MageSign [Paperback]

After 3 years it would good to catch up with Isiah again. 3 years to a guy who is centuries old is an afternoon nap but there's still been enough time in between for him to shake off his last big battle and resume the search for the ultimate root of all evil.

The thing that taunts Isiah though is he knows its not a battle that requires the annihilation of all that is evil as thats just not how `The Balance' works. I love the concept of The Balance. Essentially there is a place for everything and everyone, good, evil or neutral and as long as there is an overall balance of those concepts, humanity is able to survive and thrive - Upset the balance and you tip the scales in favour of one side and that side can then take advantage, rise up and take `free will' away from the world. THIS is what drives Isiah more than anything - Well, its what drives `The Balance' he is their personal soldier in the war on keeping things in check.

An essential point that RealmShift made still rings very true in Magesign and that is that everyone has the choice to believe in what they wish and if enough people believe in something, it will come true. So the eternal conundrum is that if Humanity really is in charge of its own fate then it's completely up to us to do what we believe is right since we create everything ourselves.

With that in mind, everything gets amplified in Magesign. The Balance shift is bigger, the baddies are badder, Isiah even more pissed at the Balance for making him do its dirty work and the events are colossal. A few new concepts are introduced, namely the use of Magic and the fact that Isiah may not necessarily be alone in his quest to bring things back from the brink.

The character development is very strong as the book progresses. Some of them you love and some you most certainly love to hate, but ultimately you find that you can relate to every single person in the book as they all display traits that are within us all - Although most of us have the ability to keep from acting on those impulses..

There has been an emerging trend lately of pacing books at the speed of an all out sprint from the opening scene - Magesign is no different - Alan Baxter has an ability to write a book with such visual capabilities that its like you are reading a movie - Each chapter is a scene within itself so it does feel like you are watching a movie unfold scene by scene - It does make it a little jumpy at times especially if you go a few days reading a chapter at a time as you will find yourself back tracking a bit to remember what happened but once your back on deck, its flat out until the apocalyptic finale.

Australian readers will love the local geographical references as you chase the story around Sydney and into the outback but there is plenty of international jet setting too!

Overall, Magesign is an excellent conclusion to the Realmshift saga although I couldn't rule out a possible third instalment being possible - Alan would have to go deep to out-do Magesign's finale, but Im sure he could!

MageSign by Alan Baxter, is a fast-paced ride through a visceral reality which holds a mirror up to today's apathetic society.

This is the sequel to RealmShift, which I enjoyed reading, but had enough issues with to mark it a 3/5 on the Amazon scale of reviews. MageSign scores an easy 4/5 on that same scale. Although Baxter drops enough background story to make this more-or-less stand on its own, I recommend you read RealmShift first - it will add to the overall experience.

Again the story revolves around Isiah, the central character for both books, but this time he's not working for the mysterious entity known as The Balance, he's doing a little project of his own. In the first book, we were introduced to Samuel Harrigan, a particularly nasty piece of work, and we learn of his ability with blood magic. In MageSign, Isiah has decided the world could do without more Harrigans and sets out to destroy The Sorcerer, Harrigan's teacher of the black arts. In the second book, Baxter gives us enough information to know who Harrigan was, but to gain a true understanding of how bad this guy really was - read the first book.

But three years has passed between the books. The reader is led to believe Isiah has been kept busy maintaining the balance of all things, while the Sorcerer has been far from idle. Now his organization is truly global and fast-tracked toward reaching an horrific goal, a goal hidden to everyone and everything - including the Balance.

Stepping in and out of countries ranging from Australia, England, the USA, and even Tibet, Baxter creates an intricate plot, laced with wonderful scenic descriptions. His knowledge of the martial arts also shines through with excellently choreographed fight routines, and more subtle references to Asian fighting style disciplines and everyday way of life.

Isiah is still a superman of a character with amazing abilities and inner strength, but the story allows a greater showing of his human side - including a growing affection with a new leading lady. But it also better depicts his understanding of the need to keep balance between all things. His reasoning behind choices and actions within the book, truly paint a man made to keep the balance without having to be amoral - a difficult thing to accomplish.

The sentence structure is again short and sharp in places, unusual and something which takes a little getting used to, but I was ready for it this time after having read RealmShift earlier. This is obviously a style choice by Baxter and works for him more often than not.

But Baxter's true claim to fame is his final climaxes. In the first book, the build up was very well done although the aftermath and character reactions were disappointing - not the case here. The mounting tension is exquisitely handled, built up to a crescendo of amazing proportions. Nothing is missed on this ending, including all the character reactions. It is a fitting ending to a thoroughly good read.

Accepting the sentence structure as a style choice, I'm happy to let that pass, but the Balance still feels the need to shout in capitals. Thankfully, the entity has a much smaller part to play in this book and so yelled conversations are short and sparse.

The only other issue I had with this book was one scene between Isiah and his mate, Gabe. It came across as inserted slapstick in the middle of a dark fantasy novel. It was not required, and tended to make a mockery of the two characters Baxter had painstakingly built up, both in this book and in RealmShift, and almost made me put down the book there and then - I'm glad I didn't, but it was a close thing.

Ignoring that one scene, Baxter has delivered a book which is better than the first one, which was pretty good to start with. If this trend continues, I'll be looking forward to the next installment.

You know how sometimes you read a book and predict the twist at the end? Or you're trying to work it out as you go through,so it's always occupying a part of your mind as you read? I got so sucked in to this book that I completely forgot to think about it, so when we got there, I was literally shocked. If you have read it, you'll probably be going "derr, that was obvious!", and you are probably right. But for me, the fact that I wasn't even contemplating it - I was too busy just soaking up what was happening- is a good sign that this book is a winner.
Baxter builds on his protagonist from RealmShift, but you don't need to have read it to enjoy MageSign. The relationships that are built, both natural and supernatural, are really intriguing, and I found myself totally satisfied at the last page - even despite a reference to a shopping centre local to me as a "mall" rather than it's rightful "plaza" ;-)
I can't help thinking that the world Baxter creates here would sit nicely alongside Gaiman's American Gods. And I can't wait to read his next book. If you haven't read MageSign, and you don't mind having your ideas about religion and faith challenged, sink your teeth into this. You won't regret it.