Awakened Mage

My review of "Awakened Mage" by Karen Miller
What can I say about this book that I haven't already said about "Innocent Mage"? The story plods along at the same frustrating pace. The characters carry out the roles that have been etched in stone for them from the second chapter. Any novelty in the setting has worn off after the first book leaving only a grudging desire to reach the end to carry you on with the same inexorable plot-line that varies not one inch from the expected. If there is any interesting and unique part to this story it is the saviour-based religion that springs up around Barl the historic mage that created the paradise that is the kingdom of Lur. Oh well I guess I should have seen this coming, but I always like to finish the novels that I start.
Oh and a word about the climax. The final battle that has been alluded to throughout both very long books is a short affair and taking in to account all the hype that lead up to the battle, It was disappointing.

Innocent Mage

I just finished a book called "Innocent Mage" by Karen Miller. I am a bit put off at the ending, however. It is the first half of a two part series. This is particularly maddening as it is one continuous story that is published in two volumes. Now I am stuck with a cliffhanger that I won't see the other side of until I buy the other book, "Awakened Mage." Well on with the review.
The story is set in the fantasy land of Lur. The kingdom of Lur is peopled with two races, the olken and the doranen. The Doranen are the nobility, a blond haired fair race with the command of powerful magic, and the olken are the commoners, with dark hair and no magic. The main character is Asher of Resthaven, a rude and forthright olken, harsh almost to the point of unlikeability. And it follows his trip to the capital city of Dorana to seek his fortune. I found the characters interesting and fairly realistic, but unbending and static despite their depth. The story has some Prophecy Ex Machina, that I dislike (except of course for self-fulfilling prophecy which I find delicious) and some generous flexibility given to the friendships of adverse personalities.

The world seems an over-simplified construction with idyllic society and utopian government, but this is somewhat explained by the fact that the kingdom was created to be a utopia by Barl their ancestor-deity.

Will I read the other half? Yeah I have to. The supporting characters refer to Asher (behind his back) as the innocent mage, and hint that he is the only hope for Lur, and I find it so strange considering he is a magickless olken that I must find out. Oh well Its a decent book despite my nit-picking

reading material

I am currently reading:
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey
The New Paradigm for Financial Markets - George Soros
The Furies of Calderon - Jim Butcher

I think I need to ease back on my reading load.