What do you think?
Rate this book
Hand Made Mage
Ghost, a young Criminal Guild thief, is ordered to rob an ancient crypt of a long dead Duke. He is caught grave robbing by an undead insane Mage with a twisted sense of humor. The Mage burns a set of rune engraved rings into Ghost's hand, and fingers. Unknown to Ghost these rings allow him to manipulate the four elements.
Returning to the Guild to report his failure, everyone thinks he has riches from the crypt, and they want it. While being held captive by the Criminal Guild, Ghost meets Prince Kade, the fourth son of the King, who has troubles of his own. Ghost uses his newfound powers to escape from the Guild saving the Prince in the process.
Spies from a foreign kingdom are trying to kill Prince Kade, and Ghost must keep them both alive, while helping Prince Kade raise an army to stop an invasion. Ghost finds out trust to soon given, is unwise and dangerous. He is learning people will do anything for gold and power. As Ghost's power grows, his enemies learn he is a far more deadly enemy than anything they have ever faced.
Returning to the Guild to report his failure, everyone thinks he has riches from the crypt, and they want it. While being held captive by the Criminal Guild, Ghost meets Prince Kade, the fourth son of the King, who has troubles of his own. Ghost uses his newfound powers to escape from the Guild saving the Prince in the process.
Spies from a foreign kingdom are trying to kill Prince Kade, and Ghost must keep them both alive, while helping Prince Kade raise an army to stop an invasion. Ghost finds out trust to soon given, is unwise and dangerous. He is learning people will do anything for gold and power. As Ghost's power grows, his enemies learn he is a far more deadly enemy than anything they have ever faced.
- GenresFantasyParanormal
424 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 24, 2019
472 people are currently reading
232 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews
March 6, 2020
I paid for it so I read it.
I loved the premise of this book and I guess that's why I kept reading it despite the faults. The first thing you'll notice is that nearly every sentence starts with "I" if the main character isn't in an active conversation. The pronoun "I" is used more frequently than the letter "e" in the whole of the book. To balance this, there is very little world building or character building. Next, at about chapter 4, the protagonist is godlike. Then, there is no tension. Everything is challenge-less to him, even the big betrayal. The magic system is never explained. Where does the power come from? Why is it so limitless, how come there are not more mages? Relationships for the protagonist work the same way as the magic. So, it was a bad book with a great premise that I really wish was better developed.
So 1 star awarded for the premise.
Another for the effort of writing it.
It was almost like reading the author's notes of the story he was going to write. Sigh...
I loved the premise of this book and I guess that's why I kept reading it despite the faults. The first thing you'll notice is that nearly every sentence starts with "I" if the main character isn't in an active conversation. The pronoun "I" is used more frequently than the letter "e" in the whole of the book. To balance this, there is very little world building or character building. Next, at about chapter 4, the protagonist is godlike. Then, there is no tension. Everything is challenge-less to him, even the big betrayal. The magic system is never explained. Where does the power come from? Why is it so limitless, how come there are not more mages? Relationships for the protagonist work the same way as the magic. So, it was a bad book with a great premise that I really wish was better developed.
So 1 star awarded for the premise.
Another for the effort of writing it.
It was almost like reading the author's notes of the story he was going to write. Sigh...
February 17, 2020
Disappointed
I liked the premise of this story. The way it unfolded was very disappointing. No character building. Personalities were non existant. How many times can you sink into the earth, travel, take treasure and kill? .... apparently you can write a whole book where you do it over and over and over again.
I liked the premise of this story. The way it unfolded was very disappointing. No character building. Personalities were non existant. How many times can you sink into the earth, travel, take treasure and kill? .... apparently you can write a whole book where you do it over and over and over again.
July 31, 2020
At page 132 of 313: normally I would DNF a book like this. There is a premise here somewhere, I think. I thought this was another author which is why I started it. So far we have an interesting start followed by I think “what would a thief do if granted god like powers”. Well, he for some reason allies himself to a prince (who is both third and fourth son). And supports the king. But everyone else he kills without any care including his grandmother. Despite having an ability to easily kill anyone, he often does things the hard way - the unbelievably hard way. It doesn’t occur to him to be bothered by the necromancy powers. The death magic he uses which he thinks are cool are trivially done, unlike what than highly evil villains can do in other books. We are supposed to like him or root for him?
World building: there’s a bunch of guilds, the typical assassins guild and thieves guild (here called criminal’s guild). They use gold, but he can rob anyone so doesn’t account for any thing and makes deals by throwing golds around. This isn’t Earth, but there is Iceland and the church has a crucifix, and there are other references to Earth. His granted magic just is. He doesn’t appear interested in the why or how.
Editing: I suppose I can handle insure to mean ensure as that is dialect. But surely someone would notice all the word substitutions. Or the line breaks that put the period on the next line. Worst is the constant punctuation errors, with oddly conjoined sentences or weird sentences like “I might replace some is later.” There is constant use of capital-I in place of lower case L. Hard to see with some fonts, but easy to see with the font I have. There is such a thing as spell check.
Plot: maybe there is one, but I’m not yet sure what the point of this book is. Grab loot, kill people gruesomely, gain knowledge and strength from necromancy, save the prince for some reason, prevent an invasion, destroy the land by making massive restructuring - oops, sorry, the massive restructuring of land has no consequences.
On second thought, not the author I intended to read. I’ll mark this as DNF.
World building: there’s a bunch of guilds, the typical assassins guild and thieves guild (here called criminal’s guild). They use gold, but he can rob anyone so doesn’t account for any thing and makes deals by throwing golds around. This isn’t Earth, but there is Iceland and the church has a crucifix, and there are other references to Earth. His granted magic just is. He doesn’t appear interested in the why or how.
Editing: I suppose I can handle insure to mean ensure as that is dialect. But surely someone would notice all the word substitutions. Or the line breaks that put the period on the next line. Worst is the constant punctuation errors, with oddly conjoined sentences or weird sentences like “I might replace some is later.” There is constant use of capital-I in place of lower case L. Hard to see with some fonts, but easy to see with the font I have. There is such a thing as spell check.
Plot: maybe there is one, but I’m not yet sure what the point of this book is. Grab loot, kill people gruesomely, gain knowledge and strength from necromancy, save the prince for some reason, prevent an invasion, destroy the land by making massive restructuring - oops, sorry, the massive restructuring of land has no consequences.
On second thought, not the author I intended to read. I’ll mark this as DNF.
January 26, 2020
Could have had a better rating
The premise of this book was interesting but the lack of editing made me give up after only a couple of chapters - i.e. Crowed for crowd, drug for dragged and numerous run on sentences. I read a lot of self published books so feel the author cannot use that as an excuse. For pity's sake, at least have someone else read them to perhaps catch some of the errors.
The premise of this book was interesting but the lack of editing made me give up after only a couple of chapters - i.e. Crowed for crowd, drug for dragged and numerous run on sentences. I read a lot of self published books so feel the author cannot use that as an excuse. For pity's sake, at least have someone else read them to perhaps catch some of the errors.
October 24, 2019
Absolutely spectacular
First review I’ve ever written but I felt compelled because of how much I enjoyed this book. Main character has the perfect amount of ruthlessness for my indelicate sensibilities, and is also marvellously overpowered. It was a thrilling ride and I really hope the author writes more.
First review I’ve ever written but I felt compelled because of how much I enjoyed this book. Main character has the perfect amount of ruthlessness for my indelicate sensibilities, and is also marvellously overpowered. It was a thrilling ride and I really hope the author writes more.
December 9, 2019
No plot
Don’t know what other people read but there is absolutely nothing interesting in this book. Character has god like powers and doesn’t question or try to understand it. No attempt is made at building the world or characters. No physical descriptions or even feelings are given. Definitely, needs more added to catch interest.
Don’t know what other people read but there is absolutely nothing interesting in this book. Character has god like powers and doesn’t question or try to understand it. No attempt is made at building the world or characters. No physical descriptions or even feelings are given. Definitely, needs more added to catch interest.
