The Resident Wizard

by Joe Circles

Stardew Valley is buzzing with excitement as the residents wait for the the imminent arrival of the new farmer. Everyone is talking about what he or she will be like and what they might do with the old, run-down farm they are taking over? Everyone, that is, apart from the local wizard M. Rasmodius. Being a great and powerful practitioner of the magical arts he has far more important and pressing matters to focus on. The most significant of these being the fact that magic levels in Stardew continue to reduce with each passing day and are showing no signs of stopping.

This is a story about Stardew Valley from a different perspective. Rather than following the adventures of the farmer, this story centers around M. Rasmodius, the eccentric, occasionally grumpy and often vain wizard.

196 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 9, 2019

Reviews

[A Mac · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a recent new player of Stardew Valley, I was excited to read this work though it's not officially affiliated with Stardew. I loved the easter eggs that were included throughout, ranging from a few details about different characters' favorite gifts to the inclusion of the actual egg hunt. The lore included about the wizard was kind of interesting as well, though most of it didn't come up until the very end of the book. 

Unfortunately, there were a few things that detracted pretty heavily from the work. The author uses run-on sentences almost exclusively, which did not make the narrative flow well, and plenty of typos/errors. There was also a lot of description included but not in a way that brought the setting to life. It was more just repetition of what the player sees when playing the game, especially directions around town, rather than trying to make the setting feel vibrant and immersive. 

While the premise and concept of this one were exciting and intriguing, the execution was unfortunately pretty lackluster. This might be a fun read for fans of Stardew Valley if you're looking for a light supplement to the game. 

[Nikii · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun for Stardew fans

Entertaining story, lots of little details from the Stardew Valley world. Would have been 4 stars without the typos or ubiquitous misspelling of Junimos as 'Juminos'.

[Jo Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’ve never heard of or played Stardew Valley before I think you’d miss out on a lot of Easter eggs and references and characters. You might still enjoy it, but those of us who have sunk in literally hundreds of hours of the game will appreciate it more.

A simple and enjoyable story giving us more insight into one of the more mysterious characters of the game.