The Mage War

Magebreakers, Book 5

By: Ben S. Dobson

Narrated by: Joe Hempel

The world is on the verge of war, and only the Magebreakers can stop it. The exciting conclusion to the Magebreakers saga!

The nations of the Continent are on the verge of declaring war with Audland over the actions of the man who would be the next Mage Emperor, and only Tane, Kadka, Indree, and Tinga know the truth about Endo Stooke's plot. The problem is, they're on the run, blamed for the attempted assassination of the Belgrian Kaiser. And the non-magical forces gathering off Audland's coast are the perfect target for the terrible spell Endo has created—a spell that saps the life out of anyone without magic. A spell that won't be sated by foreign armies alone, if it reaches Audish shores.

With few friends to count on, fewer resources, and time quickly running out, the Magebreakers have no choice but to sneak back into their homeland as fugitives in the hopes of stopping Endo before he plunges the world into the next Mage War.

©2021 Ben S. Dobson (P)2023 Tantor

overall pretty good series

I really liked this series. It would be nice if the author wrote a spin-off on the adventure of Professor you know who. The final book seemed a little rushed but all loose ends were dealt with. There were a few inspiring moments and the ending is hopeful. You won't be sorry if you give this series a go. Too bad there was a narrator switch, although the new narrator was quite good.

A good conclusion

This book did a good job of wrapping up the plot threads from the previous entries in the Magebreaker series. Katka was still my favorite character, Tinka finally grew on me (mostly because she did a lot of growing herself), the dragon storyline was bittersweet but added a lot of depth to the story, and the villain was a good mix of clever and understandable. I appreciated seeing Tane finding new purpose in his life, and it looked like everything ended on a positive note with hope for a better future. It could potentially stop there as a finished story, or I wouldn't mind seeing these characters return in another series. Nicely done.

Nice conclusion to series

I didn't like this book quite as much as much as the previous in the series but it wrapped up things nicely in a fitting conclusion. Part of the issue was that this story was too short. The final battle took up half the book and I feel like there should have been more plot in the middle.

Having said that, all our favorite characters are in this one. The series as a whole has the perfect blend of magic, creatures and familiar fantasy races. This story was no different and with the addition of dragons, what more could you ask for?

Narration was great. I liked the original narrator just a little bit more but Joe Hempel did a great job, it just took a little getting used to. This was made a little easier in that Hempel did a good job matching the accents and voices of the original narrator.

I really enjoyed this series and I'm a little sad to see it ending so soon.

Return of the Mage Breakers

A well done conclusion to the Mage Breakers. This story wasted little time getting to the action. Several plot threads are tied up.

Overall I enjoyed the series and the ending was worth the payoff. The world is vibrant and I would like to see another series explore it more with new cast members.

Good story, disappointing performance

The story is good, lots of suspense and action. Plot points from previous books reach a satisfying resolution. However, the narrator mispronounced a key word over and over. A few seconds with a dictionary would have solved this problem, but alas. If the word only occurred occasionally, it would be easy to overlook, but it's used constantly as it is a key plot point for the story! It's a shame because otherwise this narrator does a good job differentiating characters and varying his tone to match the mood of various scenes. Unfortunately, every time this jarring mispronounced word keeps jerking the listener out of the story with jarring dissonance.

AMAZING SERIES!!

I did not know what to expect; often these types of fantasy series devolve over each new addition. Yet, the Magebreakers series flowed as a continuous, complex, engaging and delightful story. I've become so invested in the characters that I found myself in tears at the end of Mage Wars. I'm not ashamed to say it! The narration was really good, the story is one I can come back to time and again. Future reader, you will not be disappointed.