Return of the Wizard King

The Wizard King Trilogy #1

by Chad Corrie

Get in. Get out. Get paid. That was the plan. Instead, these reluctant mercenaries uncover some hidden agendas and ancient power struggles centuries in the making.

The last wizard king seeks a return to Tralodren after nearly eight centuries of exile. But doing so requires the manipulation of a band of mercenaries oblivious to his goals.

The gladiator sold his soul for revenge. The knight's a bigot. The dwarf only cares about regaining his honor. Even the wizardess seems too bookish for anyone's good. But they've all been hired by a blind seer and his assistant to retrieve some forgotten knowledge long hidden away in a jungle-strangled ruin.

Betrayal, madness, adventure, and magic fill this first volume of the Wizard King Trilogy, introducing readers to a world rich in history, faith, and tales of adventure—of which this story is but one of many.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Magic, Audiobook

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

An award-winning novelist and graphic novelist writing in the fantasy, YA, sci-fi, and science fantasy genres, Chad Corrie makes his home in Minnesota.

FINDING CHAD ONLINE
The best place to start is his website. After that you can find him on X, Facebook,,, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. He also has a blog and newsletter.

Finally, if you'd like to learn more about Tralodren, the fantasy world setting where some of his books take place, you can click here.

Reviews

[Iben · Rating 2 out of 5]

Øv. God historie, men skrevet i en stil der hører fortiden til. Persongalleriet er papirstynde, endimensionelle og 100% stereotypiske. Den gnavne dværg, den vise præst, den hovne ridder, den tapre kriger.

[Okoslav · Rating 1 out of 5]

Takhle si představuju fantasy peklo. Špatně je téměř všechno: postavy, děj, popis světa i styl, překlad a pravopis (na druhou stranu můžete při čtení potrénovat korektury, takže to vlastně považujte za plusový bod). Hezká obálka. Hmmmm... co bych vám tak ještě..? Kdyby vás zajímaly nechutný podrobnosti, celá moje recenze tu: https://www.fantasymag.cz/navrat-caro...

[Kristie Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful re-entrance to sword and sorcery for me. It's been quite some time since I've gone full epic fantasy, and this one didn't disappoint! A mysterious quest, built on prophecy, secrets, and cooperation. Such a fun journey to go on with these characters.

We meet all of the characters in their way to their paths converging, and when they do we end up with a band of adventurers on a quest for secret knowledge. Through danger and periol, our group must learn that that although trust is earned, sometimes taking a risk is the only option.

I really enjoyed this one, the direction it took bringing everyone together, but also how it resolved conflicts and brought in pieces of the bigger picture along the way. Looking forward to book 2!

[Jargon Jester · Rating 1 out of 5]

The best thing about this book is that it feels like a tabletop fantasy RPG session. Races, classes, magic, monsters, and many other aspects are familiar. It doesn't take much effort to understand if you are familiar with such worlds. Unfortunately, this common premise is also one of the factors that weaken the overall work. If you are familiar with relative material, there is no awe and wonder of discovering something new. If such realms are new to you, you will not find much in the way of explanation in how the world works in the story.

Another downside to the RPG similarity is that each protagonist is introduced with details like the player is describing their character: hair, eye, and skin color; height, build, attire, and equipment. A significant amount of time is devoted to the characters' backstories and building the plot where they can be together and the story can actually start. This takes the first half of the book to accomplish. By that time a level or two of exhaustion is gained. It all feels like an info dumb and not a fluid discovery of who they are or what is going on.

Aside from the similarity of said genre, the characters leave much to be desired. A couple have endearing qualities, but little depth is given in their perspective (inner conflicts, thoughts, emotions, desires). In one moment they are willing to bloviate in telling their backstory, but are tight lipped in sharing information when it matters. I see little reason why they would travel together, let alone work to accomplish a roughly similar goal. Supposedly professionals in their fields, they act like petty, selfish apprentices. Most of the interactions between the characters involved unnecessary, contrived conflict. I found it hard to empathize or sympathize with anyone. In the end, even the loose party affiliation is dissolved by mistrust and deception.

There is a sense of unrefined development throughout the novel. I can think of no better example than Rowan. Here we have a recently knighted warrior of a holy order. He has spent years training in knowledge and combat to reach this honored station. He brags often that a knight of his order is worth ten strong men.
- Upon graduation, Rowan is sent on a mission to impede the elven republic on getting their hands on information that would return them to their glory days of dominance. The order is sending one man to stop the operatives of a nation? Is the order that naïve? Is the mission that insignificant?
- In route, the knight crosses paths with a monster. He freezes in shock/fear during the attack, while his travel companions (less trained in combat) dealt with the threat. Rowan also has to retreat from a dying man instead of face the gruesome result of the injury and death. Worth ten strong men?
- Later he chases down a thief to end up cornered by a thug. The knight makes a quick end of the less equipped foe by stabbing him through the heart. Unarm, disable, incapacitate, turn into the local authorities? No. Murder, leave the body in the alley, and not report the incident to the law. Knight of a holy order? I can't say I'm impressed with how this order works.
- When the knight comes across a conflict, he jumps into battle, attacking who he believes is in the wrong. He attacks from the rear with the advantage of surprise. Honor and valor don't seem to be precepts of his order. Rowan doesn't call them to cease. He doesn't try to find out what is going on so justice may prevail. I wouldn't want these kind of knights around.
- Nearing his destination, Rowan seeks out guides/companions for his trek into the wilderness. When the other characters seem to be the solution, he finds all possible reasons to not utilize them. When he does go along and finds out they have a similar goal, he doesn't inquire what they plan to do with/about the information. Rowan often engages in petty squabbles with them like an immature brat. Maybe his training didn't include how to get along with others. I don't think he is knight material.
- At the end, when the information is secured, it is taken by one of his companions with only complaining from Rowan. I expected him to be more stalwart in his orders/duties. He accepts a consolation prize to take back to the head of his order, basically failing his mission. I had higher expectations from a knight/paladin.

Rowan would have been better written as a squire sent with a couple knights to accomplish the same goal. When he barely escapes the threat that kills the knights, he takes up their mission. This could cover his weaknesses and give him room to grow into the knight he wants to be and we deserve, not what we are given.

This continuity flaw exists in other characters, the world, and the flow of the story in general. This and the fact that most of the characters act like spoiled teenage children, produced an unsavory taste for me through the entire work. I can only say that I cannot be the target audience of this book and hope that those who are can look past its rough edges and enjoy.

[Danielle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oof… Not exactly what I thought it was going to be but pretty much exactly what the reviews are saying. Perhaps if I were in the mood for more Drizzt or Dragonlance I would have enjoyed this more but for now it’s just not what I want or need in a fantasy. Despite how recently I’ve added this to my shelf on Goodreads, I’ve actually owned this in a physical copy since it was published.

DNF… at least for now.

Not to mention it had to remind me why I loathe third person omniscient.

[Ragan Franzone · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 47%

Multiple times while reading this book I was so bored that i would zone out and then a chapter later realize that I had read multiple pages without comprehending anything.

I wanted to like this book because the premise was interesting, but golly was I disengaged and bored.

If you like the idea of this book but don’t want to be bored for many hours just to get to the end I suggest listening to Critical Role.

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jeg ville virkelig gerne elske denne bog, coveret er tilpas creepy og handlingen lød spændende. Jeg hadede ikke bogen, men den levede desværre ikke op til mine forventninger.

selve handlingen var ganske udmærket, det irriterede mig dog en smule at den var så lang tid om at gå i gang, og med det mener jeg bagsideteksten. Der skete en hel del opbyggelse inden gruppen kunne drage ud i junglen, og det tog simpelthen alt for lang tid. Jeg elskede dog de magiske aspekter, og ville gerne have haft dem forklaret lidt mere. Generelt bærer handlingen meget præg af at være opbyggende til noget større, hvilket ikke altid er dårligt, men her blev det en smule langtrukkent.

Skrivestilen kunne jeg godt lide. Det er ikke den bedste jeg har oplevet, og jeg blev ikke fuldstændig opslugt af universet, men jeg kunne godt lide Corrie’s skrivestil. Hans måde at bygge personerne op var fin, selvom det i starten var ret forvirrende. Kapitlerne skiftede hele tiden mellem flere forskellige personer indtil de næsten alle sammen samlede sig i en gruppe. Til sidst fungerede det, men i starten havde jeg en smule svært ved at følge mig. Personerne var ganske livagtige, nogle kunne jeg lide og nogle brød jeg mig ikke om. Dugan kunne jeg virkelig godt lide, men Rowan irriterede mig grænseløst, og det blev kun værre. Gilban virkede en smule flad. Ud fra de andres beskrivelse og dialoger, fik jeg fornemmelsen af at han skulle være kompleks og dyb, men det kom aldrig rigtig til udtryk desværre. De andre personer kunne jeg godt lide, selvom jeg synes de manglede et eller andet. Nu var der generelt rigtig mange personer med, og det er klart at alle ikke kan være lige dybe.

Coveret er ret godt, men jeg kan ikke helt beslutte mig for om det passer til handlingen, det samme med titlen. På coveret ville jeg hellere have haft vores gruppe der skulle på eventyr, og var dem vi fulgte mest. Portalen til Afgrunden er en ganske fin titel, men der mangler et eller andet i forhold til indholdet dog.

Alt i alt er det en ganske fin fantasy bog, men langt fra det bedste jeg har læst. Jeg vil stadig gerne læse videre, for jeg er ret nysgerrig om hvad der vil ske fremover. Derudover var der et kort i bogen. Jeg elsker normalt kort, men dette kort var lidt mangelfuldt. Jeg ville gerne have haft nogle byer eller bare nogle flere af de stednavne som blev nævnt i bogen på kortet, så jeg rigtig kunne følge med.

[Philip DeJong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Considering the fact that I bought this book at the dollar store I was actually really impressed. I felt like the author did a really good job of making intricate characters are really interesting. It is a story with some real depth and intrigue as well as a little love and some good action. I do feel like he was trying to cover too many characters at the same time which made it difficult to get attached to any of them. Final opinion: Good book definitely worth a read, but needs some improvement.

little quirk....the artwork in this book is horrific (sorry to the artist, but it's true) and that really put me off. I think the reason i was surprised at how good it was is because the artwork was so bad. It made it difficult for me to picture the characters as cool as he described them because the artwork made me think of them as so cheesy.

[scooter · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the plot has a lot of potential, the actual story feels as though it was written as a graphic novel first and then converted to a novel. The main characters and their personal backgrounds seem shallow and scripted; just enough to prop them up for the current adventure. The world building (peoples, races, cultures, naming conventions, etc.) seemed many times rather rote and unoriginal. I would not recommend this book other than for a simple, light read.

[Rachal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. The blurb reads like a D&D adventure and I was sure it was going to be amazing.
Unfortunately, it was not. The first 30 or so pages, the writing style was so difficult to read that I almost DNF it right then. I pushed through, hoping the story would deliver what the blurb promised.
The book did get easier to read, but was lacking in other areas. The world-building was subpar - lots of places with no real description. There were a lot of characters to keep track of, but no balance between providing background, perspectives, or even descriptions. I spent most of the book wondering at the species/race of one of the characters (is he a human? something else?) because it was never explained. There were also a lot of side stories that seemed like they were supposed to connect back to the main story but never did. I realize this is a trilogy series, but this is the first book and all the main plot points should have some sort of clarification and connection.
The book also had a lot of words for races, creatures, and gods, but never elaborated on them. I spent much of my reading wondering what they were supposed to be. There was also a lot of referencing world lore and history but none of it was explained, even though it was a key element to the plot.
Finally (spoiler alert) - aside from a couple off-handed mentions of "the wizards kings", we don't actually encounter the "return of the wizard king" until the last lines of the book. We aren't even made aware that the key antagonist of the book is the key antagonist until well into the story, nor that he is the wizard king until those last lines.

To be honest, as I finished the book, I discovered a call to action page that indicated the author had two podcasts that delve deeper into the world and lore of the story and that put me off. It felt as if the author deliberately omitted information to get readers to check out his podcast.

I will not be reading the rest of this series. I was left with a sense of "meh" as I finished the story on a lackluster cliffhanger. The story never really hooked me. I couldn't engage with it because things changed to rapidly and none of the characters were really fleshed out. In fact, many of the characters felt like they didn't need to be there at all since nothing about them was resolved throughout the story.
Definitely disappointed as the blurb made this book seem amazing.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book. There's some good lore underpinning the whole thing, and the constructure very much feels like a D&D game, with bringing together the whole team with disparate backgrounds, interests, and goals but looking to do the job and get paid (in whatever currency makes sense for them). That's pretty fun, and outside of books published directly from game manufacturers you don't often see something that really has that feel.

The mission is a good one: a solid plot, dangerous but achievable, with enough mystery and weirdness to keep you guessing a bit on what the actual goal is or why some of these characters would be interested in it. And I do think the characters are mostly sketched out well in the build-up: as we meet them, we find out just enough about who they are before they join the team to give them a little life and energy.

I do think there might be a little too much animosity between the party, but I'm not entirely sure if it's because of plot-driven ideas or because several of the characters are just jerks. If it's the former it'll be easier to manage going forward, but if it's the latter then it's going to end up grating quickly for me. At a certain point I'm going to quit reading if too many of the characters are just twats.

