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The Mage's Servant
This book is currently out of print.
- GenresFantasy
247 pages, Paperback
First published October 4, 2011
5 people are currently reading
160 people want to read
About the author
P.B. Dillon
5 books5 followersP. B. Dillon is absolutely passionate about stories.
A professional writer since 1999, he has written millions of words in the form of articles, blog posts, user guides, press releases, case histories, technical documents and dozens of short stories, under several different names.
Before turning to writing, he worked in a number of ordinary jobs (he was a security guard, a shoe and handbag repairman, a call centre worker and a clerk in a store) and one that was more unusual: he was a street performer with an hour-long juggling and magic act, with a finale that included fire, an apple, a fork and a giraffe unicycle.
A professional writer since 1999, he has written millions of words in the form of articles, blog posts, user guides, press releases, case histories, technical documents and dozens of short stories, under several different names.
Before turning to writing, he worked in a number of ordinary jobs (he was a security guard, a shoe and handbag repairman, a call centre worker and a clerk in a store) and one that was more unusual: he was a street performer with an hour-long juggling and magic act, with a finale that included fire, an apple, a fork and a giraffe unicycle.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 18, 2016
got the book free from imgur.com....definitely worth a casual read..
December 23, 2015
strong in the middle. weak at the start and end
September 22, 2019
So I received this book a little while back from a friend and hadn't been able to get around to reading it until just a few days ago. Managed to finish it in two nights and probably could have finished it in just one day if not for other stuff going on in life. That is a function of both how short in terms of page length and also how quick a read it is. Given that, this is going to be a shorter review than usual probably because quite frankly there isn't too much for me to process with this one. It was a fun little quick rainy day read but quite frankly it just struck me as in a single word 'generic.' Like the kind of generic you see in a dollar store or the like. So anyway, I'll get into that in more detail. Like always, this review will be split up into sections of what I liked and didn't like.
What I Enjoyed:
Characters:
To be honest most of the characters were extremely standard issue: let's see the kindly old mentor, the kid hero, the sidekick with a dark secret and past, the maniacal villain, etc. Most of them were pretty conventional though well done for the most part. The most interesting character ironically was the villain Gothar. It's been a long time since I have seen just a completely insane psychotic manchild like that as a character in a story, he acts like he's entitled to great power, hurts and kills people for his own twisted amusement, throws literal tantrums when things don't go his way, and becomes completely unglued as the story goes on though that's implying he was ever sane in the first place. The characters weren't very original but were executed well enough.
The Emotion:
Despite the trope laden nature of the story there was sufficient emotional impact throughout it. You feel hurt seeing Willem's shock and horror when he sees his master die right in front of him as the one father figure he knew and complete disgust at Gothar's actions throughout the story. Sometimes the characters actions make you facepalm for one reason or another and other times you want to knock them senseless.
The Climax:
Once again fairly standard ending but I thought it was done well overall and wrapped up the journey well as the culmination of what happened throughout it.
Issues:
Cliche Storm:
My biggest gripe with the entire book, it just felt like it hit every single trope and cliche and played them with a totally straight face. Let's see the kindly mentor dies, the villain seeks for its own sake with no bigger goals in mind, demons, a quest for the one thing that can stop the villain, a fight with a dragon, close calls where everything just falls into place for the heroes, fairly cookie cutter characters, I can go on but I think you get the point. However, there is one part I enjoyed with some hilarious lampshading when Willem reads an introductory book on magic that just straight up admits 'we have no idea how magic works but it just does.' Got to respect the honesty there and pretty much tells you it's one of those soft magic settings where the characters come up with the right spells at just the exact moment needed.
Lack of Scale:
For a story that acted like it was a quest to save the world the whole thing just felt rather 'small' to me in a way, there's only ever one real town the characters go to which from the sounds of it was a small one, and there's not much in the way of a world really besides the mention of some of the animals of the world. I get that this was a short book but quite honestly I'm not sure this was the right kind of story to tell for this format. A world saving quest should be big and expansive that takes readers all over the land and see many strange and wonderful sights. At least in my mind that's the case.
Weird Formatting:
I got the special PDF for this book and there was a lot of strange distortion with the lettering. The font size and type were constantly changing throughout the book and it was a bit disorienting to be honest at times. Not enough to break the book but just struck me as a bit sloppy in some ways.
Prose:
The writing at times felt a bit choppy with the way sentences were structured. Sometimes something could have been more eloquently described in one sentence than the two or three that sometimes happened throughout the book. The writer does get in some clever wordplay and descriptions once in awhile but as a whole I wasn't feeling it too much.
Conclusion:
Overall, like I said at the start it's a nice little rainy day read if you have nothing else going on. I wouldn't pay money for a book like this but I'm not complaining since I got it for free. It just doesn't really stand out to me in the ocean of fantasy reading especially given some of the stuff I've read in the past. Perhaps a charming little introduction to fantasy for a young reader but that's about it I'd say.
What I Enjoyed:
Characters:
To be honest most of the characters were extremely standard issue: let's see the kindly old mentor, the kid hero, the sidekick with a dark secret and past, the maniacal villain, etc. Most of them were pretty conventional though well done for the most part. The most interesting character ironically was the villain Gothar. It's been a long time since I have seen just a completely insane psychotic manchild like that as a character in a story, he acts like he's entitled to great power, hurts and kills people for his own twisted amusement, throws literal tantrums when things don't go his way, and becomes completely unglued as the story goes on though that's implying he was ever sane in the first place. The characters weren't very original but were executed well enough.
The Emotion:
Despite the trope laden nature of the story there was sufficient emotional impact throughout it. You feel hurt seeing Willem's shock and horror when he sees his master die right in front of him as the one father figure he knew and complete disgust at Gothar's actions throughout the story. Sometimes the characters actions make you facepalm for one reason or another and other times you want to knock them senseless.
The Climax:
Once again fairly standard ending but I thought it was done well overall and wrapped up the journey well as the culmination of what happened throughout it.
Issues:
Cliche Storm:
My biggest gripe with the entire book, it just felt like it hit every single trope and cliche and played them with a totally straight face. Let's see the kindly mentor dies, the villain seeks for its own sake with no bigger goals in mind, demons, a quest for the one thing that can stop the villain, a fight with a dragon, close calls where everything just falls into place for the heroes, fairly cookie cutter characters, I can go on but I think you get the point. However, there is one part I enjoyed with some hilarious lampshading when Willem reads an introductory book on magic that just straight up admits 'we have no idea how magic works but it just does.' Got to respect the honesty there and pretty much tells you it's one of those soft magic settings where the characters come up with the right spells at just the exact moment needed.
Lack of Scale:
For a story that acted like it was a quest to save the world the whole thing just felt rather 'small' to me in a way, there's only ever one real town the characters go to which from the sounds of it was a small one, and there's not much in the way of a world really besides the mention of some of the animals of the world. I get that this was a short book but quite honestly I'm not sure this was the right kind of story to tell for this format. A world saving quest should be big and expansive that takes readers all over the land and see many strange and wonderful sights. At least in my mind that's the case.
Weird Formatting:
I got the special PDF for this book and there was a lot of strange distortion with the lettering. The font size and type were constantly changing throughout the book and it was a bit disorienting to be honest at times. Not enough to break the book but just struck me as a bit sloppy in some ways.
Prose:
The writing at times felt a bit choppy with the way sentences were structured. Sometimes something could have been more eloquently described in one sentence than the two or three that sometimes happened throughout the book. The writer does get in some clever wordplay and descriptions once in awhile but as a whole I wasn't feeling it too much.
Conclusion:
Overall, like I said at the start it's a nice little rainy day read if you have nothing else going on. I wouldn't pay money for a book like this but I'm not complaining since I got it for free. It just doesn't really stand out to me in the ocean of fantasy reading especially given some of the stuff I've read in the past. Perhaps a charming little introduction to fantasy for a young reader but that's about it I'd say.
April 17, 2022
This review was originally on Sara's Books and Things
I was wondering Imgur the other day and discovered the author was giving this book away for free. Being the type of person who can't turn down a free book I grabbed a copy, and I'm glad I did.
The characters are clever and well written, the way magic worked had a clever new twist, and the story was well written.
I loved Willem. He is so sweet, and has a big heart. Also he has a natural talent for magic and he and Ryder make a great team.
All in all great book, good for middle school readers to adults. It's a quick read and is well paced.
I received this book in exchange for my free and honest review.
I was wondering Imgur the other day and discovered the author was giving this book away for free. Being the type of person who can't turn down a free book I grabbed a copy, and I'm glad I did.
The characters are clever and well written, the way magic worked had a clever new twist, and the story was well written.
I loved Willem. He is so sweet, and has a big heart. Also he has a natural talent for magic and he and Ryder make a great team.
All in all great book, good for middle school readers to adults. It's a quick read and is well paced.
I received this book in exchange for my free and honest review.
July 5, 2022
I am not a big fan of fantasy, but I got this book when it was promoted on the web and decided to give it a try. I did enjoy it. Occasionally there were a few odd sentences that could be improved, but the author did a good job and feels like he is on his way to becoming a really good author. The story went in unexpected directions several times, which was good. I think it could have used a little more character development, but overall it was very good. It kept my interest and I am considering reading more by this author.
August 14, 2015
I picked up this novel through a successful giveaway om IMGUR, the author being a lovely chap wants to get the book out there for free. The story is pretty stock epic fantasy, the main character is a relative nobody who quickly finds themselves caught up in a magical battle which includes stupid demons, an attractive rogue and a couple of mentors.
The book is pretty fun and easy to process, great for kids, nothing particularly stood out to make me want to read more, and I would not have been happy if I'd paid for this piece.
The book is pretty fun and easy to process, great for kids, nothing particularly stood out to make me want to read more, and I would not have been happy if I'd paid for this piece.
June 26, 2015
Amazing fantasy. Great character development. Very clear that the author had done research about different real character types and molded the characters accordingly. Nothing too fancy or unbelievable (I know that it's a fantasy). Easy to read and understand. Finished in a couple of hours. Best for new folks.
http://phillipbdillon.com/giveaway/st...
http://phillipbdillon.com/giveaway/st...
June 24, 2016
It is an ok fantasy book. Some parts were real page turners, especially the battles and the middle of the book. The beginning and the end were very predictable and cliche. However, a younger audience would enjoy it more.
July 2, 2015
A lovely children's fantasy, well-written and engaging. The monsters are evil, the heroes very human, and the magic credibly simple. Was a pleasure to read.
November 23, 2018
Awesome
Kept me in suspense. Unbelievable ending. Everyone should read this book. Great read! The characters really come alive in this book
Kept me in suspense. Unbelievable ending. Everyone should read this book. Great read! The characters really come alive in this book
July 6, 2015
Engaging, great characters, fun illustrations. Really enjoyed this
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews