What do you think?
Rate this book
The Academy Journals #2
The Mindmage's Wrath: A Book of Underrealm
A murder in the Academy reveals a darkness growing upon the Seat. Ebon has survived the attack upon the High King's Seat, and now the Academy struggles to piece itself together in the midst of civil war. Now a quiet urgency hangs over all the lessons taught within the citadel; every student knows the spells they learn now may one day save their lives from the enemies of the King. Then an instructor is found dead in the Academy's halls their throat slit by an unknown assassin. Panic creeps in, while Ebon and his friends hear of thefts from the Academy's vaults. Artifacts of incredible power are disappearing one by one, and are clearly connected to the murder. Theren thinks she knows who the thief is, but cannot prove it. And so Ebon and his friends must reveal the identity of the murderer, before they strike again. This gripping tale of mystery and magic reveals a new, darker side of Underrealm. Start reading now unless you plan on sleeping any time soon.
454 pages, Hardcover
Published June 30, 2017
154 people are currently reading
349 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
September 26, 2020
The Mindmage’s Wrath is the next entry in Garret Robinson’s ever-expanding Underrealm saga. Book 2 of The Academy Journals is, chronologically, book 7 of Underrealm, and once again, we see new depths of the world he’s built for his readers.
After the attack on the High Seat, Ebon and his friends return to school. But he and his friends there’s yet more danger lurking at the Academy when a teacher is found dead. The trio has several clues about who is responsible, but no one would believe their outlandish theory—especially not their new Dean who seems to have it out for Ebon because of his family ties. Fearing for the lives of their classmates, Ebon, Theran, and Kalem, attempt an investigation themselves, and it leads them to dark places and powerful magic they’re unprepared to face.
Like the first book, The Alchemist’s Touch, we have another fantasy bordering school adventure that’s perfect for readers who loved Harry Potter but wouldn’t mind a few more books with a similar direction but with a decidedly darker tone.
I left the first book wanting more out of the story—more wonder. Here, we get a step more of that element, but a large plate full of dark mystery and gritty suspense. In my mind, I imagine this story to be a YA fantasy, but the story pushes the boundary of what I thought could be done in a YA book. Though I will admit, I don’t read a lot of YA, so I could be mistaken.
The Dean is a familiar face if you’ve read the Nightblade saga, but that familiarity draws us back to the darker periods with this character, positioning him in a similar position as a “Profession Snape” archetype. This brings a fair bit of sympathy for the characters and complicates their ability to solve the murder mystery and save the school from the threats of outside forces.
The climax of the novel leads our heroes down a much darker path than you might expect. That makes me excited to see how far down into the void Robinson will take his readers.
I recommend this story to anyone who loves the magic school setup in high fantasy stories. If you’re a Harry Potter fan and you’d love to try a story with a similar vibe to the second half of the series, I’d grab it!
*Full Disclosure — I work for the publisher, but I wasn't paid to review this book. While this is an honest review, I was involved in the production of the audiobooks of other books in this series, and I receive a small royalty for purchases of those audiobook versions.*
After the attack on the High Seat, Ebon and his friends return to school. But he and his friends there’s yet more danger lurking at the Academy when a teacher is found dead. The trio has several clues about who is responsible, but no one would believe their outlandish theory—especially not their new Dean who seems to have it out for Ebon because of his family ties. Fearing for the lives of their classmates, Ebon, Theran, and Kalem, attempt an investigation themselves, and it leads them to dark places and powerful magic they’re unprepared to face.
Like the first book, The Alchemist’s Touch, we have another fantasy bordering school adventure that’s perfect for readers who loved Harry Potter but wouldn’t mind a few more books with a similar direction but with a decidedly darker tone.
I left the first book wanting more out of the story—more wonder. Here, we get a step more of that element, but a large plate full of dark mystery and gritty suspense. In my mind, I imagine this story to be a YA fantasy, but the story pushes the boundary of what I thought could be done in a YA book. Though I will admit, I don’t read a lot of YA, so I could be mistaken.
The Dean is a familiar face if you’ve read the Nightblade saga, but that familiarity draws us back to the darker periods with this character, positioning him in a similar position as a “Profession Snape” archetype. This brings a fair bit of sympathy for the characters and complicates their ability to solve the murder mystery and save the school from the threats of outside forces.
The climax of the novel leads our heroes down a much darker path than you might expect. That makes me excited to see how far down into the void Robinson will take his readers.
I recommend this story to anyone who loves the magic school setup in high fantasy stories. If you’re a Harry Potter fan and you’d love to try a story with a similar vibe to the second half of the series, I’d grab it!
*Full Disclosure — I work for the publisher, but I wasn't paid to review this book. While this is an honest review, I was involved in the production of the audiobooks of other books in this series, and I receive a small royalty for purchases of those audiobook versions.*
January 28, 2019
The plot was engaging and travelled along at a good pace. There is a LOT of death in this book, including very young characters, so avoid it if that will be triggering for you. My biggest complaint was the way Perrin was described. Every. Single. Time she comes up, the first 50 sentences about her make a point of how big she is. The author's decision to make a trans woman's defining characteristic her unusually large size really rubbed me the wrong way. It's fine to write large trans women - they certainly exist - but to make that her defining, almost ONLY characteristic was a bit insensitive. Beyond that, it's just bad writing. I could not tell you a single other characteristic of Perrin's. I don't know her skin, eye, or hair color and I have no real feel for her personality. Other traits were probably mentioned but they were drowned out by the incredibly repetitive chorus of "she's really big."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 4, 2023
4.1 stars rounded down. I really enjoyed how much more complicated and involved the plot was able to get in this book. The more that I learned about the magic system as more villains came into play, more truths were spilled, more bonds were formed, and some bonds cracked the more into the story I was able to get into the book. More types and levels of magic were to be found in this book as were magical artifacts as the school tries to heal itself from attacks and murders while Ebon and his crew tried to find out the killer of which Theren was sure that she knew the identity. There were two things that I wish could have been fixed in this book, the absolute slighting and basically no screen time of Astrea and how annoying Theren could be about her absolute and undying hatred of the rich. I also found the new headmaster to be so unbearingly annoying with what seems to be almost no reason behind his actions.
January 17, 2021
Bad Version of Harry Potter
The storyline very much follows the Harry Potter stories, but that’s forgivable as the characters are OK… Real problem is the main character doesn’t really develop, he’s essentially a 17-year-old noble, has seen all sorts of horrible things, has been missed treated and read history but he still act like a wuss...And there’s one scene near the end where are you essentially find someone who’s been chopping the heads of small babies… Someone is going to take the character out, but he stops them so the character can escape and going to kill more babies… Because he seen too much killing Makes it hard to take them seriously as a character after that
The storyline very much follows the Harry Potter stories, but that’s forgivable as the characters are OK… Real problem is the main character doesn’t really develop, he’s essentially a 17-year-old noble, has seen all sorts of horrible things, has been missed treated and read history but he still act like a wuss...And there’s one scene near the end where are you essentially find someone who’s been chopping the heads of small babies… Someone is going to take the character out, but he stops them so the character can escape and going to kill more babies… Because he seen too much killing Makes it hard to take them seriously as a character after that
August 15, 2017
The second book in Garrett Robinson's Academy Journals series. Well written with captivating characters and a story line that will continue to grow in the third book. If the Nightblade series can be compared favorably to The Lord of the Rings, then this series could go beyond. The story continues from the first book and builds like a runaway locomotive to its cliffhanger conclusion. No spoilers here though, I highly recommend you to buy the book and prepare yourself for a journey into a well-woven world!
March 12, 2018
What a ride its been! Thank you Garret Robinson for this wonderful world that I have spent so much time in for the past month or two. I picked back up with the Nightblade series (I was in the middle of Weremage) about the same date as when
May 13, 2017
Ebon has survived an attack and hopefully his magic will help Amazing fantasy book to keep your interest until the very end and then looking for more. My pleasure to review.
October 20, 2017
Wow! This series just gets better and better! I absolutely LOVE it! Garrett Robinson truly is a master storyteller and now one of my favorite fantasy authors!
March 17, 2018
It's getting intense!
October 17, 2019
A nifty read.
December 27, 2019
Better than the first!
A true high fantasy novel that will draw you in and leave you excited for the next book in the series.
A true high fantasy novel that will draw you in and leave you excited for the next book in the series.
July 23, 2020
This is my favorite book for volume one. We can see Ebon starting to learn magic and he has such amazing friends.
March 17, 2021
I blazed through this in one sitting :oo
January 22, 2017
A most enjoyable read. I'm loving this world!
March 19, 2017
Another fine read by Garrett Robinson! This book had twists I was not expecting. Characters I was not expecting to see where they ended up in the book. People who totally appear guilty and some are and some are not. I could not put this book down and have to get the next book soon!
I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
May 30, 2016
Combining powerful magics and political intrigue with a tight focus on character, Robinson creates a tale that will appeal both to fantasy and mystery readers.
Following the attack on the High King’s Seat, both Ebon and the Academy struggle to return to the ordered study of magic. A struggle made worse by the murder of an instructor by assailants unknown, and rumours of powerful artefacts going missing. With the new Dean certain Ebon is involved and Ebon’s friends certain they know who is responsible, Ebon must act; but how can he prove himself innocent without revealing he killed the previous Dean?
Rather than escalate the scale of the physical threat, filling each volume with larger armies sweeping greater areas, Robinson tightens his focus again while increasing the ambivalence of events. This narrowing builds a strong air of paranoia, making Ebon seem to be at greater risk than in the previous book without diffusing the reader’s intense connection with him.
However, the wider world is not ignored. Characters do share news of, and speculations about, the threat of the Shades and their allies; but they do so as responses to events directly relevant to themselves. As such, the reader is in the same position as the characters: knowing there is a greater threat, but forced to speculate based on what they can find out.
As both the second volume in this series and the fifth set in the same world, Robinson includes references to events prior to the book. However, as with the wider present, these are presented with sufficient hints that readers can see the relevance to this story, but not such detail that readers familiar with the other books lose tension through retreading old ground.
Ebon continues to be a sympathetic protagonist, the unfair accusations levelled against him weighing on him as much as the actual secrets he keeps. The tension between his membership of a family everyone distrusts and a family that distrusts him remains; but, with the increased understanding of magic that lets him advance his lessons grounded in a secret he dare not share, he can no longer even escape politics in the joy of learning.
The supporting cast also display this greater interpenetration of traits, many pieces of evidence uncovered in Ebon’s search for answers revealing not the answers he seeks but new, more complex, perspectives on the actions and personalities of his friends, family, and associates.
This sense of a fresh viewpoint is especially strong with Xain. While he is clearly the same character as the disgraced wizard from Nightblade, Dean Xain of the Academy is also a figure of the establishment with different motivations than before.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel greatly. I recommend it to readers seeking character-driven fantasy with a real sense of a wider world.
I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for a fair review.
Following the attack on the High King’s Seat, both Ebon and the Academy struggle to return to the ordered study of magic. A struggle made worse by the murder of an instructor by assailants unknown, and rumours of powerful artefacts going missing. With the new Dean certain Ebon is involved and Ebon’s friends certain they know who is responsible, Ebon must act; but how can he prove himself innocent without revealing he killed the previous Dean?
Rather than escalate the scale of the physical threat, filling each volume with larger armies sweeping greater areas, Robinson tightens his focus again while increasing the ambivalence of events. This narrowing builds a strong air of paranoia, making Ebon seem to be at greater risk than in the previous book without diffusing the reader’s intense connection with him.
However, the wider world is not ignored. Characters do share news of, and speculations about, the threat of the Shades and their allies; but they do so as responses to events directly relevant to themselves. As such, the reader is in the same position as the characters: knowing there is a greater threat, but forced to speculate based on what they can find out.
As both the second volume in this series and the fifth set in the same world, Robinson includes references to events prior to the book. However, as with the wider present, these are presented with sufficient hints that readers can see the relevance to this story, but not such detail that readers familiar with the other books lose tension through retreading old ground.
Ebon continues to be a sympathetic protagonist, the unfair accusations levelled against him weighing on him as much as the actual secrets he keeps. The tension between his membership of a family everyone distrusts and a family that distrusts him remains; but, with the increased understanding of magic that lets him advance his lessons grounded in a secret he dare not share, he can no longer even escape politics in the joy of learning.
The supporting cast also display this greater interpenetration of traits, many pieces of evidence uncovered in Ebon’s search for answers revealing not the answers he seeks but new, more complex, perspectives on the actions and personalities of his friends, family, and associates.
This sense of a fresh viewpoint is especially strong with Xain. While he is clearly the same character as the disgraced wizard from Nightblade, Dean Xain of the Academy is also a figure of the establishment with different motivations than before.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel greatly. I recommend it to readers seeking character-driven fantasy with a real sense of a wider world.
I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for a fair review.
February 25, 2017
Great book continues to make you want to read more,you won't be disappointed I got to get the next book the firemage wraith! Yes hah
October 7, 2016
Ebon has survived the attack upon the High King's Seat, and now the Academy struggles to piece itself together in the midst of civil war. Now a quiet urgency hangs over all the lessons taught within the citadel; every student knows the spells they learn now may one day save their lives from the enemies of the King. Then an instructor is found dead in the Academy's halls—their throat slit by an unknown assassin. Panic creeps in, while Ebon and his friends hear of thefts from the Academy's vaults. Artifacts of incredible power are disappearing one by one, and are clearly connected to the murder. Theren thinks she knows who the thief is, but cannot prove it. And so Ebon and his friends must reveal the identity of the murderer, before they strike again.
Still a good story to follow and is well worth your time and effort. It has a few places where it may put you to sleep but not as bad as the first book. Good Reading Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!
Still a good story to follow and is well worth your time and effort. It has a few places where it may put you to sleep but not as bad as the first book. Good Reading Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!
January 31, 2017
Traitor in the Academy?
The adventures of Edon, Kalem, and Theren continue as the Academy recovers from the attack on the High Seat. However, all is not well in the Academy, where it appears there is a traitor amongst the students and staff. As Edon and his friends seek to find the traitor, he grows concerned that his family, with its dark history, might somehow be involved. It does not help that the new Dean despises him because of his family name. This book had the twists, turns and surprises I have come to expect. However, I must admit to some frustration at times when characters did not act the way I felt they should have.
The adventures of Edon, Kalem, and Theren continue as the Academy recovers from the attack on the High Seat. However, all is not well in the Academy, where it appears there is a traitor amongst the students and staff. As Edon and his friends seek to find the traitor, he grows concerned that his family, with its dark history, might somehow be involved. It does not help that the new Dean despises him because of his family name. This book had the twists, turns and surprises I have come to expect. However, I must admit to some frustration at times when characters did not act the way I felt they should have.
June 29, 2016
This, the second book in the academy series set in Underrealm, goes much darker than the first. It manages to focus on the students while still hinting at wider goings on, stopping it from feeling totally insular. The plot has incredibly intricate twists that often catch you by surprise, keeping you on the edge and nervous as to what is to come.
The epilogue is as curse-worthy as always in books by Mr Robinson, a real jaw dropper. Always, always read these books to the very last page, you wouldn't want to miss something important!
*This was an ARC, my opinions are my own.*
The epilogue is as curse-worthy as always in books by Mr Robinson, a real jaw dropper. Always, always read these books to the very last page, you wouldn't want to miss something important!
*This was an ARC, my opinions are my own.*
January 6, 2017
Wow! This one was awesome! It fully pulled me in and I was "lost" in the book. Pretty amazingly awesome! It was pretty action packed and kept me wanting to find out what happens next. I very highly recommend this one. It's my favorite thus far.
June 14, 2016
Oh I finished it way too quickly and now have WEEKS to wait for the next installment. I love these books, brilliantly written.
June 22, 2016
Fab as usual
Terrific sequel. Love how story ramps up. Also it leaves me wanting more. Have to wait though. Sigh and pout!
Terrific sequel. Love how story ramps up. Also it leaves me wanting more. Have to wait though. Sigh and pout!
April 21, 2017
Book two in the Academy Journals, book 6 if you're reading the books of Underrealm in order. It does help to read all the books in order as this section of story carries on in the timeline but starts by overlapping the one at the end of the first four books in the series.
A continuation of more drama in the Academy. We meet a character from the first four books Xain he doesn't feature heavily but it was nice to be reacquainted with him.
Ebon gets to move up a class but only after a tragedy has struck the Academy of which he and his friends take it upon themselves to solve the case though struggle to do it without dropping themselves in it as suspects.
The one behind it is not someone you would ever have expected.
Our characters are growing up and arn't the young naive teenagers we met in the first book anymore.
I enjoyed it a nice fantasy tale again and looking forward to see if the plot lines from the two different sections of story intertwine anymore again with the bigger story.
A continuation of more drama in the Academy. We meet a character from the first four books Xain he doesn't feature heavily but it was nice to be reacquainted with him.
Ebon gets to move up a class but only after a tragedy has struck the Academy of which he and his friends take it upon themselves to solve the case though struggle to do it without dropping themselves in it as suspects.
The one behind it is not someone you would ever have expected.
Our characters are growing up and arn't the young naive teenagers we met in the first book anymore.
I enjoyed it a nice fantasy tale again and looking forward to see if the plot lines from the two different sections of story intertwine anymore again with the bigger story.
May 22, 2019
Intense and interesting. Some parts towards the end are not for the faint of heart ^_^;
The main cast is starting to come together, and I'm interested to see what will happen next. I'm also very invested in Erin's return.
The main cast is starting to come together, and I'm interested to see what will happen next. I'm also very invested in Erin's return.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews