Book Review: Mage Breaker – New Release from Sean R. Frazier
First came the magic. Then came the aliens.
Ellyne is the Golden Gunslinger. A veteran of wars. A historic, almost mythical figure and a hero. And she’s so sick of it all.
All she wants to do is hide away. To go by her days, unknown and unnoticed, drinking in Victor’s pub and trying to forget it all. She almost succeeds as well, managing to tuck herself away in Karnascus’s underbelly. Until a weapon suddenly appears in her apartment.
A weapon named Nicole.
Mage Breaker is an urban science fiction/fantasy novel that is equal parts cozy friendship adventure, badass magical action flick, and dark, conspiring mystery, and it’s all amazing. We’re pulled straight into it from the start when Nicole shows up in Ellyne’s apartment and Ellyne finds herself dragged back into a world of warring factions, magical aliens, and hitherto unknown conspiracies and plots. A world she wants to forget.
The relationships between Ellyne and Nicole is a complex and exciting one. It starts off as victim/protector type situation (unwillingly from Ellyne’s perspective, as you’ve probably gathered), before it evolves into a master/apprentice sort of vibe, and eventually: friendship. It’s awesome to see how the two characters play off each other, how they learn to like each other, and how it all comes together in the end.
Frazier’s writing is thrilling, captivating, and most of all, fun. I love the world building, the occasional drips of history, of what has happened before and why the world has come to be like it is, and I love the humor. There’s tons of cheeky dialogue between Nicole and Ellyne and even though it’s a serious book with plenty of hefty magical action, they find themselves in a lot of funny situations. If there’s anything I could highlight that drags the book down for me – and that’s a very personal if – it’s perhaps only that Ellyne and Nicole seem a bit too powerful at times. I’d love to see some higher stakes, where I didn’t expect Ellyne, The Golden Gunslinger, to be able to shoot herself out of a bad spot.
At the same time, a good showdown is always fun.
All in all, an exciting and magical book, that I can recommend to any urban science-fiction/fantasy fan. Several times while I read this I was reminded of the Buffy spin-off series, Angel, with Ellyne filling the role of the dark, brooding hero who’d rather be left alone, but somehow can’t help themselves standing up for the little guy, while also wanting to figure out what’s really going on in the dark corners of the city they used to love. If you liked that show (I absolutely loved it), I can promise you you’re going to enjoy this book, a lot.
Mage Bre aker is available for pre-order right now and you can pick it up here.
Have you read anything exciting this summer? Let me know in the comments.
Oh, and as always, if you’re into crime- and psychological thrillers, I’d love it if you checked out my books.
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