Sorceress

Middle Lands

by K.L. Noone

Lily learned magic from the last of the kingdom’s great sorcerers who disappeared a year ago, leaving her with a baby and with the responsibility of finding magical solutions for everyone’s problems. She’s overworked and exhausted, and not in the mood to have the king’s disreputable illegitimate half-brother knock on her door, demanding her help. But the king is ill, and the kingdom needs her ... and the king’s brother might not be as dreadful as the rumors say.


Will knows his own the schemes for the throne, the plots and politics, the decadence of his bedchamber, and the lovers paid off with rubies. He’s worked hard on that reputation, after all -- it ensures that he’s aware of all the Court intrigue, and can protect his kindhearted younger brother. He can’t protect his brother from a magical illness ... but he can find the last powerful magician in the kingdom and beg for her aid. And he’ll promise her anything she wants in return ...

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Short Stories, Novella, Dragons, Magic, Fantasy Romance

49 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Aliette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so cute! A self-doubting sorceress must help a dying king, and deal with a baby, the king's half-brother, and her own past.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really lovely romantic fantasy novelette, beautifully written and with fabulous characters and fun magic. I enjoyed it so much!

[katayoun Masoodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was delightful, just short, i so look forward to reading more of this world. i would also look for more noone books, i really enjoyed the style of writing.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet romance novellette with a dragon, a king, his bastard brother, and a sorceress who is overwhelmed with the single parent life and feeling insecure. It was interesting to see her let go of her resentment in order to solve the problem she needed to solve and to move on with her life. Honestly I would have preferred to see her do that in service to her own needs rather than another, but it was satisfying nonetheless.
Recommended by Stephanie Burgis.
Read on Hoopla/APL.

[Kogiopsis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a petite novella set in the same world as Magician, which I adored; I didn't get quite as much satisfaction out of Sorceress largely because it's shorter, and therefore has less time to really draw out and develop the emotional arcs of its characters. I do really enjoy Noone's writing style, and would definitely read more in this world/with these characters - either a full-length novel about Lily and Will (maybe negotiating their new relationship in and around court politics?) or the hinted F/F future book described in Magician's afterword.

The most significant thing that struck me about this book was how refreshing this approach to M/F romance is. Noone's characters - all of them in this setting, as far as I can tell - are casually and comfortably bisexual, and there's something very 'bi' about the way she writes their relationships, too. It's a little hard to articulate, but it feels very... freed of the more common, unhealthy tropes of a lot of M/F romances; the characters communicate, and aren't dramatic at one another, and work together as a team against the problem instead of succumbing to relationship drama. This is true in Magician as well (which I will review eventually, but I'm treating myself to a reread first) and I find it to be a far more rewarding approach to writing romance.

Here's to more bi romance authors! May they bring us the healthy stories we need.

[Olga Godim · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
A charming fantasy short story with magic and a dragon. I loved it.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was beautiful and evocative. Feels like Robin McKinley.

If I could write short stories like this, I would be endlessly happy.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

...a ghost of the young man he’d once been, before the deliberately constructed rumors and perilous persona: the boy who’d defended his kindhearted impractical younger brother through the years... [loc. 271]

A short story rather than a novella: this was a very quick read, which I'd have liked to be longer. Read within an hour of finishing Magician, which I enjoyed enough to search out, purchase and read this prequel.

Lily is raising a child by herself, living in poverty and constantly exhausted. She learnt magic from the infamous Lorre, the world's greatest magician, but he's vanished and left Lily and his daughter to survive as best they can. Lily does not welcome the arrival of the king's disreputable bastard brother, Will, who hauls her (and baby Merry) off to the palace. The king is afflicted by some frightful magical illness, and Will -- despite his bloodthirsty reputation and well-known ambition -- doesn't want his brother to die.

I liked the tension between Will and Lily: Lily herself is a great character, independent and gifted and very human, and her frustration was wholly relateable. If Noone ever decides to tell more of her story, I'm keen to read it.

[Trefoil · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short novel is the prequel to Magician, which I will be reading next. This was quite short, like 35 pages or so . For what it was, I enjoyed it and I liked the characters, and am even curious about them. This short story is told from the point of view of a woman who is a sorceress , this story is a M/F fantasy romance. The next book, Magician , that takes place in the same world, is an M/M romance and one of the main characters appears in this short story. So far this series is good .

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is short and beautiful. If you enjoy this author's prose, read it. If you have read Magician, you may think this came after it. But in the Afterward, the author reveals that Sorceress was her first ever published romance. So, Magician, Lorre's story, was second. And, there might be a third story in this universe. I hope so!

[Aldrea Alien · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this little romp into a short tale of a sorceress left alone with a baby who is recruited to save a king. The reason behind it all was unexpected and the descriptions were delightful.
The sudden bout of heated groping at the end seemed a little out of place, though.

[J.L. Thornton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great writing style and an interesting story with likeable characters. Some hiccups in the plot and world building, but overall, a nice read!

[Nicole (bookwyrm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story (novella? novelette?) about a sorceress who is called up on to save the king. She might not be as powerful a magician as the Grand Sorcerers of old, but she's the best around right now. Along the way, she gets to know the Royal Bastard and learns a little more about herself in the process. I love that the solution to the problem in this case isn't some grand magical showdown, but addressing one's fears and talking things out.

[Kaalatzvya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really lovely. Sorry it’s only a short story.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This very unfortunately turned out to be a sixty-page short story rather than the novel I was expecting. I don’t know what’s up with the hoopla page number displays for this author. This is a sweet short story, but it’s also the author’s first published work, which shows in both the writing and in the characters, who are noticeably off from their characterization later on.

I liked hearing about single mother and magician Lily wrangling with her truly awful ex Lorre (he’s an excellent protagonist in the next book, but atrocious as an ex) and the king’s mysterious illness and yet more mysterious illegitimate half brother. But had I known this was a short story, I don’t think I would have bothered with it. Oh well! On to Noone’s other series.

[AllAboutThoseBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

I had read this author's Port in a Storm and its sequel and liked them very much. The blurb is a good reflection of the plot, so I won't go over that.

One thing that isn't clear in the blurb is that this is a novelette, or a longish short story. It's a 30 minute read.

The story is very much about the Sorceress, and while there is romance and a HEA, It's really about her, and she is enough, on her own, to carry the story. The pace is perfect, and the story doesn't try to tell too much in the space given. It's whole and satisfying, assuming you expect and accept the shorter length. Recommend for fans of fantasy. Light to moderate heat at the end.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Mature" is the word that comes to mind, mature in the sense the characters here are all adults with enough experience under their belts to use their words and communicate and forgive and apologize and get real work done instead of angsting - mostly because we get hints at lot of immaturity from the main characters previously before these story events, which might be interesting to see in a prequel.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story is about the king's brother asking Sorceress Lily for help in making his sick brother better.
The reason why Lorre was banished from the land also becomes clear, and what he did as a dragon that almost destroyed the land, as referred to in 'the magician'. The story gives background to the story in the magician (and does not suffer from endless repetition).
I love the writing style, very special.

[Lila · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're like me, and you intend to read Magician (by KL Noone) you'll be glad you read this first.

I'm not a short story fan in general, I like falling into worlds, especially when the authors use delicious language the way KL Noone does. So I treated this as a prologue, and I like the way the situation was resolved.

I'm really glad I found this author!

[Ellie Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful. I loved the way the author created a shimmering, magical world with fully realised characters. Having enjoyed this so much, the scene now being set, I am looking forward to reading Magician, the next in the series.

[Rhode PVD · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short story and, while the author has a beautiful turn of phrase, she needed more room to convince us of this relationship. It’s basically instalove. I like that the heroine is a single mother, although I wish she were more certain of her magical powers.

[Jessie Pinkham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great quick read. I liked the self-discovery, and the worldbuilding was well done without overwhelming the short story.

[Shana]

Short enough with an interesting plot twist to help pry me out of a reading rut.

[lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

too joyful for my crying in sweaters tag. well i mean, usually they are joyful in between all the crying bits but this one managed to skip the crying. laughing in sweaters?

[Kathryn Baron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unexpectedly lovely. Probably really a 3 ½ for me. Well worth the read.

[A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very charming, but too brief for it’s own good

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted more of it!! Too short! The characters were so lovely I didn’t want it to end, I could have happily read a full length story of this, to have it all fleshed out and not have to be so fast.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I wrote something like fluff in honeyed prose for a previous book, and I think that describes this one, too.

[Skye Kilaen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely fantasy romance short about a single mama witch, whose baby is still very young, being asked by the king's supposedly decadent brother to come save the king from a magical illness. I really enjoyed Lily's character arc being so rich in such a short work. I wanted her to get All The Good Things, and she did, so yay!

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lily has been left by the kingdom's last powerful sorcerer, with a baby and everyone demanding magical solutions to their problems. Her latest customer is the King's bastard brother demanding she save the King's life.

Maybe a 3.5, but Lily's exhaustion and strength and Will's little kindnesses had me round up.