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The Elements
Death comes with the Harvest. Salvation lies in the Valley of the Moon, along the path of Martial Magic. Xan always assumed he would be apprenticed to an herbalist in the sleepy village of Mogu and follow the Path of Peace, just like his father before him. It is the way—has always been the way.
But when his village is sacked by a raiding force of vicious monsters, corrupted by dark Qi, life as Xan knows it is over. Family dead. Villagers slain. His home burnt to ash.
Now, all Xan wants to do is figure out why his people were targeted and get revenge on the merciless creatures sweeping across the continent like a plague of locusts. Spreading their vile corruption. His only hope at salvation and retribution lies in the Valley of the Moon, at the fabled Xing Yi School of Martial Magic. If he is to succeed, he will need to learn to cultivate the energy of the elements, hone his martial and crafting skills, and complete the school’s harsh tests and trials. It will take more than a passing grade at this school, though, and not all that fail survive the experience…
"A thrilling blend of mystical martial arts, crafting, and cultivation!" —eden Hudson, Bestselling Author of the Path of the Thunderbird, Rogue Dungeon, and Jubal Van Zandt series
But when his village is sacked by a raiding force of vicious monsters, corrupted by dark Qi, life as Xan knows it is over. Family dead. Villagers slain. His home burnt to ash.
Now, all Xan wants to do is figure out why his people were targeted and get revenge on the merciless creatures sweeping across the continent like a plague of locusts. Spreading their vile corruption. His only hope at salvation and retribution lies in the Valley of the Moon, at the fabled Xing Yi School of Martial Magic. If he is to succeed, he will need to learn to cultivate the energy of the elements, hone his martial and crafting skills, and complete the school’s harsh tests and trials. It will take more than a passing grade at this school, though, and not all that fail survive the experience…
"A thrilling blend of mystical martial arts, crafting, and cultivation!" —eden Hudson, Bestselling Author of the Path of the Thunderbird, Rogue Dungeon, and Jubal Van Zandt series
- GenresFantasy
455 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 28, 2020
183 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 26, 2020
I love cultivation novels and wuxia, and this first book in a new series is as thrilling as it gets, as we follow the first year in a school for martial magic where Xan and Cho end up after being saved by students when their village was wiped out by dark magic. Xan and Cho came from the small village of Mogu, and they were real bumpkins who had never dreamt of ever leaving their small village let alone of enrolling at the famous Xinh Yi school, however they wanted to get retribution on those who had killed their families and they knew that they would only be able to do this in the valley of the moon. So they trained hard and learned how to cultivate the energy of the elements, hone their martial and crafting skills in order to pass all of the school's harsh tests and trials. They could not afford to fail as failure could lead to their own death. However there were students who looked down on the two village boys, and went out of their way to make their lives, especially Xan's, a misery, hoping to see him fail and thrown out of the school. When all the other students had managed to attune to their two elements and Xan still had not, he thought he would fail for sure but when he attuned to an opposite element everyone thought his chances were doomed as he would not be able to choose his animal form, but the Sifu knew what others did not and Xan was to discover more about himself and his abilities than he ever thought he would, if only he would believe in himself as much as the Sifu and his grand daughter Sue had come to do. I really loved reading this first book, full of learning of martial skills, challenges and riddles, good against evil, friendships formed and losses suffered through this first year and I am eager to read about the adventures our group of young students are sure to encounter during their 2nd year in the school of Martial Magic.
June 26, 2025
Title: Martial arts wizarding academy anyone?
Content Ratings: Language – PG13; Violence – PG; Other – PG
I've had this book for a while but had put off reading it for some reason. After finding out recently that book 2 is on the horizon, I decided to give it a try. That's 2 decisions, and I'm glad for both and for the same reason. I enjoyed the book, and by the time I reached the end - which wasn't a cliffhanger but was far from satisfying in that "but I wanted more" way - I was very much invested in the MCs and eagerly look forward to following them through book 2 and beyond.
As far as what to expect, this book is adjacent to several popular genres that I won't name here. Why? Because they are adjacent but don't follow the formula. For some that's a good thing, but for someone wanting a particular genre, it may also be something to find fault with. Approach it as being the author's world, and don't try to fit it in a particular mold. It stands on its own. That said, there were quite a few times where aspects of the book had me comparing certain characters to characters in a very popular wizarding academy series. It's not a reskinned clone by any means, but it could be distracting for some. By the end of the book, I wasn't thinking that so much. Overall, the writing and grammar were good. The pacing was mostly good, although more than once an obvious change in pacing or level of detail telegraphed to me what was about to happen. That may be an intentional choice as a form of foreshadowing, but I prefer either a more subtle approach or the "...but little did he know..." sort where the narrator lets you know something is up without providing details.
Bottom line - a very enjoyable book, and I cant' wait for the next installment.
Content Ratings: Language – PG13; Violence – PG; Other – PG
I've had this book for a while but had put off reading it for some reason. After finding out recently that book 2 is on the horizon, I decided to give it a try. That's 2 decisions, and I'm glad for both and for the same reason. I enjoyed the book, and by the time I reached the end - which wasn't a cliffhanger but was far from satisfying in that "but I wanted more" way - I was very much invested in the MCs and eagerly look forward to following them through book 2 and beyond.
As far as what to expect, this book is adjacent to several popular genres that I won't name here. Why? Because they are adjacent but don't follow the formula. For some that's a good thing, but for someone wanting a particular genre, it may also be something to find fault with. Approach it as being the author's world, and don't try to fit it in a particular mold. It stands on its own. That said, there were quite a few times where aspects of the book had me comparing certain characters to characters in a very popular wizarding academy series. It's not a reskinned clone by any means, but it could be distracting for some. By the end of the book, I wasn't thinking that so much. Overall, the writing and grammar were good. The pacing was mostly good, although more than once an obvious change in pacing or level of detail telegraphed to me what was about to happen. That may be an intentional choice as a form of foreshadowing, but I prefer either a more subtle approach or the "...but little did he know..." sort where the narrator lets you know something is up without providing details.
Bottom line - a very enjoyable book, and I cant' wait for the next installment.
August 6, 2020
Decent
It was a decent read. I enjoyed it and finished it pretty quickly since I just downloaded it yesterday. It was well written with barely any of the grammar errors that are so typical within this genre. I love Wuxia and cultivation novels however I feel like this is cultivation for kindergarteners. I wasn’t a fan of the 5 elements that were used in it, water, wood, fire, earth, metal. This is just a personal critique as the novel in no other way came across as lacking. I also hesitate to call it a cultivation novel as the way they used the elements didn’t refine their bodies in any way they more or less just empowered themselves with the elements. Again these are just personal criticisms the book itself was very easy to get into with no learning curve. I felt like there was a lot of potential in the story and would have liked to learn more and see the mc utilize more of what he had available but that’s also why there will have to be more books in the series. I’d like to see the crafting become more useful and since the first lesson in crafting was calligraphy I’d love to see some more talismans being brought into the story. Normally I don’t give reviews but since I won this book in a drawing I felt like I owed it to the author to give a review.
It was a decent read. I enjoyed it and finished it pretty quickly since I just downloaded it yesterday. It was well written with barely any of the grammar errors that are so typical within this genre. I love Wuxia and cultivation novels however I feel like this is cultivation for kindergarteners. I wasn’t a fan of the 5 elements that were used in it, water, wood, fire, earth, metal. This is just a personal critique as the novel in no other way came across as lacking. I also hesitate to call it a cultivation novel as the way they used the elements didn’t refine their bodies in any way they more or less just empowered themselves with the elements. Again these are just personal criticisms the book itself was very easy to get into with no learning curve. I felt like there was a lot of potential in the story and would have liked to learn more and see the mc utilize more of what he had available but that’s also why there will have to be more books in the series. I’d like to see the crafting become more useful and since the first lesson in crafting was calligraphy I’d love to see some more talismans being brought into the story. Normally I don’t give reviews but since I won this book in a drawing I felt like I owed it to the author to give a review.
July 31, 2020
Above Average
This wuxia cultivation novel tells the story of two young men forced to join a magical marital training school after their entire village and family are wiped out by the corrupted. After this brief dose of excitement the story becomes a school going story while our characters attend class and learn about the elements for page after page. The final encounter comes as a shock to the reader after acclimatising to the school's routine syllabus for so long.
This young adult story is above average for the MC attends a school/college/academy type story. Although it can be read by all ages, it is more suited to its target audience. The story doesn't contain any cliffhangers but will clearly be continued.
This wuxia cultivation novel tells the story of two young men forced to join a magical marital training school after their entire village and family are wiped out by the corrupted. After this brief dose of excitement the story becomes a school going story while our characters attend class and learn about the elements for page after page. The final encounter comes as a shock to the reader after acclimatising to the school's routine syllabus for so long.
This young adult story is above average for the MC attends a school/college/academy type story. Although it can be read by all ages, it is more suited to its target audience. The story doesn't contain any cliffhangers but will clearly be continued.
August 18, 2020
Harry Potter goes to Cultivation School
Xan’s (Sean’s) village is wiped out by monsters and the inly other survivor is his friend Cho. They are brought to a hidden school to learn martial magic where they vow to get strong and avenge their village. I enjoyed reading about the magic system. There are five elements whose energy a warrior can channel. A warrior can attune to two of these elements and that combination of two determines their fighting style represented by an animal. The teachers and the few friends Xan makes were written well, the only thing I didn’t like was the Xan’s foil in school, Kai Jin. His stereotype felt campy. Despite that the good things about the book make me want to read the next one.
Xan’s (Sean’s) village is wiped out by monsters and the inly other survivor is his friend Cho. They are brought to a hidden school to learn martial magic where they vow to get strong and avenge their village. I enjoyed reading about the magic system. There are five elements whose energy a warrior can channel. A warrior can attune to two of these elements and that combination of two determines their fighting style represented by an animal. The teachers and the few friends Xan makes were written well, the only thing I didn’t like was the Xan’s foil in school, Kai Jin. His stereotype felt campy. Despite that the good things about the book make me want to read the next one.
September 18, 2020
Missing logic
It starts fine. Then a mistake is made (leaving their packs with the caravan while they run home hoping the village isn’t destroyed? But...). Then people make decisions that are never justified (sure we’ll just feed two more people for no good reason), and they decide to join this school they had never even heard of...
There is no flow to the narrative, no supporting context for a character’s actions or decisions. Individual scenes simply happen, without reason.
DNF
It starts fine. Then a mistake is made (leaving their packs with the caravan while they run home hoping the village isn’t destroyed? But...). Then people make decisions that are never justified (sure we’ll just feed two more people for no good reason), and they decide to join this school they had never even heard of...
There is no flow to the narrative, no supporting context for a character’s actions or decisions. Individual scenes simply happen, without reason.
DNF
August 2, 2020
Great book
This was a really good read. It had strong characters and an interesting magic system centered around 5 elements. Story moved along nicely. I will definitely read book 2 when it comes out
This was a really good read. It had strong characters and an interesting magic system centered around 5 elements. Story moved along nicely. I will definitely read book 2 when it comes out
August 23, 2020
Very good
I really liked the way the author had his characters use a martial arts form. I do TKD and I understand how you sometimes need to alter your form just a little bit to make everthing correct!
I really liked the way the author had his characters use a martial arts form. I do TKD and I understand how you sometimes need to alter your form just a little bit to make everthing correct!
October 8, 2023
Great Read
Typically not a fan of this genre, but I truly enjoyed this book and Mark did a great job developing the characters through out the book. I am really excited to continue the journey of Xan, Cho and Sue. Also, love the cliff hanger at the end.
Typically not a fan of this genre, but I truly enjoyed this book and Mark did a great job developing the characters through out the book. I am really excited to continue the journey of Xan, Cho and Sue. Also, love the cliff hanger at the end.
July 29, 2020
Loved it!
Just an fyi I did get an arc of this book. I did thoroughly enjoy reading it though and I cant wait for the next in the series!
Just an fyi I did get an arc of this book. I did thoroughly enjoy reading it though and I cant wait for the next in the series!
August 4, 2020
Unfortunately bad
This book started out really well, but the MC is so annoying stupid that it makes me cringe. By the earth phase of the book I just wanted him to die
This book started out really well, but the MC is so annoying stupid that it makes me cringe. By the earth phase of the book I just wanted him to die
August 6, 2020
The book started out really good but the MC is so insecure that I couldn't stand it after awhile. Also he is supposed to be a young adult (18-19) but acts like he is 13 for most of the book.
August 23, 2020
Looking for a book
While looking for a good book that was not a first person perspective, I found this one. It turned out pretty good.
While looking for a good book that was not a first person perspective, I found this one. It turned out pretty good.
September 1, 2020
Wow. I look forward to more
I need the next book please. Well set up and thought out. I like the mystery, the why. What's next?
I need the next book please. Well set up and thought out. I like the mystery, the why. What's next?
September 16, 2020
Great start
Starts off a bit slow but picks up pace quickly. Some unique elements to the cultivation system and some old tropes. Ending is exciting can't wait for the next one.
Starts off a bit slow but picks up pace quickly. Some unique elements to the cultivation system and some old tropes. Ending is exciting can't wait for the next one.
October 13, 2020
A well written cultivation novel.
Well, I am in the middle of a bunch of unfinished series, why not one more. Well written, interesting. Very good.
Well, I am in the middle of a bunch of unfinished series, why not one more. Well written, interesting. Very good.
December 18, 2020
Solid
An enjoyable, fast pace cultivation novel. Interesting world building, the BBEG seems to have been established. I look forward to the next book.
An enjoyable, fast pace cultivation novel. Interesting world building, the BBEG seems to have been established. I look forward to the next book.
June 22, 2021
Very good read
I enjoyed reading this book very much and I recommend it to anyone who likes LitRPG and cultivation type of books.
I enjoyed reading this book very much and I recommend it to anyone who likes LitRPG and cultivation type of books.
August 17, 2025
A bit disjointed but still enjoyable.
August 4, 2020
A fun read
I really enjoyed this book. The story is very well written and the story catches you from the beginning. I'm super excited for the next one.
I really enjoyed this book. The story is very well written and the story catches you from the beginning. I'm super excited for the next one.
August 17, 2020
There are some deep and interesting classical style systems here, but a lot of actual schooling, so probably suited more for those who are a little more interesting in the crunchy side of wuxia.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews