| ||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in The Sentinel Mage for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'**** - the writing is compelling, the characters well-drawn, the world is well-realised and you'll be left champing at the bit for the next installment.' SFX --Sfx
Product Description
In a distant corner of the Seven Kingdoms, an ancient curse festers and grows, consuming everything in its path. Only one man can break it: Harkeld of Osgaard, a prince with mage's blood in his veins. But Prince Harkeld has a bounty on his head - and assassins at his heels. Innis is a gifted shapeshifter. Now she must do the forbidden: become a man. She must stand at Prince Harkeld's side as his armsman, protecting and deceiving him. But the deserts of Masse are more dangerous than the assassins hunting the prince. The curse has woken deadly creatures, and the magic Prince Harkeld loathes may be the only thing standing between him and death.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In a crowded market such as fantasy, a new book needs something in order to stand out.
This one has a striking cover image. Which bears little relation to the plot. But it certainly caught my eye.
And yet like many it's the first volume in a trilogy and it has maps of the locations where the story is set at the front.
So will it grab the readers attention after that?
Yes it does. By throwing you right into the story through the eyes of Jaume. An eight year old farm boy living in the fantasy land where the tale takes place. Who in a matter of a few pages is forced to run for his life when an ancient curse takes hold and turns people into vicious killers. This opening chapter is fast and uncompromising and well depicts how life can change in an instant. It really grabs.
Then we're in one of the kingdoms of this land, where a group of magic users - people of that kind aren't well liked by those who aren't - have to persuade a king that his son is the only hope for lifting the curse. Because he has magical blood. Which comes as news to him. And doesn't go down too well since he's steeped in all the preudices people have against magic users.
When the son turns out to have more honour than the king he and the magic users have to run for their lives. Leaving his sister behind at the mercy of their father, with only her faithful armsman to protect her.
Amongst the magic users is Innis, a girl with a lot less experience than her comrades. But also a superbly talented shapeshifter. Since the prince won't trust magic users, Innis has to pretend to be a male armsman, and become someone the prince will trust.
And that's the first sixty three pages flown by in no time. The opening, thanks to all this and some clear and decent prose, really does grab.
After that the action flashes back and forth through short chapters with a different viewpoint character each time. Ranging from Innis to the prince to Jamue and to the prince's sister Brigitta and her armsman Karel. Karel is a man of low birth who has to fight hard to get to his current station, and a man of honour. Who is also suffering from unrequited love. But with the princess forced into a brutal and loveless marriage, he may be exactly what she needs.
Innis and the prince and the magic users do form the bulk of the story and after that blistering opening it does get a little more predictable. But it moves along nicely enough, and there are lots of character developments to come.
Karel is the most compelling character here though, a decent man suffering some impossible dilemmas, and someone you can really root for.
You may feel the same for Jamue as well, a boy thrust into troubled times where it's everyone for themselves. And he's at the mercy of those bigger than him. Until he takes a little bit of advice to heart.
This is as mentioned the first volume of a trilogy, and it can be brutal at times but it's never gratutious. All the main characters end the book having just gone through major developments. Which will doubtless have ramifications in the volumes to come. And I look forward to finding out what they will be, because this is a really good read that leaves you eager for what will come next.
This one has a striking cover image. Which bears little relation to the plot. But it certainly caught my eye.
And yet like many it's the first volume in a trilogy and it has maps of the locations where the story is set at the front.
So will it grab the readers attention after that?
Yes it does. By throwing you right into the story through the eyes of Jaume. An eight year old farm boy living in the fantasy land where the tale takes place. Who in a matter of a few pages is forced to run for his life when an ancient curse takes hold and turns people into vicious killers. This opening chapter is fast and uncompromising and well depicts how life can change in an instant. It really grabs.
Then we're in one of the kingdoms of this land, where a group of magic users - people of that kind aren't well liked by those who aren't - have to persuade a king that his son is the only hope for lifting the curse. Because he has magical blood. Which comes as news to him. And doesn't go down too well since he's steeped in all the preudices people have against magic users.
When the son turns out to have more honour than the king he and the magic users have to run for their lives. Leaving his sister behind at the mercy of their father, with only her faithful armsman to protect her.
Amongst the magic users is Innis, a girl with a lot less experience than her comrades. But also a superbly talented shapeshifter. Since the prince won't trust magic users, Innis has to pretend to be a male armsman, and become someone the prince will trust.
And that's the first sixty three pages flown by in no time. The opening, thanks to all this and some clear and decent prose, really does grab.
After that the action flashes back and forth through short chapters with a different viewpoint character each time. Ranging from Innis to the prince to Jamue and to the prince's sister Brigitta and her armsman Karel. Karel is a man of low birth who has to fight hard to get to his current station, and a man of honour. Who is also suffering from unrequited love. But with the princess forced into a brutal and loveless marriage, he may be exactly what she needs.
Innis and the prince and the magic users do form the bulk of the story and after that blistering opening it does get a little more predictable. But it moves along nicely enough, and there are lots of character developments to come.
Karel is the most compelling character here though, a decent man suffering some impossible dilemmas, and someone you can really root for.
You may feel the same for Jamue as well, a boy thrust into troubled times where it's everyone for themselves. And he's at the mercy of those bigger than him. Until he takes a little bit of advice to heart.
This is as mentioned the first volume of a trilogy, and it can be brutal at times but it's never gratutious. All the main characters end the book having just gone through major developments. Which will doubtless have ramifications in the volumes to come. And I look forward to finding out what they will be, because this is a really good read that leaves you eager for what will come next.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This might not be the most original fantasy story I've ever read but I certainly enjoyed it enough to finish it within two days. I've read the author's previous two stand alone novels and liked the way she combined her fantasy plot with a romantic sub-plot without it becoming too smutty. This one has less romance and more action in comparison, although there are hints of some romance to follow in the sequel.
The characters could do with a little more depth occasionally, especially the secondary ones, and there were some character traits that were very similar to those from the author's other novels. This didn't bother me that much though, I like the way she writes and how the story flows, and I still cared enough about most of the characters to root for them.
To be fair, I was always going to enjoy this story as it has one of my favourite plot devices: female masquerading as male. This isn't quite up there with my favourites (Robin Hobb's character Althea Vestrit in Ship of Magic as a sailor and Tamora Pierce's Alanna as a knight) and I hope this aspect is expanded on in the next volume, which I will be purchasing as soon as it's released.
The characters could do with a little more depth occasionally, especially the secondary ones, and there were some character traits that were very similar to those from the author's other novels. This didn't bother me that much though, I like the way she writes and how the story flows, and I still cared enough about most of the characters to root for them.
To be fair, I was always going to enjoy this story as it has one of my favourite plot devices: female masquerading as male. This isn't quite up there with my favourites (Robin Hobb's character Althea Vestrit in Ship of Magic as a sailor and Tamora Pierce's Alanna as a knight) and I hope this aspect is expanded on in the next volume, which I will be purchasing as soon as it's released.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Whilst there has been some authors that have made you sit up and take notice of the genre over the year's they've sadly fallen foul of the trap where they can rely on their name to sell the title rather than keeping up with modern trends or readers tastes. Here is this title a new author Emily Gee, has brought this, her second novel (and first in a brand new series) to the fore and given the readers the type of tale that used to be associated with a descent Robin Hobb release.
What occurs within is a tale of redemption, of learning as well as discovering that some prejudices are created and completely unfounded. Its also a tale of love, of ambition and of course adventure as a quest is set for a few which carries a high price for a pyrrhic victory. Beautifully written, the characters within are evocative, have great personalities and when backed with a good sense of pace make this a title that will stay with the readers long after the final page is turned as you wonder what Emily will return with for the characters next outing which makes this a great release from Solaris.
What occurs within is a tale of redemption, of learning as well as discovering that some prejudices are created and completely unfounded. Its also a tale of love, of ambition and of course adventure as a quest is set for a few which carries a high price for a pyrrhic victory. Beautifully written, the characters within are evocative, have great personalities and when backed with a good sense of pace make this a title that will stay with the readers long after the final page is turned as you wonder what Emily will return with for the characters next outing which makes this a great release from Solaris.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Sentinel Mage
The story is nice, a little bit different than the norm. I didn't think the characterization was great which spoiled it for me really, they were not believable somehow.
Published 3 months ago by K. A. Dowson
the sentinel mage
Its an excellent book. Very fast plot and entrancing writing style. Would recommend wholeheartedly! My only gripe is that I will have to wait till Gee writes the rest of the... Read more
Published 3 months ago by sazz70
Easy reading
Fun to read and well written; this book will be enjoyed by younger adults or anyone looking for a light and enjoyable read. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Diane in Derby
Disappointed
I've been looking for a good fantasy book to read, and had thought this would be a good prospect. I spent a lot of time reading through existing reviews and was delighted to find... Read more
Published 5 months ago by MY
Uncomplicated yet a compelling story
I have bought this book because of the eye catching cover and because it was written by an unknown to me female author. I like experiments. Read more
Published 8 months ago by M. Waller
Gripping
Excellent read, found it very difficult to put the book down and when I did it was drawing me back to it like a magnet. First class.
Published 8 months ago by SilverCrew
the sentinel mage
In a distant corner of the Seven Kingdoms, an ancient curse festers and grows, consuming everything in its path. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Book Addict
formulaic
I really enjoyed Emily Gee's first two books (Thief with No Shadow, The Laurentine Spy) as they didn't go down the line of fantasy cliche. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Caitlin Macdonald
4 Stars
I saw this book initally in Waterstones and later bought it online... wasn't too sure at first but for some reason I kept with it and thank goodness I did because I became hooked! Read more
Published 14 months ago by Rob'z World
Too predictable
An ancient curse springs into life, and the only means of stopping it is using the mixed blood of a prince of Osgaard and a mage - Prince Harkeld. Read more
Published 16 months ago by A. L. Rutter
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192198663_.gif){kind=small}
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
