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ghostnayto's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
This was just so much fun.
slipperyjohn's review against another edition
3.0
Fun science fantasy
This book is really fun, with enough action to keep the whole book feeling a good tension that ratchets up as it goes on. The deeper sci aspects aren’t given too much attention, but they’re clearly thought through. The magic system is pretty vague, but abilities that resolve conflicts are well telegraphed. The characters aren’t the best. Especially at the very beginning and right at the end there are instances of large amounts of trust being given very quickly without much “on-screen” reason for it. That’s not enough to seriously hamper how fun the book is though, so I still highly recommend it.
This book is really fun, with enough action to keep the whole book feeling a good tension that ratchets up as it goes on. The deeper sci aspects aren’t given too much attention, but they’re clearly thought through. The magic system is pretty vague, but abilities that resolve conflicts are well telegraphed. The characters aren’t the best. Especially at the very beginning and right at the end there are instances of large amounts of trust being given very quickly without much “on-screen” reason for it. That’s not enough to seriously hamper how fun the book is though, so I still highly recommend it.
joshhall13's review against another edition
2.0
After reading some other reviews, I know now what bothers me about this book. It's not sci-fi and it's not fantasy. It's marketed as both.
This is just a book about a guy that can do anything, get the girl, save the world(s), and unrealistically get the protection of all the factions without even knowing them. He happens to have some kind of unexplained magical ability and the setting happens to be in space. But the book has a low amount of science, sci-fi, or fantasy elements,
It's just a series of repetitively worse factions chasing some dude across the galaxy while some factions that barely know this guy risk their lives, ships, reputations, and everything to save him... for no real fleshed-out reason.
An extra star for the fun multiple solar systems explorations. Too bad the author didn't expand on this strength more than a few paragraphs in each chapter.
This is just a book about a guy that can do anything, get the girl, save the world(s), and unrealistically get the protection of all the factions without even knowing them. He happens to have some kind of unexplained magical ability and the setting happens to be in space. But the book has a low amount of science, sci-fi, or fantasy elements,
It's just a series of repetitively worse factions chasing some dude across the galaxy while some factions that barely know this guy risk their lives, ships, reputations, and everything to save him... for no real fleshed-out reason.
An extra star for the fun multiple solar systems explorations. Too bad the author didn't expand on this strength more than a few paragraphs in each chapter.
olityr's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
There's a system that's known for being crazy because it has bare minimum laws and regulations. The system was founded by "North American Libertarians" and almost everything is legal. The space station they're told to dock at is called Heinlein station.
atagarev's review against another edition
2.0
Its a decent beginning to a fairly addicting space opera series. We get a set up of the main character and some relationships that are going to be important again later on, we get a feel for the world and some of the important conflicts in it, there is plenty of action but also enough time to breathe and build tension between action scenes. A fun book that sets up a fun series, I enjoyed it.
Unfortunately the book is in desperate need of an editor, a proof reader and a second draft. One major issue is that information is often unnecessarily repeated over and over again. Perhaps the most egregious example is that we spend about five chapters seeing how the main character gets his first job as a Jump Mage after graduation then chapter six begins with a paragraph on how Damien is a just graduated Jump Mage on his first trip... yeah, we know, we literally just finished reading about it. It almost reads like that's where the book used to start but then the author wrote some preceding chapters and didn't change anything after. This isn't a one off issue either, we keep getting reintroduced to characters, places and concepts that we are very familiar with. It happens several times per chapter in every single chapter.
Beyond that, the book is just full of glaring grammatical mistakes and broken sentences- nothing that prevents you from understanding but very clearly the result of writing some stuff in a rush and never *ever* looking back at it again.
Unfortunately the book is in desperate need of an editor, a proof reader and a second draft. One major issue is that information is often unnecessarily repeated over and over again. Perhaps the most egregious example is that we spend about five chapters seeing how the main character gets his first job as a Jump Mage after graduation then chapter six begins with a paragraph on how Damien is a just graduated Jump Mage on his first trip... yeah, we know, we literally just finished reading about it. It almost reads like that's where the book used to start but then the author wrote some preceding chapters and didn't change anything after. This isn't a one off issue either, we keep getting reintroduced to characters, places and concepts that we are very familiar with. It happens several times per chapter in every single chapter.
