Darkmage

The Rhenwars Saga, Book 1

By: M. L. Spencer

Narrated by: Simon Wright

Winner of the IndieReader Discovery Award for Fantasy

Darien Lauchlin has already lost everything. Now the only thing he has left to lose is his soul.

When his own brother unseals the Well of Tears, Darien is the last Sentinel left alive to defend his homeland. Now he is faced with an impossible decision: either watch everything he knows shatter - or forsake his oath of peace to become an instrument of pure destruction. Accompanied by Naia, a priestess of Death, Darien embarks on a harrowing journey to save the people of the Rhen. But will he lose his own soul in the process?

Darkmage is the first novel in the epic fantasy series The Rhenwars Saga. If you like morally gray heroes, addictive action, and mind-boggling plot twists, then you’ll love Spencer’s award-winning series.

Pick up a copy to begin this epic adventure today!

“Absolutely fantastic.” (Chris Fischer, Readers' Favorite)

“A masterful story with incredible depth of emotion.” (Melinda Hills, Readers’ Favorite)

©2011 Melinda L. Spencer-Crabbe (P)2018 Melinda L. Spencer-Crabbe

The Scribblings Review of Darkmage

Darkmage is set in a world where the only things standing between the (mostly) peaceful kingdoms of the Rhen and the Black Lands of The Enemy are the desperate men guarding the border and the Mages of Aerysius.

The novel has a number of point of view characters, moving in and out of the story, taking the reader around the kingdoms, drawing the story together in places, expanding it where necessary. The bulk of the story though is told through the eyes of Darien Lauchlin. He begins the novel as an acolyte mage but in rapid succession is elevated to full mage and possibly the most powerful in history. He is betrayed, loses his home and just about everyone he cares for.

A very strong part of the novel is Darien’s progression from young, relatively innocent soldier to a haunted man, equally revered and cursed by those he wants to help. The reader is led through what he will do, to others and to himself, in order to do what he believes will save the lands from the agents and armies of the enemy. It’s often easy to be simultaneously appalled by his arrogance and the way he treats people but also understand why he’s doing so.

The world building in the story is very well done. There is a sense that there is a long history in the kingdoms, and pieces of that history are given out as needed. You learn everything you need to follow the plot without any large info dumps, but there is more than enough to suggest a lot more is in place, possibly being held back for future instalments. The same is true of the way magic works in this world. Again, some aspects like the passing of abilities are detailed, while others, like the orders of mages, are only alluded to.

Despite it being billed as the 1st book in the Rhenwars series, Darkmage can be read as a stand-alone novel. Both the writing and the world are strong enough to support this and I certainly had no difficulty enjoying the novel on its own terms. Having said that, I would eagerly visit the Rhen again…

Confusing

It’s confusing to me and has other characters that aren’t the best and of screen deaths that confuse you, it’s not my cup of tea but the narrator did a good job, just a boring story

Dark Fantasy at its finest

You may (or may not) remember I wrote a review for Darkstorm, the precursor to Darkmage, a while back. As far as I know (yell at me if I’m wrong), Darkmage was actually written (or at least published) before Darkstorm, so this is essentially book one, and Darkstorm is book 0.5. I liked Darkstorm, but most of the first 70% or so definitely wallowed in the YA range. Darkmage is very different.

AUDIOBOOK WARNING

Standard Young Adult fare tends to be less satisfying for not Young Adults (or me anyway), as it tends to skirt over issues that less young types find appealing . ML Spencer has skilfully crafted a novel that appeals to the broader audience by dealing with the likes of morality and loss, while maintaining well drawn characters and using a writing style that will appeal to younger readers (as in 18, not 8).

Darkstorm started hard, then softened for a significant chunk of the novel, although it still entertained. Darkmage, on the other hand, starts off dark with the death of the hero’s mother, and destruction of his city. From here, it’s all downhill.

The story revolves around two men, Kyle Archer, just your average Joe, or Kyle, who gets arrested for a crime he didn’t commit, and sent to Greystone Keep to guard against invasion. This sounds bad enough, but just after he arrives, a huge army shows up ready to attack. Out of the frying pan, and so on.

The other is Darien Lauchlin, a mage and son of the Prime Warden. When his brother Aidan kills their mother and open the Well of Tears, Darien finds he is all that stands between the end of the world. Or is he?

This book has it all – friendships are made and ended, political intrigue, epic battles and most importantly, hard choices and sacrifices must be made. As mentioned earlier, I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator did a terrific job, narrating the book as if the weight of the world was on shoulders, while capturing the tone and humour.

Want to check out a new series, or interested in checking out one of indie publishing’s finest authors, look no further. But don’t take my word for it, just read the darn book.

Good book but lacking about 80% of backstory

I did like this book and just got #2 but it didn't give barely any history of characters. just kept getting the feeling of something missing. I would still recommend it and hopefully the second book will address this issue

This is the very definition of epic Grimdark!

I have the same problems with the narrator here as I did with Darkstorm. He does okay, generally. But his unusual pronunciations are a bit troublesome. 


Now, the first big thing is it took me a while to realize that this book actually takes place about 1,000 years after Darkstorm. 


Some events were a bit confusing until I figured that out. 


And honestly, even now I'm not 100% certain about how things actually ended in the prequel. It seems likely that the "Big Plot" orchestrated by the Dark Mages turned out to be successful, in spite of all Braden and Quin's efforts. Too bad for Quin, I suppose. 


Here we are introduced to a new cast of characters who are battling against a circumstance extremely similar to that which faced the brothers in Darkstorm. 


Unfortunately, these characters don't have nearly the resources or advantages that Quin and Braden did.


Which does have the added benefit of making the story feel far more desperate. A quest standing on the edge of a knife, as it were. 


All the characters are very well written and have their own needs and desires that color their actions, perceptions, and motivations. 


The one down side I have is that I didn't really personally connect with any of them. 


But don't let that discouraged you, it's a problem I have frequently. 


In this book we get something much closer to the "start out weak and build up to greater power" journey that I love to see, in Darian and his progression throughout the novel. 


Herein, you will find a wild array of twists and turns, an interesting mix of attempted nobility and malevolence, brilliantly imagined characters, environments, and set dressings, as well as a fascinating mythology with an impressive array of intriguing ephemera. 


With this one, ML Spencer has proved that she knows how to take a huge plot, tie together dozens of plot elements, and bring it all together into a fantastic, satisfying ending that has left me on the edge of my seat as I jump into the next book. 


I can't wait to see where this is going! 

Brilliant!

This is my first time delving into the world of fantasy. I loved it. From the first scene, ML Spencer's magic with the pen wove a story I quickly became part of and lived through the eyes and souls of her characters. Though it was a world built in fantasy, it was real. Life with its struggles was real -- from the sounds and smells of daily life to the beating hoofs carrying soldiers into war.
Spencer brilliantly deals with real-life conflicts may they be environmental or internal.
I'm hooked and so very much looking forward to reading the rest of Spencer's novel.

Dark Fantasy

Not your typical sanderson or tolkien in terms of tone. Nor really in terms of quality. But what we have here is a dark story no one seems to win. It kind of draws on my mood reading stuff like this. a lot of popular fantasies have the good guys always winning, this story subverts that seems like nothing good come of anything.

Starts with a bang!

Darkmage really got started with such ferocity, action, and quick, elaborate worldbuilding that I was superexcited to see what would happen next. After that, however, the pace slowed quite a bit, and while the story was never boring and had some intriguing characters, it never quite reached that peak again.

The main character, Darien, quickly became a brooding sort whose intentions were never quite clear (I believe this is intentional). I found myself not able to be very sympathetic for him because I didn't get enough of a glimpse of who he was before all of this misery befell him. The romantic interest that developed partway through the book helped with this a little, but I still found myself rooting for other characters more than Darien by the book's end.

Kyel and Traver and even Naia and Craig turned out to be easier to sympathize with. Traver especially got more interesting as the book progressed and he came into his own.

Still intrigued enough to have started the next book to see how it goes and wonder if some points that were touched upon (such as the people who aided Traver) will be developed more as the series continues.

Finally found another good fantasy series!!

I have read a ton books in fantasy genre and have been struggling to find something that really excites me. At least for the first installment, I really enjoy this series so far.
The cover turned me off a bit looked like a romance novel cover but it is actually quite good in my opinion. I would definitely recommend to anyone struggling to find a new fantasy series like myself.

Meh.

If battles are your thing, this is the book for you. The vast majority of the book is just descriptions of traveling and fighting. The actual plot is simple and felt really rushed at the end. I did like that the mc wasn't just a perfect, likable hero. He was actually somewhat loathsome, which was surprisingly refreshing.