Majilda is a simple village girl with normal, everyday ambitions like one day getting married and running a tavern of her own (but in a self-actualised, non-sexist sort of a way). But when her village is ravaged by mysterious and very intriguing raiders who steal all the children, she is forced to fight back with a secret magic she never knew she had. Now she is alone in a dangerous, fantastical world, with only a handsome stranger and his muscular black steed, Muncaster, to guide her. Who has stolen the children? And why? Will she ever be able to help them? And could it possibly all have something to do with that odd birthmark she’s always wondered about? Together with her new and very mysterious allies, Majilda must make a journey into her past (but also the present, and maybe the future; probably some physical places, too) to unlock a magic so powerful it may (or may not) save the entire world... But in the final reckoning, will magic be with her? This is the first novella episode in the extremely grim and serious series, Magic Be With You. Please note that this is a permafree title - you can also get it for free
Jamie Brindle has been writing stories for almost as long as he can remember. Occasionally they are even published. Sometimes, he wonders if this has had any lasting deleterious effect on him, such as perhaps being responsible for the habit he has of writing about himself in the third person. At other time this seems not to matter. He was raised by ex-hippies in an apple orchard, and had to chase around a hedge maze for pocket money. When he grew older, he was deemed to have passed the "maze" level, and so graduated to selling boomerangs at Covent Garden Market. He was home educated until the age of fourteen, then went to Bedford College, where he essentially didn't speak for two years. Near the end of this time he was questioned by a careers advisor, and revealed his desire to be a writer. Once she had stopped laughing, she suggested that a career which was more "financially viable" might be advisable. This resulted in him taking science A-levels, and then going on to study Biochemistry at the University of Sussex in 1998. On graduating, Jamie realised the main problem with this was that he found biochemistry rather boring. Around this time he found out that a handful of universities offered graduate-entry medicine courses. Unfortunately, he did not have much relevant experience, a problem which he sought to rectify by doing various forms of work experience. Amongst the work experience he undertook, Jamie was grateful to be offered the chance to spend some time in a school for deaf children. He went for two weeks and ended up staying for three and a half years. This was a good thing, as it gave him a chance to get over his home-educated prejudices about the school system, as he really liked the school and began, more generally, to feel that perhaps school wasn't such a bad thing, after all. This period came to an end, however, when he was offered a place at the University of Warwick to study Medicine in 2006. He enjoyed medicine greatly, and met lots of nice people on the course. He now works as a GP trainee, and finds that writing is a wonderful way to ground himself after long shifts working in the bizarre fantasy world of the NHS. He is currently writing a thinly-veiled autobiographical book about his experiences as a junior doctor. He is still wondering about whether or not to put dragons in. During this time he has written a fair few short stories which have appeared online and in various anthologies. His first novel, "The Fall of the Angel Nathalie" was published in 2013 by Necro Press, and can be found here or at amazon here.
4 stars - English Ebook ☘️☘️☘️ Quote from the book: Her parents had Bought her a magical cloack she wore under her normal birthday floack. Just she would not scare the people in her little village. 🌹🌹🌹 two young ladies able to wiel magic. One well brought up, one rough. Witch one is the one? Lovely short novella for a read in between other books. 🦋🦋🦋
This book takes all the traditional tropes of a classic bodice-ripping fantasy and fairy tales – and twists them. There is the beautiful young damsel, Majilda, the strange, ruggedly handsome knight on a quest with his heroic steed, Muncaster; and the dastardly “mercenary raiders from Middle Atlantis” about to reap havoc and destruction down on Majilda’s home village, killing (almost) everyone she knows. So far, no surprises. But Majilda is no swooning, delicate little flower needing protection. She is a headstrong, independent female who dives straight into danger. She risks upsetting the villagers by saving some poor bird, but happily wears the fur of an endangered animal (albeit hidden under her other clothes). She is a thoroughly modern young woman – who harbours romantic dreams: “She could feel the reassuring weight of the stranger pressing against her back, which made her feel safe and protected and filled her with a mild erotic glow all at once. But this didn't diminish her sense of self-actualisation as woman, however, because she was so obviously strong and good at taking care of herself”; but is confident enough in herself to show emotion: “she burst into tears, which did not make her weak but actually only showed how in touch with her feelings she was”. How this will all play out in the next four novellas, remains to be seen. But the one certainty, is that it will not be the tale you expect. I really enjoyed this first novella in the series. It was written with a seriously keen dose of humour, and has some wonderful characters. If it is made into a film, I want Muncaster to be played by Maximus from “Tangled”. Highly recommended if you want to cheer up your day.
An interesting read, a silly fantasy story told in a very serious way.
I'm not a massive fan of fantasy books, all those wizards and trolls and knights in shining armour, but I know Jamie Brindle is a good writer and likes to do things a little bit differently to anybody else. and in Magic Be With You he has found a unique style, a very calming way of telling a story There is a big battle in the book, plenty of violence and gore and yet the descriptive writing slows everything down and it becomes like emotionless description of a battle. Things like after a bad guy gets killed there is a comment "Which was fair because he wasn't a good person". Somehow it seems to work, but for how long? this is only volume one in this series, I'm interested to see how Jamie can keep this up and not turn it into a one-joke-book.
This novella is the first in a series aimed at skewering fantasy tropes and cliches, mainly by piling as many of them together as possible!
Majilda is the Chosen One and must go on a quest to save the world from evil, using only her secret magical skills, mysterious (and attractive) companions, and general chosen-one ability to always have exactly the skills/items needed at any time.
It is short, silly and very easy to read, and readers familiar with ‘Chosen One’ young adult fantasy fiction will enjoy this clever parody of poorly written and derivative examples of the genre. How the author manages to keep a serious tone throughout is beyond me!
I’m not sure how well this translates into a whole series (although it does end on a cliffhanger) as it feels like a bit of a one-and-done novella-sized joke, but it works very well for a quick, fun read.
Oh, and those who have given it 1 and 2 star reviews on some review sites have missed the parody and assumed it is straightforward ‘serious’ fantasy, but just ridiculously cliched and silly. Perhaps the author has pulled this joke off a little too well?!
This short book (around 13,000 words) fits neatly into the class of books which poke fun at other writing by being deliberately “bad”. In this case the target is an easy one: the kind of “epic fantasy” which follows the well-trodden path of Campbell’s “hero’s journey”. The author has made sure to jam in as many tropes as he can think of, which does sometimes make it a bit heavy going to read.
The book starts with an introduction, just as spurious as the rest of it, which claims that the story is a modern “remastering” of a book from obscure author Penny Red. If you hadn’t spotted it already, Penny Red is also a type of early Victorian postage stamp. Once that is over we jump into the tale itself, or at least the foreboding prologue introducing “the freakishly tall and thin (but weirdly attractive) sorceress, sitting on her throne made of bones and rotting things etc.”. With the prologue over, we meet Majilda “a slender, beautiful young woman with flowing blonde hair who at the same time seemed pretty normal and easy to relate to”. We see Majilda’s “Ordinary World” of tranquil village life and rivalry with her equally beautiful but annoying frenemy Elainer. Once that has been safely established we get the arrival of the attractive and mysterious hero Ravenglass and his huge steed Muncaster, providing a “Call to Adventure” and its immediate “Refusal”.
Of course, the story doesn’t stop there. The peace is shattered by an attack by “Mercenary raiders from Middle Atlantis”, in which it seems that everyone except Majilda and Ravenglass is killed or stolen away. During the battle, Majilda discovers that she has magical powers. With nothing left of her home, she agrees to enter Act 2 with her mentor Ravenglass in search of a mysterious Tower, so she can learn to control her wild magic and fulfil a prophesied destiny.
The story continues in that vein, sticking to the epic fantasy formula but making sure to never miss a chance for an adjective or three, and dripping with fourth-wall-bending clarifications. Elainer has also miraculously survived the village green bloodbath so there is ample opportunity for romantic rivalry and angst along with the deliberately overblown, and often nonsensical, description:
“Pah! This drizzle is like no other drizzle I’ve known,” complained Elainer. “It crashes around us like the tears of a furious god!” Ravenglass smiled, but Majilda could see a faint fear even in his stoutly courageous eye, so terrifyingly powerful was the drizzle. “When you have travelled as far as I, child,” said Ravenglass, “you will learn that of the many hardships one faces on an exciting magical adventure, drizzle is often the most deadly.” As if in answer to his words, the drizzle redoubled its furious efforts. The ground itself seethed around them very slightly, and Muncaster whinnied and tossed his noble head.
It’s difficult to rate a book which is as self-consciously bad as this one. There were many points at which I found myself nodding in agreement, or smiling slightly as I recognised a familiar aspect of the epic fantasy zeitgeist, but it was neither “laugh out loud” funny, nor engaging enough to survive as a story in its own right. I will probably read the next book at some point, though, just to see how far Brindle can stretch this idea if nothing else.
