mdpenguin 's review for:

Warrior Mage by Lindsay Buroker
4.5
adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This was a good grimdark hero's-journey YA adventure story. The characters are well developed and interesting, with a number of believable mysteries about them. The world is well built, with a number of different cultures and complex politics, and the different places we go with the protagonist feel real. The action is exciting and the stakes believable. The protagonist's mission seems a bit unlikely, the protagonist himself seems to be as confused as anyone else as to how he got drawn into it, so it's likely that we'll get a more in-depth explanation about it later. Overall, it's a really good start to the series and has me excited to keep reading.