The Prodigal Mage

August 3, 2009
In an appealing series kickoff, following on the heels of the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker duology (The Innocent Mage, The Awakened Mage), returning character Asher of Restharven must come to grips with the realization that his skills are still needed to keep the land safe, and that his son Rafel's powers might even outstrip his own. When Rafel was a baby, Asher had put a blocking spell on his magical abilities as a precaution-hiding them to keep his son safe-but now Rafel chafes at these restrictions. The story stalls on this disagreement, and Asher's reasoning, besides being is not all that convincing, grows tedious. The conflict deepens though when the weather destabilizes to the point of catastrophic failure, and Asher has spent all his Weather Magic; the only hope now is for someone-namely Rafel-to travel across Barl's Mountains in hopes of finding a magical library. Strong characters with clear viewpoints carry the story forward to a solid, yet surprising ending. The book's main weakness is a lack of exposition; for much of the narrative, Miller assumes readers are familiar with the Asher's story. Still, this new series shows great potential.