A ship that cannot leaveA Mage that will not stayA meeting of desperationsIn a galaxy tied together by the magic of the elite Jump Mages, Damien Montgomery graduates into their numbers—only to discover that without connections, he can’t find a ship and is stuck in the Sherwood system.Pirates attacked David Rice’s jump freighter, leaving him with a dead Mage and a damaged ship—stuck in Sherwood, … dead Mage and a damaged ship—stuck in Sherwood, where a grieving father has blacklisted him from hiring a replacement Jump Mage.
When their desperate needs meet, Damien Montgomery is drawn into a conflict with the most powerful criminal organization in the galaxy—and to the attention of the Mage-King of Mars himself!
more
The author has done a very good job on the universe building and character construction. The characters grow believably through this book (and the remainder of the series). The story line is enjoyable and enticed me to continue reading the series.
It was has quickly become my favorite binge-reading series, “Starship’s Mage” manages a deft combination of military sci-fi, magic-as-science, political intrigue, and mystery that I’ve frankly never seen before. I’ve fallen in love with the characters, and my only irritation is waiting for Stewart to pump out more in this fantastic series!
This was a fabulous read. I really enjoyed following Damien Montgomery’s development from new journeyman to unsuspected archimage. I appreciated how he rose to each challenge as it came along, and while he was not a paladin by any stretch of the imagination, his moral fibre shines throughout. If he grew and changed so much in the course of one novel (as a serial), I cannot begin to imagine how much he will grow and change in the following novels in this series. I am looking forward to seeing what he ends up doing next.
Interstellar Travel and Magic
3 stars
Might be considered YA, but adults who like this type of story can enjoy it, too.
Some strong language including a dusting of F-bombs throughout the book.
Sex – referred to having happened, but absolutely no details
Violence – Action style. Lots of stuff blows up
Premise: Being a Mage is an inherited trait that has proved to be the only way to make interstellar travel possible. The mage uses his or her magic to jump the spaceship x light minutes from the starting point. (Light travels at 186,000 miles per second. Do the math if this interests you.) The mage can only go x amount of light minutes at a time, and then must rest. Jumping too often is suicide.
Plot no spoilers:
Our young Mage is hired onto a trader spaceship. He discovers that he has more talent than any of his trainers had ever expected, and he uses his talent to help his new crew-mates when really bad people start chasing them down. Unfortunately, some of what he’s doing is illegal, which attracts the attention of more bad guys as well as the government.
There’s lots of action: running, jumping, escaping, shooting, exploding, etc. etc. etc.
The last 10% of the book could almost approach 5 stars as the plot comes together as most readers would hoped.
Why only 3 stars?
I got tired of the bangity-bang-bang chapter after chapter. Other than the main character, I guess I felt that most others were two-dimensional.
Also, I’m not really into space fantasy. I liked the Harry Potter series well enough, I like mysteries, science fiction (Heinlein and others),I like action (Jack Reacher for example), I like slightly weird and creepy (Koontz), I like steampunk (Gail Carriger), humor (Jana DeLeon), and light, cozy mysteries. So, my own preferences may have tainted my reception of this book.
If you like blow ’em up TV, movies, and video games, you might really, really like this book. Check out what other reviewers say.
Although this one is an omnibus of many smaller parts it is still a good read and the rest of the series just keeps getting better.
Mages and starships don’t usually go together, but Stewart does a fabulous job of combining magic and science in a way that doesn’t have you thinking Harry Potter in space.
Starship’s Mage is great fun, with lots of action and space battles.
I don’t read fantasy so I don’t know if a mage is a common theme. However, I really enjoyed the book and in fact bought the whole series. I find the concept of a mage in outer space intriguing. Our hero, a recent mage school graduate, has a tough time finding work. Apparently there are well connected mages from mage families and then there is the occasional mage randomly showing up.
Our mage is also an oddity in that he has a very rare secondary ability that is illegal.
Finding a job jumping a ship through space is difficult. Avoiding policing mages is trouble and his new job brings along pirates that want to kill the captain.
Exciting situations are throughout the book. Scenes are on spaceships, planets, space stations, and shuttles.
The chapters are engaging and the interplay is relevant and pushes the plot forward.
Enjoy!
Oh, I gave the story 4 stars because I think the rest of the series gets better. I’d give the series 5 stars.
This is a first book in that it starts a little slow (building his world). However, once it gets going it doesn’t stop. Great characters, world building and story. This is the first book in the series and I had to get the rest. I love this story.
Many of the books and series that I would classify as space operas depend on wormholes or non-– Newtonian drives to achieve faster than light travel. Many of the scenarios in those books are so unbelievable I must put them down. On the other hand, I read fantasy novels and find magic more easily believable then hyper – drives, so this series sounded like it might be fun to read. Turns out I was wrong — and right.
Glynn Stewart’s Starship’s Mage series is an absolute delight to read — and this from someone who doesn’t usually read space opera. The the story begins a little slowly and, to me, unclearly. If you find this is so, just stay with it. Before you know it, you’ll be ignoring the tasks that we perhaps should be doing in favor of reading just a few more pages. Those few pages can magically multiply to the point where your eyelids are drooping and you know you should be going to sleep, but you just can’t put it down before you find out how the cast of characters are going to make it out of this scrape.
Great people in these books, people you’ll meet again in this series or in the Interstellar Mage Books. People you would like to have in your crew, people you know are going to be there not only when your back is against the wall, but also when there’s downtime. One of the pluses that I cannot emphasize how much I liked about Stewart’s writing is how he brings in people from all walks of life, all ethnicities and cultures. Women aren’t just mentioned occasionally as a seeming afterthoought, rather they are represented in administration, combat, engineering roles and as savvy business people. They are even sometimes “the bad guy.” Stewart also includes LGBTI persons, but makes the orientation aspects part of the story at times. Clearly, if you are a prude, you might not like these books. I’m not sure Stewart cares.
The blend of magic, created by genetic manipulation over many generations, and science in this book is really quite fascinating. Humanity has achieved interstellar travel, with the help of these genetically advanced humans who can cast spells to move the ships. The mages can also use a simulacrum inside of military ships to dramatically enhance their powers. Then there are the Rune Wrights(sp?). The special and rare few who can do even more. This is the story of one of them, Damian. It’s a great fantasy and science fiction blend.