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Technomancer #1
Tech Mage
Scott Akin is a new kind of mage, perhaps the first and only of his kind. Weak in comparison to other mages, but he has a special way with technology. But what good was rebuilding a car with magic, or hacking a computer, when an elemental mage threatens him with death?
At least he was weak, until the government recruits him to advance their understanding of alien technology, of a ship that crash landed on Earth over seventy years ago.
His life is about to change in a major way, and the surprises will keep coming, not all of them pleasant.
Author’s note: This is primarily a space opera. The fantasy elements of the book are tangential at best, and I don’t believe that will change through the rest of the series. Oh, there’s mages, shifters, witches, and vampires in these pages, but that’s really not the focus.
At least he was weak, until the government recruits him to advance their understanding of alien technology, of a ship that crash landed on Earth over seventy years ago.
His life is about to change in a major way, and the surprises will keep coming, not all of them pleasant.
Author’s note: This is primarily a space opera. The fantasy elements of the book are tangential at best, and I don’t believe that will change through the rest of the series. Oh, there’s mages, shifters, witches, and vampires in these pages, but that’s really not the focus.
195 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 15, 2019
473 people are currently reading
269 people want to read
About the author
D.L. Harrison
105 books197 followersI've been an avid book reader since I was a teenager in the 1980's. My preferred genre's are science fiction and fantasy.
I wrote some short stories and was encouraged to try writing and self publishing by some friends. I work in computers and writing is an obsessive hobby I have been trying to hone for a couple of years now. I'll let you judge if I have succeeded or not.
I wrote some short stories and was encouraged to try writing and self publishing by some friends. I work in computers and writing is an obsessive hobby I have been trying to hone for a couple of years now. I'll let you judge if I have succeeded or not.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
December 7, 2019
Rating 3.5 stars
This is a hard book for me to describe. It was both simple and complex at the same time. It was at the same time about the supernatural (though not really) and space battles. There was an epic space battle at the end of the book, but the battle was also kind of boring.
The story follows Scott Akin. He is a tech mage, the only one of his kind that anyone knows about. He was forced to do some shady stuff to protect his sister when the government steps in. He is given a choice of going to jail or working on a secret project for the next 5 years. The government might of also hinted at his sister being in trouble if he did not cooperate. So Scott finds himself back in the same situation of being forced to do something. He is brought into a secret project with alien technology from the spaceship that crashed at area 51. With his magic he is able to understand, control, and copy any technology.
I didn't feel a lot of emotion from the story. The technological advanced just came so fast and easy, I barely had time to appreciate what was happening. The government being paranoid was very cliche and it didn't have the substance/nuance to really grab my attention or even try to see their point of view. Overall it was easy to read and held my attention, and I am interested in where the story goes next.
This is a hard book for me to describe. It was both simple and complex at the same time. It was at the same time about the supernatural (though not really) and space battles. There was an epic space battle at the end of the book, but the battle was also kind of boring.
The story follows Scott Akin. He is a tech mage, the only one of his kind that anyone knows about. He was forced to do some shady stuff to protect his sister when the government steps in. He is given a choice of going to jail or working on a secret project for the next 5 years. The government might of also hinted at his sister being in trouble if he did not cooperate. So Scott finds himself back in the same situation of being forced to do something. He is brought into a secret project with alien technology from the spaceship that crashed at area 51. With his magic he is able to understand, control, and copy any technology.
I didn't feel a lot of emotion from the story. The technological advanced just came so fast and easy, I barely had time to appreciate what was happening. The government being paranoid was very cliche and it didn't have the substance/nuance to really grab my attention or even try to see their point of view. Overall it was easy to read and held my attention, and I am interested in where the story goes next.
December 19, 2019
This was a fun story with an interesting idea that works as long as you don’t look too closely at Scott’s magic, the power of which was just ridiculous, especially as he didn’t have to understand what he was doing, he just seemed to imagine the outcome and it happens.
Towards the end of the book is a big space battle, unfortunately there were no interesting tactics it just dissolves into a number counting exercise.
Overall it’s not a bad SciFi story as long as you don’t take it too serious, if possible I would have given 3.5 stars.
Towards the end of the book is a big space battle, unfortunately there were no interesting tactics it just dissolves into a number counting exercise.
Overall it’s not a bad SciFi story as long as you don’t take it too serious, if possible I would have given 3.5 stars.
October 16, 2019
I enjoyed this alot.
It was very fast-paced, I did feel like the characters should have been fleshed out more, hopefully, there will be a next book where that can be done. But over all it was good.
It was very fast-paced, I did feel like the characters should have been fleshed out more, hopefully, there will be a next book where that can be done. But over all it was good.
July 1, 2023
Quite good!
February 13, 2020
Wonderful mix of Magic, modern earth, space tech and a fight for humanity. Good mix of characters, plenty of action and a desire for more when the book ended.
October 18, 2019
Interesting but weak
I liked it, but I can see the flaws.
There was a lack of dramatic tension. Not necessarily in the plot, but in the writing. Everything was a bit matter of fact; nothing read like peril or action. I remember a trad pub author saying that shorter sentences make action sequences more active, so I think it may be a mechanics of writing issue.
A few copy editing or proofreading issues that could use some attention.
I will buy the next book, because I think the ideas are interesting, but I don’t feel I can whole heartedly recommend this to others.
I liked it, but I can see the flaws.
There was a lack of dramatic tension. Not necessarily in the plot, but in the writing. Everything was a bit matter of fact; nothing read like peril or action. I remember a trad pub author saying that shorter sentences make action sequences more active, so I think it may be a mechanics of writing issue.
A few copy editing or proofreading issues that could use some attention.
I will buy the next book, because I think the ideas are interesting, but I don’t feel I can whole heartedly recommend this to others.
October 15, 2019
Very good
An excellent space opera type book with a bit of a magic element, great action, build up, interesting twists , planning and a pretty realistic seeming view of the way the government would react if they gained the technological advantage of a alien ship. Also an interesting perspective of what an alien civilization might be like. (Not necessarily realistic but interesting non the less)
An excellent space opera type book with a bit of a magic element, great action, build up, interesting twists , planning and a pretty realistic seeming view of the way the government would react if they gained the technological advantage of a alien ship. Also an interesting perspective of what an alien civilization might be like. (Not necessarily realistic but interesting non the less)
October 16, 2019
Awesome new space series
Not a new plot but still fun. This is the basic find power and save earth from aliens thing but I love it. New twist with the techno magic. Seems that military big wigs don't like someone else having power they can't control. Nothing New there. I look forward to more from this series and see much potential.... Big universe.
Not a new plot but still fun. This is the basic find power and save earth from aliens thing but I love it. New twist with the techno magic. Seems that military big wigs don't like someone else having power they can't control. Nothing New there. I look forward to more from this series and see much potential.... Big universe.
July 21, 2020
Space Opera Morality Play
This book was an enjoyable read. The author's distrust of bureaucracy shines through which makes this science fiction fantasy more realistic than all the police/military glorification books being published today. The protagonist manages to save earth from aliens only to then be forced to save it from bureaucracy.
This book was an enjoyable read. The author's distrust of bureaucracy shines through which makes this science fiction fantasy more realistic than all the police/military glorification books being published today. The protagonist manages to save earth from aliens only to then be forced to save it from bureaucracy.
April 8, 2024
Review of books 1 to 3:
This author is a bit uneven to say the least. I quite liked the first book, Fleet Mage Academy of his Star Sorceress series. This series, not so much.
The books are light reads, luckily, so when the first book was okayish I continued but from a decent enough start it moved downhill quickly. Warp speed quickly.
The author claims that this is primarily a space opera and that the fantasy elements are “tangential”. Well, he does actually not mention science although when I see space opera I do kind of associate that with science fiction.
Unfortunately there’s not a shred of science in these books. It is science fantasy at best. Star Wars appears like hardcore sci-fi compared to this.
Sure the author tries to wrap things in science terms but he fails miserably. He do not understand how fusion reactors work (hint: they do not, cannot, explode) for example. How much energy that would be needed to create thousands of ships, by converting energy to matter, in a matter of days is also something that has eluded him. Scientific advancements are just happening when they are needed. That the rest of the universe required thousands of years to make the same advancements, well let’s ignore that. And so on and so forth.
And no, the argument that they got their hands on advanced technology to reverse engineer does not hold water. Humanity today could not reverse engineer a FTL drive in a few days or weeks any more than medieval knight could reverse engineer a modern car.
So from a somewhat decent start it went very quickly downhill and in the last book fleets of millions of ships are created from nothing and humanity, went from today’s level of technology to jumping between galaxies, in the blink of an eye, in no time at all, not to mention wiping out millions, if not billions, of enemy ships in seconds. Unrealistic to say the least.
The main protagonist and his colleagues just have to look at some new technology for a second and instantly they understand things that other races took thousands of years to develop.
Unfortunately the implementation of the books and the story is implausible and downright childish.
It doesn’t not help my appreciation, or rather lack thereof, that the author portrays America (and UK and Germany) as the bad guys because that’s the politically correct thing to do these days. Of course UN is portrayed an epitome of righteousness and impartiality instead of the corrupt cesspool and playground for terrorist nations that they really are.
The books are not very big and, as I wrote, quite light reading yet the author had to fill them out with Scott harping about how his wife is the smartest person around and how sexy that makes here over and over again.
A shame really. The author had a somewhat original idea, that I quite liked, and then he completely ruined it.
Needless to say I think I will sit out the rest of this series.
This author is a bit uneven to say the least. I quite liked the first book, Fleet Mage Academy of his Star Sorceress series. This series, not so much.
The books are light reads, luckily, so when the first book was okayish I continued but from a decent enough start it moved downhill quickly. Warp speed quickly.
The author claims that this is primarily a space opera and that the fantasy elements are “tangential”. Well, he does actually not mention science although when I see space opera I do kind of associate that with science fiction.
Unfortunately there’s not a shred of science in these books. It is science fantasy at best. Star Wars appears like hardcore sci-fi compared to this.
Sure the author tries to wrap things in science terms but he fails miserably. He do not understand how fusion reactors work (hint: they do not, cannot, explode) for example. How much energy that would be needed to create thousands of ships, by converting energy to matter, in a matter of days is also something that has eluded him. Scientific advancements are just happening when they are needed. That the rest of the universe required thousands of years to make the same advancements, well let’s ignore that. And so on and so forth.
And no, the argument that they got their hands on advanced technology to reverse engineer does not hold water. Humanity today could not reverse engineer a FTL drive in a few days or weeks any more than medieval knight could reverse engineer a modern car.
So from a somewhat decent start it went very quickly downhill and in the last book fleets of millions of ships are created from nothing and humanity, went from today’s level of technology to jumping between galaxies, in the blink of an eye, in no time at all, not to mention wiping out millions, if not billions, of enemy ships in seconds. Unrealistic to say the least.
The main protagonist and his colleagues just have to look at some new technology for a second and instantly they understand things that other races took thousands of years to develop.
Unfortunately the implementation of the books and the story is implausible and downright childish.
It doesn’t not help my appreciation, or rather lack thereof, that the author portrays America (and UK and Germany) as the bad guys because that’s the politically correct thing to do these days. Of course UN is portrayed an epitome of righteousness and impartiality instead of the corrupt cesspool and playground for terrorist nations that they really are.
The books are not very big and, as I wrote, quite light reading yet the author had to fill them out with Scott harping about how his wife is the smartest person around and how sexy that makes here over and over again.
A shame really. The author had a somewhat original idea, that I quite liked, and then he completely ruined it.
Needless to say I think I will sit out the rest of this series.
October 15, 2022
To be honest, the story was OK. I don't really know what to say about it. It was very one dimensional but well thought out in regards to that one dimension.
Most characters didn't really feel that real, they weren't living their life in the background of the story. All characters only push the story of the main character, they don't do anything for themselves.
The story never goes into any deeper debates such as the political and moral science of why wars happen. The story is just about a guy in space fighting all of Earth's wars against aliens, nothing more, nothing less. There aren't even any subplots, the closest thing to a subplot is the romance going on between our main character and a vampire lady, but they instantly fall in love with each other and have no conflict.
The pacing of the story also feels off. From what I've seen from this series (the first two books) there is a conflict that is quickly resolved (a war won, an objective quickly achieved), then there is this super long period of the main character building more ships and developing more science/updating things. There just isn't much tension and the main character hardly struggles.
I think the best way to describe this story is it is a good rough draft, the skeleton of a really good series.
Most characters didn't really feel that real, they weren't living their life in the background of the story. All characters only push the story of the main character, they don't do anything for themselves.
The story never goes into any deeper debates such as the political and moral science of why wars happen. The story is just about a guy in space fighting all of Earth's wars against aliens, nothing more, nothing less. There aren't even any subplots, the closest thing to a subplot is the romance going on between our main character and a vampire lady, but they instantly fall in love with each other and have no conflict.
The pacing of the story also feels off. From what I've seen from this series (the first two books) there is a conflict that is quickly resolved (a war won, an objective quickly achieved), then there is this super long period of the main character building more ships and developing more science/updating things. There just isn't much tension and the main character hardly struggles.
I think the best way to describe this story is it is a good rough draft, the skeleton of a really good series.
September 28, 2020
I like magic. I like space. I like political conflict. I like romance. This book hints at all of these things but never really develops any of them significantly. Overall the plot was fun and things happened but most of the things that happened bordered on "you must be kidding me" simplicity. The technomancer magic is too convenient and overpowered. As a result, I had too many moments of "oh come on" for me to give it a higher rating.
The author also gets some of the matter to energy and energy to matter physics wrong and thus lost me there a bit as well.
A fun story if you are willing to gloss over a lot.
The author also gets some of the matter to energy and energy to matter physics wrong and thus lost me there a bit as well.
A fun story if you are willing to gloss over a lot.
July 14, 2020
"It looks like they’re the gamemasters, which means they probably cheat.”
3.0/5.0 Tech Mage is the start of the Technomancer series by D.L. Harrison. While it does propose some interesting ideas, overall the plot and characters fall flatter than what I would have liked to see. I liked the unique premise but overall I just wanted to see more depth to the whole package. At 200 pages it was a quick read and satisfied a lot of my boxes, but overall I felt a little short changed. I will continue with the series to see if it improves, fingers crossed.
3.0/5.0 Tech Mage is the start of the Technomancer series by D.L. Harrison. While it does propose some interesting ideas, overall the plot and characters fall flatter than what I would have liked to see. I liked the unique premise but overall I just wanted to see more depth to the whole package. At 200 pages it was a quick read and satisfied a lot of my boxes, but overall I felt a little short changed. I will continue with the series to see if it improves, fingers crossed.
March 3, 2021
If I have to read about one of the main characters giggling one more time my eyes are going to roll right out of head.
Fun book. An interesting new idea in this genre. Definitely worth reading. But the "giggling" has got to stop. There are many more adjectives and/or responses they characters can have to humorous twists. After the first few giggles I couldn't help but to picture an anime character with a hand in front of their mouth. For me it took away from the characters and how smart they are supposed to be when this is their default response.
Fun book. An interesting new idea in this genre. Definitely worth reading. But the "giggling" has got to stop. There are many more adjectives and/or responses they characters can have to humorous twists. After the first few giggles I couldn't help but to picture an anime character with a hand in front of their mouth. For me it took away from the characters and how smart they are supposed to be when this is their default response.
July 14, 2020
Interesting plot but no drama. Everything seemed to easy for the "hero". He just didn't struggle at all to overcome anything regardless of how big a challenge it was. While I am not that big a fan of tension/thrillers, I do like the sense of accomplishment a character gets when they achieve something. This book (and it's sequels) lacked all sense of accomplishment for any of the characters.
But...I did read them all.
But...I did read them all.
August 16, 2020
Very entertaining
I picked up this book to read as a recommendation from my reading habits. I was a little apprehensive due to the cover and the slightly cliched title.
My apprehensions were unnecessary. The book is a thoroughly enjoyable romp. I do recommend reading it for a few hours off from the real concerns of the world. It’s sad that the representation of the government in this book seems to be so much like reality now.
I picked up this book to read as a recommendation from my reading habits. I was a little apprehensive due to the cover and the slightly cliched title.
My apprehensions were unnecessary. The book is a thoroughly enjoyable romp. I do recommend reading it for a few hours off from the real concerns of the world. It’s sad that the representation of the government in this book seems to be so much like reality now.
