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The Blade Mage #3
The Memphis Knights
You’d think I would’ve learned my lesson. When the Cabal shows up at my doorstep, it always leads to trouble.
This time they want me to go to Memphis. Apparently, the Cabal has a partnership with a secret Order called the Memphis Knights. They look like a motorcycle club, but they’re actually Templars, and Memphis is their city.
Their leader has been murdered, and magic was involved.
But they don’t want mages running rampant in their town. And the victim’s son is only willing to trust one member of the Ozark Mountain Cabal. The one who was chosen by a magical sword.
And that, of course, would be me.
My job is to go in, make a good a show for the Cabal, and avoid getting into trouble while this whole thing blows over.
Surely I can manage that, right?
No, of course not.
The deeds are too dark to ignore. The loss too familiar. The enemies too vile.
I’m the Blade Mage, and I don’t care whether I’m up against an army of demons and dark wizards, or if most the Knights want me out of their town, I’m going to help them get vengeance, even if it costs me everything.
This time they want me to go to Memphis. Apparently, the Cabal has a partnership with a secret Order called the Memphis Knights. They look like a motorcycle club, but they’re actually Templars, and Memphis is their city.
Their leader has been murdered, and magic was involved.
But they don’t want mages running rampant in their town. And the victim’s son is only willing to trust one member of the Ozark Mountain Cabal. The one who was chosen by a magical sword.
And that, of course, would be me.
My job is to go in, make a good a show for the Cabal, and avoid getting into trouble while this whole thing blows over.
Surely I can manage that, right?
No, of course not.
The deeds are too dark to ignore. The loss too familiar. The enemies too vile.
I’m the Blade Mage, and I don’t care whether I’m up against an army of demons and dark wizards, or if most the Knights want me out of their town, I’m going to help them get vengeance, even if it costs me everything.
- GenresFantasyUrban Fantasy
247 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 1, 2020
About the author
Phillip Drayer Duncan
47 books25 followersPhillip Drayer Duncan has written over ten novels and is the only author who has ever sponsored a racecar…probably. His work has been published by Yard Dog Press, Pro Se Productions, Seventh Star Press, and Happy Omega Publishing.
Along with reading and writing, he enjoys kayaking, fishing, video games, and telling bad jokes. Phillip’s natural habitats include the rivers and lakes of the Ozarks, but he may also be spotted at a con or concert. During the cold season, he hibernates beneath a pile of books and video games. He is generally an approachable creature; however, it’s best to give him snacks to ensure he won’t bite. Cookies are best.
His earliest books were acted out with action figures and scribbled into notebooks. Today, he uses a computer like a real grownup, though he refuses to act his age the rest of the time. If it would pay his bills, he’d be playing with G.I. Joes right now.
His greatest dream in life is to become a Jedi, but since that hasn’t happened yet, he focuses on writing and eagerly awaits the next season of Firefly. He demanded we mention that he is a best smelling author.
PhillipDrayerDuncan.com
Along with reading and writing, he enjoys kayaking, fishing, video games, and telling bad jokes. Phillip’s natural habitats include the rivers and lakes of the Ozarks, but he may also be spotted at a con or concert. During the cold season, he hibernates beneath a pile of books and video games. He is generally an approachable creature; however, it’s best to give him snacks to ensure he won’t bite. Cookies are best.
His earliest books were acted out with action figures and scribbled into notebooks. Today, he uses a computer like a real grownup, though he refuses to act his age the rest of the time. If it would pay his bills, he’d be playing with G.I. Joes right now.
His greatest dream in life is to become a Jedi, but since that hasn’t happened yet, he focuses on writing and eagerly awaits the next season of Firefly. He demanded we mention that he is a best smelling author.
PhillipDrayerDuncan.com
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 3, 2026
definitely an action packed swords and sorcery novel
Book Three of the Blade Mage series “The Memphis Knights” continues with the action packed swords and sorcery approach that made the first two novels so appealing. Overall, it was a good read. Lots of bad guys, lots of treachery, lots of bonding through fighting for survival.
I personally liked that the end of the novel set the expectation that the hero is going to try for some personal growth/self awareness in his quest to move out of his “sulky teen” phase. (The “everybody’s picking on me” but never doing anything to improve was a theme in the first to three books.)
I knocked it down a star for a couple of reasons.
- Some of the word choices were “odd” which I could skim past, but I found it really jarring when the author uses the completely wrong word. I use kindle assisted reading so the wrong word really stand out. I actually started checking to see if the assisted reader was saying the wrong word. Nope, in each case the author had written the wrong word. Generally they were cases where the spelling was similar to the word that they obviously intended to use, but didn’t. I generally prefer well proofed books.
- The book was extremely long. About page 300 I started thinking when is this going to end? It got to the point I felt the storyline didn’t progress at all, due to the author throwing ever more curveballs. It actually got so convoluted a couple points that it didn’t make a lot of sense. I was actually pleased when I made it to the end.
Book Three of the Blade Mage series “The Memphis Knights” continues with the action packed swords and sorcery approach that made the first two novels so appealing. Overall, it was a good read. Lots of bad guys, lots of treachery, lots of bonding through fighting for survival.
I personally liked that the end of the novel set the expectation that the hero is going to try for some personal growth/self awareness in his quest to move out of his “sulky teen” phase. (The “everybody’s picking on me” but never doing anything to improve was a theme in the first to three books.)
I knocked it down a star for a couple of reasons.
- Some of the word choices were “odd” which I could skim past, but I found it really jarring when the author uses the completely wrong word. I use kindle assisted reading so the wrong word really stand out. I actually started checking to see if the assisted reader was saying the wrong word. Nope, in each case the author had written the wrong word. Generally they were cases where the spelling was similar to the word that they obviously intended to use, but didn’t. I generally prefer well proofed books.
- The book was extremely long. About page 300 I started thinking when is this going to end? It got to the point I felt the storyline didn’t progress at all, due to the author throwing ever more curveballs. It actually got so convoluted a couple points that it didn’t make a lot of sense. I was actually pleased when I made it to the end.
September 26, 2025
outstanding urban fantasy mystery!
A great mystery wrapped up in an Urban Fantasy setting with believable characters and well written dialogue! A fallible MC and hysterical sidekick enter the twists and turns of solving this mystery, and there was no way I could figure it out until the big reveal. Unique idea of magic, and I love that the resolution is not about who has the biggest strongest power, like so many Urban Fantasies. In fact, the MC is not really that powerful, instead he must use his mind to solve the mystery. Great writing! Highly recommended!
A great mystery wrapped up in an Urban Fantasy setting with believable characters and well written dialogue! A fallible MC and hysterical sidekick enter the twists and turns of solving this mystery, and there was no way I could figure it out until the big reveal. Unique idea of magic, and I love that the resolution is not about who has the biggest strongest power, like so many Urban Fantasies. In fact, the MC is not really that powerful, instead he must use his mind to solve the mystery. Great writing! Highly recommended!
August 7, 2020
I love this series and this is a great addition to the series. However, the many, many typos and grammar mistakes are affecting my enjoyment of the books. This latest one is the worst one so far, it's riddled with mistakes so I really hope the author gets an editor, a proofreader or even a beta reader with an eye for this kind of thing. Please!!!
Easily four stars otherwise but as it stands, merely three.
Easily four stars otherwise but as it stands, merely three.
November 18, 2024
41/2 stars. Wyatt and Axel continue to wreak havoc among their friends and all the baddies in this 3rd adventure. There's lots of action and fighting and a bit of mystery, characters that kept me interested, and room left for more adventure down the road. Yes, it's over the top a lot of the time, but very readable, so just kick back and enjoy the ride.
January 28, 2024
About time,
Wyatt is finally acting like the Blade Mage. He will continue to grow stronger and more confident and powerful. He will have Axel to keep him in line on the Blade Mage path. Enjoyable stories with just the right balance of magic and mayhem.
Wyatt is finally acting like the Blade Mage. He will continue to grow stronger and more confident and powerful. He will have Axel to keep him in line on the Blade Mage path. Enjoyable stories with just the right balance of magic and mayhem.
January 4, 2025
While I really enjoy the books, as other readers have noted, the myriad of grammatical errors take away from the experience. It’s as if no one even proofreads these books. Otherwise would have given 4 stars.
April 26, 2025
I like these people !!
Just finished book 3 and I'm starting to care a lot about
Wyatt and his motley crew. There's nothing typical about the premise of these Blade Mage books and Mr. Duncan is not phoning it in. Book 4 awaits me,,
Just finished book 3 and I'm starting to care a lot about
Wyatt and his motley crew. There's nothing typical about the premise of these Blade Mage books and Mr. Duncan is not phoning it in. Book 4 awaits me,,
October 15, 2025
And the twist got me
Another well written piece. Hopefully our hero will get out of his own way a bit more in coming installments. Also, I never got to the twist before it was laid out for me so that was nice. 😊
Another well written piece. Hopefully our hero will get out of his own way a bit more in coming installments. Also, I never got to the twist before it was laid out for me so that was nice. 😊
May 25, 2025
Good story needs a better editor
December 6, 2025
Impressive Story
I really liked it. A like happened. Like this could be an entire D&D campaign. There is some congruence issues but nothing major that I annotated.
I really liked it. A like happened. Like this could be an entire D&D campaign. There is some congruence issues but nothing major that I annotated.
March 2, 2026
I still hate effing editing errors!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews