Burned and scarred, Tabar is five summers old and destined for execution. His crime? Being a reminder of the past.
Rescued from the gallows and integrated into local village life, Tabar confronts his greatest fear to become the 'Magic Man', renowned for his mastery of fire.
With his terror now an ally, he learns that love and acceptance do strange things to scars, bringing him a life he could never have imagined.
But when guards from the governing Brennyn Hall shatter the peace of his village, and his family and neighbors are separated and brutalized, everything disintegrates--including himself. Tabar is left with an agonizing decision. Soul destroying obedience to the Hall, or death to those he loves. Will he find an answer in the flames? And what must he set on fire to save all their lives?
Magic Man is the first novella in the Awenmell Character Series, a spin off from Lisa King's visionary fantasy Awenmell Series. If you enjoy thought provoking tales of growth and courage against the odds, you're sure to love this inspiring tale of honesty and redemption in the face of heart-breaking adversity. Buy your copy now!
Thought-provoking, inspiring, life-changing... sometimes we don’t know that we need to hear or read something, but then we do. This book is not only an interesting delve into a character from Lisa King’s first novel ‘Crown of Fire’, but it’s also a story that had me purposely reading back over lines to fully take in the message. I really don’t know how else I can explain it but I love when you can take so much away from a story, and add it to that mental shelf of ‘meaningful books’. This novella is for anyone and everyone... and you never know but it may just be that book you needed to read!
With me for life! Amazing! The characters never left me and have me waiting for the next book! Great insight into one of the characters from Crown of Fire . Can't wait for the following books in the series!
I really love this concept of a character series based off characters out of the Awenmell Series that the author is creating. Can’t say I’ve noticed any other authors do this. I could be wrong of course! This novella tells the story of a guard that you might only read about for 2 minutes, if that, in the ‘Crown Of Fire’ book. I really love the idea that a character who really does seem quite insignificant on a whole within the COF book, actually has his own story to tell. A story of abandonment, abuse, tragedy, triumph, love, hate, anger, insecurity and remorse. It’s a great concept and was a great read on its own. But having read COF, it added more meaning into the story of why he was such a ———- to a scared and terrified young woman. It reinforces that in the real world, everyone really does have their own story. And you never know what it is if you don’t ask or they don’t share. We all have scars.
I have not yet read any of her other works, but this showed me that the author has a talent for giving characters purpose, as well as teaching lessons that make you reflect on your own life.
An amazing book! Absolutely loved reading this, have read it 4 or 5 times now! Love the background it provides when reading Crown of Fire as well! Truly love your writing and story/adventure telling and the captivating journey you so take your readers on! I felt like I was part of the story, as though I was right there with the characters, as I read the words I could feel the pain and the excitement and fear and joy, it's amazing! Thank you!
At first I thought this was a stand-alone story set alongside a series. Only after about 30% of the way through I realised that I didn't know enough about the world to truly understand what was going on, and by the end I still felt like I knew nothing.
We start by meeting a boy called Tabar who's been captured by a soldier. His white hair marks him as an outsider of some kind, and he's in trouble. The guard conveniently loses the boy when two widows slip him a coin or two so that they can adopt a little helper for their farmstead. Over time he masters his fear of fire, finds acceptance even amidst adversity, and grows into a stronger person... Until cruel soldiers come, taking him away from his family and forcing him into their army.
I take it this is an origins story, and it time-skips about a fair few times. I didn't get a lot of the references to the "Hall" and "Eariss", or ever get an explanation as to why Tabar was an outcast or afraid of fire to begin with. I'd hoped for more than just insinuations to feed my curiosity. The bad characters were more fleshed out than the good guys, who just seemed to be nice and get on just because. Kish confused me a lot.
Overall not badly written, just... unsatisfying. I don't think it works as a stand-alone without prior knowledge of the Awenmell series.