Millennial Mage

As of writing this review, I’ve read all 224 published chapters.

Blurb

The world is wild, untamed. Humanity thrives, but only in isolated, well defended cities, ever shrinking as the wilds slowly reclaim all that was taken. The most capable magic users are raised up as Mages to serve mankind, further their cause, and defend them over the course of millennia.

Tala is freshly graduated from the magic academy and determined to make her own way in the world. She hopes to pay off her massive debts, quickly, but still plans on living each and every day to the fullest. Too bad the Academy left some glaring holes in her practical education. Loath to let that slow her down, and with no patience for a standard, low-paid apprenticeship (intended to fill many of those knowledge gaps), Tala strives to learn and improve as rapidly as she can on her own. Her unorthodox methods for preserving her own life allow her to take greater risks in search of profit and advancement, much to the surprise of those around her.

Thoughts

After spending ages reading through Martial Peak and its non-stop action, I needed something a bit more chill to balance it out. Millenium Mage, I am happy to report, was great for that.

It’s a slower-paced slice-of-life story that follows Tala and her terrorbird friend Terry in their adventures. This adventure is effectively protecting caravans as they travel between human cities, which last only three hundred years before the city is retired to let the ambient mana reduce to normal levels. The world building here is fantastic, and the humans vs arcanes overarching conflict is amazing. The first six books worth have Tala growing in power, growing as a person (ie confronting family issues), making friends, eating huge amounts of food, and drinking literal gallons of coffee.

In terms of power progression, this is done in a very interesting way. Mages get inscribed, which as far as I understand it, means embedding metal inscriptions (runes/pathways analogue) in their bodies. Think like magical tattoos that go more than skin deep. You use up your inscriptions when you do magic, at least initially before you’re good enough to not need them. Its a great take, and the MC has her own unique approach within it, which I won’t spoil.

Even though the story is slower paced, progression happens steadily, and the new cities and new problems Tala faces kept it fresh. I glossed over some pages, but normally only when there were long sections describing food. The author obviously has adopted GRRM’s approach to food, but as a non-foodie, I didn’t really get engrossed in the detailed dishes.

The writing is high quality, with very few typos. Characterisation of Tala is done well, the secondary characters are distinct and have their own goals and personality.

At the end of the book six arc, the author raises the stakes ad introduces a new arc, less slice-of-life and more “oh boy, the overarching conflict is coming in now, yay.” Alas I ran out of chapters only a bit after that, but I’ll be back.

The only critique I could level at the series is writing of children. When Tala meets her brother initially, from his speech and some hints in the text I assumed he was 18+, or maybe early twenties. Turns out he’s eleven. Tala has been gone for almost seven years at that point, but the kid still talks about memories and how he felt when he was four years old. Now, in terms of critiques, having some quibbles with a single character you won’t meet for the first two thousand pages is pretty great.

Fans of other slice-of-life stories like Forge of Destiny will love this. Even if you’re not, I recommend giving it a shot.