A terrible secret. A vengeful empress. An unstable empire. Sir Corbin, retired Hero of Jerkum Pass, dies on the eve of an urgent mission. Rumors of evil magic threaten his family. His granddaughter Kelsa dons the old man’s armor and wrinkles to investigate the capital. The city is in an uproar. The emperor has been slain by rogue mages. The new empress is livid. Now, every mage is suspect, … Now, every mage is suspect, including Kelsa’s mother.
Hidden behind her mother’s enchanted ring, Kelsa infiltrates her grandfather’s regiment. The bonds between retired army mages and cavalry have already begun to crack. Kelsa finds herself trapped in a pit of tangled plots and lustful adventures. The disguised hero struggles to wield Corbin’s shining legacy while the regiment splinters around her. The deeper she ventures into his shadow, the more tarnish she uncovers. Can Kelsa save anyone before the vengeful empress and Corbin’s sordid past expose her?
Unravel The Knight’s Secret, the first epic fantasy intrigue of The Mage Conspiracy series. Discover a dark world where love and lies cut deeper than any sword.
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Kelsa inhabiting her grandfather’s body is somewhat predictable. There are many instances of missing words between “pages”. It’s hard to tell how much of the story I missed.
I couldn’t get into this. Just seemed to take to long to develop.
I am not easy to please. I liked this one.
Granfa, aka Sir Corbin, is a great story teller. He regales everyone with stories of him as the Hero of Jerkum Pass. He dies and is put in the outhouse until they can figure out what to do with him. No one is to know he is dead and to top that of he is to give a speech at the reunion of his regiment in the city and secure his pension money for the family.
There is a large problem in as much as mages are being persicute by the emperess after the death of her father. Kelsa’s mother, Miranda, is a mage. The town elder suspects as much and plans to reveal that fact, imperiling her life and that of her family.
Kelsa and Mirana leave town with Grandfa’s body in a stasis box. Once they get away from everyone they stop and a spell is used on Kelsa to make her look, talk and act like Sir Corbin. Kelsa continues on to the city riding Grandfa’s horse, Krag, and her mother buries Grandfa.
When she gets to the city she has a big job to do. She must convince everyone that she is Sir Corbin, the Hero of Jerkum Pass. There are many people she must convince those that knew Grandfa very well. The disruptive threat of the regiment made up of calverymen and mages being destroyed hangs over the gathering. This is not an easy task for a young girl who only knows some of the goings on of her grandfather and what is true and what is tall tales.
The story is well developed and fun to read.
Great images of an alternate world
Hate when a book just ends. that isn’t a conclusion, folks.
Having read a number of Bardwell’s other books, I was prepared to grant the first book in series a bit of slack. That done, the story was not bad, although his Metal and magic universe is not a fun place. But when I had finally waded through to the end of volume I realized: this experience has not resulted in any redemption whatever for a single character.
In fact I began to detect a pattern in Bardwell’s attitude to his own universe: he sees the villains as evil and the heroes as starting out innocent or idealistic and then being infected with the thirst for revenge and cruelty themselves, until they look to us readers no better than the villains, except for who might be winning the struggle at that point.
Since I’d already been crawling round future Empress Cordelia’s brain because I read the prequel, I had hoped it would inspire me with hope for the future to read Book 1. Let’s just say it didn’t.
Plodding and predictable.
Sword and sorcery at it’s finest. Credible characters taking risks that are unpredictable. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series!
Kelsea is devoted to her Grandfa, and revels in the heroic tales he tells her of past wars. But the empire is changing, the Empress Cordelia has passed laws making it illegal to be a mage, and Kelsea’s mage mother, Miranda, is at risk. Grandfa Sir Corbin Destrus is supposed to travel to the capital city. But an old man of eighty six, he has died. So Kelsea is magically spelled to look like her Grandfa, and she goes to the city in his stead. Up to this point, the book was compelling and enjoyable. After this point, the author lets the story get bogged down in politics and into what in past events is true and what is lies or exaggeration.
Enjoyed the book for the most part. I found it to be a bit different from most of the genre but a certain aspect of it was a little disturbing to me. I can’t explain further without giving away the plot, but if you are easily offended, you may want to give it a pass.
I could not get involved in the book.
Cool concept
An unusual take on an overused genre, had enough twists and turns to keep it interesting and readable, but also rather predictable at times. However it was well written which made it very readable
It was just a little slow in spots but the premise was interesting. All in all I enjoyed it and thought the author did a good job relating what it would be like for a female to experience being a male. Kelsa was intelligent and turned out to be more of a hero than the grandfather she worshiped. I am not sure if I will continue the series or not. If the book stays in my mind for a while I will probably get the next one. The editing was pretty good, not perfect.
I have read books from this author. Jeffrey Bardwell is a wonderful writer. This is a wonderful starting to his new series of books coming out. I can’t wait to read his next one in the series.
Very interested story with a complex, multilayered storyline that has you guessing about what small interaction might turn out to be very important to the story later on all the way through the book. The characters are complex and often have multiple motives for their actions and the world they live in is an interesting blend of magic and technology.
I received a copy of The Knight’s Secret in exchange for an honest review.
In year 198, the tension between mages and the capitol is at breaking point. Kelsa’s family needs to keep their secret, but the one person keeping them safe has passed away. The death of Kelsa’s grandfa Sir Corbin could tear their lives apart. Being close to her grandfa is going to come in handy when she is has to become him to save her mothers life. But, no one is who they appear to be.
I really enjoyed this book. Kelsa’s ability to portray Sir Corbin is amazing. It was very easy to keep everything apart. There are a couple romantic situations that caught me by surprise, but they were very intriguing. The beginning was a little slow, but once Kelsa starts her adventure, I was hooked. I can’t wait for the next book.
Totalitarian rulers and intolerance of a specific group in the population is a terrible combination for the entire country.
In the guise of an epic fantasy, with unique magical twists, Mr. Bardwell has examined a problem that has plagued humans throughout recorded history: intolerance. The way it is represented is that an army that fought and died together, are in later years pulled apart by the soldiers fearing, distrusting and finally murdering the mages (warriors who used magic). It started with a small problem, and grew rapidly based on rumors and misinterpretations of events. Whether it is religious, ethnic, racial, socio-economic, this same pattern has repeated itself as endlessly in societies all over the earth, even today.
“Sir Corbin”, the Hero of this army and of our story, tries to remind the factions of how successfully they had worked together in the past, which did have a good effect initially. But the mending quickly unraveled when a surprising attack on the group occurred under the direction of the cold, biased Empress. She exhibited traits of totalitarian/fascist rulers that have initiated great wars throughout history. In this book, the underdog group, the mages, are nearly exterminated from the army. The plan is to extend this pogrom-like activity to the general population.
This book ends at a natural break in the story: “Sir Corbin” escapes the torture chamber and returns to the cell containing the lone surviving mage. We are led to anticipate that they will escape. As this is an epic, readers will anticipate that the next book will continue the journey of “Sir Corbin”.
I received this book as a gift in exchange for an honest review.