The Mages of Starsea

The Starsea Cycle

By: Kyle West

Narrated by: Rob Brinkmann

A mage's fate is worse than death....

Lucian dreams of a new life outside the cesspool of Earth. Unfortunately, his wish comes true when the government identifies him as a mage.

No one knows why the mages are being born. No one knows why their powers lead to madness and death in a terrifying disease known as "the fraying". The only solution is to quarantine the mages in academies.

Lucian is exiled from Earth and must attend the Volsung Academy. He is to become a Talent, a mage dedicated to developing his powers in service to the League of Worlds.

But during the long voyage, he meets a mysterious sorceress. She prophesies Lucian is marked by the Manifold, the reality that is the source of all magic. It is a destiny that requires Lucian to master magical abilities he never imagined he possessed.

He faces a terrible choice - to continue down the path fate has prescribed him. Or, to try and outrun destiny...

©2021 Kyle West (P)2021 Kyle West

reluctant hero

tired sorry of protagonist being forced down the story by forces beyond their control or understanding, heavy foreshadowing about the big bad, constantly questions every decision, narrator did well with what the story was though.

Adequate but engaging

Very well written. Engaging., great setup. But the twin sister thing—really? Potentially convoluted if it’s not unpacked well in proceeding books. On to number 2!

Great story

Well built lore and back story for the world. Good plot twists. Great book. Looking forward to the rest

Good Story

The story has momentum but the character is lacking something just missing. Main character seems dry and boring.

Kinda Boring

The main character is supposed to be 20. He acts like he's 16. This book was was either written for teenagers, or by a teenager. Maybe in the following series, the MC will grow into the 20-something he's supposed to be. There was almost no magic. It was all teenage drama, teenage angst, and forbidden love. At least the world building was kind of interesting.

The narration was adequate.

consistently inconsistent

it's probably supposed to be the main flaw of the main character which he'll work on improving over the series, but the large swings in logic and reaction to situations quite annoyed me over time. like the premise and world building, but the main characters were disappointing.

Great Concept

I've never been really interested in books or reading, tho I read the title of this book and ran with it, sure this book is a bit slow taking off, but it sets a solid foundation for the subsequent books. I'm glad Kyle West has drawn me to his work, I can't wait for the 9th one to be released in audiobook format, and I'm excited to see how the rest of the story unfolds.

boring

came for space magic, got stereotypical bullies and teenage angst. it was so boring I stopped listening and finished my drive in total silence.

It's Meh..

The premise for the book is interesting, as well as the overarching plot. However, the story is slow and boring. The narrator is adequate I guess, but also kinda boring as well. I feel like this whole book could have been condensed into like 1/3 of the words, and been the beginning chapters of a better, more exciting book. The magic system might be interesting, but there wasnt remotely enough given to me as the audience to know one way or the other. I think I would like to read a Cliff's Notes version of the whole series to see where it goes, but I doubt I will subject myself to the rest of the actual books.

So slow..

This book is so slow. I struggled to finish it.
Its an interesting concept, however its almost a step by step diary of the main characters days in the story.
It took the entire book to get to a school. What in a normal book took maybe a few chapters.

In my opinion, I say this is a mundane book at best.