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The Wizard
A wizard and his temperamental dragon. A stranger with a staggering secret. An ancient stone ring forged from the petrified bones of a powerful witch. Identical twin sister assassins. A pugilistic princess. A deadly prophecy. A story you won’t soon forget.
— — —
A mysterious stranger scours the vast kingdom of Greywyn, searching for the long-lost stone ring of a legendary, centuries-dead witch—a ring with unimaginable power.
The king’s young but talented wizard goes after the stranger, determined to stop him from using the ring to overthrow the kingdom.
He’d feel better about his chances if his life wasn’t already complicated by his tenuous allegiance to the king, his tricky relationship with the king’s daughter, and by painfully justified fears that he can’t protect the people he loves.
And now he’s just discovered that he’s got a bigger problem—a twice-proven prophecy that says he’ll die trying to save the kingdom.
Well, damn.
— — —
A mysterious stranger scours the vast kingdom of Greywyn, searching for the long-lost stone ring of a legendary, centuries-dead witch—a ring with unimaginable power.
The king’s young but talented wizard goes after the stranger, determined to stop him from using the ring to overthrow the kingdom.
He’d feel better about his chances if his life wasn’t already complicated by his tenuous allegiance to the king, his tricky relationship with the king’s daughter, and by painfully justified fears that he can’t protect the people he loves.
And now he’s just discovered that he’s got a bigger problem—a twice-proven prophecy that says he’ll die trying to save the kingdom.
Well, damn.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 16, 2022
About the author
Bob Masingale
1 book2 followersBob Masingale is an award-winning journalist who lives vicariously through his fictional characters, because, let's be honest, he's so busy reading and writing that he practically never leaves his house.
The Wizard is his fantasy debut, the first book in his Spellcaster Chronicles.
He would like you to believe that he'd thrive in his fictional fantasy land of Greywyn, where kings and wizards and dragons rule the day. But, really, he's afraid of the dark and spiders and wouldn't last five minutes in that place.
He hangs out occasionally on Twitter at @bobmasingale. Stop by and say hi.
The Wizard is his fantasy debut, the first book in his Spellcaster Chronicles.
He would like you to believe that he'd thrive in his fictional fantasy land of Greywyn, where kings and wizards and dragons rule the day. But, really, he's afraid of the dark and spiders and wouldn't last five minutes in that place.
He hangs out occasionally on Twitter at @bobmasingale. Stop by and say hi.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 5, 2022
"Well, damn," is an accurate description of this book (see blurb). Gritty, brutal, exciting, and deep, The Wizard was a page-turning masterpiece due to its fun narrative voice that evoked emotion and resilience--a light in a dark fight.
This book sucked me in from page one. Instant dragon appearance and magic, followed by political intrigue, a tad of romance, and loads of character depth? Definitely my cup of tea. I am always 100% honest in my reviews, so I devoured this book. I consumed 50% of it in a day before life's hardships interrupted my time to read. Once I was able to pick it up again, I consumed the rest, again in one sitting.
"Well, damn," is the personality of the book--yes, this book has a narrative voice full of snark and many deep emotions. So many fantasy novels these days lack that voice and focus on action and world-building, leaving us cardboard-cutout characters. This book is not that. It has a bit of everything you'd expect in fantasy but truly that voice and character depth set it apart from others. The King's Wizard, Boggs, is a man torn between his powers and morality, self-loathing for his failures and always wanting to be better. Involved with Morgan, the badass warrior princess, they team up together with others to fight a complex and interesting villain (no spoilers). The depth of the relationships and inner workings of characters' points of view is exceptional. I felt with them, rooted for them, and aligned myself with them; this narration and character depth sets aside, for me, an okay book from a great book. The Wizard is a great read.
My only issue was the improper tense shifts, but I saw no other writing issues. At times I was lost in time and not from flashbacks because those were carefully formatted differently and done well. Overall, though, if you don't teach grammar and edit on the side like I do, you probably wouldn't notice. It did not detract from the book's enjoyment at all.
Fantasy is known for its battles, and there are many inner and outer ones in this book. Descriptions of the magic and world were short and to the point, but descriptive enough to paint it alive in from of me like a movie. Perfection. The ending was phenomenal (no spoilers). I am eagerly awaiting the next book because it looks like it will be at least a trilogy.
The Wizard, by Bob Masingale, has everything one would want in a page-turning fantasy novel but its true triumph is the snarky narrative voice and world-building. "Well, damn," Bob, this book was a delight.
This book sucked me in from page one. Instant dragon appearance and magic, followed by political intrigue, a tad of romance, and loads of character depth? Definitely my cup of tea. I am always 100% honest in my reviews, so I devoured this book. I consumed 50% of it in a day before life's hardships interrupted my time to read. Once I was able to pick it up again, I consumed the rest, again in one sitting.
"Well, damn," is the personality of the book--yes, this book has a narrative voice full of snark and many deep emotions. So many fantasy novels these days lack that voice and focus on action and world-building, leaving us cardboard-cutout characters. This book is not that. It has a bit of everything you'd expect in fantasy but truly that voice and character depth set it apart from others. The King's Wizard, Boggs, is a man torn between his powers and morality, self-loathing for his failures and always wanting to be better. Involved with Morgan, the badass warrior princess, they team up together with others to fight a complex and interesting villain (no spoilers). The depth of the relationships and inner workings of characters' points of view is exceptional. I felt with them, rooted for them, and aligned myself with them; this narration and character depth sets aside, for me, an okay book from a great book. The Wizard is a great read.
My only issue was the improper tense shifts, but I saw no other writing issues. At times I was lost in time and not from flashbacks because those were carefully formatted differently and done well. Overall, though, if you don't teach grammar and edit on the side like I do, you probably wouldn't notice. It did not detract from the book's enjoyment at all.
Fantasy is known for its battles, and there are many inner and outer ones in this book. Descriptions of the magic and world were short and to the point, but descriptive enough to paint it alive in from of me like a movie. Perfection. The ending was phenomenal (no spoilers). I am eagerly awaiting the next book because it looks like it will be at least a trilogy.
The Wizard, by Bob Masingale, has everything one would want in a page-turning fantasy novel but its true triumph is the snarky narrative voice and world-building. "Well, damn," Bob, this book was a delight.
May 5, 2022
An Enjoyable Story
The Wizard, by Bob Masingale, is a pretty good story. It follows the quest of Boggs, the King’s Wizard, as he encounters a mysterious stranger who just may be a threat to the kingdom. In this review I’ll look at writing style, characters, and storyline.
The strongest of these three elements is the story. The pacing was pretty good and it was easy enough to follow along. There were several surprises in the story that I didn’t expect, along with a couple places that made my heart leap in exultation. One of my favorite chapters was an almost journal-like account of Morgan’s combat training. It was able to strike a wide range of emotions from empathy to laughter to justice. The book’s ending was also breathtaking.
The next element I want to talk about is the characters. The main characters had good variety between them and a wide range of skills and personalities. The banter between Boggs and Morgan was fun, expressive, painful, as their conversations ranged across different topics and situations. Finn was arrogant but I suppose she had to talk the talk to be taken seriously by the other characters. I especially appreciated the contrast between the two Shadow Sisters but I didn’t feel there was enough time for them to really develop.
Finally, the writing style. This was the hardest part for me to get into. Although the pacing was good and there was a nice mix between fast-paced writing and leisurely, there was something that distracted me from enjoying it more. Unfortunately there were a lot of verb-tense conflicts. Whether in the same sentence or one sentence later the verb tenses shift unnecessarily. When I was reading, it felt like the book was full of this but going back to look for examples I’m only finding a few. But those few were enough to make it feel more prevalent.
All in all, it’s an enjoyable story with a magic system that is refreshing, a satisfying ending, and enough twists to make you want to keep reading. I plan to give the next book a chance in the future to see both how Bob develops as an author and to see where the story goes from here. If you want to read a decent story, give The Wizard a read.
