Valjean thought about how impossible it seemed that there was another world out there from which he had narrowly escaped. A world of manticores and cave fiends, magic swords and potions, spirit mages and necromancers. Wizard-monks who could shatter walls with their fists, a city of colored spires so beautiful it took his breath away . . . and a world in which Val's brothers were still trapped.
Desperate to help his brothers, high-powered attorney Val Blackwood manages to find a way to return to the world of Urfe. After landing in the dangerous underbelly of New Victoria, he concludes that the only way to find Will and Caleb is to enroll in the Abbey--the school for wizards--and somehow gain access to a portal called the Pool of Souls. Yet to succeed, he not only has to pass the entrance exam and survive the rigors of the school, considered the most demanding in all the Realm, but also avoid a lethal assassin targeting students.
As Val struggles to survive, his brothers undergo an even deadlier trial. Reeling from the loss of Mala, an adventuress lost in the mysterious Place Between Worlds, Will and Caleb and Yasmina are captured by slavers and taken to the mines beneath Fellengard Mountain. Even if they manage to escape, a feat no one has ever accomplished, they must still find their way out of the vast and untamed caverns of the Darklands. A place even the wizards fear.
Trapped in a land of dreams and nightmares, the brothers must somehow stay alive and learn to adapt to their new surroundings--or risk losing their home world forever.
Layton Green is a bestselling author who loves to tell powerful, edge-of-your-seat stories across a range of genres, including mystery & thriller, suspense, horror, and fantasy (and often blending them together). He is the author of the Dominic Grey series, the Blackwood Saga, the Genesis Trilogy, and other works of fiction. Layton's work has been nominated for numerous awards (including a rare three-time finalist for an International Thriller Writers award), optioned for film, published in multiple languages, and has reached #1 on many genre lists.
In addition to writing, Layton attended law school in New Orleans and was a practicing attorney for ten very long years. He has also been an intern for the United Nations, an ESL teacher in Central America, a bartender in London, a seller of cheap knives on the streets of Brixton, a door to door phone book deliverer in Florida, and the list goes downhill from there.
Layton lives with his family in Southern California. You can visit him on Facebook, Goodreads, or on his website (www.laytongreen.com).
Split apart at the end of book one, Val finds a way back to the realm of New Victoria to search for his brothers. His search leads him to enroll in the school for wizards and he begins to learn his craft. Meanwhile, Will, Caleb and Yasmina are captured and sold into slavery. They spend the majority of the book trying to escape. Similarly, Mala was sent to yet another world where she must outwit a group of powerful hags. By the end,
I'm enjoying this series. As expected, this 2nd installment in the series transitions our characters to be in a better position for the final conflict (whatever that will be). They've each gained power and knowledge and I assume they will put it to use in the next book, which I plan on reading soon.
What a delight The Spirit Mage was to read! Everyone in this story had their existing skills tested, as well as learned many new skills they needed in order to survive in this brutal world. I felt as with each page I turned new creatures were introduced that were both horrifying and amazing. The chapters alternate between Val and his time at the school for wizards and Will and Caleb’s struggle to survive. All of them working towards the same goal, to be reunited with each other and find their way back home. It made for a fast-paced adventure filled with magic, battles, and even death! This is another entertaining installment in this series and I highly recommend this story and series!!
This review is based on a complimentary book I received from Author, Layton Green. It is an honest and voluntary review. The complimentary receipt of it in no way affected my review or rating.
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader. --- Picking up so soon after the end of The Brothers Three that it might as well just be the next chapter, The Spirit Mage continues the story of The Blackwood brothers and their companions (most of them, anyway).
There are essentially four storylines at work in these pages. There's one focusing on the villains here -- the wizards running the campaign against the rebels, the Romani, the "common born" who aren't content to stay that way -- and a spirit creature invoked to find the sword that Will's been carrying.
