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A review by rusereviews
Servant Mage by Kate Elliott
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