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The Academy Journals #3
The Firemage's Vengeance: A Book of Underrealm
The Academy Killer Returns The Academy is in mourning after students and instructors alike have been murdered in its halls, but the killer is now far away across the nine kingdoms or so they believe. When Ebon learns of a new threat within the Academy, he and his friends must work quickly to stop it for if anyone knows the terrible secret they conceal, they could all be put to death. As the school's danger looms, and Ebon faces increasing suspicion from the new Dean, he must infiltrate the family Yerrin and learn a dark truth if he hopes to survive. The pulse-pounding conclusion to the first Academy Journals trilogy will keep you up through the night to the very last page.
- GenresFantasyHigh FantasyLGBT
418 pages, Hardcover
Published June 23, 2017
81 people are currently reading
349 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 4, 2018
I liked the series. But they had a big flaw, I could always predict what was going to happen next. I felt the heros were always slow to catch up with everything.
September 25, 2019
I really enjoyed this series. It is vaguely like Harry Potter in that it's about kids in a wizarding school who end up in dangerous situations.
November 4, 2020
At long last! The epic conclusion to The Academy Journals trilogy by Garrett Robinson: The Firemage’s Vengeance.
A murderer lurks the halls of the Academy. After Dean Forredar’s son goes missing, he is determined to find who is responsible for his child’s disappearance. And Ebon, son of Drayden, is at the very top of the Dean’s List (heh). Together, Ebon and his friends must not only prove their innocence and unveil the true criminal but must also do so without revealing the very real crimes they’ve been forced to commit to stay alive.
Robinson has done a great job continuously complicating the lives of our young heroes. The consequences of every action they take in this novel is loaded with the tensions of morality. Torn between loyalties and toiling with the weighing of greater goods, Ebon is forced to make some of most gray choices thus far.
Like the finale of the first volume of the Nightblade saga, my favorite parts of this story are in the climax, and I hesitate to discuss that here because I don’t want to ruin that for you. But I will say that it gave me the triumphant feeling that I love when I get to the end of stories that lean heroic. And that’s the feeling I’m signing up for when I read stories like this.
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 audiobook, and I receive a small royalty for purchases of the audiobook version*
A murderer lurks the halls of the Academy. After Dean Forredar’s son goes missing, he is determined to find who is responsible for his child’s disappearance. And Ebon, son of Drayden, is at the very top of the Dean’s List (heh). Together, Ebon and his friends must not only prove their innocence and unveil the true criminal but must also do so without revealing the very real crimes they’ve been forced to commit to stay alive.
Robinson has done a great job continuously complicating the lives of our young heroes. The consequences of every action they take in this novel is loaded with the tensions of morality. Torn between loyalties and toiling with the weighing of greater goods, Ebon is forced to make some of most gray choices thus far.
Like the finale of the first volume of the Nightblade saga, my favorite parts of this story are in the climax, and I hesitate to discuss that here because I don’t want to ruin that for you. But I will say that it gave me the triumphant feeling that I love when I get to the end of stories that lean heroic. And that’s the feeling I’m signing up for when I read stories like this.
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 audiobook, and I receive a small royalty for purchases of the audiobook version*
September 4, 2023
There is nothing more frustrating in the entire world than reading a book that ends on a cliffhanger with no idea with when you’ll ever find out the ending. Especially because this series was starting to get so good and the ending was just delightful as only ending that desperately make you want to reach for the next book can be. But as far as I can tell there seems to be no sort of plan for another book in this series whatsoever or any more books by the author at all apparently. I loved Ebon and Kamel in this book as well as Adara and Astrea, but so couldn’t say the same for some others such as Theren at points and Halab and her henchman, Mako, who I was just starting to like which is a huge disappointment. But, most of all Lilith, just because she isn’t the real villain doesn’t mean she isn’t aggressively annoying and of course Lily, what a little jerk.
May 3, 2017
The third book in the Academy Journals.
Our heroes get blamed for a crime they're trying to solve and the wonderful crazyness of magestones feature in this story again. They end up intertwined with another character from the first few books in the Underrealm series which I'd recommend reading first before these books.
We get taken on a darker journey through characters recovering from the mental attacks they've been experiencing and someone you don't expect helping the menace of this story.
I've loved all the Underrealm books so far and this is no exception! Please keep bringing these characters to life and bring on the Necromancer!
Our heroes get blamed for a crime they're trying to solve and the wonderful crazyness of magestones feature in this story again. They end up intertwined with another character from the first few books in the Underrealm series which I'd recommend reading first before these books.
We get taken on a darker journey through characters recovering from the mental attacks they've been experiencing and someone you don't expect helping the menace of this story.
I've loved all the Underrealm books so far and this is no exception! Please keep bringing these characters to life and bring on the Necromancer!
May 8, 2017
This book is well written. I found no errors of any kind. It is fast moving, the characters well thought out in all aspects. The story picks up
almost direct from the last. They can be I would think that they can be read as stand alone, but yet not out of order, as characters develop and change, grow, mature though out the series.
I am going to guess that we are going to continue to be thrilled and awed by this author and his splendid story line.
I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
almost direct from the last. They can be I would think that they can be read as stand alone, but yet not out of order, as characters develop and change, grow, mature though out the series.
I am going to guess that we are going to continue to be thrilled and awed by this author and his splendid story line.
I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
February 7, 2017
Secrets revealed
The search for Isra continues, bringing new challenges and danger for Ebon, Kalem, and Theren. The book is full of twists and turns. The ending brings one of the biggest surprises of the series so far.
The search for Isra continues, bringing new challenges and danger for Ebon, Kalem, and Theren. The book is full of twists and turns. The ending brings one of the biggest surprises of the series so far.
April 11, 2018
An amazing conclusion to the Academy Journals! I hope to see more of Ebon and his friends in future books as I have grown fond of them. They are brave and likeable. I cannot wait to read Garrett Robinson’s next offering in this world! I definitely recommend this book!
April 11, 2018
An amazing conclusion to the Academy Journals! I hope to see more of Ebon and his friends in future books as I have grown fond of them. They are brave and likeable. I cannot wait to read Garrett Robinson’s next offering in this world! I definitely recommend this book!
February 19, 2019
The academy's inner struggle for freedom!!!
The last book of the magic academy raps up the story of students Y there best and worst and lots of intrigue and subversion a great adventure into magic and politics
The last book of the magic academy raps up the story of students Y there best and worst and lots of intrigue and subversion a great adventure into magic and politics
July 23, 2020
This is where we see Ebon starting to really understand his own powers. The adventures he goes on for the sake of others is quite the production. I did not like the epilogue! Now of course, I need to read more.
Read
March 17, 2021I felt so anxious as to what would happen once that I couldn't bear reading it after 4 chapters and skipped right through the last few chapters.
I didn't feel the desire to read the rest of the book after that though so I won't be rating this.
I didn't feel the desire to read the rest of the book after that though so I won't be rating this.
October 17, 2019
A nifty read.
March 2, 2017
This book gets your heart pumping, full of twist and turns to keep you from putting it down. A must read for any looking for a adventure.
July 19, 2016
Robinson continues to deliver a mix of political intrigue, engaging characters, and gritty fantasy.
This book is the third in the Academy Journals series. This review aims to avoid spoilers of previous volumes where possible, but does contain both explicit references and evidence to support further inferences.
With Isra, the rogue mindmage and murderer, apparently fled, Ebon and the rest of the Academy struggle to rebuild lives of study. However, the Dean’s son is still missing and dark deeds still plague the Seat. Ebon and his friends are certain Isra is involved; but with each search turning up no evidence of her presence, others (the Dean among them) wonder if Ebon’s insistence is a cover for his own guilt.
Readers of previous volumes in the Academy Journals series will find more of the same, turned up slightly: more magic; more moral dilemmas; more hints of a vast, vibrant world beyond the characters’ narrow focus.
As the third in a character-focused series filled with ongoing mysteries, this book might be less accessible to readers unfamiliar with the previous novels. However, Robinson continues his skilled balance of reprise and new plot, giving the reader enough to see events and choices as plausible if not to understand every nuance.
Where previous volumes were about paranoia and unfair distrust, this novel focuses more on committing one evil to avoid a greater. Having used proscribed magic at the end of the previous volume, Ebon and his friends are no longer ethically pure. Thus, while the specific accusations that they are involved in the Academy Killings are false, Xain’s suspicion that they have committed crimes are not.
Readers familiar with the Nightblade arc are likely to find especial depth in certain aspects and consequences of Ebon facing investigation from Xain for illegal magic.
This thread of magical crime is paralleled by a physical one. If Ebon doesn’t obey Mako, the hidden conspiracy might kill them both; but if he does, he (and his friends) risk being drawn deeper into a world of expediency and family loyalty.
In addition to this external tension of being both guilty and innocent, each of the friends is torn between doing what seems needed to uncover Isra, concealing past crimes but committing no more, and accepting the consequences of even those. As each character both has different perspectives and reacts differently to events, this produces a shifting web of recriminations and recommitments.
And, as the novel progresses, these threads weave tighter and tighter, leaving Ebon with only a choice between who he betrays, and who he risks.
Overall, I enjoyed this book greatly. I recommend it to readers seeking a fast-paced fantasy focused on character.
I received an advanced copy from the publisher in exchange for a fair review.
This book is the third in the Academy Journals series. This review aims to avoid spoilers of previous volumes where possible, but does contain both explicit references and evidence to support further inferences.
With Isra, the rogue mindmage and murderer, apparently fled, Ebon and the rest of the Academy struggle to rebuild lives of study. However, the Dean’s son is still missing and dark deeds still plague the Seat. Ebon and his friends are certain Isra is involved; but with each search turning up no evidence of her presence, others (the Dean among them) wonder if Ebon’s insistence is a cover for his own guilt.
Readers of previous volumes in the Academy Journals series will find more of the same, turned up slightly: more magic; more moral dilemmas; more hints of a vast, vibrant world beyond the characters’ narrow focus.
As the third in a character-focused series filled with ongoing mysteries, this book might be less accessible to readers unfamiliar with the previous novels. However, Robinson continues his skilled balance of reprise and new plot, giving the reader enough to see events and choices as plausible if not to understand every nuance.
Where previous volumes were about paranoia and unfair distrust, this novel focuses more on committing one evil to avoid a greater. Having used proscribed magic at the end of the previous volume, Ebon and his friends are no longer ethically pure. Thus, while the specific accusations that they are involved in the Academy Killings are false, Xain’s suspicion that they have committed crimes are not.
Readers familiar with the Nightblade arc are likely to find especial depth in certain aspects and consequences of Ebon facing investigation from Xain for illegal magic.
This thread of magical crime is paralleled by a physical one. If Ebon doesn’t obey Mako, the hidden conspiracy might kill them both; but if he does, he (and his friends) risk being drawn deeper into a world of expediency and family loyalty.
In addition to this external tension of being both guilty and innocent, each of the friends is torn between doing what seems needed to uncover Isra, concealing past crimes but committing no more, and accepting the consequences of even those. As each character both has different perspectives and reacts differently to events, this produces a shifting web of recriminations and recommitments.
And, as the novel progresses, these threads weave tighter and tighter, leaving Ebon with only a choice between who he betrays, and who he risks.
Overall, I enjoyed this book greatly. I recommend it to readers seeking a fast-paced fantasy focused on character.
I received an advanced copy from the publisher in exchange for a fair review.
October 23, 2016
The Academy Killer Returns The Academy is in mourning after students and instructors alike have been murdered in its halls, but the killer is now far away across the nine kingdoms—or so they believe. When Ebon learns of a new threat within the Academy, he and his friends must work quickly to stop it—for if anyone knows the terrible secret they conceal, they could all be put to death. As the school's danger looms, and Ebon faces increasing suspicion from the new Dean, he must infiltrate the family Yerrin and learn a dark truth if he hopes to survive.
Great in places and in others very boring. But good all in all. You should enjoy this series. Good Reading Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great in places and in others very boring. But good all in all. You should enjoy this series. Good Reading Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 19, 2016
A new and even more gripping episode in this epic fantasy about Ebon and the Academy.
Dilemmas abound, both moral and physical, many questions are answered and the danger is as enthralling as the previous books.
The outcome was inevitable in a way, though it was a shock that it happened so soon. However, the epilogue, now that was a real sucker punch! I sat and thought that I should have seen it coming but I didn't. Talk about a sting in the tail!
*This was an ARC, my opinions are my own.*
Dilemmas abound, both moral and physical, many questions are answered and the danger is as enthralling as the previous books.
The outcome was inevitable in a way, though it was a shock that it happened so soon. However, the epilogue, now that was a real sucker punch! I sat and thought that I should have seen it coming but I didn't. Talk about a sting in the tail!
*This was an ARC, my opinions are my own.*
January 19, 2017
That was awesome!
July 14, 2016
The best of the Academy journals. Great ending.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews