The Magic Factory

Oliver Blue and the School for Seers #1

by Morgan Rice

Librarian note: An older cover for this edition can be found here: 21-Nov-2018.

From USA Today and #1 bestselling fantasy author Morgan Rice comes a new fantasy series for teens and adults.

THE MAGIC FACTORY: OLIVER BLUE AND THE SCHOOL FOR SEERS (BOOK ONE) tells the story of one very special boy, Oliver Blue, different than those around him and unloved by his hateful family. Obsessed with inventions, Oliver is determined to escape his horrible life and make his mark on the world.

When Oliver’s family moves again, to another awful house and school, he is bullied and excluded, and sees no way out. But when he stumbles across an abandoned invention factory, he wonders if this could be his way out. Who is the mysterious old inventor hiding in the factory? What is his secret invention?

And might this factory be a portal to somewhere else?

An inspiring fantasy, THE MAGIC FACTORY is book #1 in a riveting new series filled with magic, love, humor, heartbreak, tragedy, destiny, and a series of shocking twists. It will make you fall in love with Oliver Blue, and keep you turning pages late into the night.

Genres: Fantasy, Ebooks, Young Adult, Time Travel, Fiction, Middle Grade, Magic

325 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 20, 2018

About the author

Morgan Rice is the #1 bestselling and USA Today bestselling author of the epic fantasy series THE SORCERER’S RING, comprising seventeen books; of the #1 bestselling series THE VAMPIRE JOURNALS, comprising twelve books; of the #1 bestselling series THE SURVIVAL TRILOGY, a post-apocalyptic thriller comprising three books; of the epic fantasy series KINGS AND SORCERERS, comprising six books; of the epic fantasy series OF CROWNS AND GLORY, comprising 8 books; of the new epic fantasy series A THRONE FOR SISTERS, comprising eight books (and counting); and of the new science fiction series THE INVASION CHRONICLES. Morgan’s books are available in audio and print editions, and translations are available in over 25 languages.

TURNED (Book #1 in the Vampire Journals), ARENA ONE (Book #1 of the Survival Trilogy), A QUEST OF HEROES (Book #1 in the Sorcerer’s Ring) and RISE OF THE DRAGONS (Kings and Sorcerers—Book #1) are each available as free downloads!

Morgan loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.morganricebooks.com to join the email list, receive a free book, receive free giveaways, download the free app, get the latest exclusive news, connect on Facebook and Twitter, and stay in touch!

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose this with no prior knowledge of the author or the series. I didn't love the opening, but kept with it. In the final analysis, this was an okay read. I'm rounding up because some of my problems with the book might just be because I'm such a big fan of the book this is patterned on.
Pros:
The writing was technically good - well constructed sentences, good vocabulary choices, good dialogue, and Rice does a pretty good job of explaining difficult scientific concepts.
Cons:
Way too many obvious parallels to Harry Potter -- small, scrawny 11-year old boy who obviously doesn't belong to the family he is in. Mom and Dad don't care about him and allow older boy to bully him. Doesn't have a bedroom, but sleeps in an "alcove" in the living room. Doesn't get fed. Has all his belongings in a suitcase. Regularly sees a man and a woman watching him, and he looks just like them. (Hmmmm... who could they be??) And those are just the ones from the first chapter.
I didn't like the world Oliver Blue inhabits as it is almost entirely populated by bullies, and this includes the kids and the adults as well. It's a pretty grim environment when by the end of his first day in their new school, Oliver's brother is not only part of a gang, he appears to be leading it as well.
The parallels to Harry Potter continue once Oliver arrives at the school. The kindly Professor Amethyst, "switchit" (a game of getting balls into hoops while riding on a large, clawed, flying hybrid animal), the test that sorts you into which color represents your ability, and on and on.
I didn't love that Oliver is an 11-year-old boy, and there's an ongoing thread about his dates with an 11-year-old girl. They go for a walk in a garden, and after they are attacked, she jokes about an unusual "first date". How would she know? How many dates has this child been on?
I also had trouble with the fact that when a character is confronted with the task of stopping Hitler from blowing up a bomb, the character is solely focused on the bomb. I think I would've taken the opportunity to just get rid of Hitler and dealt with the bomb later.
I think if I weren't such a devoted Harry Potter fan or didn't know anything about the HP series, I would've liked this one better.