January 29, 2020
Expected more from the summary
I feel like some of the characters were more two-dimensional and didn't have as much thought process or emotion as they should have and the main character has little to no drive he also seemed to get on the better very fast even before he realized she can take other people's abilities and knowledge
I feel like some of the characters were more two-dimensional and didn't have as much thought process or emotion as they should have and the main character has little to no drive he also seemed to get on the better very fast even before he realized she can take other people's abilities and knowledge
March 30, 2022
A good story simple but good . The only problem I had was the magic was just to easy there was no spells no studying just imagine what you want and it happened.
June 20, 2020
I'm honestly not sure what the being that gave ghost his powers was trying to accomplish. It's explained before the end of the book, but in context, it makes no sense, since the entire rest of the book is filled with the abilities that were gifted to him being used in novel ways, and the total lack of concern Ghost shows towards anyone who tried to leash his abilities. I'm not sure what kind of a response the gtanter expected, having watched the whole thing, but nobody ever said the story had to make sense. Just know, the story is a really good one, and especially if you like stories where the establishment gets turned on it's ear, you're going to love this tory. Just be aware that the whole granting of the powers, and their purpose really should have been left out, or explained in some other way, the way it was handled kind of flubbed the story for me, and ultimately disappointed me, but that's likely just me. Still, it doesn't remove the enjoyment of the rest of the story, which was otherwise a pretty good one.
June 20, 2020
"The King also said he would have to think of some reward to give you for saving his life."
"Great, he'll probably give me more land, so I must pay more taxes."
2.0/5.0 Hand Made Mage started a little rough and did not really get better. The book itself is on a strictly tell don’t show basis and its characters have little to no depth. I have read books where the MC is over powered but this really takes it to another level. Decisions in the book made no real sense and I had a hard time putting myself in any of their shoes. About 70 percent through, there was a climax in the book and afterwards the plot and story were slow and non existent. I would not be opposed to giving the author another read especially because it was on kindle unlimited, but overall it was a tough read.
"Great, he'll probably give me more land, so I must pay more taxes."
2.0/5.0 Hand Made Mage started a little rough and did not really get better. The book itself is on a strictly tell don’t show basis and its characters have little to no depth. I have read books where the MC is over powered but this really takes it to another level. Decisions in the book made no real sense and I had a hard time putting myself in any of their shoes. About 70 percent through, there was a climax in the book and afterwards the plot and story were slow and non existent. I would not be opposed to giving the author another read especially because it was on kindle unlimited, but overall it was a tough read.
August 24, 2020
Not bad, Kid
So I read Wizards Alley by this author previously and at times the two feel incredibly parallel. Unfortunate soul receives magical power? Check. Said magic power allows protagonist to not only sling spells but download memories of its victims? Check. Mercenaries, royal princesses, and political struggles? Check.
I will say unlike Wizards Alley, you get the sense of the MCs age however like Wizards Alley the movement of time is poorly catalogued. Overall, I feel like the MCs overall personality was more like able.
I am a bit confused on when this book is taking place. Obviously it’s a fantasy read but you have gunpowder cannons on ships while having knights in armor who apparently read The Art of War and quote Sun Tzu by name. Probably just me being a nerd but it left me going, “Wait, what?”
Not a bad read. Would read again.
So I read Wizards Alley by this author previously and at times the two feel incredibly parallel. Unfortunate soul receives magical power? Check. Said magic power allows protagonist to not only sling spells but download memories of its victims? Check. Mercenaries, royal princesses, and political struggles? Check.
I will say unlike Wizards Alley, you get the sense of the MCs age however like Wizards Alley the movement of time is poorly catalogued. Overall, I feel like the MCs overall personality was more like able.
I am a bit confused on when this book is taking place. Obviously it’s a fantasy read but you have gunpowder cannons on ships while having knights in armor who apparently read The Art of War and quote Sun Tzu by name. Probably just me being a nerd but it left me going, “Wait, what?”
Not a bad read. Would read again.
November 27, 2022
I applaud the author for making this book into one full novel, and not attempting to make it a series. So much of fantasy fiction is based on the idea of a long series of novels. I very much appreciate Mr. Haddock's willingness to just write one, full story.
