The Sort of Dark Mage Waldo Rabbit Series Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition) Nelson Chereta Gary Furlong Tantor Audio Books
Download As PDF : The Sort of Dark Mage Waldo Rabbit Series Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition) Nelson Chereta Gary Furlong Tantor Audio Books
The (Sort of) Dark Mage is the story of a young man named Waldo who grows up in a world where monsters, the undead, and dark magic are part of everyday life. He is forced to go on a journey to prove himself and soon discovers that his beliefs don't fit into the wider world.
The Sort of Dark Mage Waldo Rabbit Series Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition) Nelson Chereta Gary Furlong Tantor Audio Books
THE (SORT OF) DARK MAGE is a fantasy parody about an evil wizard (not really) who is the last remaining member of the Corpselover lineage. Basically like the Malfoys back in a time when magic meant something more than going to a posh school, all the elder siblings to Walder Corpselover have gotten themselves killed trying to prove themselves worthy.Waldo is more Neville Longbottom than Draco, though, and is thoroughly unqualified for the position as heir to the most prestigious of all evil wizarding families. Sensing this, his mother Lilith has become even more overprotective so her rivals demand he be sent on a suicidal quest to prove himself.
Waldo must tame three Great Monsters, steal a dragon age, and kill a knight when even one of these tasks would get him killed. Thankfully, Waldo's gentle nature (as much as he denies it) is it's own kind of defense and he ends up getting his first Great Monster, a chaste succubus named Alice, by accidentally marrying her in the first town he visits.
It's all downhill from there.
I absolutely love this book and give it extremely high marks. This is pretty much the same feeling people have described reading my Supervillainy Saga or how I felt with the Hard Luck Hank series. Its basically a nonstop series of laughs stemming from Waldo's failed attempts at being a bad person and Alice's equally unsuccessful attempts to make Waldo a good person. It's a joke which sometimes wears a bit thin but, mostly, holds up throughout the book.
If I were to make a comparison, it's pretty much the Addam's Family or Munsters with the fact Waldo is a liberal Goth kid who is mostly harmless despite being arrogant and snooty. Mind you, all the other Dark Wizards in the world really are evil but he's just a liberal open-minded oddball who happens to live in a world which consists of either Mordor or oppressive theocratic religious states. It's a bit of a cheat that the White Mages are all racist bigots but "killing all monsters for God" is hardly a new idea in a Dungeons and Dragons-themed world. It is D&D themed too since the magic functions on Vancian principles of memorization, cast, forget.
That's not a bad thing.
My favorite character of the book happens to be Lilith, Waldo's mother. Maybe I'm a sucker for beautiful dark-haired older women necromancers but I had an image in my head of her as Monica Belluci and that was a very nice image. I love how she's perfectly suited to be the kind of evil wizardess villain in another fantasy setting but works here as Waldo's dotting mother. Other supporting characters work well like Elsa and the Archlich but a lot of Waldo's quest remains unfinished at the end of the book. This is clearly a story which will take at least a trilogy to complete.
Are there flaws? A few. The book doesn't indent its paragraphs and basically reads more like a blog than a more traditional novel. This kind of thing doesn't bother me as independent publication comes with these sorts of things and Lord knows I've made a few errors in my time. Likewise, the joke of "Waldo says something horrible about his homeland like it's perfectly normal and Alice is appalled" wears a bit thin at times. Finally, the book ends in what feels like the middle of the book rather than a proper climax.
Still, I found The Sort-Of Dark Mage to be incredibly fun book and I immediately bought the second one. I debated between giving this book four stars or five but decided to ere on the side of how much entertainment I got out of this book, which was considerable.
9/10
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The Sort of Dark Mage Waldo Rabbit Series Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition) Nelson Chereta Gary Furlong Tantor Audio Books Reviews
I'm amazed by how funny a book this is while maintaining a serious edge. Murder, slavery, theft, racial prejudice (against non-humans), class prejudice (against those not in the 7 ruling families), and many more forms of evil are amply present in this book. And yet Waldo is absolutely the worst evil character ever. So bad he's good. And wherever his morals may lapse (he truly has a poor grasp of manners and property rights with respect to those weaker than him) his great monster familiar (AKA wife) is more than able to guide him back onto the path of... not evil at all.
My only negative for this book is the title. It's kind of weird although it makes perfect sense AFTER you've read it. I mention this because it sadly languished in my todo pile for far too long. In particular, I'd drop the round brackets around "(sort of)". And yes, I can see the irony here, given how many parenthesis I've used in my own review. *sigh*
Imagine, if you will, a dark mage, trained to be absolutely ruthless, cruel, and loving every minute of it, but who is unable to do anything really "bad." His powers, which are considerable, help people; he can heal severely wounded individuals. Obviously he is a real flop as a Dark Mage and is sent off by the ruling council of mages on an impossible--in the council's opinion--quest Capture three monsters, kill a knight, and steal a dragon's egg. Waldo, our determined hero, ventures into the land beyond the borders of his dark world and promptly becomes disconcerted by the "bright thing" in the sky (sun) and terrified by a rabbit. Then he meets his first "monster," captures it, so to speak, and finds out that this whole Dark Mage thing is not as easy as it looks, especially since no one takes him seriously as an evil person. In fact, when he is thanked for a nice deed--about all he is able to perform--, he is insulted!
My rating would have been five stars were it not for the many misspellings, missing words and the like. There are really too many of them in the present volume and, indeed, seem to increase in the second half of the narrative.
Nonetheless, I really hated to see this book end. I enjoyed the style (in spite of my above comment), the amusing interaction between the characters, and the occasional "wow, I didn't see that coming" moment--and I am not referring merely to the final chapter. Clearly there will be a sequel, and I, for one, am looking forward to it.
What I would have liked to know before I bought this book.
1. Is it a serious book? If the tittle didn't give you a clue, no. This is a fantasy joke book. Its here for chucks and giggles.
2. What is the story about? The story is about a young bumbling Dark Mage traveling the land, his adventures and his odd companion(s).
3. Are the characters engaging? Are they likable? Hmm. The characters are likable but they do have static roles. I mean, its a humor book. Don't take character development too seriously with these type of reads. Enjoy it for what it is and you won't be disappointed.
4. Who should buy this book? Anyone who can enjoy fantasy, wants a good laugh and generally engaging humor.
5. What's the target audience? I think general male audience but this book has enough to engage some of the female audience as well. Is not serious at all and laughs are welcomed by anyone. I think. )
6. Is the book worth the price. In my personal opinion, yes. I had a good laugh and honestly felt my money wasn't wasted.
In conclusion A fun book to read that's easy on the mind. It provided soft escapism and welcomed humor. Its intention is to make the reader laugh, nothing more ... nothing less.
4 stars.
THE (SORT OF) DARK MAGE is a fantasy parody about an evil wizard (not really) who is the last remaining member of the Corpselover lineage. Basically like the Malfoys back in a time when magic meant something more than going to a posh school, all the elder siblings to Walder Corpselover have gotten themselves killed trying to prove themselves worthy.
Waldo is more Neville Longbottom than Draco, though, and is thoroughly unqualified for the position as heir to the most prestigious of all evil wizarding families. Sensing this, his mother Lilith has become even more overprotective so her rivals demand he be sent on a suicidal quest to prove himself.
Waldo must tame three Great Monsters, steal a dragon age, and kill a knight when even one of these tasks would get him killed. Thankfully, Waldo's gentle nature (as much as he denies it) is it's own kind of defense and he ends up getting his first Great Monster, a chaste succubus named Alice, by accidentally marrying her in the first town he visits.
It's all downhill from there.
I absolutely love this book and give it extremely high marks. This is pretty much the same feeling people have described reading my Supervillainy Saga or how I felt with the Hard Luck Hank series. Its basically a nonstop series of laughs stemming from Waldo's failed attempts at being a bad person and Alice's equally unsuccessful attempts to make Waldo a good person. It's a joke which sometimes wears a bit thin but, mostly, holds up throughout the book.
If I were to make a comparison, it's pretty much the Addam's Family or Munsters with the fact Waldo is a liberal Goth kid who is mostly harmless despite being arrogant and snooty. Mind you, all the other Dark Wizards in the world really are evil but he's just a liberal open-minded oddball who happens to live in a world which consists of either Mordor or oppressive theocratic religious states. It's a bit of a cheat that the White Mages are all racist bigots but "killing all monsters for God" is hardly a new idea in a Dungeons and Dragons-themed world. It is D&D themed too since the magic functions on Vancian principles of memorization, cast, forget.
That's not a bad thing.
My favorite character of the book happens to be Lilith, Waldo's mother. Maybe I'm a sucker for beautiful dark-haired older women necromancers but I had an image in my head of her as Monica Belluci and that was a very nice image. I love how she's perfectly suited to be the kind of evil wizardess villain in another fantasy setting but works here as Waldo's dotting mother. Other supporting characters work well like Elsa and the Archlich but a lot of Waldo's quest remains unfinished at the end of the book. This is clearly a story which will take at least a trilogy to complete.
Are there flaws? A few. The book doesn't indent its paragraphs and basically reads more like a blog than a more traditional novel. This kind of thing doesn't bother me as independent publication comes with these sorts of things and Lord knows I've made a few errors in my time. Likewise, the joke of "Waldo says something horrible about his homeland like it's perfectly normal and Alice is appalled" wears a bit thin at times. Finally, the book ends in what feels like the middle of the book rather than a proper climax.
Still, I found The Sort-Of Dark Mage to be incredibly fun book and I immediately bought the second one. I debated between giving this book four stars or five but decided to ere on the side of how much entertainment I got out of this book, which was considerable.
9/10
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