[Karen Hannum · Rating 1 out of 5]

Way too derivative of the Harry Potter series and the Series of Unfortunate Events. Wound up only reading to page 50 or so. The kid is beset by his bully of a "brother". Who i am certain will turn out to be unrelated. The parents are oblivious to his bullying, and I do mean COMPLETELY. Skip this one.

[Suzie Seibel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Had to stop BLACK ABSORBS LIGHT

I was finding this book fairly interesting until I got to Oliver working on the invisibility cloak (the ideas from Harry Potter were a little distracting). However, I cannot tolerate authors who try to write about science and don't
Be get their basic facts straight. Black absorbs light, white reflects all light, which is the reason black cars get hotter in warm weather, and the theory behind black holes which absorb all energy (light included) This information is not hard to find. Look it up!

[Shannon Rohrer]

DNF at 21%. I just can't seem to get into it. I read a fair bit of middle-grade so that's definitely not the issue. I think I'm just seeing too many parallels with the Harry Potter franchise, plus not much in the way of characterization. The characters are either horrid or perfect, leaving no room for anyone between and making the main character out to be a complete Gary-Stu.

Might give it another chance in the future, but no promises.

[Gaia Marino · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually never give less than 3 stars to any book I review - mainly because I drop any book that I feel would deserve under 3 stars. And yet, I wanted to see where this one was heading, because I found it had potential and some interesting plot points in the middle of a lot of chaos.
First of all, the fact that Morgan Rice rejects traditional publishing is brave, but in this case I feel like she could have used a good editor with a stern voice. Oliver Blue immediately reads too much like a Harry Potter fanfiction, with a dash of Percy Jackson and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but not in a good way.


Adding some science to the magic core of the book was another great point, although I wish she would have done a bit more research. The points brought up were interesting, as were the different specializations and types the kids could have, but ultimately they all seemed to work the same. It spent way too much time building up Oliver's awful home life and not enough to build up towards the climax of the story instead. His time at the factory is also written in detail, which was needed in certain moments, and way less in others. Oliver being able to access his powers for the first time willingly is exciting, but the tedious tasks he mulls over for pages aren't.
And then, he finally reaches the school. The procedure is quick, and the fact that they send another child to pick him up instead of an adult is questionable at best.
And finally, the school for seers: Oliver spends, what? A total of three days there? And yet he seems immediately able to access to his powers and do incredible things with them after an odd initial struggle in class. He has a nightmare, and is absolutely sure it's a premonition (which would make sense, since he's a Seer after all), but for some reason none of his friends think that telling the Headmaster would be wise, because why would anyone have a nightmare that is a premonition? (Which doesn't make sense, since they're literally all Seers. That's what they're supposed to do). So what does he do? He ups and goes.
And what was the nightmare about? Hitler destroying the world.
Off he goes, and he finds himself in Nazi Germany in 1944. He manages to keep Hitler from destroying the world by rearranging the bomb's atoms to make sure it wouldn't work. The Headmaster seems to arrive to save the day just when Oliver's out of energy, hallelujah! But no, he does nothing, and instead he drops a bunch of 11 year olds into the battlefield to make sure they'll be the ones to save the day. The same kids who seemed to have a hard time changing the color of a mouse in class manage to save the entire world by dismantling some kind of universe-destroying bomb and stop all the Nazis.

Also, why is an 11 year old boy talking about dating so much?

If my review sounded just like a chaotic rant, it's because the entire plot is chaotic. The villain and his evil plans are so big and ingrained in our history that they sound ridiculous instead of relatable. Oliver is able to pull off something that's never happened in the entire history of the school after spending three days there.


Again, good base idea (the science behind the magic is very interesting), but terrible execution. I'm curious to know if more will explained better in the sequels of the saga, but not enough to continue reading it.

[Julie Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author's work so was delighted to be given a copy of this new series - here is my review.

Oliver Blue hates his life; uncaring parents, a bully of a big brother and yet another new school... But there is something special about him; not least being very clever (and so much more).

This new series is for anyone who enjoys adventure, magic, good v evil, heroes and villains and fantasy. It will certainly entice Harry Potter fans, though it is different in many ways - no spoilers.

Well-written, fast-paced with a great sense of place, this tale has great characters and storytelling.

Highly recommended.

[Jason Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Magic Factory is such a fun and exciting story! Oliver seems to grow more and more relatable with every struggle he faces, at least for me. The cast of characters is awesome, as is fairly typical for Rice. The villains are so easy to hate and the good guys are so easy to cheer for. It’s just great to have some decent, straightforward, relatable stories to read now and then, and I can always count on Morgan Rice for that.

[Xime Ruiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta bien el libro, aunque me es muy familiar a otra saga,si bien no soy iguales, son similares Hp y este libro de Morgan Rice. Depende que tal esté el siguiente libro, pero en general súper bien, aunque al principio está un poco predecible.

[kleine possum · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5/5

dieses buch ist wirklich nicht gut und auch ziemlich geklaut aber ich musste oft lachen besonders im letzten viertel

ich liebe wie schwarz-weiß es ist, alle bösen charaktere sind von der ersten sekunde an böse, es ist ihre komplette persönlichkeit böse zu sein und oliver ist immer so:"i dont understaaand :(" aber alle guten charaktere lieben ihn denn er ist der auserwählte und muss die gesamte menschheit retten

wir kriegen das komplette paket:
- 11 jähriger junge
- von eltern vernachlässigt
- von verwöhntem bruder drangsaliert
- in der schule gemobbt weil er so viel schlauer als alle anderen ist und sich für wissenschaft interessiert und das hassen sie
- mysteriöse geschehnisse
- weiser alter mentor
- schule für kinder mit besonderen kräften
- einteilung in typen von denen einer der typen (meistens) böse ist
- seine 2 besten freunde sind ein mädchen was sehr schlau ist und ein junge der schlecht in der schule ist
- das "schönste mädchen der schule" verliebt sich gefühlt instant in ihn
- eine quirky sportart bei der man herumfliegt und bälle durch basketballkörbe wirft
- ein arroganter bully der sein rivale ist
- ein faschistoider schurke der die menschheit vernichten will aber plot twist es ist LITERARISCH hitler denn sie können zeitreisen und am ende muss sich oliver nachts aus der schule schleichen um ihn im deutschland der 1940er davon abzuhalten eine bombe zu zünden die die menschheit vernichten würde aber zum glück schickt der schulleiter seine ebenfalls 11 jährigen freunde hinterher damit sie gemeinsam "hitlers hq" infiltrieren und nazis bekämpfen können

naja jedenfalls hat die autorin noch 3 weitere teile geschrieben die ich jetzt wahrscheinlich anhören muss und außerdem hat sie noch eine buchreihe über teenage vampire und ein love triangle namens the vampire journals gemacht es kann einf nur gut werden

[Nikolett Ungor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first started reading a year or two ago, but dnf-ed around 30 percent in. Now I wanted to give the book a second chance and pushed through it, so here I am with my thoughts.

The whole beginning of the story is just a filler, that is very long and it is not very exciting, rather frustrating with the continuous bullies. At some points I was rolling my eyes when the bully plot came back, there are other conflict opportunities than bullies in children books.

The story is not very original, it's very repetitive and only the end is slightly exciting. I don't think it will keep the attention of many readers.

The main character was very problematic for me. Sometimes he is age appropriate with actions and thought, then he rather feels like an adult. Critical thinking only appears when he feels like an adult, when things are absolutely obvious (like the time) he will be completely blank minded. It was incredibly frustrating for me, I couldn't push myself to like the character.

I won't continue the story, I will drop the series here. I wished I could like this more, but it's simply not my cup of tea.

[Rowena Andrews · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this one. It was an easy read and had I been the target audience then it would have been a lot more enjoyable, although there were some aspects that felt out of place for book for young teens. There were threads of good ideas, but after a slow start it felt far too rushed especially towards the end of the book, and there was so much crammed into the end that it was a bit too much. The similarities with a certain teenage wizard, also can't be missed, and while this had an interesting spin on it with science and seers, it would have been stronger leaning away from that similarity. I loved the idea of the school though, and would have liked to see that developed further.

[Heidi Galieti · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good, not great

The story doesn’t really start until halfway through the book. I don’t like that an 11 year old boy has a girlfriend and that he worries about the relationship. That creeps me out actually.
The story idea has potential and may get better but I am not sure I want to continue past this book.

[Susanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cliché, feels like a rip-off of Harry Potter & Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the start. Didn't get very far into the book, because I just got too tired of the grand, sweeping statements and the predictable, cliché plot.
1 star because at least it wasn't indecipherable gibberish and because I can't give a lower rating.

[Jane Lopez · Rating 3 out of 5]

La historia es buena pero hay capitulos de relleno que no aportan nada a la historia. El final es lo que me convenció de seguir leyendo esta saga.

[Elisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oliver Blue è un ragazzino trascurato dalla famiglia e bullizzato dai compagni di scuola e dal fratello maggiore.
È ossessionato dalle invenzioni e dagli inventori. Un giorno si imbatte in una fabbrica di invenzioni abbandonata, dove vive ancora l’anziano inventore idolo di Oliver. Per
Una serie di eventi Oliver finirà trasportato nel
1944 in una scuola magica, pre indovini.
Chi mi conosce sa che non amo particolarmente i fantasy tranne qualche eccezione di cui questo non fa parte. Temi già visti e rivisti, piatto e senza colpi di scena degni di essere davvero tali. Anche la scrittura non e particolarmente degna di nota, abbastanza piatta ed i personaggi poco caratterizzati. Molte parti le ho trovate ripetitive. Non proseguirò nella lettura della saga.
⭐️⭐️/5

[Tyr · Rating 2 out of 5]

I went in totally blind, I didn't even read a summary before reading.
This book seems to take a lot of inspiration in the beginning from Harry Potter, with an 11-year-old experiencing abuse from his guardians and a sibling-figure, but The Magic Factory almost dials it up comically so.

Oliver Blue, the protagonist, doesn't even have a room, he sleeps in the corner of the Living room of their new house, and his father doesn't even want to go out to the car to get him a blanket and pillow. His family seems to simply hate or not care about him at all, and I do feel bad, but it does feel lie it's really piling on how terrible his life is so you have feelings for him. Nearly everyone is nasty to this child for no reason.

The story is interesting, though I was confused by its interest in WW2, until you find out the main villain is Nazis. I laughed.

I would almost suggest this book for tweens, but there are quite a few "facts" in the book including bats are blind and use sonar to see and that black absorbs no light and white absorbs all light. Both of these are thoughts from Oliver who is supposed to be so amazingly smart, and both are pretty darn wrong, and I'd hate for a kid to read this and think it's true.

I AM curious as the book is left on a cliffhanger, and I can't say it was wholly unenjoyable, but for me it was just okay.

[Amanda Kaster · Rating 2 out of 5]

First off, I can see myself loving this book if I was 11. But as an adult reading it, there are too many things that I am not a fan of. I thought I could make myself at least finish the book since it is quick reading, but I made it 30% through before deciding that it was not worthy time. There are a riddiculous amount of similarities to Harry Potter just in the first few chapters alone. The characters are so flatly written, basically everyone is either a cruel bully, or a wonderful and inspirational human being. I understand that in young literature subtilty is often missed and therefore everything you want the reader to feel, you must spell out to them. But I just find it too in your face with how evil almost every one acts to a child. Like I said, I'm sure this book would be loved by preteens, but it is not a good read for anyone older.

[Wren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alright, awfully similar to a certain magical franchise. Not as bad as I was expecting, but not terribly engaging either. Weird rules, weird Godwin's.

Things that confuse me: 11 year olds dating. Why is the not-love-interest's hair butterscotch and only butterscotch? Is that a common descriptor for hair? How did the bomb get to Germany so quickly? Was Hitler blowing himself up, because the timeline was awfully quick while Protag was doing A Magic to stop him...?

Wasn't a huge fan of just how over the top cruel everyone was in the present. Not convinced anyone's brain would literally explode by being confused; seems like a cheat to handwave all logistics.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning delight

Morgan Rice created characters that floated into my world. I always object and critique as I read, but in this book I became part of the story holding this story to be the only reality. The Magic Factory became real perhaps because the conflict between characters was so familiar, and the interior struggling is reflected in our daily lives. I'm looking forward to the next installment! Hope you make time for this delicious journey.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got it for free. Nice series for teens. They promise the next book is more interesting for adults, but I'll just wait for the films. If it is anything like the Jackson's series they compared it to, there will be at least one film made.

Plot: Boy discovers his magic powers and there's some unproblematic time-travelling involved. Time travelling usually annoys me. So, hey, congrats on not annoying me, Morgan! :)

[Ainsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was very good, and I was mad when it ended. Some parts I liked better than others. It I as a very well written book, though I did catch a few errors/typos. This is is not my favorite book ever, but it is up there. (I have read A LOT of books so that's a good thing.)
I highly recommend this book.

[KathiTheBookNerd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started reading it, had a strong sense of reading another Harry Potter story. Tried to read it more, but it just didn't catch me. Started skipping parts of the book, which shows that I just couldn't get into the story. Sorry.

[Deuard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark child

It seems too dark for kids. The characters were not full enough. I would like more on time on skill development and relationship development. Still the environment of the story were interesting and the characters have potential.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moved too fast, no explanation how/why things occurred. No depth.

[Alayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this to be a poorly written and even more poorly edited story. The holes in the plot were big enough to fly a plane through. Not recommended.

[Lexy Sellar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.... Had a great deal of potential, interesting concept & story arc but the book was really rushed

[Bel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fue un libro rápido de leer. Me hizo reír en varios momentos y la verdad le agarre cariño a Oliver. Su final me gustó bastante, así que tengo motivación de leer el siguiente. Y por sobre todo, tiene el tema de los viajes en el tiempo y soy la fan número uno de los viajes en el tiempo, así que sí. Con eso me ganas totalmente.

Ahora... hay tantas cosas de esta historia que no entiendo. Especialmente el tiempo! No sé si es un guiño a "el tiempo no existe" o algo así porque la verdad no entendí esa explicación o realmente la autora no tomo en consideración la estructura de la historia. Me explicas esto de que pasara 1 día y ya le gustaba una persona? O no, que pasarán dos días y ya tuvieran una cita?? Y Oliver pensara en la palabra "novia"???????????? DOS DÍAS???? Y la super amistad??? Tres días, compañeros, solo fueron tres días de amistad y ya tenían un super vínculo? O yo soy muy fría o no sé porque a mi hacer amistades me cuesta meses. Y la mejora en Oliver sobre sus poderes? No tiene sentido siendo que habían dicho que era la especialidad más difícil de controlar y el loco logró detener una bomba???? Y podría seguir y seguir. Y lo peor fue la traducción, no entiendo la traducción tan mala que tiene, la hicieron con 0 amor o a mi me toco una mala, espero que sea eso.

En fin, llegue a la conclusión que no me tengo que tomar muy en serio esta historia. Que es para entretener sin necesidad de ser serio. Así que si lo considero dentro de ese molde lo disfrute bastante. Y Oliver esta chiquito♡.

[Annette Summerfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book held my attention all the way through. Dang bullies though. Oliver had such a difficult time with people who are just evil.
Bye Oliver and friends. This book was free, but the next books aren't. I enjoyed my time getting to know everyone. From what I've read, Chris and Lucas and others give Oliver a terrible time in the next books. Poor boy. I'm on to find another free book to read though.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings. I didn’t hate it, but Oliver’s self loathing was overdone. I was thinking, ok, ok we know you are getting bullied and you don’t think anyone likes you.

I picked this book without knowing the story line and I’m intrigued by it. I’ll read the next book, but for nervous Oliver to defy his teachers was a bit much. Oliver leaving the school without telling anyone just didn’t make sense.

*** update - I read the second book. Still have some mixed feelings but I’ll finish the series.

[Alexis Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sinceramente la historia no me pareció que tuviera mucho potencial, aún cuando la temática fuera mágica, no logra cautivar y la mayor parte me pareció aburrida. No pienso leer los demás libros, ninguno de los personajes me atrapó o me causó simpatía de verdad, ni siquiera el personaje principal, quien debo decir me llegó a desesperar. Y como siempre, el protagonista quería hacer todo por si solo aún teniendo la oportunidad de pedirle ayuda a los profesores y al director; no, siempre tienen que hacer todo por ellos mismos, muchas veces queda bien o hay razones concretas de hacerlo así, pero en esta historia no. Lástima.