Beyond that, the book is just full of glaring grammatical mistakes and broken sentences- nothing that prevents you from understanding but very clearly the result of writing some stuff in a rush and never *ever* looking back at it again.
dawn_marie's review against another edition
2.0
I like the world that Glynn Stewart created in Starship Mage; a world where technology and magic coexist – a world where magic is used to “jump” starships through space. The worlds that we are introduced to in Mr. Stewart’s creation are interesting, each with its own unique set of laws, rules, and traditions. The idea of the story is entertaining: a freshly minted mage finds it hard to find a job “jumping” starships because he was not born into the “right” family ends up on the Blue Jay, a shipping running from its past. As is often the case, the mage does something he should not have and now he and the rest of the crew find themselves between the proverbial rock and hard place. The characters that inhabit this world are a mixed bag; some are well thought out and interesting, while the others are mere caricatures: grouchy head engineer, perky junior officer, gun-ho ex-military pilot.
In theory, this is something I should have thoroughly enjoyed – in reality I did not. For me the format (serialized short stories rather than a full-length novel) really let the story down. The format forced Mr. Stewart to constantly restate events from previous “episodes” and re-identified people we meet earlier. Perhaps this was more apparent because I read the omnibus at once rather than the individual episodes over time. However, even within the same episode, Mr. Stewart restated events that happened only pages before. Mr. Stewart’s writing style leans toward dull, with occasional trips to boring.
I think there is a really good novel somewhere buried in the starship mage universe; perhaps in the hands of a better writer and a more skilled story teller it would come to life.
In theory, this is something I should have thoroughly enjoyed – in reality I did not. For me the format (serialized short stories rather than a full-length novel) really let the story down. The format forced Mr. Stewart to constantly restate events from previous “episodes” and re-identified people we meet earlier. Perhaps this was more apparent because I read the omnibus at once rather than the individual episodes over time. However, even within the same episode, Mr. Stewart restated events that happened only pages before. Mr. Stewart’s writing style leans toward dull, with occasional trips to boring.
I think there is a really good novel somewhere buried in the starship mage universe; perhaps in the hands of a better writer and a more skilled story teller it would come to life.
faileskye's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a surprise for me, as I was expecting just a mediocre, slightly entertaining book. Instead I got a gripping series of tales. Don't get me wrong though, in my categorization system, this is still an entertaining book as opposed to a good book.
The characters are paper-thin here, but Stewart more than makes up for that with his world building and sometimes legit surprising story. The world building is done best when he writes in these nice little touches that are so easy to miss. One such example is a mention that real-estate on a space ship is cheap, but mass is not. The story is equal parts light thriller and adventure. If that floats your boat, go for it. It's a hop and a skip between planets, starbases, and the vast emptiness of space in this omnibus.
The elephant in the room is the characters. There isn't much depth there beyond the titular character Damien, and even with him, it's pushing it to say he is deep. Nah, this is how an adventure book should be, none of that lovey dovey stuff or angst stuff, just the trip.
So I recommend this book to anyone wanting an adventurous sci-fi jaunt through a future galaxy powered by a few mages. Just FYI, this is definitely more sci-fi than fantasy though.
The characters are paper-thin here, but Stewart more than makes up for that with his world building and sometimes legit surprising story. The world building is done best when he writes in these nice little touches that are so easy to miss. One such example is a mention that real-estate on a space ship is cheap, but mass is not. The story is equal parts light thriller and adventure. If that floats your boat, go for it. It's a hop and a skip between planets, starbases, and the vast emptiness of space in this omnibus.
The elephant in the room is the characters. There isn't much depth there beyond the titular character Damien, and even with him, it's pushing it to say he is deep. Nah, this is how an adventure book should be, none of that lovey dovey stuff or angst stuff, just the trip.
So I recommend this book to anyone wanting an adventurous sci-fi jaunt through a future galaxy powered by a few mages. Just FYI, this is definitely more sci-fi than fantasy though.
peresr's review against another edition
5.0
Molt i molt interessant. Un llibre que barreja ciència ficció i màgia com cap altre que hagi caigut a les meves mans.
Els personatges, la manera de narrar el fil conductor de la trama i la història en si m’ha atrapat i continua en la línia de l’autor.
No és cap lectura profunda amb personatges gaire profunds però la narrativa t’enganyés suficient i t’entreté de manera que quan acabo un dels seus llibres vull continuar llegint la saga si i si. Sense pausa. I així continuo :)
Els personatges, la manera de narrar el fil conductor de la trama i la història en si m’ha atrapat i continua en la línia de l’autor.
No és cap lectura profunda amb personatges gaire profunds però la narrativa t’enganyés suficient i t’entreté de manera que quan acabo un dels seus llibres vull continuar llegint la saga si i si. Sense pausa. I així continuo :)
emmalooz's review against another edition
2.0
I don’t understand why people like this book. It is like a fan fiction mash up of popular culture science fiction.