Minor Mage

De: T. Kingfisher

Narrado por: Christopher Williams

Oliver was a very minor mage. His familiar reminded him of this several times a day. He only knew three spells, and one of them was to control his allergy to armadillo dander.

His attempts to summon elementals resulted in nosebleeds, and there is nothing more embarrassing than having your elemental leave the circle to get you a tissue, pat you comfortingly, and then disappear in a puff of magic. The armadillo had about wet himself laughing.

He was a very minor mage. Unfortunately, he was all they had.

©2019 T. Kingfisher (P)2020 Argyll Productions

Such a Minor Mage

Definitely enjoyed the armadillo’s sarcasm. Minor Mage is a brief novel that tells the story of a truly Minor mage. My family enjoys listening to audio books as we drive. This creative look at the first quest of a very young mage was very entertaining and I hope some day a follup, Not So Minor is released.

Really enjoyed this!

Perfect novella “pallet cleanser” between big series reads. Cute, engaging story loved it more than I expected!

Charming Tale of a Young Wizard

Oliver is forced/sent on a quest and instead of wishing for more power he must learn to lean on his strengths and compassion.

Think on your feet

A person's abilities are only as "minor" as they allow themselves to be. An adventure about thinking on your feet, working with your actual abilities, and perseverance. Fun with danger and macabre tones, this is a good book, though a little short. I especially enjoyed the way magic works - a mix of emotions, knowledge, and practice.

Good

Good but more for younger readers. Reader does a good job. Still a good book

A Delightful Listen

After trying to listen to a couple of books that were difficult to get into and not very compelling I was desperate to find an enjoyable listen that was both entertaining and satisfying. Minor Mage hit the spot. The main character is only 12 but he is forced into solving adult problems in a magical world. There is plenty of humor in the story with an amardillo for a wizard’s familiar and one of the few spells the Minor Mage knows is tying shoelaces together. Who knew you could defeat bandits with a shoelace tying spell? This isn’t a deep and dramatic story but since I was in the mood for something light it was exactly what I was looking for. Problems are solved with cleverness and ingenuity- unlikely friendships are formed - and the 12 year old main character spends a lot more time thinking about human behavior and motivation than the adults around him. T. Kingfisher (pseudonym for Ursula Vernon) has written several other books I’ve enjoyed included so I’m going to continue looking for more. Her main characters are resilient and likable and her stories are engaging. Anyone could listen to this book.

Another charming magical tale from T. Kingfisher

Another charming magical tale from T. Kingfisher! A young mage is sent on a quest to bring back the rain to his village, despite only knowing three spells, one of which controls his allergy to armadillo dander. Nevertheless, he and his familiar set out to accomplish the impossible, and run into even more trouble along the way.

When do the adults of a village insist a 12yr old go on a dangerous journey?

The story does an excellent job of grappling with the above question in between lots of adventures.

Balanced, Cute Story

A nice, well-paced story, with a light hearted approach but touching on some much deeper topics.

Great story! Awesome armadillo!

Oliver is a minor mage. Indeed, he is a very minor mage, which his familiar reminds him of several times a day. After all, he only knows three spells, one of which is to control armadillo dander, and gives himself nosebleeds when trying to summon elementals. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter that Oliver is a minor mage when he is the only mage the town has. So, when the town needs water, they tell Oliver that he must leave and bring back rain.

Thus begins Oliver's journey.

This was such a great story and I don't know which character I liked more - Oliver or his Armadillo familiar. What begins as a sad story with the way Oliver's town all but physically forces him to leave the village to travel to the Rainblade Mountains in order to bring rain back to the village turns into an almost heart-warming coming-of-age story with the experiences Oliver has, the people he meets, and the lessons he learns - some good and some bad.

One of the things I liked most about this story was the presence of struggles that Oliver had to face where the choices were not easy and there were no cut-and-dry "this is the good choice" and "this is the bad choice" options. As with real life, sometimes there is only the best choice for the situation, even though it's still not great. This is not often seen in books for children, even though it should be, so it was nice to see it here.

While there is some debate over whether or not this book is appropriate for children, I would argue that it is, simply because it deals with tough situations where there aren't simple answers, situations where the adults who are supposed to care for the children may be more monstrous than the actual monsters, and that the consequences of choices can have long-reaching effects. These are things that can be difficult for some children, but other children already experience in their lives. For those parents who are concerned about whether or not their children are ready for this book, I suggest reading/listening to it with your children and talking with them about anything they have questions about.

For this book, I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by Christopher Williams. It was a great audiobook, and Williams did a wonderful job with the narration. I don't think I've listened to any other books narrated by him - or at least, if I have, it hasn't been many and not recently, because I didn't recognize his voice - but I would definitely be willing to listen to other books narrated by him in the future. I am also adding this book to my list of wonderful books to listen to when I have an afternoon and no other plans, because it is definitely worth listening to again. After all, how many books have a snarky armadillo who's willing to tackle you because you're too stupid/preoccupied/overconfident to realize that the invisibility spell that you were certain was going to work this time even though it's never worked before and said armadillo has already told you multiple times that you don't have enough magic to successfully carry out said spell? This is the only one that I know of. Though, if you happen to discover another one - or one with a similar character - please, please let me know. I would love to add it to my reading list.