Familiar Magic, Book One

De: K.L.A. Spanjer aka LokiTheQuick

Narrado por: B.J. Harrison

Whether it takes magic, medicine, or murder, Doctor Ethan Bishop has the cure.

Nexum should be a paradise. A world where a radiant Goddess cures every illness, her Chosen enforce peace, and monsters can be tamed into powerful Familiars. But for Ethan Bishop, a fun-loving doctor ripped from Earth, paradise has a pulse… and it’s not healthy.

Beneath the wonder and magic, something is very, very wrong.

Fixing things with his traditional training won’t be possible—on Nexum, medical knowledge is considered heresy. His only hope of survival lies in Bonding with magical Familiars. Familiars that grant powers not meant for a doctor, but for an Assassin.

To the Church, he's a heretic. To the royal family, he's a weapon. And to the dying world of Nexum, he might be its last chance.

But to save it, Ethan will have to become the very thing he’s spent his life fighting against.

Doctor. Assassin. Savior. Monster.

Which one will he be when the world ends?

©2025 Shadow Alley Press (P)2025 Shadow Alley Press

Interesting angle

The good guy Necromancer is a new angle. I’ve read books where a Necromancer is the he protagonist but in this book he actually tries to be good and not edge lord-y. The constant Necromancer discrimination got a little old but it was understandable and a realistic reaction. The MC was fun and used necromancy in interesting ways. The plot was entertaining too. The narration was well done.

Wellllll

I loved it and I hated it. The author wrote it so the MC is on the older side, so he should be maybe in his early 30s if he is a real doctor and not one still in school calling themselves that. So this is also the rub, he supposedly is highly educated and not some naive YA.

He gets tossed into this new world which is very barbaric and authoritarian. He is first called a thief, the MC didn't point out the obvious, I mean why not the King called for his execution at that point why not?

Big issue 2: The battles are way to long and very tunnel visioned on the MC, what about the 3 or 4 people who are with the MC, what are they doing while the MC fights this one monster? Cheer squad?

Big issue 3 and the ending. Are you serious author? The MC had multitude of times , to just leave. He has dimensional travel powers!!! No one is gonna catch him in the middle of the night or on one his many trips outside the town. He didn't think to drop an dimensional anchor ANYPLACE outside the city?

Big issue 4: The church in this kingdom. They are psychopaths who kill anyone who goes against the church. ( kind of aligns with a current church ). Again why is the MC staying around with those idiots around and I guess the King let's them do whatever.

Good book, could have been much better

Very similar to "He Who Fights With Monsters", Intelligent and capable MC but the author made the decision to flaw him with been extremely naïve. Not a fan of naïve MCs, those that lack any street smarts when the plot needs to lead the MC to predictable outcomes and make obviously foolish decisions.

That ending...... might have ruined the book for me. Book series like this live and die by the readers' affinity to the MC and their actions.