Speaking of Will, he and Caleb find themselves -- and Caleb's ex, Yasmina -- in the necromancer's castle. Will and Caleb are set on returning to New Victoria to try to find a way home. Meanwhile, they have to convince Yasmina that this very strange dream is real. Soon after they set out, they are captured by slavers and are headed towards mines that no one has ever escaped from.
Meanwhile, their brother Val was escorted back to Urfe where things got immediately interesting -- just in case the reader might be tempted to think that his story was going to be a repeat of The Brothers Three, Green establishes right off that such will not be the case. Anyway, the only way that Val can determine to find his brothers is to actually figure out how to use the magic he's been trying to master. So he enrolls in the Abbey -- a wizarding training college. He befriends a few wizards, gets involved in some pretty serious extra-curricular activities.
Mala disappeared during their party's assault on the castle with a majitsu -- her story is easily the least predictable, and hardest to summarize without spoiling. It's not as interesting on the whole (primarily because we're used to focusing on the brothers), but man, when it gets weird, it gets weird.
The Brothers Three was your basic Portal Fantasy -- a little different, because most of those feature much younger characters (or at least most that I've read). This book was more of your typical fantasy novel -- wizard in training, heroes on a quest that goes awry. It's that the central characters don't belong in the world. I didn't like Val as much has his brothers last time out, but I really enjoyed his story (as stupid as he frequently was). Will and Caleb I enjoyed as much as before -- maybe more. I thought Yasmina was a great addition to the series, and the way she fits into the world was a big plus.
Mala's story didn't end the way I thought it would, but really it had to end the way it did. The same could be said for Val's, actually. Will and Caleb's ended like I expected (phew! I'm one for three). Thankfully, they were all brought to satisfying points -- in one case, as satisfying as a cliffhanger can be. At this point I'm pretty sure I know how things will end up, but I have no clue how Green will pull it off. I can't wait to see, though.
It's hard to think of this as a separate book than The Brothers Three, really. By the time book 3 comes out, I'm not sure I'll be able to tell you the difference between the two (okay, that's not totally true -- but it seems like it). Which makes it a little difficult to evaluate differently than its predecessor. Basically, if you liked the first book in the series, you'll like this one. If not, well, this won't change your mind. If you haven't read The Brothers Three, you really should.
It's honestly a little frustrating to me that I can't think of much to say about this -- but it's so consistent with the last book that I'm going to sum things up in this post the same way I did with the other book: The Spirit Mageis well-written, skillfully structured, and well-paced -- there are some nice turns of phrase throughout the novel, too. Green is the real thing, giving the readers a good story, great characters, an interesting world (or pair of them), in a well-written package. After these two books, I think I can say that this is going to turn out to be one of my favorite fantasy series in a while.
Disclaimer: I was provided with this copy for an honest review by the author.
I received this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was super excited to be asked the read The Spirit Mage, because I really enjoyed the first in this series and couldn’t wait to see what happened. I was not disappointed.
I thought this picked up very well from where it left off in the first series and felt that throughout the whole book the characters kept up the same importance as the first book. I thought that the book flowed well, some books when the chapters are broken up to different characters and time in the story gets confusing and I thought this flowed very smoothly and made sense. I thought the characters grew in this book and that you got to know more about them and that they themselves still interacted well with each other in the story. It feels like there are multiple important characters in this, not just one with supporting characters.
I liked that the story was pretty continuous action and the story moved along at a good pace. It is nice to just make headway in a story and not have a lot of filler that just gets long and tedious and does nothing for the story. I was engaged the whole time I read and was wondering what was going to happen. I like that not only was their action but there was humor and some slight romance sections as well. I really liked that you met new characters as well and that you got the background of the world. Especially with the Val part of the story where you got more of a background on the wizards and that part of the world. It is always fun to see how this world is similar to Earth.
The writing is very well done, it is clear and concise and there are no mistakes in it and you can tell it was well thought out before it was written. I feel like this would be a fun show or movie that there could be some really cool stuff done with the world and the story. I can’t wait to read the third one and find out what happens, we were definitely left with a cliff hanger for one character and I am like wait no I want to know what they are going to do! I would definitely recommend this series.
The Book 2 story starts exactly where Book 1 ends, always an iffy proposition for the writer, because he then has to explain everything in detail so we can return to the situation in the other book. Which Mr. Green proceeds to do, in far more detail than we have hope of remembering. For example, we are introduced to at least eight characters from the last book that we will never see in this one, because most of them are dead.
Complicating the situation is the plotline, or should I say plotlines, because this story involves three different parties trying to find each other on an alternate earth.
The advantage to this scenario is that the story moves even farther away from the video game style, and is much more like normal Action-Adventure Fantasy. The difficulty is that the characters, removed from each other, lose the inter-character conflicts that were so entertaining in the first book. Only Caleb and Will stay together, which helps. They are travelling with Jasmine, one of Caleb’s many former lovers, which adds to the mix. Will is alone, and we are also following Mala, although her purpose is not obvious. All she is trying to do is survive, and since she is a mercenary, her attempts never cease to be interesting.
As the book progresses the extraneous details fall away, the plots slim down, the action becomes more intense and the whole novel takes off. By the finish, I was fully enthralled again, just as I was with Book 1.
Unfortunately, the start of this book does not have the same clarity. Recommended for those who loved the first book. Push through; you won’t be sorry. And there has to be a Book 3!
Repeating myself, I enjoyed Layton Green’s previous books but he has stepped up his game with this one. Three brothers and their friend are thrust into a thoroughly unbelievable situation and forced to cope with the supernatural. This book is even better than Brothers Three.
Val, Will and Caleb are the three brothers. The author does a great job in creating likeable and yet flawed characters. Each one is a realistic example of how different and yet similar siblings are. Val is more prominent in this book as is Will, Caleb is almost an afterthought.
The three are trapped in Urth which is an alternative universe or multi-dimensional aspect of Earth. The new villain is the environment they are trying to master. The Congregation runs a tight ship due to the fact that wizards used to be persecuted and they want to insure there is no threat to their authority. This leads to paranoia and persecutions which inevitably leads to rebellion.
There are in and out love interests but nothing approaching a romantic novel. This is fantasy adventure with a wealth of interesting characters and creatures.
The author allows each character to mature and grow throughout the book.
I really enjoyed this continuation of the Blackwood Saga. While the first book set the table, this book set out the appetizers. After setting the stage with the Brothers Three, the Spirit Mage completely puts you in the alternate reality. World building is a tricky thing and Layton Green really nails it with this book.
After being trapped in an alternate universe where magic and monsters are real, we see how this new world affects the three brothers, Will, Val, and Caleb. I have enjoyed not only the plot and the movement of the characters, but also seeing how each of these main characters react to their new home. Will's excited participation, Caleb's refusal to engage, and Val's stoic acceptance. While this is similar to other fantasy novels, Layton does a great job of adding mystical characters outside of your typical "orcs and elves" fantasy.
This is ultimately a bridge book in the series, but I really liked the settings, pacing, and overall story. I can't wait for the next books in the series.
This was, for me at least, a better book than the first. With much of the back story, world building and character introductions dealt with in the first book, the author was able to develop the story arc further.
This volume is told from multiple points of view, and for the most part, I think that works well to drive the story forwards. There are a couple of characters that felt like they were unnecessary to the overall story, but it may be that their importance is to be revealed in future books.
The pacing of the narrative was better too. I felt engaged throughout the story, and although there were points where the timing slowed a little, it was never to the point of bogging down.
A decent follow up. I wonder what happens next...
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.
I truly love Mr. Green's writing. Such full stories with well developed characters and lots of action and adventure. This was the second book in this series, and the first fantasy series I've seen him write. You can't help but love the 3 brothers who are our central characters, one a strong leader, one a pacifist in a world where that is hardly possible to maintain and live.........and the youngest who is becoming a bold hero, strange for someone with crippling anxiety disorder. How they learn to deal with who they truly are and how to complete their quest and develop into the people they are destined to become while of course saving the day is thrilling ride.
I can't wait to see what comes next for the brothers in the next book. Thank you Mr. Green for always delivering a wonderful, exciting story.
An exciting continuation of The Brothers Three! I was on pins and needles waiting for this book. I have to say that this book is like the Harry Potter series on steroids. The use of brains, brawn, and magic are necessary for the brothers' survival. Can they master their magic and weapons to save themselves and their friends on Urfe (the alternate reality of earth....love that the name of the place sounds very similar to earth, and is, in fact, almost an exact replica minus our present technology)? No spoilers here. You've got to read it to find out! If you love fantasy and adventure, Layton Green is going to knock your socks off!
In the second book in this series the Blackwood Brothers learn more about themselves and their mysterious heritage. Spirit Mage delves into Val Blackwoods latent abilities and the development of his powers as he searches for his brothers. I love the way these characters are developing in a way that has engaged me to the point where putting these books down is increasing difficult. The supporting characters in this book are just as strong and engaging as the main characters and build and add to the story as you learn more about them. Again third book downloaded and ready to go straight away. I am loving this series.
This is probably the best second book of a series I have ever read. The different perspectives of the characters in other locations flowed well between each set. The struggle of good versus evil takes place in each area. All groups striving for the same goal, to return home. The brothers work hard to reconnect with each other and get past the challenges they each face.
Each character grows in this book to discover more of themselves and their inner persona. The relationships develop as well within the groups, even with new additions.
It will be great to see how the next book turns out and if they are able to free their brother from his imprisonment.
Oh dear - not my favourite Layton Green book. I love the Dominic Grey series and the newer "Preach" Everson, I even enjoyed the first Blackwood Brothers book, but this did not meet my high expectation. There was little balance, all doom and despair without relief.
That said, there are some great characters and some new background learnt, but we could have learnt it in a book half the size. I think it suffered from being the second book Of course I will read the next book The Last Cleric because I want to know how this unfolds
I read the first installment and wasn't sure about the second but this was an amazing story. Incredibly unique with lots of twists and turns and really unusual adventures. Val, my favorite, enrolls in wizard school and we get an introduction to the politics and social structure. Will and Caleb get captured by slavers, imprisoned in the mines and manage to escape. Many other adventures ensue. Highly entertaining
The Spirit Mage is a great continuation of The Blackwood Saga. After the brothers are separated at the end of the first book they must take separate journeys attempting to reunite. It has a very interesting take on magic and mythology that I quite enjoyed.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
In one sentence: Awesome series that's an original twist to the epic fantasy janer, pretty clean romance but with violence. But you may need to skip on certain chapters of characters to keep it interesting, it's possible. Just finished the series, and it's one of those series you only find once in a few months. Enjoy
I feel like this book was a good continuation of the first story. I feel like the three brothers had more unique personalities in this one. I did find myself annoyed at times when Val is off in wizard school while the others are trapped as slaves in miserable tunnels. Yasmina didn’t seem to add too much to the story, but I did like what she created as far as tension for Caleb.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This book was like a Dungeon and Dragons game but in a storybook. I have enjoyed the greater character development and look forward to the next in the series.
Nice sequel. I enjoyed seeing the main characters become more competent and skilled in this new world. The plot is interesting and becomes more clear as to what the end goal is.
I am just too lazy to find something better... I guess? It's not that it's bad, it just not good either. (Though slightly better then the first boom in the saga)
3.5 stars. Not as good as the first book in the series. Plotlines felt derivative and forced. Character development was overplayed. Still a good story, though.
An exciting sequel that picks up right where the first book ended. With the characters in danger every step of the way you will be turning pages as fast as you can. Read my full review at Girl Who Reads.