But it's a solid read with some interesting ideas and some good string-pulling and double-dealing that makes sense in this context. Interested to read the next one to see what gets built on this foundation.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took me a decent chunk to get into. It spent too much time on a character who I thought was very cliche, and not enough on the wizard king. I had just come from reading the Mistborn trilogy, and this was an entirely different feel to a book. Once you get through some of the exposition, it read very much like a D&D campaign turned into a narrative, I would not be surprised if it had started out like that. The ending really leaned into this feel at the end. Ultimately, the ending felt extremely lackluster. I know this is the start of a trilogy, but it felt like there wasn't really an ending to the story. The book very much ended because they did the thing, and no loose ends where tied up, the characters where seemed to have not to progressed in their own goals as well. The foreshadowing for the end was very heavy handed as well. Not every ending needs a twist, but this was a "The thing was done The end". If you are looking for an episodic D&D campaign in a book, then this is for you, but otherwise it it is probably worth a pass. If you are looking for a character connection like you get with Kelsier in Mistborn, then this is probably not the book for you.

[Akemichan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Questo libro è la definizione di "all over the place".
Qualche altra recensione lo paragona a un RGP e mi sento di concordare. A parte il solito ovvio gruppo che rappresenta un po' la tipicità del fantasy classico (umano, elfo e nano, paladino e mago, pare l'inizio di una barzelletta orma) la trama pare dipanarsi tramite situazioni prestabilite in cui i personaggi agiscono a casaccio come gira il vento.
Il risultato è un'assoluta mancanza di qualsiasi voglia pathos, né di sensata gestione dei personaggi. Alla fine del libro questi sono ancora identici a com'erano in partenza, anche nei rapporti fra loro. In pratica sono degli estranei. Che va bene in una seduta di RPG perché la stai facendo con degli amici, ma in un libro mi aspetto di provare delle sensazioni per i personaggi, cosa impossibile di fronte a delle schede da gioco.

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not read this author before, but this book sounded interesting. I generally read urban fantasy or cozy paranormals, so this was a tiny bit out of my genre. I am not a huge fan of epic/high fantasy, but thought I’d give this a try. It was a little difficult to manage at first. There was so much world-building and getting to know the characters that the beginning bogged down a bit. However, after that it did pick up. The language seemed a little choppy, but that was easily overcome and I got used to the rhythm. I think that’s because this is a translation. Overall, this was a pretty good book, but it’s just not my type of book. Others would probably enjoy this, readers who do like this genre. Recommend for those.

[Fruitbat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this! I thought it was so fun. The characters were likeable and I enjoyed that it described scenery but didn't overdo it. Im more into the character driven parts and while I love some good descriptions, I prefer dialogue. Im excited for the second. I liked the way it ended and I just can't describe how much I like the characters.

[Zackery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great quest based fantasy. Reads like a D&D campaign, but a really good one. A bit clunky is the plot department. I think the first half is focused on character development/ background, while the back half concentrated on the adventure. The balance was just off to me. I really enjoyed the book though and I look forward to the next entry in the series.

[Felicia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t usually rate books low. I read pretty much anything but I couldn’t get past the first few pages. I tried multiple times thinking I was being too critical.

Too many adjectives…

I’ve read a lot of overly wordy authors but sadly this is the worst. The premise sounded good but the writing is too..”simple” for lack of a better word.

[Dillon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Official rating: DNF

This book has a lot of potential, but with how much it jumped back and forth between characters and the amount of minute details describing every little thing, it just could not hold my interest. Made it 150 pages in and decided to call it quits. The characters had promise and that's the only reason I didn't give it a 1 star. Would not recommend.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fairly straightforward action fantasy book. If it were set in a licensed world it could easily be a D&D tie in novel.
Don’t get me wrong. I had fun reading it. It’s a perfectly good fantasy novel if you want a light escapism read.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Return of the Wizard King reads like a D&D adventure. And that's a good thing! It's exciting and fun and filled with entertaining characters.

I enjoyed reading this book and, really, does anything more need to be said?

[Major Doug · Rating 2 out of 5]

Liked the concept; execution was a bit less than optimal: story jumped around slightly, somewhat lacking in protagonist development and fairly limited antagonist(s) displays + I'd switch the dwarf & gladiator's names.

[Rachael Kelleher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent read. It was definitely interesting to see elves styled after Ancient Romans rather than repressed Brits, but there was a lot of in-universe racism -- even among the main characters. Not entirely unexpected from a fantasy, but still disheartening.

[lizzy_bartmoss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too slow for me , enjoyable at the end.

[Felix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads like an D&D adventure!

[Diana]

DNF’d at 32%

[Sara Hollingsworth]

I see what the reviews meant. This book was just very, D&D tabletop.

[Ben Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alot of build up and then very short climax

[Don Books Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantasy from a Christian centred publisher. Parts of the book seemed, well, rushed.

[Matthew Monahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt like a dungeons and dragons adventure. Wouldn't be a bad story face to face but I believe it lost a lot of its luster in written form.

[Michael McCormick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me a while to get into it, but it picked up and I’m looking forward to the next book. It felt like the beginning of a fun D&D campaign.