I really wanted to like this book - the synopsis sounded really intriguing and it fit in with the types of books I usually like to read. The action was there, the plot was there - HOWEVER, the writing style was just way too juvenile and bland for me to even get a quarter of the way through. I hate leaving a bad review, but I just can't read a book that is has such an awful writing style and expect to enjoy it.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through BookSends ARC.
To be honest, I didn’t know what to think when I started this novella. However, its silliness and charm hooked me and now I have to read the others to know what ridiculous adventures await these characters! This was a short and sweet read and worth checking out if you like humorous fantasy.
Magic Be With You is the first episode in the Magic Be With You series.
This is a really funny story that had me laughing out loud at least once every page. It's not afraid to be daft and make fun of itself, and I really love that in a book. So if you like stories like Pratchett's Diskworld series, you'll probably like this... Though it's much more low brow!! The only negative? I've got to wait for the rest of the story! NB I received a complimentary copy of this book, but I always give an HONEST review based wholly on my own opinions
Episode 1: Magic Be With You (5*) 8/2 In this episode we meet Majilda (our protagonist) and see the events which set her on her course as (probably) the Chosen One. I love the humour throughout the story, the way it mocks political correctness makes me laugh so much, and the development of the story will be interesting.
So you know your fantasy tropes? This humourous parody skewers them like a nasty dragon that's just met the business end of sword wielded by an exceptionally lucky knight (gender undisclosed).
It's the first episode in the tale of simple village girl, a dark and mysterious stranger with timing issues, and a band of murderous raiders led by an improbably sexy lady. Oh, and a prophesy about some super special girl who will save the world in a totally right-on feminist way without ever objectifying herself for the benefit of menfolk. Or somesuch.
Yes, it's that sort of in-your-face, tongue-in-cheek parody. It's a silly, fast and funny read.
I was not fond of this novella. It was horribly written and very cliche. From the introduction, I was under the impression that this was to honor an obscure writer. It wasn't until I was finished that i learned it was satire. Sadly, I didn't get that from reading it so the author didn't clearly express that in the writing. That being aid, the second in the series was offered for free so i will read it as satire and see what I think after that.
Very short (60 pages). Lots of strange character description and rambling dialogue. Don’t think I have ever encountered this writing style before and don’t think I much care for it. Kind of a Princess Bride wannabe story but too short to live up to it. Glad some reviewers enjoyed it. Might try another episode another time.
If my snarky, sarcastic bestie was telling me a story, this is what it would sound like. 🤣 For example, "Before she could ask him about this, there was a scream like a banshee opening a tax return...".
I’ll never get that 20 minutes back! On the other hand, at least it was a freebie, proving that even with bookbub, sometimes you get what you paid for.. on this case, nothing worthwhile for nothing.
If you want a quick, silly little read, this will meet your needs. Just know what you are getting into and then settle back for a few minutes and enjoy.
NOT kindle unlimited, usually don't think or say much about whether kindle unlimited or short stories or very short stories/serialized -- This is the first episode of at least 5, if that’s not going to stop you from giving it a go). I did end up with all 5 being sent to me as set, after 1 & 2 went free tho not sure if permafree or was just free for x amount of days. Is different, but still not sure about the serialized format, myself, and book 5 was around a 3 because it went off on convoluted plot after having skipped the 'boring'/'tedious' descritpions that can go in these and longer books, but 5 really made no sense to me, as it seemed to be all revolving around just mainly one incident.
Majilda is a simple village girl with normal, everyday ambitions like one day getting married and running a tavern of her own (but in a self-actualised, non-sexist sort of a way). But when her village is ravaged by mysterious and very intriguing raiders who steal all the children, she is forced to fight back with a secret magic she never knew she had. Now she is alone in a dangerous, fantastical world, with only a handsome stranger and his muscular black steed, Muncaster, to guide her. Who has stolen the children? And why? Will she ever be able to help them? And could it possibly all have something to do with that odd birthmark she’s always wondered about? Together with her new and very mysterious allies, Majilda must make a journey into her past (but also the present, and maybe the future; probably some physical places, too) to unlock a magic so powerful it may (or may not) save the entire world... But in the final reckoning, will magic be with her?
Magic Be With You Series Magic Be With You: Episode One Wizards Be With You: Episode Two Enchantment Be With You: Episode Three Exposition Be With You: Episode Four Dragons Be With You: Episode Five
A parody that really takes the mick out of the series. Very in your face at times that highlights the crazy times, interesting though and will look forward in seeing how it goes forwards.