The plot of the novel is to watch the main character, Ghost, progress from thief to mage. Along the way, his powers grow exponentially as he learns more and more about them. He befriends royalty, and is very loyal to a new friend he makes. More than his loyalty, Ghost has a SEVERE revenge ideology. Anyone who crosses him will be lucky to survive. Despite his extreme violent streak, though, Ghost actually has a pretty beneficent heart. His journey is quite an interesting and pleasant ride.
The plot of the novel is to watch the main character, Ghost, progress from thief to mage. Along the way, his powers grow exponentially as he learns more and more about them. He befriends royalty, and is very loyal to a new friend he makes. More than his loyalty, Ghost has a SEVERE revenge ideology. Anyone who crosses him will be lucky to survive. Despite his extreme violent streak, though, Ghost actually has a pretty beneficent heart. His journey is quite an interesting and pleasant ride.
October 26, 2023
If you can imagine writing a magic book for a 10 year old point of view, then this is the book for you. No plot beyond a pinball ricochet. We're just given a magical enhancement at the start of the book because, hey, we gotta have it to move forward.
We do some stuff. We save a guy. We become fast friends with the guy and use our magic to help him out. Not sure why. He discovers our magical secret and we swear him to secrecy. We blab our secret over the entire kingdom. Our wanna-be girlfriend asks for a whimsical display of magic which we happily provide.
We finally figure out a reason to create all this magic. So, more magic just by thinking of it. No skills, no stress, no limits. Think it. Do it. Done.
No suspense. No depth. No finish.
We do some stuff. We save a guy. We become fast friends with the guy and use our magic to help him out. Not sure why. He discovers our magical secret and we swear him to secrecy. We blab our secret over the entire kingdom. Our wanna-be girlfriend asks for a whimsical display of magic which we happily provide.
We finally figure out a reason to create all this magic. So, more magic just by thinking of it. No skills, no stress, no limits. Think it. Do it. Done.
No suspense. No depth. No finish.
January 26, 2020
A good story
I gave 5 stars, disregarding the lapses in grammar and punctuation. This a fun read with interesting twists in the poor, little thief to nobleman mage story. Not an epic, but I could see where it might become a trilogy. With that said, Mr. Haddock might want to consider a conversation with his editor concerning use of "to, too and two" as well as the difference between "dawned and donned". The punctuation is probably a matter of differences in teachers when we were all in grade school. Overall, I will continue to read his works as I do like how he tells a story.
I gave 5 stars, disregarding the lapses in grammar and punctuation. This a fun read with interesting twists in the poor, little thief to nobleman mage story. Not an epic, but I could see where it might become a trilogy. With that said, Mr. Haddock might want to consider a conversation with his editor concerning use of "to, too and two" as well as the difference between "dawned and donned". The punctuation is probably a matter of differences in teachers when we were all in grade school. Overall, I will continue to read his works as I do like how he tells a story.
January 29, 2022
Could have been a cool story, but there was zero development. He starts as a low thief, gets these god-like powers almost immediately, learns to use them almost immediately, meets one or two people and immediately has the type of trust and relationship with them that takes months if not years to attain, somehow is perfectly comfortable around the king and royalty (even though a very short period of time ago he was a thief), somehow understands battle strategy and what it takes to run a castle and fief after reading 2 books, etc. It reads as if there was a full story, but then everything between the important parts was deleted and then published like that. DNF.
April 12, 2024
A young man named Ghost is a successful thief. He likes sleeping in the graveyard because the dead don’t steal your stuff, though sometimes he steals theirs. Things go wrong when a guardian mage catches him robbing the crypt of an old Duke. In the fight, he gets power from the mage to control the elements. He can sink into the earth at will and travel underground. He is also a ruthless killer when he needs to be. As the cliché would have it, he does not get mad. He just gets even.
The plot is a one-damned-thing-after-another sequence. A good story editor would help. One trivial error bothered me—cargo from a sailing ship is offloaded, not downloaded.
The plot is a one-damned-thing-after-another sequence. A good story editor would help. One trivial error bothered me—cargo from a sailing ship is offloaded, not downloaded.
April 7, 2020
Good book overall, but a 3.5 by my appraisal for a few reasons. There are a few spelling/autofill errors but grammar is overall good. The biggest issue, though not a deal-killer for me, was that the MC was way OP for most of the book.
Can't say much more without spoilers, but between that and a general feeling of imbalance in the plot it was entertaining but missing something. It starts well, but seems to lose its way. Seems like a one-shot book and if you like the blurb you'll probably enjoy it well enough. It's just not clearing the "great" hurdle for me.
Can't say much more without spoilers, but between that and a general feeling of imbalance in the plot it was entertaining but missing something. It starts well, but seems to lose its way. Seems like a one-shot book and if you like the blurb you'll probably enjoy it well enough. It's just not clearing the "great" hurdle for me.
March 20, 2025
fantastic world-creating and wonderful” characters!
I don’t think I ever laughed so much reading a book! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love books about mages and this one is by far the best, so far, I have read. I look forward to his many other books.
My only criticisms are the spelling and grammar errors. I am a Beta reader for a couple of authors and that’s what we do, fix those simple mistakes. We do it for free, because we love to read. Maybe James Haddock can drop me a line and we can do some fixing 😉
I don’t think I ever laughed so much reading a book! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love books about mages and this one is by far the best, so far, I have read. I look forward to his many other books.
My only criticisms are the spelling and grammar errors. I am a Beta reader for a couple of authors and that’s what we do, fix those simple mistakes. We do it for free, because we love to read. Maybe James Haddock can drop me a line and we can do some fixing 😉
April 18, 2025
A well written, interesting fantasy! Well done, Mr. Haddock!
James Haddock has mastered the ability to craft interesting stories. Whether fantasy, as this one is, or Sci-Fi, as some of his other books are. As is his wont, the MC starts the story in over his head, in this tale in trouble with the Thieves Guild. Using his wits and a little bit of magical help, he manages to not only survive but to thrive.
BTW, I loved the surprise ending! In my opinion, his best ending yet!
Keep up the great work, Mr. Haddock!
James Haddock has mastered the ability to craft interesting stories. Whether fantasy, as this one is, or Sci-Fi, as some of his other books are. As is his wont, the MC starts the story in over his head, in this tale in trouble with the Thieves Guild. Using his wits and a little bit of magical help, he manages to not only survive but to thrive.
BTW, I loved the surprise ending! In my opinion, his best ending yet!
Keep up the great work, Mr. Haddock!
February 28, 2020
Hand Made Mage, definitely a keeper!
I gave this a five star rating based on the author 's vision. Needs some edit/ proofing work, but a really good read and fast paced storyline. I felt the connection to the characters. It was what I would do given the circumstances. Ready and waiting for the next installment. To the author "My first trip with with you and I loved every minute, send me more!" .6
I gave this a five star rating based on the author 's vision. Needs some edit/ proofing work, but a really good read and fast paced storyline. I felt the connection to the characters. It was what I would do given the circumstances. Ready and waiting for the next installment. To the author "My first trip with with you and I loved every minute, send me more!" .6
February 29, 2020
Very good story. Really liked the main character. Finally an author who writes a character who did almost everything I would do in his situation. I only disagreed with how he handled his personal relationship. I would have handled the situation much like he handled his disagreement with "Granny". You can see by that comment that I am still thinking strongly about this book. I will be waiting for another book in the series.
March 23, 2020
Interesting book.
Interesting texture. Predominately one syllable words, the first half, or so. Gradually bringing in a spice of two syllable nuggets. Still managed to hold this readers interest, surprisingly. Primarily through imageination. Seemed the author got a good bit of enjoyment out of his characters, and transporting that into the text of his work.
Nicely done.
Maybe a bit of punctuation wouldn’t have hurt too much. Maybe it would have.
Interesting texture. Predominately one syllable words, the first half, or so. Gradually bringing in a spice of two syllable nuggets. Still managed to hold this readers interest, surprisingly. Primarily through imageination. Seemed the author got a good bit of enjoyment out of his characters, and transporting that into the text of his work.
Nicely done.
Maybe a bit of punctuation wouldn’t have hurt too much. Maybe it would have.
May 27, 2020
Could not put it down
This is the 2nd book I've read by this author while there is some similarities between the two I did not dislike it. The protagonist in each book were mild mannered but deadly when provoked, I liked that. I find their morals follow my idea very much. Though I've never acted that way I can understand it. The story was engaging and kept me reading for hours. All in all just YIPPY!!!
This is the 2nd book I've read by this author while there is some similarities between the two I did not dislike it. The protagonist in each book were mild mannered but deadly when provoked, I liked that. I find their morals follow my idea very much. Though I've never acted that way I can understand it. The story was engaging and kept me reading for hours. All in all just YIPPY!!!
June 27, 2020
Where is not #2????
This was better then the last one. They are similar in the telling. But I do not like how you end your story's. You laughs reader HANGING!!!!! They is another book you write that is also similar it's about a Prince. I can't get the book. If you would please tell me how I can. You really should think about writing a second book about the Hand Made Mage. Your endings ???????
This was better then the last one. They are similar in the telling. But I do not like how you end your story's. You laughs reader HANGING!!!!! They is another book you write that is also similar it's about a Prince. I can't get the book. If you would please tell me how I can. You really should think about writing a second book about the Hand Made Mage. Your endings ???????
July 12, 2020
Interesting and Exciting
This would be a five star rating except for the grammer, it annoyed me that I have corrected more errors in this book than any other that I have read, and I didn't start correcting until midway through. I also didn't like the tense changes, going from 3rd person into first person and from present into past. But I read all the way through to the end of the adventure.
This would be a five star rating except for the grammer, it annoyed me that I have corrected more errors in this book than any other that I have read, and I didn't start correcting until midway through. I also didn't like the tense changes, going from 3rd person into first person and from present into past. But I read all the way through to the end of the adventure.
August 1, 2020
An awful waste of time
Punctuation errors, syntactic misplacements, grammatical inconsistencies, and generally weird sentence structures made this story less enjoyable than what it could’ve been.
The protagonist was a god, the challenge he faced was minimal, the plot was there, the characters were cardboard cutouts, and here’s wondering if the author should’ve just give the idea to someone who could properly flesh out everything about what is essentially a light novel
Punctuation errors, syntactic misplacements, grammatical inconsistencies, and generally weird sentence structures made this story less enjoyable than what it could’ve been.
The protagonist was a god, the challenge he faced was minimal, the plot was there, the characters were cardboard cutouts, and here’s wondering if the author should’ve just give the idea to someone who could properly flesh out everything about what is essentially a light novel
August 6, 2020
Normally, when a story is written with the main character having obtained powers akin to that of a god the plot goes to rubbish. This author surprised me by adding just the right amount of twists and turns to keep me interested. The magic involved is fairly unique and allows the writer to peer in on characters from a new perspective. There need not be a sequel, it feels balanced and I was left satisfied.
September 26, 2020
Enjoyable and entertaining! There are some editing issues but overall it is very readable. Personally I enjoyed the premise of this book and seeing the world from the perspective of someone who can overcome all challenges is an interesting storytelling device. This is not a challenging read but there is something very statisfying about someone being forced into taking charge and sorting out the world, maybe because we need that in our real world right now!!
January 14, 2021
The author needs some kryptonite. His magical heroes always suffer from being superman without any threat, so there is no tension in the narrative - he can’t lose, no matter what the odds, so the only question is why he makes it so hard for himself, which simply gets boring, and the unlimited powers of mages conflict with the narrative, e.g. why would mages work for someone when they could simply extract gold from the soil, or steal it in an untraceable manner as the hero does all the time.
May 18, 2022
This was actually a really fun read. I ended up reading it in about 5 hours. It was by no means perfect. There were a LOT of grammatical errors. Like a LOT! But surprisingly that didn't subtract too much from the story. Like I said, it was a really fun and enjoyable read. One I would recommend to other readers who enjoy fantasy and magic. My only wish is that this had been the first book in a series. I really would have liked to have seen what Ghost would've done net.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews