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Magium: The Mage Tournament
Disclaimer: This is the second book in a series that will have around 6-7 books in total, out of which only the first two have been written so far. The name of the series is Magium: The Mage Tournament. The individual books of the series do not have names. They only have numbers. Now that this has been cleared up, let us continue with the description of the series' story:
Barry is an ordinary guy, with no magical powers whatsoever, who dreamed of becoming a mage for the better part of his life. After dedicating his whole life to studying magic, in the hopes of fulfilling his dream, he finally finds a way to do it.
However, in order to become a mage, he must first win a deadly free-for-all tournament against the most powerful mages in the world.
The fantasy world that the story takes place in is inspired by Dungeons and Dragons and by classic RPG games such as Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age and Skyrim.
The story of Magium starts at the beginning of the tournament, right after Barry and all the other participants are magically teleported to the continent where the contest is taking place. The winner of the competition will be given access to the Magium, which is thought to be the source of all magic.
The tournament takes place on a continent hidden from the rest of the world, where there are mythical creatures like dragons and hydras, but also remnants of an old and technologically advanced civilization, whose magically powered devices are still being used in the present day.
Due to his lack of magical abilities, Barry will be forced to use one such device, called a stat booster, which absorbs the magical energy around it and converts it into stat points. By leveling up stats such as Speed, Reflexes and Premonition, Barry will gain supernatural abilities that will help him survive against all the experienced mages that are also participating in the tournament.
As the series progresses, Barry will meet with other participants, he will make friends and enemies, and he will gradually find out more about the continent he is on, and its inhabitants. He will find out that a person called "The Creator" had established several utopias in this place, six hundred years ago, where animals and humans lived in harmony, and food was created through magic. What Barry will get to see through his travels, however, is the downfall of these utopias, some of them being on the brink of destruction. As he begins to get involved with the people of this land, Barry will need to decide if he can simply ignore what is happening before his eyes, or if he will intervene, at the risk of being banned from the tournament, and forfeiting his dream.
Credits for the magic ball image on the cover go to Agnes Landgraf.
Barry is an ordinary guy, with no magical powers whatsoever, who dreamed of becoming a mage for the better part of his life. After dedicating his whole life to studying magic, in the hopes of fulfilling his dream, he finally finds a way to do it.
However, in order to become a mage, he must first win a deadly free-for-all tournament against the most powerful mages in the world.
The fantasy world that the story takes place in is inspired by Dungeons and Dragons and by classic RPG games such as Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age and Skyrim.
The story of Magium starts at the beginning of the tournament, right after Barry and all the other participants are magically teleported to the continent where the contest is taking place. The winner of the competition will be given access to the Magium, which is thought to be the source of all magic.
The tournament takes place on a continent hidden from the rest of the world, where there are mythical creatures like dragons and hydras, but also remnants of an old and technologically advanced civilization, whose magically powered devices are still being used in the present day.
Due to his lack of magical abilities, Barry will be forced to use one such device, called a stat booster, which absorbs the magical energy around it and converts it into stat points. By leveling up stats such as Speed, Reflexes and Premonition, Barry will gain supernatural abilities that will help him survive against all the experienced mages that are also participating in the tournament.
As the series progresses, Barry will meet with other participants, he will make friends and enemies, and he will gradually find out more about the continent he is on, and its inhabitants. He will find out that a person called "The Creator" had established several utopias in this place, six hundred years ago, where animals and humans lived in harmony, and food was created through magic. What Barry will get to see through his travels, however, is the downfall of these utopias, some of them being on the brink of destruction. As he begins to get involved with the people of this land, Barry will need to decide if he can simply ignore what is happening before his eyes, or if he will intervene, at the risk of being banned from the tournament, and forfeiting his dream.
Credits for the magic ball image on the cover go to Agnes Landgraf.
595 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 5, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 15, 2019
My main problem with this series is:
A)Characters sometimes spout stuff that there is no way they can know.
B)The author might be going a little too overboard in using arraka is the encyclopedia of this world.
C)There are some moments that the author kinda puts himself in some dangerous deus ex moments for the sake of tension but it kinda doesn't work because stuff gets resolved like its nothing, even if some stuff like rose being able to reverse time had been hinted in past books and everythings is as sharp as elven steel.
BUT this series is very good in character development and even if the encyclopedia arraka might get annoying a feel times, the world building is superb so my score is 4/5.
A)Characters sometimes spout stuff that there is no way they can know.
B)The author might be going a little too overboard in using arraka is the encyclopedia of this world.
C)There are some moments that the author kinda puts himself in some dangerous deus ex moments for the sake of tension but it kinda doesn't work because stuff gets resolved like its nothing, even if some stuff like rose being able to reverse time had been hinted in past books and everythings is as sharp as elven steel.
BUT this series is very good in character development and even if the encyclopedia arraka might get annoying a feel times, the world building is superb so my score is 4/5.
June 19, 2019
I being a fiction writer myself, loved this book. I loved the book so much that I have ordered a paperback which costed me around 4.5k of my currency and if I can pay that much for a book, imagine how awesome can it be. Great character development and story is always keeping you up on heels. Never have I ever picked a better story. I wish I can meet the great writer behind this story. I loved how Rose didn't played much role in book 2 and how she was replaced by Leila. I hope book 3 completes soon.
August 16, 2018
A worthy sequel to an outstanding book.
September 1, 2018
Great sorry! Hard to put down!
September 20, 2018
I was very glad to see that this sequel was finally released and it definitely didn't disappoint now I just have to wait for the next one.
July 7, 2025
Nowadays, with my attention-deprived 21st century brain, I rarely stumble upon a book that allows time to effortlessly fly by while I read it.
This (and along with the 1st book, the review of which is basically covered here as well) is one of these rare cases.
After a long reading session, I sit and think 'why do I find this story made by a random guy from Romania so efficiently captivating? I've read several highly praised books from Fantasy and Sci-Fi giants, yet nothing is as gripping as this!'
And then I think some more and figure it out: There are countless ways that the book can be improved upon, sometimes it even feels amateurish, but that's the charm! The way that the main character thinks when he analyzes a situation can be needlessly long and too all-encompassing for how little time passes, but it reminds me of how me and my friends overthink everything in TTRPGs, and I realize that it's the same thing. The book resonates with me. When I read it, I don't get the feeling of being dwarfed by the author's immaculate writing skills that he got from 50 years of writing or something. No, instead, I felt like would love nothing more to hang out with the author and play some TTRPGs with him or just talk about worldbuilding for hours on end.
However, that is not to say that I do not admire the writing. The worldbuilding is superb. You are in a location that you are not familiar with, and every bit of new information only serves to reinforce the feeling of curiosity, because it turns out that this place has a bucket-full of mysteries and all-powerful beings all vying for control in one way or another. But it does not feel like a lesson in mythology. For one reason or another, these powerful being are here. You are talking to them, interacting with them, and they are, excuse the language, pissing you off (in all the best ways). And since they are all quite enigmatic, you wonder what their shtick is. Then the story reveals some bits and pieces of their reasoning, and at that point, I was all onboard. I had to know more, not only because I liked the writing, but also because, man, I fought one of those powerful beings half an hour ago and almost died, I need to know what their deal is! One could call it 'show, don't tell' in a book form.
Then there are the characters. Man, the characters. For one, most of them are simply solid. Though I have to say, almost all of them share something that I as a reader simply adore - trying to achieve their desires despite the seeming impossibility of the task, not giving up despite the odds! It just makes me instantly want to root for them. Endurance - it's a nice trait to have in the real world, I guess ;).
In retrospect, I was lucky to have the same nerdy mindset as the author (or at least I think I had). Of course this series is not for everyone and yeah, there are many things that can put one off - the occasional lengthy expositions, how it drags on in some segments for way too long, some of the characters may be annoying, the occasional awkward writing, etc.
Now, the third book awaits me. Unfortunately, it is the only thing that will await me from this series, for the author passed away before he could fully finish this story.
So, allow me to end this quite opinionated review with a heartfelt thanks towards the author for creating such a captivating universe. I hope I will some day be as creative as you were. Thank you for this marvelous adventure.
This (and along with the 1st book, the review of which is basically covered here as well) is one of these rare cases.
After a long reading session, I sit and think 'why do I find this story made by a random guy from Romania so efficiently captivating? I've read several highly praised books from Fantasy and Sci-Fi giants, yet nothing is as gripping as this!'
And then I think some more and figure it out: There are countless ways that the book can be improved upon, sometimes it even feels amateurish, but that's the charm! The way that the main character thinks when he analyzes a situation can be needlessly long and too all-encompassing for how little time passes, but it reminds me of how me and my friends overthink everything in TTRPGs, and I realize that it's the same thing. The book resonates with me. When I read it, I don't get the feeling of being dwarfed by the author's immaculate writing skills that he got from 50 years of writing or something. No, instead, I felt like would love nothing more to hang out with the author and play some TTRPGs with him or just talk about worldbuilding for hours on end.
However, that is not to say that I do not admire the writing. The worldbuilding is superb. You are in a location that you are not familiar with, and every bit of new information only serves to reinforce the feeling of curiosity, because it turns out that this place has a bucket-full of mysteries and all-powerful beings all vying for control in one way or another. But it does not feel like a lesson in mythology. For one reason or another, these powerful being are here. You are talking to them, interacting with them, and they are, excuse the language, pissing you off (in all the best ways). And since they are all quite enigmatic, you wonder what their shtick is. Then the story reveals some bits and pieces of their reasoning, and at that point, I was all onboard. I had to know more, not only because I liked the writing, but also because, man, I fought one of those powerful beings half an hour ago and almost died, I need to know what their deal is! One could call it 'show, don't tell' in a book form.
Then there are the characters. Man, the characters. For one, most of them are simply solid. Though I have to say, almost all of them share something that I as a reader simply adore - trying to achieve their desires despite the seeming impossibility of the task, not giving up despite the odds! It just makes me instantly want to root for them. Endurance - it's a nice trait to have in the real world, I guess ;).
In retrospect, I was lucky to have the same nerdy mindset as the author (or at least I think I had). Of course this series is not for everyone and yeah, there are many things that can put one off - the occasional lengthy expositions, how it drags on in some segments for way too long, some of the characters may be annoying, the occasional awkward writing, etc.
Now, the third book awaits me. Unfortunately, it is the only thing that will await me from this series, for the author passed away before he could fully finish this story.
So, allow me to end this quite opinionated review with a heartfelt thanks towards the author for creating such a captivating universe. I hope I will some day be as creative as you were. Thank you for this marvelous adventure.
November 28, 2019
I'll make this one quite brief compared to my review on Book One. Simply put, as good if not better than the first, taking your saved choices in cloud storage, the 2nd book takes the story your choices fleshed out and plunges you deeper into this innovative Fantasy World where the story continues on a small continent of Varathia. My best attempt at describing this sequel, that being the second of what right now seems to be a Trilogy, is close to the level of an Empire Strikes Back in the Original-and still best-Trilogy, where Book 2 is far from a simple filler. Even as the story can unfold various paths, each delving deeper into the origins of places, races, overall history of both with "Empire" worthy twists or revelations that leave the reader with mind blown and having more questions about what seemed already answered and explained, yet ultimately proved not entirely false, but more incomplete.
And with Book 3 not fully completed, I've gotten the familiar yet uite irritating "itch" of anticipation for Book 3's full release.
And with Book 3 not fully completed, I've gotten the familiar yet uite irritating "itch" of anticipation for Book 3's full release.
August 14, 2020
Another good book about Berry's adventure!
I really love the way it's getting to evolve both the situation and the relationship among the crew. And in this book you'll have a taste about some character's past. I found it very interesting! And the situation now is very intriguing! Can't wait to read the third book!
Writing: *****
History: *****
I really love the way it's getting to evolve both the situation and the relationship among the crew. And in this book you'll have a taste about some character's past. I found it very interesting! And the situation now is very intriguing! Can't wait to read the third book!
Writing: *****
History: *****
July 12, 2019
The first book was a bit better
July 20, 2025
I feel this is better as a choose your own adventure book than as a told story because it feels a bit stiff as a novel.
Still love the choose your own adventure version though!
Still love the choose your own adventure version though!
August 7, 2020
3.0/5.0
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews