Raine Benares is a Sorceress Seeker of average ability until she comes into possession of an amulet that amplifies her powers-and her enemies.
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Dec 23, 2008
Angie
rated it: 
This series seems to be most often described as regular fantasy with a decidedly urban fantasy heroine, complete with charming (at times self deprecating) sense of humor. I would agree with this assessment. Raine's internal dialogue is very much in keeping with urban fantasy trends. She'll be the first one to tell you, she's one part disreputable imp, two parts defender of all that is good. And she can handle anything that comes her way.
And the excellent part is--all kinds of heinous More...
And the excellent part is--all kinds of heinous More...
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Jul 11, 2008
Ann
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jul 09, 2011
Summer
rated it: 
It's been a long time since I read a book that was straight fantasy. I've heard so many good things about this book and wasn't disappointed.
Raine, the main character, is an elf with average magical abilities who's current job is as a seeker. Meaning, she finds things that were stolen or lost. In 'Magic Lost, Trouble Found' Raine herself stumbles upon something that was once lost and is sought after by some very bad people. There is a race of goblins in this book, with some that are good a More...
Raine, the main character, is an elf with average magical abilities who's current job is as a seeker. Meaning, she finds things that were stolen or lost. In 'Magic Lost, Trouble Found' Raine herself stumbles upon something that was once lost and is sought after by some very bad people. There is a race of goblins in this book, with some that are good a More...
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May 07, 2011
Sofija
rated it: 
I don't know why I didn't like this book. It has everything I seek in good read. Writing was decent and understandable for me. The world building was fine too. I like Raine, she was quite pleasant character. There are romance and love triangle in the book. But apparently this wasn't enough. It just didn't hook me up.
I read all this great review, and the book rating is really high. So I just hoped, that it will be better soon, I just need to read another page, another chapter. On page 195 (i More...
I read all this great review, and the book rating is really high. So I just hoped, that it will be better soon, I just need to read another page, another chapter. On page 195 (i More...
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Dec 22, 2008
Debbie
rated it: 
The book contains technology that's appropriate for the 17th century, but the dialogue is completely modern (full of slang and clichés). While this isn't necessarily a problem since this is a light-hearted fantasy romp, there was just too much of it for me. I normally like heroines who make wise-cracks in the face of danger, but she was making wise-cracks on every page in the first thirty pages and at a very frequent rate after that. It was like watching a movie where several of the characters w
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Jun 23, 2010
Gina
rated it:
An excellent first novel to a new series!
I thought it was great! As a first book, you meet the characters - all of them. The ones to adore, the ones to hate... Raine is an excellent female character. Brave, strong, does what she has too despite how she feels about doing it. I can't wait to see what she gets herself into next.
The secondary characters all tie in with her in some way, and I like the diversity of them, whether friend, family, or a really hot guy. And I can't More...
I thought it was great! As a first book, you meet the characters - all of them. The ones to adore, the ones to hate... Raine is an excellent female character. Brave, strong, does what she has too despite how she feels about doing it. I can't wait to see what she gets herself into next.
The secondary characters all tie in with her in some way, and I like the diversity of them, whether friend, family, or a really hot guy. And I can't More...
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Aug 07, 2008
Roberta
rated it:
A good solid first effort. I must say I never thought I'd see a goblin characterized as good-looking, but Shearin has done so in a most yummy way.
Our heroine is an elven seeker--a person who uses magic to find lost things, and she goes to help a reformed thief friend who has decided to steal a powerful artifact.
Hijinks ensue, and she must go up against the goblin king and his shaman. In doing so, she gets help from her sexy goblin friend and a hot elven paladin.
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Our heroine is an elven seeker--a person who uses magic to find lost things, and she goes to help a reformed thief friend who has decided to steal a powerful artifact.
Hijinks ensue, and she must go up against the goblin king and his shaman. In doing so, she gets help from her sexy goblin friend and a hot elven paladin.
More...
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Aug 01, 2011
Mlle.
rated it:
Magic Lost, Trouble Found follows the adventures of Raine Benares, a Seeker (effectively a private detective) who, through a series of mishaps, ends up bonded to a very powerful and very evil magical stone called the Saghred. While the Saghred significantly improves her magical abilities, its power comes at a price: it eats souls, and it's hungry. Meanwhile, a couple of very powerful and very evil goblins are also hunting down the Saghred, people who would use the stone to level cities and destr
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Jul 20, 2011
Candace
rated it:
This book was really not as interesting as it professed itself to be. I was looking for something along the lines of Resenting the Hero — smart, interesting female first-person narrator who comments on all situations with a refreshing voice and sense of self, faces adventures with snarky sidekicks, and generally entertains the reader. What I got was a story with fewer strong characters and amusing situations than I had hoped for. Although the story did get better as it progressed, I felt like I
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Jun 18, 2011
Sheyla
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In the city of Mermeia, in the Kingdom of Brenir we found a royal family, the Mal'Salin with a new goblin King, Sathrik Mal'Salin and his exile brother, Chigaru Mal'Salin who is trying to steal the crown from the King.
In the middle of this power struggle we find Raine Benares, a seeker, who can find objects or people. She is an elf, a sorceress of moderate powers.From her mother's side the Benares family are known as smugglers or thieves, but her father's side remain a mystery for a while.
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In the middle of this power struggle we find Raine Benares, a seeker, who can find objects or people. She is an elf, a sorceress of moderate powers.From her mother's side the Benares family are known as smugglers or thieves, but her father's side remain a mystery for a while.
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Jun 15, 2011
Paradoxical
rated it:
A very solid book, Magic Lost, Trouble Found has a great cast of characters, and the main character, Raine, is especially a good heroine. Through a series of unfortunate events, Raine finds herself as the bearer of an amulet of untold power. Too bad for her that two different sides of a goblin conflict want it, not to mention the Guardians (magic warriors), and she literally can't take the amulet off. Not without possibly killing herself. She's not alone though, there's her family (a bunch of lo
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(2 people liked it)
May 29, 2011
Lisa
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I started reading this book and at first had a hard time getting into it. Perhaps this is because this is a first book in a series, and so the author had to do some work in establishing the cast of characters and their relationship to and with each other. The author also had to establish a fantasy world that is not like our own, meaning, this series doesn't take place in an alternate London or in Chicago, a place on the map we are familiar with. Rather, this series will take place in a fantas
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Apr 04, 2011
Tracy
rated it:
Fascinating World and Characters
For Raine Benares, standing around in a stinking alley isn't the least she would do to watch the back of her friend Quentin Rand as he gets himself into yet another scrape. As well intentioned as her Samaritan act is, by the end of the night, she's going to wish it had been less than the least. A sorceress elf with average Seeker abilities, Raine makes a living finding things. Doesn't matter if the 'thing' is animal, vegetable, or mineral, she can generally f More...
For Raine Benares, standing around in a stinking alley isn't the least she would do to watch the back of her friend Quentin Rand as he gets himself into yet another scrape. As well intentioned as her Samaritan act is, by the end of the night, she's going to wish it had been less than the least. A sorceress elf with average Seeker abilities, Raine makes a living finding things. Doesn't matter if the 'thing' is animal, vegetable, or mineral, she can generally f More...
Jan 11, 2011
Ithlilian
rated it:
This book reminded me a bit of The Magician's Guild by Trudy Canavan at the beginning. There were swashbuckling characters stealing an object from a necromancer, goblin attacks, and some political intrigue. The main character seemed intelligent and the magic was presented nicely. All of that got me really excited about the book, then it fell apart. There wasn't much of a plot since the amulet was stolen within the first few pages. We found out the properties of the amulet shortly after that. Tha
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Jan 08, 2011
Sueij
rated it:
This is the author's first novel, and I need to check out later ones to see if there's improvement, because I think she has a *lot* of potential.
But about this novel: Small, spunky blond girl-elf turns out to be much tougher than anyone expects. Oh, please.
This is an excellent draft. Now where's an editor?
The spunky girl elf is the first person narrator, and it occurred to me early on that if I met this chick at a party and she babbled on about family and history an More...
But about this novel: Small, spunky blond girl-elf turns out to be much tougher than anyone expects. Oh, please.
This is an excellent draft. Now where's an editor?
The spunky girl elf is the first person narrator, and it occurred to me early on that if I met this chick at a party and she babbled on about family and history an More...
Dec 30, 2010
Karissa
rated it:
I am going to be honest, I am not sure I should even be writing a review for this since I only got 70 pages into the book...but I guess that says something about the book, right? I was excited to read this book; it was supposed to be a fantasy with an urban fantasy flavor to it and sounded right up my alley...well it wasn't.
The book drops you right into the middle of the action, but I just couldn't get into it. The action scenes weren't all that well done. The characters did not int More...
The book drops you right into the middle of the action, but I just couldn't get into it. The action scenes weren't all that well done. The characters did not int More...
Aug 26, 2010
Mark
rated it:
I liked this book.
I didn't think I would, and that was because I did indeed fall into the trap of judging a book by its cover - which I seriously dislike, and the font makes me think it's a comedy a la Discworld, from which I run screaming (not Discworld so much but comedic fantasy in general).
In any case I was pleasantly surprised.
The worldbuilding is really good - anyone who can paint a picture so vividly and with so many layers in the readers head in such short a More...
I didn't think I would, and that was because I did indeed fall into the trap of judging a book by its cover - which I seriously dislike, and the font makes me think it's a comedy a la Discworld, from which I run screaming (not Discworld so much but comedic fantasy in general).
In any case I was pleasantly surprised.
The worldbuilding is really good - anyone who can paint a picture so vividly and with so many layers in the readers head in such short a More...
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Jul 29, 2009
Vickie
rated it:
It apparently has been a little while since I've read fantasy of such intricate world-building. It took me a little while to get into the story as I first had to get used to the world of Mermeia where Raine and her cohorts and family live. The names of the characters gave me the most difficulty...once I got used to how they sounded out in my cranium, I was fine and the story moved along like gang-busters.
Raine is my type of lead character. She has some flaws, but ultimately she has common More...
Raine is my type of lead character. She has some flaws, but ultimately she has common More...
May 15, 2011
Kate
rated it:
All I can say is: This is a strange book.
First of all, it's printed in very little letters, smetimes too little, because there are so many strange Names and names for things that I think in a little bit bigger letters would have been better to read/understand.
Second: I think there were too many characters involved. Some characters could have just needed a description of their work or stuff, and not so long ames. I really don'T look clearly through which goblin is with which king/prince More...
First of all, it's printed in very little letters, smetimes too little, because there are so many strange Names and names for things that I think in a little bit bigger letters would have been better to read/understand.
Second: I think there were too many characters involved. Some characters could have just needed a description of their work or stuff, and not so long ames. I really don'T look clearly through which goblin is with which king/prince More...
Sep 16, 2010
Bird
rated it:
This is firmly in the OK category, as I don't have strong feelings for it either way. Case in point: I was able to put the book down for the night during the final, climactic scene. I was tired, so I just went to bed rather than finishing it. If I like a book, I'm willing to sacrifice some shut-eye because I know I'll have trouble falling asleep if I don't know what happens next. (Yes, dorky, I know.)
It felt like the book wished it was the cooler, hipper urban fantasy sister, rat More...
It felt like the book wished it was the cooler, hipper urban fantasy sister, rat More...
Oct 06, 2010
Couldn't finish this book. I tried really hard to, but couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters. I made it somewhere between 50-100 pages and kept meaning to come back to it, but there are too many other books out there I want to read; I don't want to waste my time forcing myself to turn the pages of Magic Lost. Doesn't mean it's a bad book. It just didn't hook me at all.
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Jan 17, 2012
Jennifer
rated it:
A solid start. The storyline was interesting, yet slightly predictable in parts. A great deal of time was spent on world-building, and describing the various parts of Mermeia. I enjoyed meeting the characters and am hooked enough to read the next book, in order to get to know them better.
I grew to like Raine Benares as the main character. She has flaws, which is important for growth to take place in books to follow. In my humble opinion, there is a fine line between being strong in chara More...
I grew to like Raine Benares as the main character. She has flaws, which is important for growth to take place in books to follow. In my humble opinion, there is a fine line between being strong in chara More...
Jul 26, 2011
Candace
rated it:
Magic Lost, Trouble Found is the beginning of what I think will be a delightful series! This is a fantasy series with elves, goblins and the such and takes place in a make believe city. Magic is the norm, though how you wield it can define you. This book had a different feel to me because although it's a definitely fantasy, it was kind of told in a way that reminded me of urban fantasy books. So if your an urban fantasy fan, and not such a pure fantasy fan, you may still enjoy this one.
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Apr 14, 2011
Cassie
rated it:
Raine is a seeker. She finds things but for once there are people searching for her. After her friend steals an amulet, Raine becomes its reluctant wearer. But this isn't any ordinary amulet. It gives her powers she has never had before and the strength of them frighten not only her but her friends. Even though she doesn't want it, she knows she must protect it from those that do - and that would use her and it or evil purposes. Together with an unlikely group of allies including a pirate, a you
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Jan 01, 2011
Yolanda
rated it:
This is a fantasy tale with a very strong heroine who has quite an attitude on her, too. Raine Benares is an elf in a place filled with necromancers, sorcerers, goblins, and a whole bunch of other races.
When she accidentally gets her hands on an amulet, her whole life is turned upside down. She has no idea what it is, but the amulet doesn't want to let her go. As the story moves along, she finds out more than she bargains for about herself. As well as getting into some pretty bleak s More...
When she accidentally gets her hands on an amulet, her whole life is turned upside down. She has no idea what it is, but the amulet doesn't want to let her go. As the story moves along, she finds out more than she bargains for about herself. As well as getting into some pretty bleak s More...
Jul 01, 2010
Kristen
rated it:
Think I found a new favorite series! :) (while I am waiting for other books to come out)
Seeker, Raine (30 yrs old - age helps with the romance in this book, as well as the character's experience/judgement - personal perk) is helping out a friend by keeping a necklace in safe keeping for him. Raine soon finds herself as the keeper of this powerful necklace and with magical abilities magnified whether she likes them or not.
To top it off, this necklace is the target for several powerfu More...
Seeker, Raine (30 yrs old - age helps with the romance in this book, as well as the character's experience/judgement - personal perk) is helping out a friend by keeping a necklace in safe keeping for him. Raine soon finds herself as the keeper of this powerful necklace and with magical abilities magnified whether she likes them or not.
To top it off, this necklace is the target for several powerfu More...
Jan 14, 2010
Sarah
rated it:
Very entertaining beginning to what looks to be a great fantasy series. I loved the protagonist, Raine, and her companions were just as intriguing. This book is definitely hard to put down. The plot is well put-together and the worldbuilding is perfectly balanced with the rest of the story and never bogs down the plot. This is definitely a series I am excited to continue reading.
I was disappointed that we didn't hear much from Quentin after the beginning of the story, it felt like t More...
I was disappointed that we didn't hear much from Quentin after the beginning of the story, it felt like t More...
May 09, 2009
Liz
rated it:
I loved this book, and I really enjoyed the trilogy as a whole. But, I'm sorry, goblins are not sexy. Never once throughout history have I found goblins sexy. I cringed inwardly every time the words "beautiful" or "sexy" were used to describe Tam and other goblin characters.
Raine is a really great character, a little immature for my tastes though. Piaras and the rest of Raine's family members are also well rounded and enjoyable characters. It was nice to find an More...
Raine is a really great character, a little immature for my tastes though. Piaras and the rest of Raine's family members are also well rounded and enjoyable characters. It was nice to find an More...
Dec 25, 2011
Purplepaperreader
rated it:
Magic Lost, Trouble Found introduces the world of Raine Benares, a low level sorceress who unwittingly becomes bound to a powerful and evil magical instrument who wants to use her for it's own evil purposes. The story is set in a quasi-medieval world where magic is the norm and magical and mystical creatures live along side one another.
I would give this book a solid 7, and I would say that this is actually my least favourite book in the series - it took me a good 40% of the book to More...
I would give this book a solid 7, and I would say that this is actually my least favourite book in the series - it took me a good 40% of the book to More...
Nov 26, 2008
Elizabeth
rated it:
Raine Benares, an elf and a Seeker, has enough trouble in her life without someone bringing more to her door, but when her friend and employee, Quentin, is hired to steal something from a powerful necromancer's house, she just can't let him handle the trouble alone.
The something that Quentin has been hired to steal is soon found to be more valuable and more important than either of them could ever have imagined. Before Quentin even escapes the necromancer's house, he finds himself w More...
The something that Quentin has been hired to steal is soon found to be more valuable and more important than either of them could ever have imagined. Before Quentin even escapes the necromancer's house, he finds himself w More...
