Antimage

Ends of Magic, Book 1

By: Alexander Olson

Narrated by: Phil Thron

A scientist from another world. A mage seeking deadly knowledge. A power that could topple an empire.

Nathan's life was defined by labs and lectures until an Archmage yanked him into Davrar and made him a tantalizing offer: master magic in exchange for Earth's scientific secrets. Yet, Nathan can't shake off the feeling that darker truths lurk beneath such promises.

The world of Davrar is a dangerous place teeming with dungeons and monsters–ruled by levels, Talents, and a near-infinite progression of power. Nathan will need to rely on himself to survive, forging alliances and taking every advantage he can get against those that seek to control him.

His unique capacity to counteract magic gives him an unprecedented edge, making him a beacon of resistance against those who wield magic as a weapon of control.
Armed with intellect and an emerging power that could dismantle the very foundations of Davrar's society, Nathan emerges not as a mere student of magic, but as its ultimate adversary: the Antimage.

©2023 Alexander Olson (P)2023 Tantor

Great and satisfying concept

I came from a reddit post describing the story, it sounded like my kind of thing and i’m glad to say it was, definitely worth a read and i’ll be checking in to see when the next books get audio versions.

If I had to criticize one small thing, I would say I found it kind of confusing how Nathan never really questions the culture of hoarding insights, it seems to me like the only real reason for adventurers not to share knowledge like that is greed and wanting to control the power, it’s not been hinted that the skills get weaker if you share them with too many people, the only other risk would be enemies like giant’s rest getting ahold of them much like the concern with guns. If he’s willing to question the dueling culture then why not at least acknowledge that his world shares knowledge like “insights” freely and have a small discussion as to why this world doesn’t rather than just instantly accepting it as how things work here?
As I said it’s a very small gripe that just tickled the back of my mind a little each time trading or selling insights was brought up, overall it was a great listen and i’m glad I came to check it out!

Fantastic premise

I love the idea of merging science and a magic system, especially turning it on its head the way that's been done here, the narrator has an older voice then I would of given the protagonist but I still think he does a wonder job.

Pretty sciency

I really enjoyed this book. If you are not a fan of things getting very very technical, this might not be one for you. sometimes the science explanations were beyond me, but I still enjoyed the story despite my lack of understanding of higher level sciences.

As for some reviews as saw saying this story was "woke" I'm not sure what they are referring to. I was expecting things to get super preachy or overly sexual, but nothing ever came up.

In short, I recommend this book if you like it when your fantasy magic gets technical.

a good start, high expectations

It's fun and fast, and the mc is smart and not a douche. the world is interesting, the mechanics are novel. the side character are disting

The mc is a bit too perfect. He has no flaws. He's a genius scientist working on groundbreaking advancements in microbiology while working on his doctorate, who practiced martial arts and various extreme sports, who also had time to schedule dnd games.

While also not being too invested in his friends or family to want to return from being summoned.

A New Fun Story

This feels like a different type of LitRPG and it was fun for me through and through. The Author is also active and had a self promotion through r/LitRPG and was active with members talking and hearing out suggestions and hearing what people have to say. The Narrator was a Huge Plus for me as well I’m going to have to see what else he does.
For some possible spoilers types of ‘technology’ get added semi-quickly but he also let it be known that in this type of Isekai he wanted science to be kind of a cheat. The main protagonist can’t run around and do magic but understands the natural world and has come from a world with different understandings. I can see some people getting turned off by that but they are basic firearms and honestly it might ruin the world it might not.
It’s a Breath of Fresh air and at the end had me excited and pumped up, if you get monthly credits give it a shot. Finding a new type of LitRPG that isn’t a harem so far as well is Amazing.

Loved it

Amazing story with very interesting plot points. While centered around the RPG and Issekai format without being too much blandly formulaic. Novel with some notes of sci-fi merging with fantasy.

Dislike

Not a big fan of the Gay aspect to this story. The writing would be fine if cut out.

Fun Science Magic

I really enjoyed the hyperfocus on science. It was a bit like a mesh between Dr Stone and Black Clover. Lot's of great concepts and the author does a phenomenal job of breaking down hard to understand information about science and complex mathematics into something digestible even for someone like me.

It’s good

I love the book but just one problem is how much science is explained I personally don’t want everything to be explained away as magic or have the most basic explanations handed to me but this is to technical for me to follow I just started blanking out during the latter half and the author does tone down the science jargon and up’s the action give it a try

Really great story

I really liked this unique story. I don't normally enjoy LitRPG's, but this one did a good job of making it feel natural. It was very heavy on the science, but that gave it a sort of "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" feel, which I enjoyed.

Spoilers:

Fair warning, the MC seems to be bisexual, so there were some awkward parts that I couldn't identify with personally, but they weren't explicit and felt natural, so it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book overall.