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secondhandbookshelves's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I did not enjoy this one.
I read it over two days and could not tell you much about it except that there are five different types of mages, a war between monarchy vs libertarians, and that babies can be dragons.
The characters moods, tones & personalities wildly change throughout the story, but the main character did start and end with the same thought - making it home.
Also cows fight demons.
I read it over two days and could not tell you much about it except that there are five different types of mages, a war between monarchy vs libertarians, and that babies can be dragons.
The characters moods, tones & personalities wildly change throughout the story, but the main character did start and end with the same thought - making it home.
Also cows fight demons.
Content Warnings
Minor: Classism, Physical abuse, Violence, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Slavery, and War
rusereviews's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Servant Mage by Kate Elliott is an epic fantasy novella.
Fellian is an indentured servant fire mage, a Lamplighter who is able to create lanterns with her magic. Her country is currently being run by a group of Liberationists who killed the last queen years before. At present, Fellian is freed by a group of Monarchists to complete a journey to rescue refugees from an underground complex of mines. But they get sidetracked when an omen regarding a newly born royal child takes precedence, as if the Liberationists get to the child first, they will wipe out the Monarchist movement for good.
The worldbuilding here was very expansive for the book being under 200 pages. Sometimes I really wish that novellas were fleshed out more, but this feels like it tells a complete story. That being said, I would still love to read more about our main character Fellian.
The queer rep in here is quiet but great. Though there really isn't a romance plot at all, Fellian seems to be attracted to both men and women, and there are casual references to same-sex marriages. There are also local customs of taking multiple husbands.
The end of the book is fairly open-ended and the author could definitely pick up another book several years into the future. I really do hope this happens.
Tropes in this book include: revolution, casual queerness
CW: violence, war, child endangerment
Fellian is an indentured servant fire mage, a Lamplighter who is able to create lanterns with her magic. Her country is currently being run by a group of Liberationists who killed the last queen years before. At present, Fellian is freed by a group of Monarchists to complete a journey to rescue refugees from an underground complex of mines. But they get sidetracked when an omen regarding a newly born royal child takes precedence, as if the Liberationists get to the child first, they will wipe out the Monarchist movement for good.
The worldbuilding here was very expansive for the book being under 200 pages. Sometimes I really wish that novellas were fleshed out more, but this feels like it tells a complete story. That being said, I would still love to read more about our main character Fellian.
The queer rep in here is quiet but great. Though there really isn't a romance plot at all, Fellian seems to be attracted to both men and women, and there are casual references to same-sex marriages. There are also local customs of taking multiple husbands.
The end of the book is fairly open-ended and the author could definitely pick up another book several years into the future. I really do hope this happens.
Tropes in this book include: revolution, casual queerness
CW: violence, war, child endangerment
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Child death, and Violence
laurareads87's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Servant Mage follows Fellian, a fire mage, who, through the course of the story, goes from indentured servitude to revolutionary and adventurer all while finding her way home to the town she was taken from as a child. In this world, dominated by the 'Liberationists' who are anything but liberatory, mages are identified early and forced into servitude or worse. Liberationists associate magic with lack of virtue and so those with magic are punished; opposed to the Liberationists are the Monarchists, seeking to re-establish a magical lineage of rulers and create a world that would not oppress mages in this way but would certainly be rigidly hierarchical in class structure. Fellian, understandably, hates the Liberationists, but falling in with Monarchists was never part of her plan and when it happens, she has some difficult choices to navigate.
What I liked most about this book was the world-building. Despite the novella's short size this feels like a fully fleshed out world complete with social, political, and magical systems that make sense. The plot moved along at a good quick pace and the action scenes were well described and exciting. What didn't work for me here was character development. Aside from Fellian, all of the characters felt undeveloped -- little really distinguished them from each other even when some of their back stories were revealed. The supporting characters felt more as though they were there simply to serve a narrative function for Fellian than to be interesting in their own right; some of this, I think, is a function of the book being so short. As for Fellian, I found her... whiny? I don't need to love a protagonist by any means, and am entirely fine with a book where no characters at all are straightforwardly likeable, but I somehow found Fellian very irritating to follow.
What I liked most about this book was the world-building. Despite the novella's short size this feels like a fully fleshed out world complete with social, political, and magical systems that make sense. The plot moved along at a good quick pace and the action scenes were well described and exciting. What didn't work for me here was character development. Aside from Fellian, all of the characters felt undeveloped -- little really distinguished them from each other even when some of their back stories were revealed. The supporting characters felt more as though they were there simply to serve a narrative function for Fellian than to be interesting in their own right; some of this, I think, is a function of the book being so short. As for Fellian, I found her... whiny? I don't need to love a protagonist by any means, and am entirely fine with a book where no characters at all are straightforwardly likeable, but I somehow found Fellian very irritating to follow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Slavery, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Blood
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual harassment
lacee's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, War, Child death, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Medical content, Death of parent, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment
pagesofbellerose's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Murder, and War
Minor: Slavery
Representation: Side Polyamory (multiple)
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