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Cursed Mage
Jaska was the greatest witch in a generation, greater even than those fools at the Academy, so it was only natural she would turn to the dark arts and try to take over the world.
There was one problem. A pesky chosen one prophesied to bring her dark reign to an end. Most dark overlords would be furious at having a chosen one rattling around out there destined to defeat them, but not Jaska.
No, she decided to have a little fun with prophecy and predestination.
Sarai was a young woman on the cusp of adulthood living in a small village in the middle of nowhere, because of course the future chosen one was a rural nobody far from anything interesting happening in the world.
Sarai had some choices ahead of her. There was The Choice. The day when the king’s men would come to cart off the village’s young to die gloriously fighting the Dark Lady’s monstrosities in the horrors of the Twisted Lands.
Which was all very scary, of course, but not nearly as terrifying as the thought of leaving without confessing her true feelings to her best friend Tiafa. One held hand, one stolen kiss, would be enough to leave her on top of the world as she was conscripted and sent off to her almost certain death.
Only Sarai had a plan. Sneak out to an abandoned tower on the Choikal walls. Sure it would involve risking the unquiet dead in the Ghost Fields and approaching city walls burned to nothing by the Dark Lady’s magic fires nearly two decades back, but it would totally be worth it for that kiss.
The only problem? A practical joke from an evil sorceress is about to hit Sarai on the night she finally comes of age, and it’s going to come just in time to mess with her chances with Tiafa while also changing the course of her life and the kingdom!
No one ever said being the chosen one was easy. Especially for a girl who has no idea what fate, prophecy, and an evil sorceress with a twisted sense of humor has in store for her!
There was one problem. A pesky chosen one prophesied to bring her dark reign to an end. Most dark overlords would be furious at having a chosen one rattling around out there destined to defeat them, but not Jaska.
No, she decided to have a little fun with prophecy and predestination.
Sarai was a young woman on the cusp of adulthood living in a small village in the middle of nowhere, because of course the future chosen one was a rural nobody far from anything interesting happening in the world.
Sarai had some choices ahead of her. There was The Choice. The day when the king’s men would come to cart off the village’s young to die gloriously fighting the Dark Lady’s monstrosities in the horrors of the Twisted Lands.
Which was all very scary, of course, but not nearly as terrifying as the thought of leaving without confessing her true feelings to her best friend Tiafa. One held hand, one stolen kiss, would be enough to leave her on top of the world as she was conscripted and sent off to her almost certain death.
Only Sarai had a plan. Sneak out to an abandoned tower on the Choikal walls. Sure it would involve risking the unquiet dead in the Ghost Fields and approaching city walls burned to nothing by the Dark Lady’s magic fires nearly two decades back, but it would totally be worth it for that kiss.
The only problem? A practical joke from an evil sorceress is about to hit Sarai on the night she finally comes of age, and it’s going to come just in time to mess with her chances with Tiafa while also changing the course of her life and the kingdom!
No one ever said being the chosen one was easy. Especially for a girl who has no idea what fate, prophecy, and an evil sorceress with a twisted sense of humor has in store for her!
115 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 15, 2018
44 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 17, 2018
Fantastic beginning to a fantastic tale
This fantasy story, complete with a dark magic wielding mage more powerful than any in her generation and a prophecy about the chosen one who will bring about her untimely demise, if you consider anything short of immorality untimely, that is... pays homage to the greats of the genre while poking a little fun at the common tropes as well. Mia Archer's wonderful sense of humor shines with the snarky and sarcastic Dark Lady, Jaska, who bookends this volume, while the more naive chosen one, Sarai, who is not at all lacking in humor, or impure thoughts, carries the main narrative. The pacing is fast and entertaining. The world building is wonderful, with just the right combination of exposition an demonstration revealing the nature of this magical realm. I look forward to more volumes of this story!
This fantasy story, complete with a dark magic wielding mage more powerful than any in her generation and a prophecy about the chosen one who will bring about her untimely demise, if you consider anything short of immorality untimely, that is... pays homage to the greats of the genre while poking a little fun at the common tropes as well. Mia Archer's wonderful sense of humor shines with the snarky and sarcastic Dark Lady, Jaska, who bookends this volume, while the more naive chosen one, Sarai, who is not at all lacking in humor, or impure thoughts, carries the main narrative. The pacing is fast and entertaining. The world building is wonderful, with just the right combination of exposition an demonstration revealing the nature of this magical realm. I look forward to more volumes of this story!
November 10, 2018
Fun fantasy
I enjoyed this first instalment in a f-f fantasy series and hope the second book will be along soon.
We meet the protagonist (and her love interest) and antagonist (and her hapless second in command).
We have mages, witches, twisted magic, evil, long wars, ghost, spirits, magical awakenings (of all sorts of kinds) and a lighthearted telling of the story. This feels like the build up to a really good story and I have high hopes for how it might continue.
I enjoyed the light-hearted writing, with the often witty and self-deprecating inner voice of the narrator. Like many stories that feature protagonists that have been in love for a long time, it is hard to see for the reader why they are in love. We are told, but we can't tell. I'm hoping for a bit more character development in the second instalment.
I enjoyed this first instalment in a f-f fantasy series and hope the second book will be along soon.
We meet the protagonist (and her love interest) and antagonist (and her hapless second in command).
We have mages, witches, twisted magic, evil, long wars, ghost, spirits, magical awakenings (of all sorts of kinds) and a lighthearted telling of the story. This feels like the build up to a really good story and I have high hopes for how it might continue.
I enjoyed the light-hearted writing, with the often witty and self-deprecating inner voice of the narrator. Like many stories that feature protagonists that have been in love for a long time, it is hard to see for the reader why they are in love. We are told, but we can't tell. I'm hoping for a bit more character development in the second instalment.
Currently reading
October 28, 2021When I finish this and start on the sequel, Goodreads will have the sequel tagged as read already , because this and the sequel are “equivalent” the way the Kindle and paperback versions of a book are content-“equivalent”, according to the total fool who set up the relevant etc. Way to encourage reading, or was that your point?
December 9, 2018
Quite interesting and makes you want more. Way to short for me though, which takes 1 star away.
January 7, 2020
Another good entry by Mia Archer. A short but interesting start to a tale. I'll be getting the next book so see where things go.
March 27, 2020
YES!
+F/F Romance!
+Very quick read.
NO!
-Cocky witch ignores the prophecy of her downfall, because reasons.
-Boring.
+F/F Romance!
+Very quick read.
NO!
-Cocky witch ignores the prophecy of her downfall, because reasons.
-Boring.
December 10, 2025
I give this one a 3.5, not terrible, just not my favorite. I'll tell you why. I felt this books kind of lacked and felt flat, which if you know and love Mia Archer's stories you'd know she has some very real characters that one can latch onto and really begin to route for. For me, I began to route for the evil sorceress, but at the same time was confused as to if this would just turn into a dumb three-way love affair where the "chose one" has to choose between her best friend and longtime crush, or go with the dark, mysterious badass who she's supposed to be finding, but can't because she finds the dark lady so interesting. That's why I give it a 3.5, too unoriginal for Mia Archer. Did I like it? Yeah, for what it was worth I liked it and would like to see where it leads to next. Would I read it again and again because it was the best ever? The answer: Probably.
October 30, 2019
Fun, original, and intriguing
Stories about a "chosen one" who is destined to defeat the evil whatever can seem like they are a dime a dozen, but that doesn't mean they can't be done well. This series has an interesting magic system, at least in terms of the magic the main character, Sarai, uses; a healthy amount of humor; and the most valuable thing a serial style story like this can have going for it: the fact that I honesty can't predict where the story is heading next, other than a vague impression that, eventually, Sarai will defeat Jaska and that, most likely, her life will suck most of the time until then. I can't wait to find out how!
I received an ARC copy of this book.
Stories about a "chosen one" who is destined to defeat the evil whatever can seem like they are a dime a dozen, but that doesn't mean they can't be done well. This series has an interesting magic system, at least in terms of the magic the main character, Sarai, uses; a healthy amount of humor; and the most valuable thing a serial style story like this can have going for it: the fact that I honesty can't predict where the story is heading next, other than a vague impression that, eventually, Sarai will defeat Jaska and that, most likely, her life will suck most of the time until then. I can't wait to find out how!
I received an ARC copy of this book.
November 29, 2019
It was short, there was some repetitiveness in the language used, and dialogue was okay, but could've been better. Overall, I'd give it maybe a 3 and a half star rating, but not a full 4-star rating specifically because there were some moments that I questioned, and the same mc that I had grown to love in the first one, is now hesitant and doesn't know how to control or let her emotions drive her magic correctly.
One small spoiler: It ends in a cliffhanger. Which I thought was actually a well-done cliffhanger.
Can't wait for this ever-expanding Mia Archer universe to continue. I'm also so ready for the next installment of the Grim Reaper series.
One small spoiler: It ends in a cliffhanger. Which I thought was actually a well-done cliffhanger.
Can't wait for this ever-expanding Mia Archer universe to continue. I'm also so ready for the next installment of the Grim Reaper series.
November 10, 2020
Irritated....
I've enjoyed the first 2 books of Cursed Mage. I would have liked to give this book more stars, but I just can't. The poor spelling (that should have been caught by editing), although not that bad, was enough that it disrupted the flow of the story for me. That said, with editing catching and correcting what I caught and what I missed, this book is potentially worth 5 stars....
I've enjoyed the first 2 books of Cursed Mage. I would have liked to give this book more stars, but I just can't. The poor spelling (that should have been caught by editing), although not that bad, was enough that it disrupted the flow of the story for me. That said, with editing catching and correcting what I caught and what I missed, this book is potentially worth 5 stars....
November 10, 2020
Cliffhanger!
This is a well written book in what promises to be a very interesting and exciting new series from Mia Archer. I'm looking forward to more in this series. Check it out for yourself.
This is a well written book in what promises to be a very interesting and exciting new series from Mia Archer. I'm looking forward to more in this series. Check it out for yourself.
November 6, 2023
Be aware that if you read book # 2 ❓. The ending is a setup for a book # 3❗. Which to this date I have not been able to locate❗❓.
Positively a definite page turner ❗.
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹❗
Positively a definite page turner ❗.
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹❗
November 8, 2019
Interesting but not compelling
If found the myself bing pulled into the ongoing action of the story but in then end not greatly invested.
If found the myself bing pulled into the ongoing action of the story but in then end not greatly invested.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews