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A Mage of None Magic
2010 Darrell Award winner for Best Novel
276 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 2009
1 person is currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Aaron Christopher Drown
8 books48 followersAaron Christopher Drown is a Maine native who’s lived all over, and whose stories have appeared in equally numerous magazines and anthologies. His debut novel, A Mage of None Magic, won the Darrell Award for Best Novel, and as he’s promised his publisher for years, the follow-up will be ready soon. His collection of short stories, titled The Gods Must Clearly Smile, received the 2022 BIBA along with the 2023 Imadjinn Award. An award-winning graphic designer as well, Aaron is a frequent guest speaker who enjoys discussing not only the writing process but the important role branding and presentation play in promoting an author’s work. Aaron resides in Washington state with his wife, Sarah, their dog and cat, and his trusty Macbook, Sancho.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 20, 2009
A Mage of None Magic: The Heart of the Sisters, Book One.
A. Christopher Drown
Tyrannosaurus Press, 2009
274 pgs.
ISBN: 9780971881976
Review by Charles Gramlich
A Mage of None Magic begins with a short history lesson. A thousand years earlier than the time of our immediate story, a wizard prodigy enrolled at the College of Magic and Conjuring Arts—think Lord Voldemort rather than Harry Potter—and as his abilities grew so did his arrogance and his search for forbidden magic. His name was Uhniethi, and he became the dark lord of the land, raining destruction on those who resisted him before disappearing into the unknown.
As the modern story opens, an unsuspecting nineteen-year-old wizard’s apprentice named Niel has taken a side trip to see the ocean before enrolling at the same College. A chance encounter and a sequence of bad luck throw Niel in with a group of adventurers looking for a magician to aid them in their search for an ancient ruin. Soon, Niel’s plans for his future are derailed and he finds himself an unwitting pawn in a thousand-year-old game.
A Mage of None Magic is “High Fantasy,” much more in the tradition of J.R.R. Tolkien than Robert E. Howard, and in keeping with good high fantasy there is a rich mythology upon which Drown has built his story. A key element of that mythology is the “Heart of the Sisters,” a massive gem which can amplify magical ability. Some fragments of the gem are scattered about the world and are eagerly sought by certain mages, usually the more unscrupulous ones. There is, of course, a psychic and psychological cost to using those fragments.
Niel is given a large fragment of the Heart and finds out that he is a key player in the struggle to “Heal the Heart,” which means to restore the gem to its original complete state. If that happens, the world will change forever.
The strengths of Drown’s book are many. First, the writing is quite good, with some genuine moments of poetry. Second, the created mythology and the invented world are rich enough to carry the current story and to provide fertile ground for future volumes in what is meant to be a series. Third, the high fantasy elements are well done without being too predictable. There are no elves, dwarfs or dragons, for example. Forth, Drown is adept at mixing humor into his story without letting it take over or detract from what is primarily a serious tale. Fifth, the key supporting characters are well differentiated with interesting back stories
There are also a couple of things I didn’t think worked quite as well. The hard-bitten adventurers who recruit Niel into their group soon offer him their friendship and loyalty as he becomes more involved with the search for the Heart. Although Niel is certainly a likable character, I didn’t think he did enough early in the book to create that loyalty and friendship. In other words, the adventurers acted out of character in this sense.
I would also have liked to see more of the world that Niel moves through. Generally, Drown does a good job creating the human-made environments in his world, such as the College itself and the various towns that our heroes visit, but except for the forest of the Galiiantha I didn’t get a strong feel for the natural world. This may be a matter of taste, of course.
Overall, A Mage of None Magic, gathered a lot of steam as the story moved along and the conflict at the heart of the tale is big enough and interesting enough to leave me looking forward to the next book in the series. It’s definitely a fine first novel.
A. Christopher Drown
Tyrannosaurus Press, 2009
274 pgs.
ISBN: 9780971881976
Review by Charles Gramlich
A Mage of None Magic begins with a short history lesson. A thousand years earlier than the time of our immediate story, a wizard prodigy enrolled at the College of Magic and Conjuring Arts—think Lord Voldemort rather than Harry Potter—and as his abilities grew so did his arrogance and his search for forbidden magic. His name was Uhniethi, and he became the dark lord of the land, raining destruction on those who resisted him before disappearing into the unknown.
As the modern story opens, an unsuspecting nineteen-year-old wizard’s apprentice named Niel has taken a side trip to see the ocean before enrolling at the same College. A chance encounter and a sequence of bad luck throw Niel in with a group of adventurers looking for a magician to aid them in their search for an ancient ruin. Soon, Niel’s plans for his future are derailed and he finds himself an unwitting pawn in a thousand-year-old game.
A Mage of None Magic is “High Fantasy,” much more in the tradition of J.R.R. Tolkien than Robert E. Howard, and in keeping with good high fantasy there is a rich mythology upon which Drown has built his story. A key element of that mythology is the “Heart of the Sisters,” a massive gem which can amplify magical ability. Some fragments of the gem are scattered about the world and are eagerly sought by certain mages, usually the more unscrupulous ones. There is, of course, a psychic and psychological cost to using those fragments.
Niel is given a large fragment of the Heart and finds out that he is a key player in the struggle to “Heal the Heart,” which means to restore the gem to its original complete state. If that happens, the world will change forever.
The strengths of Drown’s book are many. First, the writing is quite good, with some genuine moments of poetry. Second, the created mythology and the invented world are rich enough to carry the current story and to provide fertile ground for future volumes in what is meant to be a series. Third, the high fantasy elements are well done without being too predictable. There are no elves, dwarfs or dragons, for example. Forth, Drown is adept at mixing humor into his story without letting it take over or detract from what is primarily a serious tale. Fifth, the key supporting characters are well differentiated with interesting back stories
There are also a couple of things I didn’t think worked quite as well. The hard-bitten adventurers who recruit Niel into their group soon offer him their friendship and loyalty as he becomes more involved with the search for the Heart. Although Niel is certainly a likable character, I didn’t think he did enough early in the book to create that loyalty and friendship. In other words, the adventurers acted out of character in this sense.
I would also have liked to see more of the world that Niel moves through. Generally, Drown does a good job creating the human-made environments in his world, such as the College itself and the various towns that our heroes visit, but except for the forest of the Galiiantha I didn’t get a strong feel for the natural world. This may be a matter of taste, of course.
Overall, A Mage of None Magic, gathered a lot of steam as the story moved along and the conflict at the heart of the tale is big enough and interesting enough to leave me looking forward to the next book in the series. It’s definitely a fine first novel.
June 19, 2009
I have had the pleasure of reading other, shorter works by this author, and I'm happy to say that his first novel length work is quite a competent effort.
I've read a fair bit of fantasy, and any initial piece of writing in a fantasy world has a couple of tremendous disdavantages to overcome. The first is that it has to establish an entire world for the reader, without reading like a textbook. Long passages of dry exposition, family trees and history are poison to fantasy novels, and Drown succeeds in setting up his world efficiently and almost subversively. Aside from a few clunky but necessary passages about how or why things work the way they do in his world, he uses the flow of the narrative and characterization to explain the mechanics of the speculative reality he has created. His economy is much appreciated and vital, given the relative briefness of the book.
The second problem that a lot of fantasy has are the somewhat stale nature of the characters and journeys that the characters take. Drown's protagonist, Niel, seemingly suffers from the "chosen one" syndrome that a lot of main characters suffer from. However, Drown has used your expectations against you in a clever way. Niel's journey, and his discoveries, point in one clear direction, until a single truth he uncovers turns everything on its ear, and sets the stage for a character driven, high fantasy tale in the books to follow.
Predestination is used simply as stage dressing, despite the level of immersion that the characters have in it, and like any good magician, Drown keeps you distracted by that predestination fire while he slips a unique and intriging story under your eyes without you even noticing.
The weakest part of the book in my opinion are the supporting characters. I spoke above of the staleness of a lot of fantasy these days, and Niel's supporting cast suffer from that, however with such a limited amount of time to develop them, Drown succeeds in making them different enough from each other that by the end of the book, I was able to guess at their responses and actions. As it is intended to be a series, I have no qualms in placing my trust in Drown to fill out these additional characters in future books.
I think Mage of None Magic is a worthy opening chapter into what I hope will be a long and regulalry published series of novels.
I've read a fair bit of fantasy, and any initial piece of writing in a fantasy world has a couple of tremendous disdavantages to overcome. The first is that it has to establish an entire world for the reader, without reading like a textbook. Long passages of dry exposition, family trees and history are poison to fantasy novels, and Drown succeeds in setting up his world efficiently and almost subversively. Aside from a few clunky but necessary passages about how or why things work the way they do in his world, he uses the flow of the narrative and characterization to explain the mechanics of the speculative reality he has created. His economy is much appreciated and vital, given the relative briefness of the book.
The second problem that a lot of fantasy has are the somewhat stale nature of the characters and journeys that the characters take. Drown's protagonist, Niel, seemingly suffers from the "chosen one" syndrome that a lot of main characters suffer from. However, Drown has used your expectations against you in a clever way. Niel's journey, and his discoveries, point in one clear direction, until a single truth he uncovers turns everything on its ear, and sets the stage for a character driven, high fantasy tale in the books to follow.
Predestination is used simply as stage dressing, despite the level of immersion that the characters have in it, and like any good magician, Drown keeps you distracted by that predestination fire while he slips a unique and intriging story under your eyes without you even noticing.
The weakest part of the book in my opinion are the supporting characters. I spoke above of the staleness of a lot of fantasy these days, and Niel's supporting cast suffer from that, however with such a limited amount of time to develop them, Drown succeeds in making them different enough from each other that by the end of the book, I was able to guess at their responses and actions. As it is intended to be a series, I have no qualms in placing my trust in Drown to fill out these additional characters in future books.
I think Mage of None Magic is a worthy opening chapter into what I hope will be a long and regulalry published series of novels.
January 23, 2022
Read this (or maybe only a part of it) long ago, and only seem to remember being annoyed at how often it is stressed that our hero has NO MAGIC AT ALL, which got old really quickly and I think got me to stop reading way too early in the book to rate it fairly. Still, dnf.
April 3, 2019
I loved this book so mucth! It has everything: goocd, tightly reasoned plot, well developed characters, excellent dialogue and no padding. When may
August 3, 2023
This was an amazing read.
I enjoyed the gradual descent into madness by Ennalen. I loved watching Neil learn to trust his own instincts.
I enjoyed the gradual descent into madness by Ennalen. I loved watching Neil learn to trust his own instincts.
November 21, 2009
An Interesting Read
First of all, this book was a little different from what I thought it was going to be. The cover implied more of a young adult fantasy and what I got was more of an adult fantasy. So, I was unprepared for what happened to Anese, Ennalen, and Cally as well as what Uhnieithi unleashed on his enemies.
I’m torn because I wanted this book to be longer (~350+ pages) and still end at the same point in the story, yet I thought the beginning half of the book was really slow. Even though it covered a lot of stories, it didn’t explain why Ennalen was the way she was. Why she had so much ambition and hatred. What made her that way? To some degree, I could understand her hatred, but I still have no idea where her ambition comes from. Also, it didn’t give other secondary characters much depth. The second half of the book was very interesting with some unique twist to the savior/messiah story line along with predestination, etc. It was so interesting that I couldn’t put it down, but at the end, I felt slightly let down by the ending. When Ennalen and Niel were confronting each other, it ended too quickly. Maybe too conveniently…. Niel didn’t ask Uhnieithi enough questions. If he had been too scared to ask questions, it didn’t come through. The last two pages of the book didn’t work for me. I didn’t understand what the author was trying to set up.
Throughout the book, I was often wondering whose story I was reading – Niel’s or Ennalen’s. I wish there were clear transitions between two intertwining stories.
What I like…
Niel. I cared about Niel and his friends. I liked Arwin and I hope he gets his inheritance back.
The second half of the book with a unique twist.
I do care about Niel’s world. I hope he or someone else will be able to save it from annihilation.
Uhnieithi. He is an enigma to me. I’m not convinced that he’s completely evil. In the beginning, he was exacting revenge from those who killed Anese in a horrific manner.
Would I recommend this book to others? Yes, with some reservation (due to slow start). Would I read the 2nd book in the series? Yes, but I’m not sure if I’ll read on if it starts off slow like this one.
First of all, this book was a little different from what I thought it was going to be. The cover implied more of a young adult fantasy and what I got was more of an adult fantasy. So, I was unprepared for what happened to Anese, Ennalen, and Cally as well as what Uhnieithi unleashed on his enemies.
I’m torn because I wanted this book to be longer (~350+ pages) and still end at the same point in the story, yet I thought the beginning half of the book was really slow. Even though it covered a lot of stories, it didn’t explain why Ennalen was the way she was. Why she had so much ambition and hatred. What made her that way? To some degree, I could understand her hatred, but I still have no idea where her ambition comes from. Also, it didn’t give other secondary characters much depth. The second half of the book was very interesting with some unique twist to the savior/messiah story line along with predestination, etc. It was so interesting that I couldn’t put it down, but at the end, I felt slightly let down by the ending. When Ennalen and Niel were confronting each other, it ended too quickly. Maybe too conveniently…. Niel didn’t ask Uhnieithi enough questions. If he had been too scared to ask questions, it didn’t come through. The last two pages of the book didn’t work for me. I didn’t understand what the author was trying to set up.
Throughout the book, I was often wondering whose story I was reading – Niel’s or Ennalen’s. I wish there were clear transitions between two intertwining stories.
What I like…
Niel. I cared about Niel and his friends. I liked Arwin and I hope he gets his inheritance back.
The second half of the book with a unique twist.
I do care about Niel’s world. I hope he or someone else will be able to save it from annihilation.
Uhnieithi. He is an enigma to me. I’m not convinced that he’s completely evil. In the beginning, he was exacting revenge from those who killed Anese in a horrific manner.
Would I recommend this book to others? Yes, with some reservation (due to slow start). Would I read the 2nd book in the series? Yes, but I’m not sure if I’ll read on if it starts off slow like this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2010
In the first book of the Heart of the Sisters series, A. Christopher Drown sets the stage for your ordinary fantasy novel with an apprentice magician – Niel – while traveling, finds himself caught up in a quest with an unusual group of people who think he’s much greater and stronger than he appears to be, but Niel soon learns that he has more of a role to play in this world.
There are two facets that separate A Mage of None Magic from an ordinary fantasy novel that would be easily forgotten. One is that Drown does a good job of not just world-building, but also creating a mythology that echoes the Greeks and Romans that ties in with how this world was created, but also with how this mythology is still alive today and believed by many. The other is voice; Drown has a great, entertaining, and interesting voice in this book that will keep the reader reading and wanting more.
For more book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to BookBanter.
There are two facets that separate A Mage of None Magic from an ordinary fantasy novel that would be easily forgotten. One is that Drown does a good job of not just world-building, but also creating a mythology that echoes the Greeks and Romans that ties in with how this world was created, but also with how this mythology is still alive today and believed by many. The other is voice; Drown has a great, entertaining, and interesting voice in this book that will keep the reader reading and wanting more.
For more book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to BookBanter.
October 6, 2016
Set in a world of magic and mystery, Christpher Drown’s A Mage Of None Magic is a tale of powerful deeds and misdeeds built onto a well-timed and well-told creation mythology. Two threads intertwine in this story, one of apprentice Neil seeking to save the world, and the other of a mythically powerful Uhniethl bent destroying it in the past. But good and evil are no simple concepts in this novel, and the characters aren’t simple either, as the author reveals with perfectly timed surprises.
A Mage of None Magic is a long story, complete enough in itself but clearly the beginning of more. The world-building has a nice blend of natural and fantastic, allowing the reader to see through its characters’ eyes. And the myth-building is pleasingly intriguing. I’d certainly love to read more.
Disclosure: I was given an ecopy and I offer my honest review.
A Mage of None Magic is a long story, complete enough in itself but clearly the beginning of more. The world-building has a nice blend of natural and fantastic, allowing the reader to see through its characters’ eyes. And the myth-building is pleasingly intriguing. I’d certainly love to read more.
Disclosure: I was given an ecopy and I offer my honest review.
August 19, 2012
Written with vivid imagery Drown evokes the senses as he builds a fantastical world where magic is real and steeped in mythos. The hero of the story is a young man; likable and with simple desires. Yet, he finds himself caught up in events beyond his control. More than a simple coming of age type of epic, it delves deeper. Neil finds strength and courage in himself and keeps going with a steadfast determination, despite his initial belief that he knows little of any worth. Beautifully crafted, the prose paint pictures worthy of cinematic splendor. The humor works in perfect counterpoint to the increasing tension as the story builds to climax. The end leaves the reader wanting to find out what happens next. I highly recommend this book and hope to see the sequel soon.
May 30, 2013
When I read A Mage of None Magic, I was transported to a fantasy world where I was again a young teen reading my favorite coming of age adventure novel. :) I was completely smitten with the world and the plot, and, for the first time in years, I read in every free moment I had.
A Mage of None Magic is rich and engaging, and crafted with a skilled and deft wit and restraint. I can't wait to read the next one.
A Mage of None Magic is rich and engaging, and crafted with a skilled and deft wit and restraint. I can't wait to read the next one.
April 21, 2014
An enjoyable fantasy novel. I really like the writing style and voice he uses. I also like the idea of an unsure, unconfident hero.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews