I enjoyed this, but for as much as it's about magic, has magic in the title, and takes copious notes from Narnia and Harry Potter, it didn't have that spark of magic. Don't pick this series up just because of that comparison.

The main character is patently, intentionally, unlikable. It reminded me in a way of the Thomas Covenant books.

I think this book is somehow oddly trapped between a love letter to those series and a parody of them. There were also some questionable scenes that I'm not sure really added much apart from edge.

Some cool ideas though, and the writing was decent enough.

It did take a turn for the better to the end of the book (annoyingly, as I'll probably have to read the next now...)