A review by ladyethyme
The Wizard's Butler by Nathan Lowell

1.0

A really, really cool idea…unfortunately written by an extremely inexperienced writer, so that all the potential is absolutely squandered.
Instead of developing story, character, or relationships, the author spends 99% of thier time narrating every single step in every action of pointless minute. For example:
He went to the drawers. He pulled out the drawer. He saw a teaspoon. He reached for the teaspoon. He took out the teaspoon. He placed it on the tray.
You want to hear, in painstaking detail, every time he pulls a key out of the key cabinet? Or step by step follow a cable guy putting in internet cable and getting your signature or follow the woman installing internet? How many staples are out in a wall? Three pages on considering buying a flip chart?
How about reading word for word not only the conversations, but a narrated description of that boring board meeting you were forced to attend about economic progression theory on real estate? Yup, it’s all there. Just for you.
Honestly you could cut 90% and have a complete story. It’s pretty clear there wasn’t an editor on this whatsoever.
This is an extremely common issue with inexperienced writers…and it’s like that for almost every single action, as well as completely describing passing characters that have little to no actual presence in the story. It feels like it was written by a rather talented freshman in high school, who needs to take far more writing classes, and learn about story and structure, and my GOD learn story pacing. Listening to every tiny pointless action becomes excruciating; and this is the bulk of the book. Constantly repeated minute like making coffee and setting trays. There’s 500 pages of this.
Sure there’s ‘wizard’ in the title, but….no actual plot, magic, or real writing ability.
Usually when small things are painfully, excruciatingly narrated, it means something. There’s importance, whether for atmosphere or story. Nope, not here. Not at all. And the stilted, awkward conversation is…not compelling to read to say the least.
The ‘entitled niece’ is intolerable-which is fine for a villain, but…why not just get a restraining order? She forces he way into another person’s home whenever she feels like it, walking into their room, etc etc., and nobody bothers to ever actually enforce any kind of rules on her at all. I’d have the cops there the first time someone walked into my house uninvited, threatening my guests, refusing to accept any ground rules or even polite social niceties….she’s allowed because ‘plot’ requires her to.
And the idea that a young, ex military vet is baffled by the idea of a laptop is….