May 14, 2024
A good space opera. There is a big universe, thousands of times and the development of technology, and at the center the dilemmas of what it means to have power and how to make sure that power doesn't change us, how to stay ourselves when everything around us is changing so dynamically. The only small downside to the vampires and mages is hoping that someday it will be explained why they were there. I'm also hoping for more space artifacts.
May 30, 2020
Another Kill the Golden Goose
I used to get so mad at authors making the United States the bad guys, then 45 says hold my beer. This story of a guy who has the ability to understand and use any tech gets his hands on the Grays scout ship. Great story with some science in the fiction.
I used to get so mad at authors making the United States the bad guys, then 45 says hold my beer. This story of a guy who has the ability to understand and use any tech gets his hands on the Grays scout ship. Great story with some science in the fiction.
August 2, 2020
The first chapter was excellent, but rather different from the rest of the book. I would have preferred more of a mix of magic and tech, like in the first chapter. The middle of the book was interesting, and I enjoyed the tension of not knowing who could be trusted. The last section of the book become less interesting to me as the main character became rather Superman like.
October 10, 2020
Good light quick read
A fun premise executed well. Fast paced, and entertaining.
Action scenes were a little to high level and character development needs some work. The motivations were a bit transparent and secondary characters were a bit 1 dimensional.
Overall I recommend for a quick light read on the old space opera styling
A fun premise executed well. Fast paced, and entertaining.
Action scenes were a little to high level and character development needs some work. The motivations were a bit transparent and secondary characters were a bit 1 dimensional.
Overall I recommend for a quick light read on the old space opera styling
April 8, 2020
Fun book
Loved the book. Love the idea of connecting to technology mentally or through magic. Like the other fantasy creatures do not become the story. Math overwhelmed at times but kept the story flowing.
Loved the book. Love the idea of connecting to technology mentally or through magic. Like the other fantasy creatures do not become the story. Math overwhelmed at times but kept the story flowing.
June 4, 2020
Ok but more math than story
Tech mage talent extremely effective, US military politics very stupid.
Galactic civilization vicious betting on genocide organization but until somewhat dangerous emerging cultures shielded.
Tech mage talent extremely effective, US military politics very stupid.
Galactic civilization vicious betting on genocide organization but until somewhat dangerous emerging cultures shielded.
March 27, 2021
Wonderful
This is a wonderful story I like all of the elements to this story.
The individual type of hero and what will happen next I already have book 2 downloaded to read. ENJOY!
This is a wonderful story I like all of the elements to this story.
The individual type of hero and what will happen next I already have book 2 downloaded to read. ENJOY!
September 29, 2021
Interesting
Some rousing attitude there, and partially good use of tech, with some outstanding ideas. Some gaps, here and there, a few that were likely serious.
All considered, a fun read.
Some rousing attitude there, and partially good use of tech, with some outstanding ideas. Some gaps, here and there, a few that were likely serious.
All considered, a fun read.
January 11, 2022
adequate
I thought the character’s take on life and actions was a tad unrealistic given the fact that he can access virtually all the information on the planet and has the processing abilities to do so.It was otherwise a great read.
I thought the character’s take on life and actions was a tad unrealistic given the fact that he can access virtually all the information on the planet and has the processing abilities to do so.It was otherwise a great read.
October 19, 2022
Interesting
A technomage an alien ship what could go wrong, what would you do if you knew an alien civilization was coming to wipe you out.
A very interesting story and i am definetly reading book 2.
A technomage an alien ship what could go wrong, what would you do if you knew an alien civilization was coming to wipe you out.
A very interesting story and i am definetly reading book 2.
November 1, 2022
This is very shallow book with hardly any human complication. Though there is a love story, there is no passion. It just is. There is no story to capture the imagination, its just too easy. I don't know it just seemed like an abridged copy of a better story.
March 9, 2020
Unique, enjoyable story that is well worth the read.
It's a 3 book series
It's a 3 book series
April 1, 2020
Delicious mix of science and magic
This book is a geek dream come true: where magic and technology goes together to create something new and exciting.
This book is a geek dream come true: where magic and technology goes together to create something new and exciting.
April 26, 2020
Great book
I really liked this book. A guy with technology magic is forced to help work on alien spaceships.
Haven't seen the premise before. Well written.
I really liked this book. A guy with technology magic is forced to help work on alien spaceships.
Haven't seen the premise before. Well written.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews