Rise of The Mages
Scott Drakeford's epic fantasy debut, Rise of the Mages combines gripping, personal vengeance with compelling characters for an action packed first book in a trilogy.
Emrael Ire wants nothing more than to test to be a weapons master. His final exam will be a bloody insurrection, staged by corrupt nobles and priests, that enslaves his brother.
With the aid of his War Master tutor, herself an undercover mage, Emrael discovers his own latent and powerful talents.
To rescue his brother, Emrael must embrace not only his abilities as a warrior but also his place as last of the ancient Mage Kings—for the Fallen God has returned.
And he is hungry.
Title: Rise of The Mages
Author: Scott Drakeford
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publication Date: 02/08/2022
Publisher: Tor Books
Language: English
ISBN: 1250820154
ISBN-13: 9781250820150
My Review
“This is what dying feels like, he thought.”
Rise of The Mages, the first novel in The Age of Ire series by Scott Drakeford was such a great read and hit a lot of popular notes for me: Mages, academia/gladiator vibes with magic, and the underdog storyline of a reluctant hero. Yes, it sounds amazing and it is.
Emrael Ire and his brother Ban attend and train at the Citadel to excel in their respective fields working with infusory, a magical energy substance that can be harnessed and used in various ways. Emrael is an exiled prince and is not aware of all the possibilities of infusory in terms of soul binding and battle magic but he will find out soon. Whereas he is the physical and fighter type in this story, Ban is the brains of the duo and is sure to make them rich one day by crafting with infusory.
Drakeford sets up the family politics, the fall of the Ire rule, and the War of Unification right at the beginning. What remains is an ongoing power struggle between the Ordenans and Iraeas and gives an intricate glimpse into the Ire family dynamics. Somewhat sheltered from these ongoing dynamics, the brothers have spent the last 3 years at the Citadel.
In a formal duel challenge to receive his Master’s Mark with real weapons, Emrael is ordered by his master Jaine to prove his abilities. When the duel starts, chaos ensues on the floor when outside forces use the moment to attack the Citadel where Ban is taken as a hostage. Was this tournament a planned decoy? Are their traitors at the Citadel?
Unwittingly, not knowing who is friend or foe, Emrael takes off and all he wants to do is rescue his brother. With a few people that end up on his side along the way, like Elle, the Master Healer, he is trying to stop the enslavement of humans from building infusory machines for an upcoming war/takeover. He fears that that is what his brother will end up being used for. While the upcoming journey is trying, it leaves enough room to get to know the characters a little closer in moments of wit and the bonds forming between them.
The use of infusory in this novel was very clever and iterestingly imagined. Emrael’s journey unveils the powers of the magical blue substance bit by bit and transforms his character into an all-believable badass contrary to the young trainee he was at the beginning of the novel.
“Emrael spat to the side to show what he thought of that. “How many soldiers could you find that can put holes in a stone wall? This is my fight. I go in first and come out last.”
Rise of The Mages never gets boring. There is a great mix of hair-raising loud battle moments framing those more intimate and quiet ones. I especially enjoyed the story of Elle and the closer look at the history of infusory, the Citadel, and the ancient tunnels/caves. The political intrigue of the factions/powers plays a big component. Emrael is torn at times between his loyalties as his parents were from the opposing sides. In flashbacks, we learn of the Ire family's past and what the price was that they paid to make it to this point. And since I am mentioning moments…there are a few heart-wrenching ones aside from the fast and witty ones….especially near the end. One of them nearly ripped my heart out. Looking over my notes, re-reading the prologue makes so much sense now.
I enjoyed this novel quite a bit. The writing was sharp and the plot progressed swiftly with perfectly set anchor points so it never reached the unbelievable and kept the characters real. If I had to mention something I’d change, it would be to add more of the training and crafting moments by the brothers at the Citadel at the beginning of the story since I’m a sucker for these settings.
If you enjoy mages and underdogs in your stories, you may want to pick this one up!
Happy reading!
I received a copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.
All opinions are my own.
Thank you so much!