The Wizard, by Bob Masingale, is a pretty good story. It follows the quest of Boggs, the King’s Wizard, as he encounters a mysterious stranger who just may be a threat to the kingdom. In this review I’ll look at writing style, characters, and storyline.
The strongest of these three elements is the story. The pacing was pretty good and it was easy enough to follow along. There were several surprises in the story that I didn’t expect, along with a couple places that made my heart leap in exultation. One of my favorite chapters was an almost journal-like account of Morgan’s combat training. It was able to strike a wide range of emotions from empathy to laughter to justice. The book’s ending was also breathtaking.
The next element I want to talk about is the characters. The main characters had good variety between them and a wide range of skills and personalities. The banter between Boggs and Morgan was fun, expressive, painful, as their conversations ranged across different topics and situations. Finn was arrogant but I suppose she had to talk the talk to be taken seriously by the other characters. I especially appreciated the contrast between the two Shadow Sisters but I didn’t feel there was enough time for them to really develop.
Finally, the writing style. This was the hardest part for me to get into. Although the pacing was good and there was a nice mix between fast-paced writing and leisurely, there was something that distracted me from enjoying it more. Unfortunately there were a lot of verb-tense conflicts. Whether in the same sentence or one sentence later the verb tenses shift unnecessarily. When I was reading, it felt like the book was full of this but going back to look for examples I’m only finding a few. But those few were enough to make it feel more prevalent.
All in all, it’s an enjoyable story with a magic system that is refreshing, a satisfying ending, and enough twists to make you want to keep reading. I plan to give the next book a chance in the future to see both how Bob develops as an author and to see where the story goes from here. If you want to read a decent story, give The Wizard a read.
Read
May 2, 2022The Wizard, by Bob Masingale, is a pretty good story. It follows the quest of Boggs, the King’s Wizard, as he encounters a mysterious stranger who just may be a threat to the kingdom. In this review I’ll look at writing style, characters, and storyline.
The strongest of these three elements is the story. The pacing was pretty good and it was easy enough to follow along. There were several surprises in the story that I didn’t expect, along with a couple places that made my heart leap in exultation. One of my favorite chapters was an almost journal-like account of Morgan’s combat training. It was able to strike a wide range of emotions from empathy to laughter to justice. The book’s ending was also breathtaking.
The next element I want to talk about is the characters. The main characters had good variety between them and a wide range of skills and personalities. The banter between Boggs and Morgan was fun, expressive, painful, as their conversations ranged across different topics and situations. Finn was arrogant but I suppose she had to talk the talk to be taken seriously by the other characters. I especially appreciated the contrast between the two Shadow Sisters but I didn’t feel there was enough time for them to really develop.
Finally, the writing style. This was the hardest part for me to get into. Although the pacing was good and there was a nice mix between fast-paced writing and leisurely, there was something that distracted me from enjoying it more. Unfortunately there were a lot of verb-tense conflicts. Whether in the same sentence or one sentence later the verb tenses shift unnecessarily. When I was reading, it felt like the book was full of this but going back to look for examples I’m only finding a few. But those few were enough to make it feel more prevalent.
All in all, it’s an enjoyable story with a magic system that is refreshing, a satisfying ending, and enough twists to make you want to keep reading. I plan to give the next book a chance in the future to see both how Bob develops as an author and to see where the story goes from here. If you want to read a decent story, give The Wizard a read.
May 12, 2022
I was part of the story !
I loved the characters and their responses to imposible situations . A world where things are not Faire and yet, one must keep moving moving on in life because there is still a life left to live .
Stimulating and thought provoking !
Life is hard but worth pushing on and not quiting !
Waiting to read the next book.
Charles R.
I loved the characters and their responses to imposible situations . A world where things are not Faire and yet, one must keep moving moving on in life because there is still a life left to live .
Stimulating and thought provoking !
Life is hard but worth pushing on and not quiting !
Waiting to read the next book.
Charles R.
June 11, 2022
This book was impressive. I read this in less than a day, I adored the unique names, the similarities to LOTR, the tons of magic, all things dragons and mystery all loaded into one. Obsessed! I hope another book is made because I can’t wait for what happens next!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews