paperback, 325 pages
Published March 8, 2021 by Faolan's Pen Publishing.
A bloody war has ended in a restored peace And the shield of Martian magic guards the stars Two centuries of spell and steel to ward all humanity
Two years ago, Lieutenant Commander Roslyn Chambers stood witness to the surrender of the last remnants of the Republic. Fueled by atrocity against Mage and mundane alike, the secessionists who waged war against the Protectorate of Mars are finally defeated.
Now, a special commission from the Mage-Queen of Mars takes Roslyn deep into the former Republic to hunt the architects of that atrocity. Mages who betrayed their own, the creators of Project Prometheus must be brought to justice.
But hidden from even the Republic, Prometheus has woven magic and technology together once more. Here, hidden from all prying eyes, they have created a monster…one that even a Protectorate forged by the spell must call black magic.
The switch of main characters really did something good for this series, I have to say I was starting to get tired of Damien, and it's nice to get the whole power situation ramped down, and being able to focus on smaller stories again, This one was fun in that it turned out to be a very different story than what I expected, and it had some quite fun twists and turns.
This is the first official Roslyn Chambers novel in the Starship's Mage universe, Book 1 in the series Mage-Officer of Mars, and as such was written as an Origin Story. This is a strategic flaw because for long term readers, we don't need an introduction to a character that has been around for 3+ novels. Glynn Stewart wants us to treat The Service of Mars as the ending of Arc 2 (UnArcana Rebellion), but that novel already felt like Roslyn's main character debut. This mismatch in expectations results in a below standard novel.
If you pick up this novel expecting an Origin Story, I think it'll be fine. For me, I didn't care for a self-contained story, purposefully set on the fringes of civilization to reduce complexity, with teasers to the larger universe. There are no long-term arcs of importance and while it's entertaining, I suspect it can be skipped …
This is the first official Roslyn Chambers novel in the Starship's Mage universe, Book 1 in the series Mage-Officer of Mars, and as such was written as an Origin Story. This is a strategic flaw because for long term readers, we don't need an introduction to a character that has been around for 3+ novels. Glynn Stewart wants us to treat The Service of Mars as the ending of Arc 2 (UnArcana Rebellion), but that novel already felt like Roslyn's main character debut. This mismatch in expectations results in a below standard novel.
If you pick up this novel expecting an Origin Story, I think it'll be fine. For me, I didn't care for a self-contained story, purposefully set on the fringes of civilization to reduce complexity, with teasers to the larger universe. There are no long-term arcs of importance and while it's entertaining, I suspect it can be skipped without impacting the enjoyment of future novels.
Recommended only for completionists.
