Magic Man Charlie

The Dragon Mage, Book 4

By: Scott Baron

Narrated by: Gary Bennett

Like poop on your shoe, bad luck had a knack for sticking Charlie wherever he went. And it sure did stink.

Wormholes to a distant galaxy? Done it. Alien slavery? Yup. Forced gladiatorial combat? That too. Space pirate and eventual rebel leader? Check. Rising to the pinnacle of power as Dragon King? Uh-huh.

Charlie, it seemed, had seen and survived it all, and at long last it looked like he’d finally earned himself a little peace and quiet. That is until a whole new threat reared its ugly head. Now, not only were those he held dear at risk, but the entire planet, and possibly even the whole damn solar system.

Yet again, Charlie was in the right place at the wrong time, finding himself forced to evolve into something new. Something more. But this time, on this tech-driven world, the space engineer from the past thought he might finally have the advantage.

But then again....

©2019 Scott Baron (P)2020 Scott Baron

Another great adventure with bonus of a crossover from another great Scott Baron series!

This book has it all: action, adventure, and most importantly, great characters and friendships! It also continues the crossover that was revealed at the end of the last book, making this series a “must read” for all who enjoyed the Clockwork Chimera series and want to hear more about what happened following Daisy’s War.

From Fantasy right back to Sci-Fi

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

TLDR: The last book had us in the old-time UK, with a bit of time travel we're now shot into the future. If you're reading Scott Baron's "The Clockwork Chimera" series this book has some spoilers in it, nothing major, but be forewarned you'll know the outcomes of some people/AI.

I love this series, the premise, the characters, the story, everything about it. There are some parts that when you look back at you'll question if they would do that or if it would happen, but the ride is so much great at the time you don't even realize it until someone points it out. If you're a fan of Sci-Fi just get all of Scott Baron's stuff and enjoy it.

Very good.

I very much enjoyed the story and the characters were well done, and the narrator did a great job.

Great

loved it I like the twist and turns the story takes as this adventure continues

Love This Series! I Can’t Wait To Read More

The fourth book in the Dragon Mage series was easily the most “serious” of the group so far. I say know fully knowing that it was still funny and entertaining like the other three books. But the consequences in Magic Man Charlie were much more dire if they didn’t get out of the jam they were in.

Magic Man Charlie was easily one of the most riveting in the series since book one (where everything happens and it’s a lot of “wtf is going on here?!”). Magic Man was one of those books that if I walked away from it for a moment I couldn’t wait to dive back into it. I just wanted to know what was happening and what was going to happen. Baron had me glued to my seat and asking tons of questions as the story progressed.

The main crew of characters were all here in Magic Man Charlie and they have similar roles for most of the book – but there was a lot of growth as well. Each character seems to be going through their character arcs at a different speed and a couple of characters seemed to hit their “aha” moments in this one. It’s nice since real people don’t all grow and change at the same speed. I like that throughout each book in this series a new person learns something about themself and ends up being a different and better character because of it. Of course, Charlie who is learning the most in every story is also growing the most, but it’s nice that the characters that are there to help him along the way are also growing from these experiences as well.

Magic Man Charlie felt the least Fantasy and the most… Pre-Apocalyptic book in this series. Sure there was still a lot of magic (and tech magic) in this one, but the main story follows more of a “we need to stop this or everyone could die” sort of plot. These kind of stories also speed up the character development that I mentioned above.

Overall, this series is great. Gary Bennett crushes the narration and each book has its own unique feel to it while also building on what the last book has. It’s been a blast to read so far and I can’t wait to read more.

Love the series

Good book in the series. Narration is great as always, but it kind of took my out of it when the narrator attempted to do a British accent. Not very good, but the rest of the narration is at the high level we’ve come to expect.

great book

I've enjoyed this book greatly,
I was disappointed in the beginning of the book over a certain aspect that it never explained as to why said person never teleported but other then that oversight.
the book overall was really good. it is a fantasy/ Syfi book and the story is getting better

Still needs more pirates!

This book picks up right where book three left off, so you’ll likely be lost if you haven’t listened to the previous books before this one. It seems like the author switched things up a bit with this book, and it feels kind of like a sci-fi/fantasy/mystery novel now. I tend to prefer the strait up Sci-Fi/Fantasy combination in the previous books. That being said, the way the author combined magic and technology created a very entertaining read. Overall, I’ve enjoyed the continued character growth, and the foreshadowing of what's to come. I'm looking forward to book five.

This audiobook was provided by the author at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

Another great Charlie book...

if you like the first three Charlie books you will love this one as well.

More Charlie, no more needed to be said.

Applauses all around and a big thank you to both Scott Baron and Gary Bennett for bringing another Dragon Mage series audiobook to the Audible listeners. I recently listened to “Magic Man Charlie” and I can say that our main character has come quite a long way from his previous bad luck experiences. However, this is not saying he is immune to such events in this book as you will soon hear. Magic Man Charlie is the fourth audiobook in this wonderful adventure series consisting of Charlie and his band of counterparts. Nearly all of the previous audiobook’s characters return for more fun, more adventure, more mayhem, and more mystery. We are greeted with dragons, ghouls, aliens, and everything feel super-sized this time around. If you have not already picked up this series of audiobooks, it is a great time to start as there are nearly 40 hours of audio across all available titles; at the time of this review. For those who have completed all four audiobooks, note the author has nine total audiobooks listed along with their titles on Audible; we can only hope more Charlie will be released soon.

Why have I stuck with the Dragon Mage series up to this point? That is a great question. For me, Scott Baron does a wonderful job of telling a story. Many author’s works I have previously reviewed write in a way that simply giving the listener information, a data dump if you may. Yet, Mr. Baron is a true master of storytelling. I could picture him around a campfire with people hanging on his every word. He quickly brings you into his tales with vivid scenes and complex characters all paced in a way that the story flows and makes sense. Writing either comes easy to the author or he spends a large amount of time ensuring things are well thought out and planned beforehand. Add to that a wonderful narrator who is able to bring these characters and their story to life and you have a very interesting and wonderful series of audiobooks that is an exceptional blending of science fiction and fantasy.

Turning to this specific audiobook, the author does a wonderful job of proving some background details for those who may have listened a while ago to the previous books. I always like a prologue or some other way of reminding me about major events that may impact the story I’m listening to, like a TV show recap, and this book delivers. We are presented with quite a different world and some newer characters as the book opens, but do not worry as things seem very familiar. This newness does add some extra mystery to the story going forward. In each of the books there was often a focus on either magic or technology (depending on the world the characters were in). However, this book shows that even on Earth, magic is not something one wants to play with because it is quite dangerous.

The banter and interaction between the characters is very much the same as we have seen in the other book from the series. There is plenty of zings, disses, and pokes going around directed at one another, which is all in good fun and gives a level of humor to the story. Again, I like that the author is able to weave in some emotional elements allowing the listener to better understand the consequences of actions taken by the characters. Such actions not only impact our main group of characters, but in some cases the entire world as well. The characters quickly realize the need to join all their special abilities in an attempt to overcome this new ominous foe. We see the importance of family and friends coming together to overcome adversity. As I listened, this book in the series felt more like a Dr. Who episode with the level of surprise, suspense, and even a bit of horror thrown in for good measure. As with Dr. Who, many times old enemies return in an attempt to finish their job, and for Charlie he understands little of his new nemesis’ powers. Could this be his strongest foe yet?

The audiobook’s narration by Gary Bennett was solid and professional. I have quickly come to recognize Charlie’s voice with his. I hope Mr. Bennett sticks with the whole series as I would find it hard to hear a different Charlie from the voice I have come to enjoy. There were a few very slight audio plugs where it appears some additional information was added afterwards, but these were few and far between. The rest of the audio was clean and clear of any audio artifacts such as swallows, page turns, or other background noises. The narrator does a wonderful job of telling the story and not simply reading the word on the page. Both the solid story writing and storytelling make the series what it has grown to become.

For parents and/or younger readers, the audiobook contains a fair amount of vulgar language. Additionally, there is some light romance included but nothing that would me considered mature. If you have already enjoyed the first few books in the series, there is no change making this audiobook more or less mature.

In summary, need I say much more than you should listen to this audiobook because it continues the adventures of Charlie? The book has all aspects of a great story while being rather unique in its blending of science fiction with fantasy. The narration is what I have come to expect from Mr. Bennett, a smooth voice with plenty of inflection. I would say if you want to get into a new series and do not want to be disappointed, pick up Magic Man Charlie and the other three in the series and enjoy.

Disclaimer: This audiobook was provided free of charge by the author, narrator, and/or publisher in exchange for a non-bias review.