A Wizard’s Forge by AM Justice
I received a free copy of the audiobook from the author in return for an honest review. This in no way impacts my opinions.
In the future, humankind has reached the stars. A malfunctioning ship forced its occupants to land on a planet, where they’ve been stuck ever since, hoping to find the right materials to get back to their ship, and home, but they remained stranded, and their descendants have remained, still wallowing in the belief they will escape, but their society has evolved. Or devolved, as the case may be.Vic is a Lorekeeper, a person who is tasked with remembering the old ways should the opportunity to return to their ship arise. On her maiden voyage, she is taken in a raid and made a slave, but she escapes and flees to another country, where is she welcomed in by their royal family. Vic becomes a valued soldier, but always has an eye on revenge. When one of the royals is taken, one Vic has feelings for, will she finally get the chance for the revenge that often sours her thoughts? Here’s my thoughts on the audiobook.
Worldbuilding
It’s in the future – only it’s not. Don’t let that put you off though. In every way, this is a fantasy novel. We’ve got warriors wielding swords and spears, weird critters (insectoid, no less), minstrels (fantasy needs more bards and minstrels) and magic. Wait, magic is supposed to all but gone, but this is called “A Wizard’s Forge” so go figure. To be fair, as worldbuilding goes, it’s not the most original, but it’s definitely solid. The different beliefs are kind of fun, as is the idea of a royal family having “real” jobs, and it’s interesting to see how such a technologically advanced society could regress over a period of time.
Score – 3.5/5
Characters
Vic is a fine lead character. Proud of her achievement of becoming a Lorekeeper at an early age, her life quickly goes downhill as she is captured and abused as a slave. Her life takes more twists and turns as she is chosen to join the army. A career her pacifist self struggles to come to terms with. Turns out she’s pretty good at the soldiering lark, and rises through the ranks, although not everyone believes she did it on merit alone. Her captor, Lorn (I think) is interesting in that he’s not boo-hiss evil, although he’s no saint either, Ashel, Vic’s will-they-won’t-they paramour is entertaining, and there is some conflict between then down the road. That being said, the romance between the two is a bit irksome, but that could be just me. Oh, and I like the queen who takes Vic in. She’s kinda badass, and needs more page time.
Score – 4/5
Plot
Straightforward, for the most part. Girl achieves great things, becomes enslaved and treated like crap, but escapes and finds kind family. She joins the army, where she kicks ass, but not everyone likes or trusts her. She finds an opportunity for revenge, but the stakes are really high, and she must go through hell and back to obtain it.
Score – 3/5
Writing
I know this is an audiobook, but the author (literally) sounds like a fine writer, evoking some nice imagery while breathing life into the various characters, places and things. The narrator was good, doing a nice job with both genders (not always a guarantee), but at times she sounded like one of those old Garmin navigation systems.
Score – 3.5/5
Personal Enjoyment
It was mostly good. As I mentioned, the relationship was a bit too teeny for me (although they are teens), and while this was portrayed as grimdark, and it was somewhat light in done for the most part. Maybe it’s teendark. In saying that, the author certainly knows how to stick in some nasty stuff, that may cause some readers to veer away. Their loss.
Score – 3.5/5
Verdict
A solid dark fantasy that’s worth a read,
Total Score – 17.5/25
