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VOLUME 8 OF LEGEND OF THE ARCH MAGUS

An Arch Magus dies, only to find himself in the body of a young man in a medieval Kingdom. He finds out that he is the second son of a Duke, exiled to a desolated town by his own family. Shackled by the notorious reputation of his new shell, he tries his best to develop his domain, implementing new policies and innovations, leading his subjects to prosperity. In this world where magic is undeveloped, he shall once again pave a new path.

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 14, 2022

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Michael Sisa

23 books521 followers

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5 stars
1,691 (55%)
4 stars
924 (30%)
3 stars
357 (11%)
2 stars
68 (2%)
1 star
20 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews
Profile Image for Steve.
630 reviews24 followers
April 22, 2025
Ascension, the 8th book in Michael Sisa’s Legend of the Arch Magus series, published in 2022 and narrated by Tom Taylorson, is a dynamic continuation of the fantasy epic that follows the reincarnated Arch Magus, Lark Marcus. This audiobook delivers a blend of strategic world-building, magical innovation, and brisk pacing that keeps listeners hooked. While Ascension shines in its ambitious scope and Taylorson’s stellar narration, it occasionally sacrifices depth for speed.

In Ascension, Lark, the exiled noble reborn with the knowledge of a legendary mage, pushes his domain toward unprecedented growth. Sisa’s strength lies in showcasing Lark’s genius, as he introduces magical and societal advancements that transform his territory into a burgeoning power. Key highlights include intricate scenes of magical experimentation and governance, where Lark’s calculated decisions - whether forging alliances or countering threats - create a satisfying power-fantasy arc. The book also broadens the world’s political landscape, hinting at larger conflicts and rival factions, which adds a layer of intrigue to the narrative. Sisa’s ability to make Lark’s innovations feel both plausible and awe-inspiring remains a draw, particularly for anyone who likes progression fantasy.

Yet, Ascension stumbles in its character development and narrative focus. It leans heavily on plot-driven momentum, with Lark’s direct involvement sometimes overshadowed by secondary characters who lack emotional weight. Anyone hoping for deeper exploration of relationships, such as the hinted romance with a princess from earlier books, may feel shortchanged, as these threads are sidelined. The dialogue, while functional, often feels utilitarian, and the world’s broader culture and history remain under-explored, giving the story a slightly rushed quality. Ascension prioritizes action over immersion, which can leave the world feeling more like a backdrop than a living entity.

Tom Taylorson’s narration is a highlight, elevating the audiobook’s impact. His crisp, engaging delivery captures Lark’s confidence and the story’s high-stakes moments with finesse. Taylorson’s vocal versatility - shifting seamlessly between characters and moods - adds depth to an otherwise straightforward narrative, making even expository passages compelling. His performance is a cornerstone of the series’ audiobook appeal, and needs to be praised for its clarity and energy.

Ascension is a thrilling chapter in Sisa’s saga, ideal for fans of Lark’s relentless ascent and strategic brilliance. Taylorson’s narration ensures an enjoyable listen, despite the book’s lean character work and hurried pacing.
Profile Image for Tony Hinde.
2,142 reviews77 followers
February 20, 2022
It seems like the author is going through the motions. Nothing is a challenge and everyone is suitably impressed.
Profile Image for Lanzz.
816 reviews25 followers
June 28, 2022
Buku ke-8 dalam siri Legend of the Arch Magus, bergenre high fantasi dgn elemen2 medieval, kingdom building, dan sword & sorcery. Plot buku ke-8 ni lebih menarik berbanding buku sebelumnya. Banyak scene aksi2 peperangan dan pertarungan. Tapi tak best mana jugak sbb hero terlalu overpower (OP).

Plot buku kali ni menfokuskan pada persediaan Lark untuk menghadapi peperangan terakhir dengan demon dari dimensi lain...
Profile Image for Jon Honey.
93 reviews3 followers
December 5, 2025
This one just wasn’t very good. It pretty much revolves around the least likable characters doing unlikable things.
Profile Image for William Howe.
1,800 reviews88 followers
February 20, 2022
the saga continues

I wish I had read the previous 7 immediately before reading this one. Book 7 was a year ago (!!!) and I read the first six just prior to its release. I feel this would have been an easier and better read if it was part of a continuous read-through, as there was a lot that was never really covered *in this book*. Which is good if you’re doing a read through and bad if you aren’t.

Still, everything worked well. I will continue to follow the series.
Profile Image for Russell Gray.
674 reviews134 followers
February 19, 2022
This was more of a table-setting book as everyone prepares for the ultimate battle and invasion of the Demon Lord.

That being said, the experience I'm having with this series is what I hope for when I pick up a litrpg, progressive fantasy, or reincarnation story by an indie author. The plotting and prose have come a long way since book one, and an even longer way from some of the earlier works of Michael Sisa.

I'm here for the ride and can't wait for the concluding volumes of this story!
Profile Image for Akshay.
806 reviews6 followers
February 10, 2025

Ascension (Legend of the Arch Magus, #8) by Michael Sisa is a thrilling addition to the epic fantasy series, taking readers on a journey filled with magic, political intrigue, and profound character development. This eighth installment raises the stakes higher than ever, showcasing Sisa's masterful storytelling and intricate world-building.



The story continues to follow Havellion, the reincarnated Arch Magus, as he confronts new challenges and seeks to ascend to even greater heights of power and influence. Sisa’s narrative remains engaging and detailed, blending intense action scenes with strategic maneuvering and emotional depth. Compared to its contemporaries, such as Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series and Patrick Rothfuss’s The Kingkiller Chronicle, Ascension stands out for its unique premise and the protagonist’s ongoing struggle to balance his immense power with ethical responsibilities.



"Sisa’s ability to weave complex characters and a richly detailed world into a cohesive and captivating narrative makes Ascension a standout entry in the Legend of the Arch Magus series."


Here’s a brief look at the main characters and their arcs:




Havellion: The protagonist’s journey remains central to the narrative. In Ascension, Havellion faces new existential threats and moral quandaries as he seeks to harness even greater power. His character continues to evolve, grappling with the consequences of his actions and the weight of his responsibilities. This nuanced portrayal is comparable to the character arcs seen in Robin Hobb’s Farseer Trilogy and Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law series.
Elara: Havellion’s trusted advisor and confidante, Elara’s arc explores her growing influence and the sacrifices she must make. Her loyalty and strategic acumen are tested, adding depth to her character and highlighting her critical role in the story.
Kael: Havellion’s rival and occasional ally, Kael’s arc delves into his personal ambitions and the complexities of his relationship with Havellion. His motivations and backstory are further explored, making him a more multifaceted and intriguing character.
Lyria: A powerful mage and Havellion’s ally, Lyria’s journey in Ascension focuses on her struggle to reconcile her past with her present loyalties. Her character development adds emotional weight to the narrative and enriches the world-building.
Gareth: A warrior with a troubled past, Gareth’s arc explores themes of redemption and honor. His evolving relationship with Havellion and the other characters adds depth to the story and provides a human element amidst the magical and political intrigue.


Sisa’s world-building continues to be a highlight of the series. The vivid descriptions of the magical landscapes, the intricacies of the political dynamics, and the detailed exploration of the magic system are all meticulously crafted. This immersive world is on par with the detailed settings found in Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive and the expansive universe of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time. However, Sisa’s focus on the protagonist’s personal journey and the impact of his reincarnation gives the narrative a unique edge.



  



While Ascension excels in many areas, it is not without its flaws. Some sections of the book can feel overly dense with political intrigue and magical theory, which may be overwhelming for readers who prefer a faster-paced narrative. Additionally, the pacing can occasionally lag due to the extensive world-building and character development, though this is a minor issue considering the overall quality of the narrative.



In comparison to its contemporaries, Ascension holds its ground as a standout entry in the epic fantasy genre. It combines the immersive world-building and intricate political dynamics of series like A Song of Ice and Fire with the character depth and personal growth found in The Kingkiller Chronicle. Sisa’s ability to balance magic, politics, and character development makes this book a must-read for fans of the genre.

Profile Image for Pablo García.
855 reviews22 followers
October 8, 2022
This 8th volume or eighth book of this Legend of the Arch Magus has no real reason for being/reading it. Yes, it is a continuation of the series, but the theme and story that the author has included in this volume is filler at best and hardly credible. There are several antagonist groups in this novel series (Empire, their spies, the beast-folk, the competitors to the throne and what used to be the Kelvin's territory and heirs). Because of the demon attack, none of the Kelvin heirs remain, and yet, a very criminally inclined, despised character like Big Mona (mistreats/tortures/kills/experiments with slaves, swindles consumers, even trades children for food at desperate winter time, etc.) becomes the main character's investigator to figure out who is behind the libel and slander (dirty opposition) to Lord Evander's temporal coronation.
The thing is the author and main character (Lark/Evander) have said many times that being a regent is only temporary, that they are doing it only to save humanity and that Kingdom (consequently his small town). The Kelvin's died and their territories got overrun by the demon parasites in the last volume, so, what would be the point of rooting out their organized crime structures, dirty journalists, remnants of spies, etc. if they already do not have any chance of getting to power (since they do not have anyone living in their territories and all of the Kelvin Heirs have perished)? Is it important to figure out who is behind the scandals an opposition to Lark/Evander's temporary regency, if he does not want the Kingdom to begin with? What is the point then? It doesn't make any sense. Except to fill up a volume.
Another thing, Lark/Evander receive the aid of his demon friends, so a 100 "transform" and accompany him to the capital, supposedly, but how many people can really fit in the back of "Blackie the Scilla"? Lark/Evander take all his students, his Butler, his most loyal Ministers, and then the 100 demons transformed into humans as well? Or only the 5 that he gave transformation stones for? Because the author does not really say how many people (total) left and traveled on the back of "Blackie" to the Capital Coronation Event.
The author writes a dystopian/apocalyptic story series in this Legend of the Arch Magus, where women and children starve, used as war kindling/blackmail, tortured, murdered, experimented upon, or worse, etc. without any sign of remorse or ethical values (honor, truth, justice, family, liberty, property) from the author. Although, in the afterword, the author admits that he started writing this story because he was "bored", and admitted to being a medical doctor in real life, the little or no value he places on basic human rights (even in another fantasy world) makes this a dark-terror-horror filled story series.
1 review
February 18, 2022
The one star rating is purely based on the size of this novel. I really love this series but after waiting for a year for next book and then finishing the new book in 1 hour us not acceptable for fantasy readers. Also in this book the main character is not even involved in the half of the story. I know the author is medical professional with less time to write but its not good to deliver half cooked book. This whole book can be fit into 3 to 4 chapters of standard fantasy books. I hope he do better next time.
1 review
March 15, 2022
Good books, but way to short for the price

Honestly I've been following this author since the first book and the books have been containing less volume for the same price if not more. 200 pages is like a comic book. A serious reader would be able to read this front to back in 1-2 days while spending 1/3rd the price of kindle unlimited. The value just isn't here, starting to feel like dlc for a book.
Profile Image for Benjamin.
351 reviews24 followers
October 7, 2022
Still my favorite worst books ever. Written like an anime/RPG mix, the basic spelling and structural mistakes have been fixed. The author still remains clueless on how to build dialogue, how to create suspense, and how to write characters that have motivations.

All in all, I would give this book a 1.5/10, because it doesn't have any spelling mistakes. God I love modern spell checkers. Lark yelled on top of his seven headed hydra "To the next book!".
Profile Image for Gareth Otton.
Author 5 books131 followers
May 2, 2024
It’s great to be back in this world with these characters. It is a testament to this author as to how quick I could get back into this series after a year’s hiatus. My only real complaint is that I wish it could have been longer.

If you liked the earlier books in this series then you should like this one as well. It’s a good continuation and I look forward to seeing what happens next.
4 reviews
February 25, 2022
Oh dear. I love the series but really, these very short books should be marked as novelette’s. They are readable in a few hours and really lack depth. It was essentially a short story. Not too bad as long as you have read the proceeding books/chapters. Please give us our monies worth
Profile Image for Jordan Thomas.
224 reviews7 followers
June 4, 2024
1.5/5 stars

I just don’t like at all where the series is going. Everything I loved about slowly improving a cozy little fantasy town is gone and replaced with some grand scale epic war against a bunch of generic demons that I just don’t care about. I want more Blackstone Town. I liked when he finds ways to feed the starving citizens.

You might get the impression that when I say grand scale battle, I mean something like Wheel of Time, Lord of the Rings or Stormlight Archive. Well, no. Absolutely not. Those stories had characters and cultures and themes and politics I cared about. This is more like the author suddenly watched a few episodes of Game of Thrones and thought he could pivot the entire story away from building this town and instead follows an evil merchant trying to quell rumors of our main character so that he can assume a position of power. It’s all so poorly written and comes out of nowhere and it’s not at all enjoyable to read.

Anyway, I might come back to this later. I don’t know. I’ll have to see if the story ever comes back to the things I enjoy about it, but for now I’m done with it.
Profile Image for Steve Naylor.
2,486 reviews127 followers
February 26, 2022
Rating 4.0 stars

I really like this series. There is nothing complicated about it. The MC is completely OP and he seems to have all the answers. There are a lot of the "holy shit" moments in this series. Those are the moments where the OP does something that he thinks isn't that difficult but other people are staring in awe with the words "holy shit" on the tip of their tongue. The only real regret I have with this series is I wish there was a little bit more character development. There aren't that many interactions with the supplemental characters. That is a minor gripe though. This book focused on the next step for the war with the demons and now that some people know the MCs true Identity he needs to step up a little more Still a good series and I can't wait for the next one. I just hope it comes out quicker than it took for this one to be released since the previous book.
Profile Image for D.
4 reviews
March 18, 2022
After searching the internet for kingdom-building novels/books containing a tinge of fantasy, I stumbled upon this absolute enjoyable sequence of novels. The character development and the progression of the story were enjoyable as it even kept a huge binge-reader as me hooked throughout the series, and I lose interest really fast usually.

Proud to say that I've finished the series in a rabid two days, got me immersed so hard that I couldn't stop reading and wanted to know what was going to happen in each next volume. Will be looking forward toward the next volume! Well done, and thank you, Michael Sisa.
Profile Image for Ford Miller.
716 reviews6 followers
September 21, 2024
Still simple and fun. Got a little stale.

A very simple story, this edition in the series is again very short like a novella. Most of the book deals with trying to progress the story plot line. It didn't really have any major thrills as a story rambled along, simple and fun, but rather predictable. The main characters seem to be going through the motions of a predictable plot. I've enjoyed the series to date and the world building that the author created. This book in the series felt more like filler to advance the plot line without any urgency as events unfolded from a to b to c without much challenge. Enjoyable fun simple read overall.
1,089 reviews15 followers
April 7, 2024
overpriced and contrived

The author spent a lot of time to make BM despised by the reader and now he becomes a main actor the reader is supposed to care about? I still don´t understand why the so high and mighty Lurk chose this bastard over his kind brother while boasting about his people knowledge...

Why is the duke not in the save prison anyway if he is considered a traitor? Why are any of his enemies still alive if the assassins are so powerful? How comes that the trade house dominated the duke and not the other way around?
Profile Image for MyDoRyS.
1,038 reviews4 followers
June 30, 2024
Audio: 5 Stars, have I said this narrator is great? They ARE!!!!

Story: I understand why the king wants to adjudicate, but I think it is yet another selfish decision to dump his responsibilities into others. At least they cleaned the house. They really need to create a teleportation item, the weeks of traveling are ridiculous! Same with communications, how can they not have something like that! I did not enjoy this book as much since it is focused on war/politics, which again is not my thing (this is a me thing).Onto my next adventure, Happy Readings!!!
Profile Image for Clint White.
14 reviews
February 20, 2022
Excellent!

I couldn’t put it down and read it straight through. I listened to the first 6 volumes on audible but I couldn’t wait for that and read the rest. Great story, world, and characters! It’s hard finding books that I can get into and really enjoy but this series is definitely something you can immerse yourself into and enjoy your time there. My only complaint is the wait for the next volume to be released.
Profile Image for Marie-eve Allard.
36 reviews
February 22, 2022
Love it

A great follow up at last. Im curious to see what will happen with the vont family now. Also it will be interestinf to see if new alliance and/or relation get re-established with the empire. Its interestind red demon tower couldnt manage to integrate agreas there is an engima there. Also wonder how the naval genius kelvin will adapt maybe lark will be able to help him now
Profile Image for Randy Smith.
649 reviews22 followers
March 4, 2022
Another excellent example in this series

The writing is excellent as is the storyline. Though this book is greatly continuation of the previous novels and would make a little sense on its own. This entire story just flows together and sometimes I can’t quite make sense out of why they stopped the novel at some points. Many of the novels should’ve been made into just one big novel instead of stopping at certain points.
Profile Image for Frank Bertino.
1,771 reviews19 followers
March 22, 2022
Great Read, Great Series

Lark is no longer hiding his identity as Evander, the great mage of the ancient Magic Empire. Demons have invaded and are conquering a large part of the kingdom. Does Lark now have enough of his old power to stop them? Political machinations thrust Lark into prominence, leading enemies to spread lies to take him down. What will he do as a counter? I like the action, humor, intrigue, and foiled romance. I look forward to the next book.
Profile Image for ReadToBreathe.
870 reviews32 followers
April 14, 2024
Spoilers



I don't get it. What was the point of this? Hundreds of thousands if not millions of people died just bc the MC was too lazy. He knew the demon were coming, he had a sword that can help erect shields around so many towns, a mana vain to recharge his sword, and a gigantic monster that fly at high speed, yet all what the MC did was drinking with old friends?? Seriously?? Like he couldn't have done that after doing what he could to save people??? This was honestly a let down
Profile Image for Petey Knight.
61 reviews1 follower
February 17, 2022
Great story

I've been reading this series from the start and I've enjoyed it immensely. It's short sweet and to the point. The characters have been developed well and you are caught up with them and can't wait for the next story!
It's a breath of fresh air to have a series like this.
5***** can't wait for the next story!
80 reviews1 follower
February 17, 2022
Always a delightful read

I love these stories, I read a lot of Korean novels with similar plots but it's nice to read one with clear grammar and easy to read names, this where some people will look at that comment strangely but they really are easy to read from some. Looking forward to book 9.
3 reviews
February 19, 2022
Enjoyable, rollicking fun!

I have bought every book so far in the series. I like author Michael Sisa's simple, easy-flowing writing style (grammarly warts and all in the early books lol). The stories themselves are easy to follow, the characters easy to remember, and the author keeps the pace of his story-telling going at a boredom-avoiding pace!
6 reviews
February 20, 2022
Short Setup For a Future War

While I find most setup type stories a waste of my time, this one was different. It presented a problem and the protagonist (and crew) worked to resolve it (I am being vague on purpose) in such a way that I found it enjoyable. I would recommend it if only to kill a slow Thursday.
7 reviews
February 22, 2022
Fast pace but still very good

This series is very good and it has so much potential to go on for many many books. The world is very interesting and I hope the author will expand and take us through the world and it's kingdoms. I would also really really like if we could get a series on Evander's past life to see how he got so strong and to read the stories of his legend.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews

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