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The Boot Mage: A Tale of Shoecraft and Sorcery
The world has become supercharged in a new era of magic and magical professions. Many of these new spellslingers will go on to shape the very foundations of the world. They will uplift continents, tear down kingdoms, and become inscribed into the annals of history.
the Boot Mage.
Yes, that's right. Boots. Not books. Not soot. Boot. Like shoes, but better. Instead of flinging fire from their fingertips, they control anything and all things boot. And if you don't think that's enough for them to make their mark on the world, then you're going to want to listen to their story.
But don't take it from me...
Before you if you'd like to receive a copy of The Boot Mage for FREE, then sign up for my newsletter signup.darrenaskins.com
the Boot Mage.
Yes, that's right. Boots. Not books. Not soot. Boot. Like shoes, but better. Instead of flinging fire from their fingertips, they control anything and all things boot. And if you don't think that's enough for them to make their mark on the world, then you're going to want to listen to their story.
But don't take it from me...
Before you if you'd like to receive a copy of The Boot Mage for FREE, then sign up for my newsletter signup.darrenaskins.com
- GenresFantasy
125 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 25, 2022
6 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 18, 2023
The Boot Mage by Darren Askins must be one of the most original stories I’ve read in some time. It was a total delight to read and has the feeling of a fairy tale like Alice In Wonderland.
The main character, Jordyn, tells us a story about how she became the only Boot Mage of her village and is now regarded as the foremost maker of magically crafted boots. Her craftsmanship fame spreads around the world and one day she receives an invitation to go to a location high in the mountains where she will be awarded great treasure if she can fix a particular pair of boots. Special materials must be gathered for the repairs, and this involves seemingly impossible tasks that must be completed before Jordyn can even begin the monumental restoration job. To say any more would be to spoil the story.
This is a relatively short book of just 125 pages, so it’s a quick read. I didn’t feel like there was anything missing from the story as it moved smoothly with enough description that it was easy to visualize the Otherverse world that Askins has created. The story is lighthearted, and the pacing is good.
My one negative comment is that the book needs to be edited once more to fix several errors. They weren’t often enough to spoil the flow of the story, but to my reviewer’s eye they had me mentally pulling out my red pen.
I highly recommend The Boot Mage: A Tale of Shoecraft and Sorcery, so do take a trip through the rabbit hole into the Otherverse where wonderful characters and unusual magic await you!
I award this book a solid 4.5 stars, and upgrading it to 5.
This was a free ARC and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The main character, Jordyn, tells us a story about how she became the only Boot Mage of her village and is now regarded as the foremost maker of magically crafted boots. Her craftsmanship fame spreads around the world and one day she receives an invitation to go to a location high in the mountains where she will be awarded great treasure if she can fix a particular pair of boots. Special materials must be gathered for the repairs, and this involves seemingly impossible tasks that must be completed before Jordyn can even begin the monumental restoration job. To say any more would be to spoil the story.
This is a relatively short book of just 125 pages, so it’s a quick read. I didn’t feel like there was anything missing from the story as it moved smoothly with enough description that it was easy to visualize the Otherverse world that Askins has created. The story is lighthearted, and the pacing is good.
My one negative comment is that the book needs to be edited once more to fix several errors. They weren’t often enough to spoil the flow of the story, but to my reviewer’s eye they had me mentally pulling out my red pen.
I highly recommend The Boot Mage: A Tale of Shoecraft and Sorcery, so do take a trip through the rabbit hole into the Otherverse where wonderful characters and unusual magic await you!
I award this book a solid 4.5 stars, and upgrading it to 5.
This was a free ARC and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
April 23, 2023
This book was very straight forward and simple with what it wanted to accomplish but it did it so incredibly well.I want to applaud the author for his first book and I see he has a lot of potential especially in storytelling,creating magic systems and fighting scenes which are all extremely important when writing high fantasy I just think the book itself and future works need to spend more time on refining because I found some grammar issues and some parts in the book I had to stop and reread something to understand it but in general it was a good book especially if you like wearing boots so I give it 4 stars
April 29, 2023
Jordyn didn’t always plan to be a Boot Mage, but when events beyond their control forced them to make a change, they discovered their passion for boots. After struggling to set up a boot business in a busy town, they find themselves summoned by a mysterious patron with the promise of great riches and the chance to work on magnificent boots. But when they arrive at the described location, they find themselves in the company of someone from their past, someone they hate with a passion. Will Jordyn be able to put aside past differences to make the greatest pair of boots ever known in this world?
I did quite like the unique concept of this work, but its execution fell short for me. This book was not immersive, and I think it was largely due to the writing style. It was told in the first person and included long bouts of the protagonist’s opinions and thoughts, which were generally not that interesting. It was also difficult to find the protagonist’s hate of shoe mages believable or compelling, and it felt like that was their sole personality/character trait.
The world itself was interesting and the author did a decent job at incorporating relevant worldbuilding throughout the story. Again though, with how the tale was written, the setting and world never felt alive or compelling, which greatly detracted from my enjoyment. The journeys of this mage should have been dangerous as they were travelling all over this world, but these events were bogged down with the repetitive monologue of the MC, killing any tension or immersion that could have been present.
A couple more nitpicky complaints: the MC seems to be nonbinary based on the pronouns they use to describe themselves. Somehow, everyone around them just knows how to refer to them – even people who have just met them and know literally nothing about them. There were also several errors throughout the work. As it was so short, it was frustrating that there were any errors present.
This was an okay fantasy read overall that could use some reworking. I do love the premise of this work and it is a short read, so if it sounds interesting to you, you should check it out.
I did quite like the unique concept of this work, but its execution fell short for me. This book was not immersive, and I think it was largely due to the writing style. It was told in the first person and included long bouts of the protagonist’s opinions and thoughts, which were generally not that interesting. It was also difficult to find the protagonist’s hate of shoe mages believable or compelling, and it felt like that was their sole personality/character trait.
The world itself was interesting and the author did a decent job at incorporating relevant worldbuilding throughout the story. Again though, with how the tale was written, the setting and world never felt alive or compelling, which greatly detracted from my enjoyment. The journeys of this mage should have been dangerous as they were travelling all over this world, but these events were bogged down with the repetitive monologue of the MC, killing any tension or immersion that could have been present.
A couple more nitpicky complaints: the MC seems to be nonbinary based on the pronouns they use to describe themselves. Somehow, everyone around them just knows how to refer to them – even people who have just met them and know literally nothing about them. There were also several errors throughout the work. As it was so short, it was frustrating that there were any errors present.
This was an okay fantasy read overall that could use some reworking. I do love the premise of this work and it is a short read, so if it sounds interesting to you, you should check it out.
May 24, 2023
🎶These boots are made for walking…🎶
“The Boot Mage: A Tale of Shoecraft and Sorcery” (a novel of the Otherverse) by Darren Askins ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: fantasy/fable novella. Location: Gaelaga.
About 80 years after the world changed from normal to just insanity, Jordyn, (the world’s one and only magical Boot Mage), was born in Hollowvale. A child of shoemakers, Jordyn did not do book magic or shoe magic. Instead, they magically made and repaired boots exclusively.
After setting up shop in Ambergrad, The Boot Mage receives an invitation as big as a house from the last giant. To get there requires traveling the Aenu Road to Peak Lunamere deep in the Barrier Mounts beyond the edge of the Gaelagan Empire. Alas,The Boot Mage’s dastardly rival, Arrick the Shoe Mage, receives the same invitation. To make the best new boots for the giant, they must work together to get wood from extinct willow trees, a mane and tail from a magnificent Panvengan Horse, and the hide from Kithalack, a gigantic ox lost to time.
Author Askins has written a mythological fable in which the overly proud Boot Mage must learn to work together with a rival in order to succeed. He reminds us that cutting corners isn’t always the best solution. He creates a world filled with diverse beings and countries that can easily lend itself to additional stories. Askins leaves us with Larkin the Chronocaster’s words: “A Jack of all Trades is a Master of None. Yet oftentimes better than a Master of One.” It’s a little fable for those days when you want to read something similar to a fairytale and far removed from your reality, and it’s 3 stars from me🌵📚💁🏼♀️ Thank you author Darren Haskins for this ecopy.
“The Boot Mage: A Tale of Shoecraft and Sorcery” (a novel of the Otherverse) by Darren Askins ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: fantasy/fable novella. Location: Gaelaga.
About 80 years after the world changed from normal to just insanity, Jordyn, (the world’s one and only magical Boot Mage), was born in Hollowvale. A child of shoemakers, Jordyn did not do book magic or shoe magic. Instead, they magically made and repaired boots exclusively.
After setting up shop in Ambergrad, The Boot Mage receives an invitation as big as a house from the last giant. To get there requires traveling the Aenu Road to Peak Lunamere deep in the Barrier Mounts beyond the edge of the Gaelagan Empire. Alas,The Boot Mage’s dastardly rival, Arrick the Shoe Mage, receives the same invitation. To make the best new boots for the giant, they must work together to get wood from extinct willow trees, a mane and tail from a magnificent Panvengan Horse, and the hide from Kithalack, a gigantic ox lost to time.
Author Askins has written a mythological fable in which the overly proud Boot Mage must learn to work together with a rival in order to succeed. He reminds us that cutting corners isn’t always the best solution. He creates a world filled with diverse beings and countries that can easily lend itself to additional stories. Askins leaves us with Larkin the Chronocaster’s words: “A Jack of all Trades is a Master of None. Yet oftentimes better than a Master of One.” It’s a little fable for those days when you want to read something similar to a fairytale and far removed from your reality, and it’s 3 stars from me🌵📚💁🏼♀️ Thank you author Darren Haskins for this ecopy.
July 25, 2023
Although I did love how short and sweet this book was, it was not the greatest. I applaud Askins for writing a short, lighthearted romp. Writing is no easy task. I enjoyed that the book read almost fairy tale, bedtime story-like. Its originality is probably the best thing about this story. You don't often come across fantasy books named The Boot Mage: A Tale of Shoecraft and Sorcery. The story is exactly that and a little bit more but not too much that you forget what the heck you're even reading. I wish that this story started with immediate action. If Jordyn was already on their quest instead of the three/four chapters of set-up. I did enjoy the first third of this book and I thought I was in for a cozy fantasy a la Legends & Lattes until we go into a journey-type fantasy. It kind of stopped the momentum of the book a bit for me but the story stays the course until the end. I'm all for self-publishing and this book was brought to my attention via an Instagram ad I'm assuming the author purchased, but this book desperately needed another set of eyes on it. Grammatical errors, unfinished sentences, inconsistent pacing, and chapter structure were off-putting to me. It might not bother you as much but I often found myself locking my Kindle whenever I'd come across an error. Besides that, great story. While reading this book, I was just imagining an animated children's movie or show which I can easily see this story becoming.
February 15, 2024
This was a book that looked interesting and unique, but after I read it I don't really feel it was more than just okay.
The main character, Jordyn, feels very unrealistic- their backstory reasons for wanting to specialize in boots as a magician didn't make a lot of sense to me, and in the present day they seem a little "too" focused on boot magic to the point where they seem one-dimensional.
I also don't love how the plot seems to be stooping down to Jordyn's magic level, rather than maybe challenging them to find new uses for their magic.
Still an okay read- at least worth forming your own opinions about.
The main character, Jordyn, feels very unrealistic- their backstory reasons for wanting to specialize in boots as a magician didn't make a lot of sense to me, and in the present day they seem a little "too" focused on boot magic to the point where they seem one-dimensional.
I also don't love how the plot seems to be stooping down to Jordyn's magic level, rather than maybe challenging them to find new uses for their magic.
Still an okay read- at least worth forming your own opinions about.
July 30, 2023
"The Boot Mage" by Darren Askins was a surprise and a pleasure. I didn't know what to expect with a tale about magical shoes--beg pardon, boots--but I thought it might be fun. Askins writes with a self-reflective fondness reminiscent of "The Assassin's Apprentice." The storyteller MC recalls their most gigantic adventure that lead them to their most gigantic claim, that they are truly The Boot Mage and not just your regular leather-licking, wood-shaving shoe peddler. This story is fun, occasionally funny, and entirely entertaining.
September 18, 2023
I was excited about this one because of some glowing reviews on Instagram and the intriguing cover art. But there were red flags by the first few pages. Beside the typos, grammar hiccups, and mechanical errors, I couldn't figure out the voice, even though it was first person narration. Something about it seemed off and forced. Then 30% of the way into the book it came out. A new character encounters the main character, then immediately refers to the main character in the third person plural to a third party. The end.
March 11, 2023
The Boot Mage: A Tale of Shoecraft and Sorcery by Darrin Askins The title doesn’t exactly scream “read me” but it is certainly intriguing. A quick easy read, this book is a change of pace and could easily be a well-known fairy tale if it was well known. Even though not my normal reading material, I did enjoy it and think you might too. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
January 3, 2023
It is rare that someone can create a fairy tale that is completely new and yet has the flavour of classics like "The Elves and the Shoemaker". This author did so, and I recommend this to any parent who wants to introduce their youngster to fairytales and fantasies.
I received an ARC from the author and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received an ARC from the author and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
March 5, 2023
This was a fun little book. The title is not misleading - it is about a woman that uses magic to make boots. It was a unique story that introduced some really interesting environments, but left me wanting more. This is a world that could use more meandering through.
April 4, 2023
A short but fun tale that dives into craft and adventure as much as magic. There are many hints at a more richly developed world and for its length sees a surprising diversity in it. Well worth the read to sit with the boot mage for a few hours and fall into the world of shoemaking.
January 19, 2023
Great
This is a very well written fable.
This is a very well written fable.
March 13, 2023
Well that was a delight to read!
May 3, 2023
Nice to read a tale the life of an enchanting shoe mage
May 30, 2024
4.5. I really enjoyed this honestly. The magic system could use a touch more explaining but it was cool and very whimsical so i dont mind
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews