities and eventually bring him to the attention of the mage-king of Mars. And that's just the first book.
This second book, transports us three years later. Damien has now trained to become an envoy for said mage-king. His first assignment is to accompany a Hand (kind of a circuit judge/jury/punisher). Their job is to remove (unviolently) a corrupt governor of one of the Protectorate planets. I know, it gets confusing.
Suffice to say, all does not go as planned. Damien becomes The Hand and, though he is more sure of his abilities, he, again, must stretch himself not only with his magic, but with learning the darker elements of his new and unexpected office.
I'm not a fan of magical stories, unless it's Peter S. Beagle's Unicorns (& other stories) or Discworld stories by Terry Prachett, but Stewart's stories have the element of space travel (ooh! Sci-fi!). We can care about the characters and about the situations they must work through. Stewart also doesn't spend time with the self-inflated egos of fighter pilots or try to measure his "worth" in terms of the size of the weapons he writes into his books. Though there are battles and military actions, Stewart's Starship's Mage series is more about a civilization on a galactic scale.
I plan on reading the next on this series and invite you to come along on what I hope will be an entertaining adventure.

[Pauline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set three years after the first book in the series, Hand of Mars continues the story of mage Damien Montgomery. Having spent the intervening time training with the Mage King of Mars, Damien is now heading out on his first mission as Envoy, with Alaura leading him as Hand.

Ardennes has been experiencing some problems with rebels, and Mage Governer Vaughn has requested a Hand from the Protectorate to come and offer assistance. But it quickly becomes clear that the Governer hasn't told them everything about this problem, and a simple job rapidly devolves into a life or death situation, for everyone involved.

So off the bat, I'm feeling a bit cheated that I missed out on reading about Damien's training. Having the last book finish as he met the Mage King had me super excited to read what happened next... So to then jump into this one only to find myself somewhere years later? Super disappointed. I enjoy reading 'training montages' in general, but I also think that seeing Damien learning would help us to better understand this magic system in general - and its limitations. Because if there's one thing I'm going to complain about in this book, it's that I really don't know what's possible - or impossible - any more. This makes it hard to sustain any tension, as I think, "well, surely he can just teleport out of here?" every time we come up against a problem.

This is actually a pretty big problem, and I'm a little concerned about how it will be addressed in later books, because it definitely held things back in this book. What should have been a genuinely exciting action/adventure with some politics and philosophy thrown in, fell a bit flat. Which is a shame, because otherwise the writing is excellent.

I'm going to continue reading the series, because I'm still enjoying it and I do like the world building & magic system. I'm just hoping that things can improve a bit over the next few books.

[Ивайло Анастасов · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of the book is so absurd. The MC is one of 3 super unique mages in the known galaxy. He can single handedly start a revolution with his skills (as stated in book one). And instead he is walking on rebelling planets taking risks and so on. Why the fk was any of the mages walking on the planet? Beside for the need of the author to kill them? They went to read documents? WTF?! And the hand just walk around with not heavy planetary gunship eskort, when they have a whole fleet to use? There is only one agent of mars on the whole planet?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!!? And this agent is one of the 15 people of the galaxy that can track jumps but instead is what... talking to low level rebels... hahahahaaha! Tanks and rifles in space eta. Armies of 400 people. Are you kidding me ?! BTW there is no need of armies whatsoever. The MC can just make runic formation and kill everybody everywhere with his skills.. and maybe some artefacts from the king. After all even the most basic ship can fire in so vast distance in space.
Why do all the villains thing that they can fight the whole galaxy alone with few crappy ships?!? Its like a single low level general deciding to go with some ships against the whole us navy?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Soo realistic. "Hm.. maybe I can win one battle. And then they will send 100 times more and kill me. k why not... I have IQ of 65 so ....."
"The secredly bomber a city from orbit.. no one will notice.."AAHHAAAHAHAH THE WHOLE PLANET WILL NOTICE. EVERY FK PERSON WITH A SMART PHONE CAN SEE THE BOMBARDMENT. There is like complete idiot is given a pen and then send to write ... We have a space and magic and the whole book have like 1% of that. The rest is with tech from the 1960% at most.

[Smoke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book starts out really good. I like the magic and the political system and it's powers given to the main character. I wouldn't want to live in that world, but it gives the story a lot more room to entertain us the readers.

With the main character being a hand, or hand in training it allows him to have full access to everything he wants, and a power he can use to his advantage. The downfall here is though he has a lot of power, it doesn't work if someone is a trader. This seems to lead the author to make bad things happen just to prove this, and I don't like that. I'm never a fan of an author introducing characters and making the reader like them just to take them away, even if it is the easiest way to accomplish something. That automatically makes me not trust the author, and that takes away a lot of enjoyment from what would otherwise be a really great book.

A whole lot happens in this book really fast. By chapter 20 you feel like there has been enough happen for an entire book. Thankfully this isn't an author who will stretch out 20 chapters into 40 like so many others. At the half way point you are left wondering where else this will go, but the plot gets a second wind and takes off all over again.

The second half of the book is just as good, only with a somewhat different character set. Aside from the one hick up in the first half I really liked this. It is a solid 4.5 out of 5, but since that isn't possible here I suppose it deserves a 5 out of 5. I did enjoy this one a lot more than the first book in the starship's mage series. I'm really looking forward to the Voice of Mars which I'm starting right now.

[Frank Mikes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the first book in this series, the Starship Mage Omnibus, several years ago and I remember being fairly impressed. The author created a unique and very interesting universe which blended technology and magic in a way I hadn't seen anywhere else. I understand that this was the author's first work and actually had been a series of short stories that had been combined into a novel.

While I thought that Starship Mage Omnibus was very good, I think that Hand of Mars is better. First and foremost it was written as a full novel from the start. I didn't mind the 'serialised' style of Omnibus, but this has a plot which flows nicely from beginning to end. The characters are very well developed, especially the villains, who have realistic motivations and don't see themselves as evil. The plot is very well paced and the setting on the planet of Ardennes is realistic and a pleasure to read.

Glynn Stewart's universe is the main star of these books and the series is well worth reading for no other reason. There are a lot of authors these days, especially independents, that have well developed and fascinating settings but lack anything of a plot or characters – Stewart is not that type of author which is why I mentioned those things first, but his universe is what readers will want to know more and more about. The blending of magic and technology, the political system with the Mage King of Mars, the Unarcana worlds that do not allow magic, all of these aspects are well drawn, logical and make for an engrossing read.

[Clay Kallam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is old-fashioned science fiction with a dash of magic, and as an old guy, I enjoy every page.

You've got your interstellar empire. You've got your bad guys. You've got your good guys. You've got a narrative that transcends each book. You've got a likable hero, maybe a little too noble. You've got a convincing villain (or two).

And unlike a lot of authors, Glynn Stewart doesn't devote 200 pages to misery and suffering and 50 pages to positive developments -- in fact, that ratio is pretty much reversed, which makes (for me, at least) a fun read.

Oh, the details. Damien Montgomery is a powerful mage, but didn't come from a family with a genetic predisposition to abilities that, among other things, allow space flight. In the first volume, he took out some bad guys and come to the attention of the Mage-King of Mars, who is essentially the galactic emperor.

In this book, Montgomery has completed his basic training under the Mage-King and is sent off to deal with problems on the planet Ardennes. The plot is reasonably complex, there are some unexpected happenings, but in the end, justice is served (as it should be in these kinds of books).

Bottom line (literally): I'll be ordering volume three very soon, which is pretty much the highest praise any reader can give.

[Bwandungi Mugarura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook version that I borrowed from my public library.

What is this book about?
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Some context gets lost if you haven't read Book 1.
Damien Montgomery is in training with one of the Mage King's Hands. They're off to go and investigate one of the corrupt protectorate realms that claimed that rebels had nuked a city. The battle to bring the culprits to justice ensues, but the good guys win!

My overall feelings
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I love a good military space opera with all the bells and whistles it provides to scratch the itch of faster-than-light space travel, espionage, and corruption.
There was nothing unexpected in this story, nothing shocking or revealing that would have made it stand out from all other military space operas. (Aside from the way that FTL is achieved which was introduced in book one.
It was a quick story, well written, tight, and understandable and gets 3.5 stars from me.

Who would like this book
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1. Definitely, those who read the first book in this series.
2. Lovers of military space operas
3. If you enjoy the strange space where sci-fi and fantasy fit together in one story, you'll like this series.
4. If you'd like something quick and easy to enjoy.

[Nunyah Biznuss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the first book (the omnibus). As others have noted, the worldbuilding is sadly lacking, i.e. more about the history of how Mars became humanity's headquarters and the Eugenicists who created the mages included as a paragraph sprinkled throughout Damien's thoughts would have been good.

The characters are fascinating because they're not stereotypical heroes or even anti-heroes, but again, lack some depth and development. Damien as a small, slender, unassuming man, for example, is a fabulous breath of fresh air. Stewart doesn't flesh him or any other character out, unfortunately, half as well as he did in the omnibus/first book

Sadly, Stewart's weak point remains his writing. Adverbs, word repetition (i.e using the same word in the same sentence twice), characters sighing all over the place... he could have done with an alpha-proof reader on this. (Nope, I don't think an editor... the story itself is fine).

As I like the characters and the concepts, I will go back for the next instalment in a few weeks.