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Star Mage Saga Books 1 - 3
Carina Lin is a slum brat turned space mercenary. With a twist. She’s also a mage, and she’s about to risk everything.
Her merc band, the Black Dogs, is assigned a suicide mission. A young boy has been kidnapped by one of the galactic sector’s most powerful clans, and the Dogs’ task is to rescue him.
Carina faces an impossible decision. To save the boy she must Cast, but if her powers are revealed she will be tortured and enslaved.
When she makes her choice and throws the dice, the fallout is beyond her imagination.
So begins the first trilogy of the dark, exciting science fantasy, Star Mage Saga.
Pick up books 1 to 3 today!
Her merc band, the Black Dogs, is assigned a suicide mission. A young boy has been kidnapped by one of the galactic sector’s most powerful clans, and the Dogs’ task is to rescue him.
Carina faces an impossible decision. To save the boy she must Cast, but if her powers are revealed she will be tortured and enslaved.
When she makes her choice and throws the dice, the fallout is beyond her imagination.
So begins the first trilogy of the dark, exciting science fantasy, Star Mage Saga.
Pick up books 1 to 3 today!
- GenresFantasyScience Fiction
694 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 28, 2020
51 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
J.J. Green
105 books392 followersJ.J. Green is a British-Australian science fiction author with a lifelong love of distant landscapes, intriguing cultures and fascinating places. She was born within the sound of the bells of Mary-le-Bow church in Cheapside, London, making her a bona fide Cockney, and she lived in Australia, Laos and Taiwan before returning to the UK to settle down in Cambridge.
Green’s novels weave science-based speculation with richly personal stories. Her works explore themes of environmental degradation, political conflict, mythical resonance, human resilience, and the ethics of technology and expansion. Her characters—often strong women—navigate future worlds grounded in both scientific plausibility and mythic imagination.
Sign up to J.J. Green's reader group at jjgreenauthor.com
Green’s novels weave science-based speculation with richly personal stories. Her works explore themes of environmental degradation, political conflict, mythical resonance, human resilience, and the ethics of technology and expansion. Her characters—often strong women—navigate future worlds grounded in both scientific plausibility and mythic imagination.
Sign up to J.J. Green's reader group at jjgreenauthor.com
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 19, 2025
[Books 1-3 reviewed individually Mar 2020]
Daughter of Discord - What a story! Carina wants to find others like her - mages - and manages to find her mother, stepfather and half-siblings. Her stepfather is abusive both physically and mentally. It is a strong story of family and (a few) friends. Carina needs to be strong to protect those that she is learning to care about. Be warned: the inter-family behaviour is stressful but the total story is well worth that stress. Now to read the next in the series.
Dark Mage Rises - As with book 1, the story is written as two trails that merge and then continue as one trail. At the end of book 1, the siblings and Bryce are transported to a planet in a number of groups and Carina is captured by the Dirksens (the enemy of the Sherrerrs). Carina needs to escape from the Dirksens. The siblings need to find each other while avoiding the notice of the locals. The book is a lot calmer than book 1 although Castiel is doing his best to be a replica of his father. Nobody deserves to win the war.
Wildfire and Steel - The story continues. Carina and the kids and Bryce are struggling to survive without being noticed. Then they need to escape the town when it's bombed by the Scherrers and so they Transport back to near the spaceport. They steal a craft - but the fuel gauge isn't working. Fortunately a group of mages rescue them and take them to a mage festival Meantime Castiel is helping the Dirksens by using his mage power against the Scherrerrs. He experiences some of the fame that he wants but in his search for more recognition, he finds that he loses his position. It is a story of good guys and bad guys. I love the way Darius's mage powers are developing. He is learning to do things for himself. Parthenia is wavering between helping and fighting Carina - trying to develop her own role in the group. Oriana is being a spoilt brat and Nahla is starting to be her own self. There's enough space, magic and relationship to suit everybody.
Daughter of Discord - What a story! Carina wants to find others like her - mages - and manages to find her mother, stepfather and half-siblings. Her stepfather is abusive both physically and mentally. It is a strong story of family and (a few) friends. Carina needs to be strong to protect those that she is learning to care about. Be warned: the inter-family behaviour is stressful but the total story is well worth that stress. Now to read the next in the series.
Dark Mage Rises - As with book 1, the story is written as two trails that merge and then continue as one trail. At the end of book 1, the siblings and Bryce are transported to a planet in a number of groups and Carina is captured by the Dirksens (the enemy of the Sherrerrs). Carina needs to escape from the Dirksens. The siblings need to find each other while avoiding the notice of the locals. The book is a lot calmer than book 1 although Castiel is doing his best to be a replica of his father. Nobody deserves to win the war.
Wildfire and Steel - The story continues. Carina and the kids and Bryce are struggling to survive without being noticed. Then they need to escape the town when it's bombed by the Scherrers and so they Transport back to near the spaceport. They steal a craft - but the fuel gauge isn't working. Fortunately a group of mages rescue them and take them to a mage festival Meantime Castiel is helping the Dirksens by using his mage power against the Scherrerrs. He experiences some of the fame that he wants but in his search for more recognition, he finds that he loses his position. It is a story of good guys and bad guys. I love the way Darius's mage powers are developing. He is learning to do things for himself. Parthenia is wavering between helping and fighting Carina - trying to develop her own role in the group. Oriana is being a spoilt brat and Nahla is starting to be her own self. There's enough space, magic and relationship to suit everybody.
July 13, 2025
Maybe 3.5 if what you like is continual action and a high body count. Carina is the heroine, the oldest of seven half siblings. When the story opens she is working as a merc, a mercenary soldier. She is portrayed as strong and tough a fighter who doesn't mind kicking someone in the groin, clawing their eyes. At one point she tries and nearly succeeds in killing someone by biting through his neck and jugular vein.
She and the half siblings whom she hasn't met yet are mages , magicians who can perform all kinds of spells. They are the only people on the planet who have these powers. No attempt is ever made to explain the magic or how it works. In order to perform any of the spells they have to first drink some elixir, which they are constantly working on preparing. The elixir is just water, dirt and a couple other things heated over an open flame. New spells keep conveniently appearing as needed.
They have to keep their powers secret and are always running and hiding to keep the non mages from capturing them to use their powers. The story gets more and more complicated , but it is mostly one battle after the other. As soon as Carina extricates herself from one life threatening peril, another one grabs her. She is constantly getting knocked out and waking up in some new form of captivity. She starts to seem less competent and smart after awhile as she makes what looks like bad decisions and doesn't seem real creative about anything else to do but fight her way out.
Has some entertainment value, but not enough for me to want to keep reading the series. I think there are nine books in the series.
She and the half siblings whom she hasn't met yet are mages , magicians who can perform all kinds of spells. They are the only people on the planet who have these powers. No attempt is ever made to explain the magic or how it works. In order to perform any of the spells they have to first drink some elixir, which they are constantly working on preparing. The elixir is just water, dirt and a couple other things heated over an open flame. New spells keep conveniently appearing as needed.
They have to keep their powers secret and are always running and hiding to keep the non mages from capturing them to use their powers. The story gets more and more complicated , but it is mostly one battle after the other. As soon as Carina extricates herself from one life threatening peril, another one grabs her. She is constantly getting knocked out and waking up in some new form of captivity. She starts to seem less competent and smart after awhile as she makes what looks like bad decisions and doesn't seem real creative about anything else to do but fight her way out.
Has some entertainment value, but not enough for me to want to keep reading the series. I think there are nine books in the series.
November 23, 2023
DNF - I listened to the audiobook version narrated by the author. I don't think this is a major spoiler but hiding anyway - at the start of Book 2 (the audiobook's chapter numbers restart & prefaced with 'a') the main character starts making a series of stupid decisions that just build onto each other.
My impression of her from the book is that she'd been someone who would have to have been street smart - presumably on their own for 8 years (since the death of their parent figure), recruited into a mercenary company by a Captain that saw them fighting a gang of other kids from the street (so presumably was living on the streets herself), and then being in a mercenary company for 2 years.
With that background, her decisions in book 2 didn't make any sense:
* Getting just shy of passed out drunk in a strange towns bar without anyone to watch her back.
* Taking a stranger into her room since he "doesn't have a place to sleep."
* Almost getting robbed by that stranger.
* Sees that stranger shooting up after kicking him out.
* Encounters that stranger the following day and starts doing some intense logical gymnastics to get herself to believe that stranger's about not being an addict & having a 'blood disease'.
That's where I stopped listening. It just didn't make that much sense for the main character to be that naive.
My impression of her from the book is that she'd been someone who would have to have been street smart - presumably on their own for 8 years (since the death of their parent figure), recruited into a mercenary company by a Captain that saw them fighting a gang of other kids from the street (so presumably was living on the streets herself), and then being in a mercenary company for 2 years.
With that background, her decisions in book 2 didn't make any sense:
* Getting just shy of passed out drunk in a strange towns bar without anyone to watch her back.
* Taking a stranger into her room since he "doesn't have a place to sleep."
* Almost getting robbed by that stranger.
* Sees that stranger shooting up after kicking him out.
* Encounters that stranger the following day and starts doing some intense logical gymnastics to get herself to believe that stranger's about not being an addict & having a 'blood disease'.
That's where I stopped listening. It just didn't make that much sense for the main character to be that naive.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 24, 2023
interesting concepts and worlds
A different kind of mage life and skills. More sci fi than magic with excellent evil characters
The ages of the kids are a little off putting, but great character development and relationships
A different kind of mage life and skills. More sci fi than magic with excellent evil characters
The ages of the kids are a little off putting, but great character development and relationships
December 2, 2023
Can’t wait to read the next one.
February 9, 2024
I picked up this 99c deal because I enjoyed the first book enough that I wanted to see how the cliff-hanger at the end resolved.
Overall both narrative coherence and character development/consistency pick up in the two follow-on volumes. The third volume has a solid resolution.
The slow burn romance continues to burn, but with no on page steam. If it were not for some of the intense violence this is almost a young adult series. As it is, I'm filing it under new adult.
Overall both narrative coherence and character development/consistency pick up in the two follow-on volumes. The third volume has a solid resolution.
The slow burn romance continues to burn, but with no on page steam. If it were not for some of the intense violence this is almost a young adult series. As it is, I'm filing it under new adult.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews