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Mage Errant #1
Into the Labyrinth
Hugh of Emblin is, so far as he's concerned, the worst student that the Academy at Skyhold has ever seen. He can barely cast any spells at all, and those he does cast tend to fail explosively. If that wasn't bad enough, he's also managed to attract the ire of the most promising student of his year- who also happens to be the nephew of a king. Hugh has no friends, no talent, and definitely doesn't expect a mage to choose him as an apprentice at all during the upcoming Choosing.
When a very unusual mage does choose him as apprentice, however, his life starts to take a sharp turn for the better. Now all he has to worry about is the final test for the first years - being sent into the terrifying labyrinth below Skyhold.
When a very unusual mage does choose him as apprentice, however, his life starts to take a sharp turn for the better. Now all he has to worry about is the final test for the first years - being sent into the terrifying labyrinth below Skyhold.
216 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 8, 2018
1637 people are currently reading
14210 people want to read
About the author
John Bierce
12books1,143followersJohn Bierce is a fantasy novelist, history and science buff, SFF fan, and general all-around dork. He is currently traveling the world as a digital nomad, but spends a lot more time observing the urban ecology of drainage ditches in other countries than visiting glamorous tourist destinations. (Did you know that Southeast Asia has freshwater crabs? Who are apparently fantastic parents, unlike basically every other crab species ever? It’s definitely surprising the first time you see a crab wandering around in a ditch hundreds of miles from the ocean.)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 722 reviews
January 4, 2019
I suspected I would hate this story when I read its very first sentence, where the author used the phrase "very, very good", but I decided to give it a shot anyway. "Look at all these positive reviews!" I thought. I should have listened to my first instinct.
I feel like the thought process behind this book is very simple: the author likes Harry Potter, and he likes Mother of Learning, and he thought, why not write a book exactly like that. So you have an abused, bullied MC, like HP, only he's not a slacker but a nerd, and the magic he is learning in his prestigious school is of the "Hard Fantasy" kind, with strict, detailed rules on its application.
Only there is nothing driving the plot, no tension, no conflict. He thought of a world, but not the people in it, and not why this story should be told instead of any other. So in this story, things just happens. The MC does not really have any agency, at all. He starts the book unable to do magic like other students, which is a promising direction to take the story in, but that is promptly solved by someone else, with no actual effort imparted (i.e., written about) by anyone. Said teacher decides to help the MC (not because of anything the MC does, mind you) and he does that: he tells the MC exactly what the problem is, and exactly how to solve it. And he does it to the side characters, who are also magically challenged, like the MC. He just points at them one by one, gives them a few paragraphs on why they're struggling, a few more on how he will help them, takes them to the library and tosses the relevant books at them. In the first quarter or so of the book. Throughout several pages. Poof, problem solved.
Hmmm.
That is the author's entire approach to exposition: to spray it with a hose at the reader at the first chance he gets until the tank runs out, and then to switch tanks and repeat. After all their problems are solved for them, the MC and side characters unload all their backstories, their insecurities, and their motivations to each other within days of meeting each other, one after the other, in long paragraphs of dialogue. Every detail about the worldbuilding, setting, or magic is explained by one character to another in the same way, in the same tone of voice, like they're reciting a textbook perfectly from memory. Sometimes the author decides to just skip that step and simply has the MC read a textbook directly. How fun.
I could go on, but I've already wasted too much time on this stupid piece of shit. It boggles the mind that some people can actually like this schlock.
I feel like the thought process behind this book is very simple: the author likes Harry Potter, and he likes Mother of Learning, and he thought, why not write a book exactly like that. So you have an abused, bullied MC, like HP, only he's not a slacker but a nerd, and the magic he is learning in his prestigious school is of the "Hard Fantasy" kind, with strict, detailed rules on its application.
Only there is nothing driving the plot, no tension, no conflict. He thought of a world, but not the people in it, and not why this story should be told instead of any other. So in this story, things just happens. The MC does not really have any agency, at all. He starts the book unable to do magic like other students, which is a promising direction to take the story in, but that is promptly solved by someone else, with no actual effort imparted (i.e., written about) by anyone. Said teacher decides to help the MC (not because of anything the MC does, mind you) and he does that: he tells the MC exactly what the problem is, and exactly how to solve it. And he does it to the side characters, who are also magically challenged, like the MC. He just points at them one by one, gives them a few paragraphs on why they're struggling, a few more on how he will help them, takes them to the library and tosses the relevant books at them. In the first quarter or so of the book. Throughout several pages. Poof, problem solved.
Hmmm.
That is the author's entire approach to exposition: to spray it with a hose at the reader at the first chance he gets until the tank runs out, and then to switch tanks and repeat. After all their problems are solved for them, the MC and side characters unload all their backstories, their insecurities, and their motivations to each other within days of meeting each other, one after the other, in long paragraphs of dialogue. Every detail about the worldbuilding, setting, or magic is explained by one character to another in the same way, in the same tone of voice, like they're reciting a textbook perfectly from memory. Sometimes the author decides to just skip that step and simply has the MC read a textbook directly. How fun.
I could go on, but I've already wasted too much time on this stupid piece of shit. It boggles the mind that some people can actually like this schlock.
January 7, 2022
The library of libraries makes an appearance in this one!
Q:
Magical libraries tend to have a life of their own. (c)
Q:
The room they found themselves in was by far the largest room Hugh had ever seen in his life. The restricted section of the library was roughly cubical, and must have been at least four or five miles to a side. The room looked considerably bigger than the mountain Skyhold was built into. The walls were entirely lined with books, with a balcony winding completely around at around one story intervals. The balcony they were on was close to the top. If that had been all the books in the room, it would have been more books than Hugh had ever imagined even existed.
It wasn’t even close to all the books in the room.
Immense stone bookshelves, hundreds of feet high, floated in neat, orderly rows in the huge space in the center of the room. Floating islands drifting near them had bookshelves, reading rooms, and in one case, what looked to be a thriving forest atop them. Hugh spotted a couple of cubes with bookshelves on all the sides- including the bottom. There were a few paths leading out into the center room, stepping stones scattered here and there- but Hugh couldn’t see a way to get to most of the floating structures.
Thousands upon thousands of origami golems were visible, tending to tasks all over the library. Books seemed to frequently decide to fly about on their own- some simply hovering through the air, others flapping their covers and pages like wings.
All of this was lit by a profusion of glowcrystals, floating wisps of light, and even a tiny sun orbiting the floating island with the book on it, but the room was so huge the overall impression was one of general gloom and dimness.
Hugh silently walked forwards to the edge of the balcony. When he looked downwards, he couldn’t even see the bottom of the library, except for a blue-white, unearthly glow coming from far below. (c) Wow! I'm already in love with this place. Even though it's just a booklover's fantasy. A secret immense library of one's own.
Q;
They all looked incredibly intimidating. One had an arm that appeared to be made of a living treebranch, inscribed with intricate spellforms. Another was hairless, and had what looked to be glowing wires embedded in her otherwise bald scalp. The third looked to be partially covered in frost, and the final one had what looked like scarabs climbing all over them. (c) Totally freaky!
Q:
He looked back at the other apprentices in line again, and realized something.
They were all more terrified than terrifying. (c)
Q:
“You’re not going anywhere unless I say you can!�...
“Really?� ...
“Yes, really!� ...
“No, I was asking if your banter could get any more boring and unoriginal. You really have depended on your position more than your wit, haven’t you?�...
“What do your cronies think? You there, with the blue hair, are you actually that impressed with Rhodes� insults?� ...
“You can’t…� ...
“Where you about to tell me that I can’t talk to you like that? Which, normally, would be followed by me telling you that I just had, and then you’d demand by what right I dared do so, and so on and so forth. Let’s just skip all that, shall we? We have better things to do.�
(c)
Q:
“Goatshit in a picnic basket,� Talia said. (c)
Q:
“You never give up... You haven’t failed until you do.� (c)
Q:
I want to form a warlock pact with the Index.
One moment. Processing unique request. (c)
Q:
If Hugh was going to try and describe the emotions of letters, he’d say they looked shocked. (c)
Q:
“I bet you have an affinity for sheer idiocy,� (c)
Q:
Magical libraries tend to have a life of their own. (c)
Q:
The room they found themselves in was by far the largest room Hugh had ever seen in his life. The restricted section of the library was roughly cubical, and must have been at least four or five miles to a side. The room looked considerably bigger than the mountain Skyhold was built into. The walls were entirely lined with books, with a balcony winding completely around at around one story intervals. The balcony they were on was close to the top. If that had been all the books in the room, it would have been more books than Hugh had ever imagined even existed.
It wasn’t even close to all the books in the room.
Immense stone bookshelves, hundreds of feet high, floated in neat, orderly rows in the huge space in the center of the room. Floating islands drifting near them had bookshelves, reading rooms, and in one case, what looked to be a thriving forest atop them. Hugh spotted a couple of cubes with bookshelves on all the sides- including the bottom. There were a few paths leading out into the center room, stepping stones scattered here and there- but Hugh couldn’t see a way to get to most of the floating structures.
Thousands upon thousands of origami golems were visible, tending to tasks all over the library. Books seemed to frequently decide to fly about on their own- some simply hovering through the air, others flapping their covers and pages like wings.
All of this was lit by a profusion of glowcrystals, floating wisps of light, and even a tiny sun orbiting the floating island with the book on it, but the room was so huge the overall impression was one of general gloom and dimness.
Hugh silently walked forwards to the edge of the balcony. When he looked downwards, he couldn’t even see the bottom of the library, except for a blue-white, unearthly glow coming from far below. (c) Wow! I'm already in love with this place. Even though it's just a booklover's fantasy. A secret immense library of one's own.
Q;
They all looked incredibly intimidating. One had an arm that appeared to be made of a living treebranch, inscribed with intricate spellforms. Another was hairless, and had what looked to be glowing wires embedded in her otherwise bald scalp. The third looked to be partially covered in frost, and the final one had what looked like scarabs climbing all over them. (c) Totally freaky!
Q:
He looked back at the other apprentices in line again, and realized something.
They were all more terrified than terrifying. (c)
Q:
“You’re not going anywhere unless I say you can!�...
“Really?� ...
“Yes, really!� ...
“No, I was asking if your banter could get any more boring and unoriginal. You really have depended on your position more than your wit, haven’t you?�...
“What do your cronies think? You there, with the blue hair, are you actually that impressed with Rhodes� insults?� ...
“You can’t…� ...
“Where you about to tell me that I can’t talk to you like that? Which, normally, would be followed by me telling you that I just had, and then you’d demand by what right I dared do so, and so on and so forth. Let’s just skip all that, shall we? We have better things to do.�
(c)
Q:
“Goatshit in a picnic basket,� Talia said. (c)
Q:
“You never give up... You haven’t failed until you do.� (c)
Q:
I want to form a warlock pact with the Index.
One moment. Processing unique request. (c)
Q:
If Hugh was going to try and describe the emotions of letters, he’d say they looked shocked. (c)
Q:
“I bet you have an affinity for sheer idiocy,� (c)
May 29, 2023
When I see a book with magical library I simply have to read it!
This was a quick and enjoyable read.
Yes, there were some less brilliant things like some editorial issues, lack of development of the secondary characters, a lot of usual fantasy tropes and blah blah, but I just don't care.
There are mages, magical academy WITH MAGICAL LIBRARY, likeable main characters, interesting magical system so I'm really looking forward to the sequels.
A perfect read for a rainy sunday.
This was a quick and enjoyable read.
Yes, there were some less brilliant things like some editorial issues, lack of development of the secondary characters, a lot of usual fantasy tropes and blah blah, but I just don't care.
There are mages, magical academy WITH MAGICAL LIBRARY, likeable main characters, interesting magical system so I'm really looking forward to the sequels.
A perfect read for a rainy sunday.
April 24, 2021
Simple, plain YA fantasy with a school setting, interesting world-building, and cool magic system. Believable characters and easy-going plot with an excellent twist in the end. Not brilliant, but exactly what I need when taking a break between reading Dostoyevsky, Nobel winners, Tolkien and GRRM. I devoured it in one day.
October 15, 2018
This book was a quick and enjoyable read, brought to my attention by an author post on .
Overview
Hugh is a student at a huge magical academy - and may very well be the worst one. Nothing he does goes right - spells overload, fail entirely, or do the unexpected. He's also from Emblin, where magic is mistrusted, which sets him apart from his peers even more.
He's also attracted the attention of one of the school bullies, a noble boy and his cronies.
Luckily for him, he has attracted the attention of one of the full mages, as well.
Positives
First off, I liked Hugh. It would have been easy for Hugh to turn into an annoying whiner. And he does his share of whining. But it feels realistic, and it's not his main mode of operation. When the basic course work doesn't work for him, he doggedly keeps at it, even as it depresses him. He also tries to play to his strength (ward building). I felt like Hugh presented a very realistic and relatable portrait of a young man suffering from anxiety and depression.
I also liked Hugh's mentor and fellow apprentices. All of them are odd ducks, and form an unlikely sort of family. Their interactions felt very real, and had enough warts and missteps not to seem idealized.
The group's adventures were well paced and entertaining. I thought Bierce achieved a solid balance telling us about the group's training/studies without bogging down the plot with too much minutia.
Bierce's writing was solid but not particularly beautiful or artistic. But...
Negatives
There are a few editorial problems with the book. "To" instead of "too," that kind of thing.
More telling is that there are a few places (3 or 4) where he clearly gets the names of the female apprentice characters mixed up, which can be pretty confusing. Especially when "Sabae" starts haranguing Hugh, until eventually Sabae has to step in and make Talia lay off. Thankfully, with an ebook the author can make those corrections on the fly.
The cast is very small. Most of the book is just the 3 apprentices and their friend Godrick, with important but brief cameos from their two masters. The rest of the teachers are basically ciphers, with most not even getting names.
Rhodes, the bully, is entirely flat. No effort is made to explain why he's like that, or even what set him off against Hugh. Given the severity of his reactions at a couple points in the book, this seems important. You don't go that far just because someone's a country bumpkin and you don't like his face. This lack kills the emotional impact of Rhodes' scenes, leaving him feeling more like a severe storm or other dangerous event than an antagonist.
Summary
Despite its flaws, the positives more than make up for them. I had a great time reading this book, and am looking forward to seeing what comes next.
Overview
Hugh is a student at a huge magical academy - and may very well be the worst one. Nothing he does goes right - spells overload, fail entirely, or do the unexpected. He's also from Emblin, where magic is mistrusted, which sets him apart from his peers even more.
He's also attracted the attention of one of the school bullies, a noble boy and his cronies.
Luckily for him, he has attracted the attention of one of the full mages, as well.
Positives
First off, I liked Hugh. It would have been easy for Hugh to turn into an annoying whiner. And he does his share of whining. But it feels realistic, and it's not his main mode of operation. When the basic course work doesn't work for him, he doggedly keeps at it, even as it depresses him. He also tries to play to his strength (ward building). I felt like Hugh presented a very realistic and relatable portrait of a young man suffering from anxiety and depression.
I also liked Hugh's mentor and fellow apprentices. All of them are odd ducks, and form an unlikely sort of family. Their interactions felt very real, and had enough warts and missteps not to seem idealized.
The group's adventures were well paced and entertaining. I thought Bierce achieved a solid balance telling us about the group's training/studies without bogging down the plot with too much minutia.
Bierce's writing was solid but not particularly beautiful or artistic. But...
Negatives
There are a few editorial problems with the book. "To" instead of "too," that kind of thing.
More telling is that there are a few places (3 or 4) where he clearly gets the names of the female apprentice characters mixed up, which can be pretty confusing. Especially when "Sabae" starts haranguing Hugh, until eventually Sabae has to step in and make Talia lay off. Thankfully, with an ebook the author can make those corrections on the fly.
The cast is very small. Most of the book is just the 3 apprentices and their friend Godrick, with important but brief cameos from their two masters. The rest of the teachers are basically ciphers, with most not even getting names.
Rhodes, the bully, is entirely flat. No effort is made to explain why he's like that, or even what set him off against Hugh. Given the severity of his reactions at a couple points in the book, this seems important. You don't go that far just because someone's a country bumpkin and you don't like his face. This lack kills the emotional impact of Rhodes' scenes, leaving him feeling more like a severe storm or other dangerous event than an antagonist.
Summary
Despite its flaws, the positives more than make up for them. I had a great time reading this book, and am looking forward to seeing what comes next.
May 18, 2019
Great Magic and Adventure
An excellent first chapter in a magical school story. The rules of magic are fun to learn along with the heroes, and each protagonist has a creative and iinteresting specialization.
An excellent first chapter in a magical school story. The rules of magic are fun to learn along with the heroes, and each protagonist has a creative and iinteresting specialization.
October 17, 2018
Actual rating: 2.5/5
Hugh of Emblin is a whining, unbalanced boy. He had a difficult childhood. As a result, he feels worthless all the time. He has no friends and no talent.
His mana reserves are big though. A shame he can’t cast any spells. Magical academies expect it from a student.
To Hugh’s surprise, an Errant Librarian Mage chooses him and two other unpromising students as his apprentices. They learn to trust each other and develop arcane skills. Who knows, maybe they’re not a group of losers?
Into the Labyrinth relies heavily on tropes. A country bumpkin tries to find his place in a magical academy where he’s bullied. He doesn’t realise how special he is until an eccentric teacher tutors him and unblocks his potential. He discovers people can like him and finds his inner strength.
For coming of age fantasy, it’s as formulaic as it gets. On the other hand, tight, straightforward plot and likeable (but underdeveloped) characters entertained me. I felt motivated to turn the pages and learn more about their adventures.
A complex magic system deserves praise and will appeal to hard magic systems� enthusiasts. An interesting bestiary of creatures available for contract added much colour to the world although it felt a bitlike a filler.
Characters, especially secondary ones, remain underdeveloped and lack complexity. Observing Hugh gaining confidence made me feel good, but he still has a lot of work to do. A school bully is just that - a jerk. Of course, he comes from a noble family and is crazily talented - I would say we’ve all seen it. Probably million times.
The writing feels utilitarian and flat, but it delivers the story well and makes it easily accessible. Another pass, or two, of editing, would clear the typos and overused words (everyone grins in this book. All the time). It would give ItL the feel of a finished product.
All said, the book is short and entertaining. It has flaws, but also some charm. I think it’ll do as a palate cleanser between longer / more complex books.
Hugh of Emblin is a whining, unbalanced boy. He had a difficult childhood. As a result, he feels worthless all the time. He has no friends and no talent.
His mana reserves are big though. A shame he can’t cast any spells. Magical academies expect it from a student.
To Hugh’s surprise, an Errant Librarian Mage chooses him and two other unpromising students as his apprentices. They learn to trust each other and develop arcane skills. Who knows, maybe they’re not a group of losers?
Into the Labyrinth relies heavily on tropes. A country bumpkin tries to find his place in a magical academy where he’s bullied. He doesn’t realise how special he is until an eccentric teacher tutors him and unblocks his potential. He discovers people can like him and finds his inner strength.
For coming of age fantasy, it’s as formulaic as it gets. On the other hand, tight, straightforward plot and likeable (but underdeveloped) characters entertained me. I felt motivated to turn the pages and learn more about their adventures.
A complex magic system deserves praise and will appeal to hard magic systems� enthusiasts. An interesting bestiary of creatures available for contract added much colour to the world although it felt a bitlike a filler.
Characters, especially secondary ones, remain underdeveloped and lack complexity. Observing Hugh gaining confidence made me feel good, but he still has a lot of work to do. A school bully is just that - a jerk. Of course, he comes from a noble family and is crazily talented - I would say we’ve all seen it. Probably million times.
The writing feels utilitarian and flat, but it delivers the story well and makes it easily accessible. Another pass, or two, of editing, would clear the typos and overused words (everyone grins in this book. All the time). It would give ItL the feel of a finished product.
All said, the book is short and entertaining. It has flaws, but also some charm. I think it’ll do as a palate cleanser between longer / more complex books.
August 15, 2020
Not impressed.
The MC is one of those that has to have it the worstestest, not only is his magic fucked (mostly due to bureaucratic incompetence), but he's also bullied by the best student, but ALSO also, he lost his parents in a fire as a child, AND SIBLINGS!! And ALSO also also, his kinfolk that took him in were MEAN to him, like WAY mean. So you just KNOW he's the specialestest martyr, since he's suffered so... QQ
Had this been a Swedish crime drama, he'd have been molested by one grandparent, his local priest and one of either football or handball coach as well. And mom'd be an alcoholic.
The number of times the mouth of the MC is hanging open from shock or incredulity, opening in shock, or otherwise not working to keep flies and other assorted insects out is downright terrifying.
The worst part really was the Harry Potter ending. Where the MC (having been terribly pointless and daft up till now) is led around having his ego stroked. You see, he's EVER SO SPECIAL. Because he FOUGHT *sniffle* so brave. The bravest. Just... SO brave you guys. And smart.
Anyway, the setting was kinda cool, though I've never been much of a fan of exclusionary affinity magic systems. The labyrinth really could have been a longer segment, felt rushed.
Overall far too short for the story it tried to tell.
PS: who the fuck gets told their teacher has been spying on them for a long while, and just... shrugs it off?
The MC is one of those that has to have it the worstestest, not only is his magic fucked (mostly due to bureaucratic incompetence), but he's also bullied by the best student, but ALSO also, he lost his parents in a fire as a child, AND SIBLINGS!! And ALSO also also, his kinfolk that took him in were MEAN to him, like WAY mean. So you just KNOW he's the specialestest martyr, since he's suffered so... QQ
Had this been a Swedish crime drama, he'd have been molested by one grandparent, his local priest and one of either football or handball coach as well. And mom'd be an alcoholic.
The number of times the mouth of the MC is hanging open from shock or incredulity, opening in shock, or otherwise not working to keep flies and other assorted insects out is downright terrifying.
The worst part really was the Harry Potter ending. Where the MC (having been terribly pointless and daft up till now) is led around having his ego stroked. You see, he's EVER SO SPECIAL. Because he FOUGHT *sniffle* so brave. The bravest. Just... SO brave you guys. And smart.
Anyway, the setting was kinda cool, though I've never been much of a fan of exclusionary affinity magic systems. The labyrinth really could have been a longer segment, felt rushed.
Overall far too short for the story it tried to tell.
PS: who the fuck gets told their teacher has been spying on them for a long while, and just... shrugs it off?
April 5, 2019
Hugh of Emblin is not having an easy time at school. He has no friends, no self-esteem and can’t seem to make any of his spells work. It doesn’t help that magic users that come from Emblin (his home) are incredibly rare so he has an ingrained mistrust of its use.
This book was a real mixed bag for me, as a whole I liked it- it’s quick, very readable and fun but there were also things that maybe didn’t work as well for me, as they may for others.
This begins like a typical magic school story, but reminded me a bit of a litrpg, which is probably more to do with the fact that the only litrpg I have read up to now, followed this same kind of formula of heading off to school, learning about using your magic, and then having what’s essentially a dungeon crawl for a final exam, than to do with the actual story itself.
I am not real big on the whole magic school trope but I am a fan of the friendships that are formed in that setting and once Hugh settled in with a mentor, and a group of potential friends, I enjoyed the story a whole lot more. So, the back half of the book made up for any of the slow school parts for me, with the equivalent of a dungeon crawl and getting to see the members of the group highlight their talents while going through the Labyrinth.
Hugh’s little group, all had their own issues that affected their abilities to perform their magic correctly and on one hand- I did like their journey from feeling like they can’t do anything right, to finding that though they may be different, it doesn’t make them unteachable losers and gaining that self-confidence and respect along the way. On the other hand- the picked on outcast role felt a touch heavy-handed at times, especially in Hugh’s instance.
I also liked that even though the plot was pretty predictable, it did take one small veer off with the bonding that I liked much better than where it looked like it was headed at first. Though later, that same plot point thread/twist (not sure what to call it) could have used some foreshadowing to keep it feeling less like an “oh yeah, this is why that happened�. To be fair, I could have missed it if it was during the school sections, because I tended to skim those.
Like I said mixed bag, but despite a few flaws there is lots to love and huge potential to be a really cool series.
Other Notes-
-Younger readers will probably love the monsterology segments. I know my son would have probably felt the need to read them to me.
-There was a lot of things that happened off screen that I kind of wished had been included.
- Lots of wrong words used, spelling... etc
- Totally loved the whole idea behind the Index.
January 6, 2020
I like to read books that from time to time are not as mentally and emotionally demanding as others as kind of a break. So, this book seemed like a less intensive read and it was. However, it lacked any sort of anchor to the characters.
The main character for all intents and purposes is a royal wuss. I have very little respect for him and he seems to be an introvert who is being led around by a couple of “strong� female characters that save him from himself. He constantly is whining and crying and He doesn’t give you much to root for.
Also, it is fairly obvious that these characters have no basis in social reality and seems to be a weird example of revenge of the nerds with magic. The ever present and maligned strong female characters, that are so necessary in every book today are just annoying and forced.
We seem to be hitting all of the modern virtue targets but I was pleasantly surprised to see no gay or lesbian relationships since that was all that was missing from this modern delusion showcase.
The main character for all intents and purposes is a royal wuss. I have very little respect for him and he seems to be an introvert who is being led around by a couple of “strong� female characters that save him from himself. He constantly is whining and crying and He doesn’t give you much to root for.
Also, it is fairly obvious that these characters have no basis in social reality and seems to be a weird example of revenge of the nerds with magic. The ever present and maligned strong female characters, that are so necessary in every book today are just annoying and forced.
We seem to be hitting all of the modern virtue targets but I was pleasantly surprised to see no gay or lesbian relationships since that was all that was missing from this modern delusion showcase.
March 2, 2021
Not perfect and it has some issues (exposition dumps, less than stellar writing at times) but man is this a fun read.
I love the magic system here (and I’m usually not the kind of person who gets super into a magic system) and I really like all the different elements of the world Bierce has created for this series.
The main characters all have neat backstories and I liked what Bierce did with the concept of educational limitations. Plus it’s nice to read something a little more low-stakes/light-hearted in the fantasy genre every once in a while.
I’m looking forward to carrying on with the series!
I love the magic system here (and I’m usually not the kind of person who gets super into a magic system) and I really like all the different elements of the world Bierce has created for this series.
The main characters all have neat backstories and I liked what Bierce did with the concept of educational limitations. Plus it’s nice to read something a little more low-stakes/light-hearted in the fantasy genre every once in a while.
I’m looking forward to carrying on with the series!
December 11, 2023
ratings:-3.5 stars 🌕🌕🌕🌓🌑
April 18, 2024
I have some mixed feelings about this book. Most of the time I was reading it, I was internally rating it at being 2 stars, in large part due to the inconsistent nature of the protagonist. The ending helped resolved some of those inconsistencies enough that I’m no longer as annoyed at them, but introduced other issues that keep the book hovering around a 2 for me.
I’d like to start with the good things about this book, to make it clear that there are definitely people who will like it and that it has a number of redeeming qualities. Spoilers ahead; you have been warned.
1) The world isn’t expanded on in a comprehensive, holistic sense, but what we do see is intriguing. There’s an ever-expanding list of fascinating creatures and cultures described in the story. We don’t get much of an idea about how they interact with each other (what nations are the dominant powers? What does the continent’s geography look like? What do they use for money?) but that’s a natural consequence of the story taking place entirely inside of a remote mountainous school hidden away in a vast desert. What we do see is creative and varied.
2) There are some funny bits: “Helgrim the Corpulent: Eaten by a flock of spellbooks.� Poor Helgrim. He did not deserve this.
3) Seeing a formerly weak character do impressive things is satisfying in any medium. I’m not saying it’s done especially well here, but it’s still enjoyable.
4) Stays engaging enough that I did finish it, which is more than I can say for some other 2-star books. The pacing is very fast. This has major drawbacks, but it does mean I finished the book quickly despite its length. It has some fun to it.
5) The prose is fine. It was never especially beautiful in and of itself, but it was descriptive enough to get the job done and give me a good idea of what I’m supposed to be imagining. There are a lot of filler words: actually, just, or ‘actually just�. Also a number of typos: ‘a� when there should be ‘an�, a lack of hyphens in words that should be hyphenated; little things that an editor should catch. But these are minor and rare.
So why didn’t I like this book? Again, this part contains spoilers.
We’ll start off with the main character. Hugh is the least confident person ever. He is so utterly lacking in confidence that after one of his friends figures out where his room is and comes to visit, he hides in his room without moving, eating, or cleaning himself for two days. That's pretty bad, but anxiety is rough and complicated and representing it as such in a story has some real value (if it is done respectfully). With that being said, giving your main character paralyzing anxiety is difficult to do as a writer-- it takes a lot of skill, a careful hand, and an understanding of how it would be interwoven through all of your character's life.
But Hugh is also confident enough to break the very strict rules on accessing the restricted section of the library, illegally changing a keep-out ward to do so, and then take his friends inside as a birthday sightseeing trip. Which is it?
Turns out that it’s mostly the first one, because that one strange moment of rule-breaking is due to subtle mind control. Yay for agency!
In fact, I’m not sure that Hugh has any agency at all. Hugh makes no decisions. In fact, the only choice I can think of that actively impacted the plot in a direct, noticeable way is when Hugh convinces his friends to illegally break into the extremely dangerous restricted section of the library (where people die all the time). While they’re there, they all decide to split up. Great decision-making, team! Hugh also decides to make a contract at the end of the story, but his hand is forced and it's basically 'make a contract, or die', so I find it hard to credit him with his decision-making ability.
Hugh doesn’t decide to go to magic school, he doesn’t decide to enter the labyrinth as a real goal of his; he doesn’t really have any goals at all. He wants to� make friends, I guess? Which is great, I get that, but it’s not exactly an engaging desire for readers who are promised adventure. Hugh also wants to be cool and successful in a vague way, which is relatable, since everybody wants that—but again, doesn’t make for engaging reading with a passionate protagonist.
We do get adventure. Sort of. Apparently all of the mages have to enter a life-or-death labyrinth as part of the test to finish their first year of schooling. But don’t worry! As Sabae states, “They’re only permitted to explore the first level, which is fairly safe. Most students come back.� Yes, this magical highschool sends its equivalent of freshman students into a labyrinthian hellscape filled with demons, sentient traps, and walls that reshape themselves to keep people trapped as a final exam. But it’s okay, because the proportion of students that die or are trapped forever is pretty small as long as they move around in teams.
Why do magical schools keep insisting on lethal tests for students? I want to be a well-digging mage or something, but in order to qualify I need to go into the monster-infested, trap-ridden Labyrinth where dozens of students die every year? Does a ‘janitorial mage� (yes, that’s a thing in this book) need to get over a spiked pit trap or something to earn the right to use a magic mop properly?
Who agrees to these insane final exams? And why? Why is combat even the focus for all of this training; who are they training to fight? There’s no bigger threat out there in the world that all mages are being drafted to fight. This is supposed to just be a regular magic school, albeit one of the better ones in this world.
It’s possible to ignore that particular bit of insanity, but there are plenty of other bizarre decisions made in this book. Hugh is being mentally assaulted by a demon for the entirety of the book (unbeknownst to him) so that he can be lured into the labyrinth and forced into a contract with the demon. It is revealed that Hugh’s master, Alustin, knows about this, and has in fact known for a long time. He doesn’t tell Hugh?!? And is still presented as the good guy, the caring teacher doing his best for his students?
This bit was so insane that I didn’t even process how terrible it was until a while after the book is complete, because the characters treat it so nonchalantly. Alustin knows that his student is being subtly mind-controlled, knows that the danger is trying to get Hugh into the labyrinth to claim him forever, and says nothing about the matter to Hugh. No character notes this as being objectively terrible on Alustin’s part. At the end of the book Alustin just reveals that he knew all along, tells Hugh that he’s proud of him for resisting the demon’s mind-control so well (we never see hints of this in the story; Hugh’s resistance is entirely subconscious and is not foreshadowed in any meaningful way) and claps him on the shoulder.
Bizarre choices (or outright insanity) plague other characters as well. Rhodes goes straight to murder when someone gives him a (pretty lame, frankly) comeback in the labyrinth. Classic school bully, but if he was this easily enraged he would absolutely have killed another student by now; sane people do not act like this. If Rhodes is literally insane, that could be interesting, but we’d need a little more setup and payoff for that to work. Apparently students are allowed to murder each other without repercussion—and it’s not a matter of ‘he-said, she-said�; there are a bunch of witnesses and it’s implied that the professors tracked the magic of everything that happened afterward. Hugh has his own socially-high-ranking people on his team who can attest that Rhodes tried multiple times to kill (not bully; literally kill) Hugh and the others.
Sabae and Talia also vomit up their life stories to each other and to Hugh, with each story having a coherent beginning, middle, and end (almost as though they were planned, or written in advance) a few minutes after meeting each other. They go from being weirdly angry and dismissive of each other to being best friends in about twenty minutes through the power of awkward silences and biographical exposition. You know, just like in real life. That scene ends with all of the characters in it laughing uproariously for a long time. Laughing so hard that one of them falls to the floor. I sat through that scene, stone-faced, confused as to what I was supposed to be feeling as a reader.
Should I have been laughing too? Smiling and shaking my head at their antics? These people met each other a few minutes ago, and this is the ‘joke� that got them going: “Your family isn’t worth the water they drink. Anyone who would treat their own blood like that in need are honorless snakes, and they deserve to get sheared with their own sheep. Though I reckon it’s probably hard to tell the difference.�
That’s Hugh’s family, for the record. They suck. (They’re not actually in the book, but Hugh talks about them a little). But would you really roll around on the floor laughing about it?
The humor in general is hit-or-miss. There are other not funny bits that are strangely treated as funny. Lots of characters laugh, some scowl or shake their heads while chuckling, and I’m still sitting here, reading on in confusion. This is especially noticeable when Rhodes insults the team in the labyrinth and Sabae responds to his taunts with the classic, ““Really? That’s the best set of insults you can come up with?� She goes on to say that his insults of ‘whores�, ‘dumb brutes�, and ‘sheepherder� are unoriginal and lazy. She does this while ‘smiling cruelly�, as though calling a bully’s taunts unoriginal has literally ever worked with real people. But apparently this is such an amazing comeback that everyone else is grinning and Rhodes is enraged into murder-mode.
No. That is not a good comeback. Please stop acting like it is. Surely we all remember what it was like to be teenagers? (Or are currently teenagers?) Maybe I’m just crotchety because this story is more YA than I was originally expecting it to be.
Characters aside, there are some strange inconsistencies in the magic system. Talia uses dreamfire, which is described as doing weird things sometimes, but which otherwise works like this: “Still, three out of every four times, dreamfire behaved mostly like real fire.� Except it doesn’t. It hardly ever acts like real fire when it hits a target. Mostly it disintegrates things, or chops them up, or creates vines.
That’s minor, but it’s not the only contradiction to show up. Magical Deus Ex Machina are plentiful. Spells are supposed to be hard work, requiring careful training and mentally inscribed glyphs to channel magic, except when they’re not. Talia goes from literally never using her bone affinity, to using it for the first time to impale a giant crab with exploding fire bones. Where’d she get the spell? Instinct, I guess! Truly amazing. A page or two later Sabae suddenly uses her healing affinity for the first time, healing another character of lethal wounds in seconds. She has had zero training in this beforehand, because she refused to learn or even think about healing magic. Luckily she can fix enormous burn wounds, broken bones, lacerations, and impalement in seconds when she actually tries.
Hugh straight up goes from having to painstakingly calculate spell formulae to levitate a book, to shooting giant solar lasers without even knowing what he’s doing after signing his contract. And maybe that’s how contracts are supposed to work, but it does kind of take the respect for hard work out of the spell—you don’t get to have me admire your character for their painstaking magic, and then take all of the mental hard work out of it and then still have me clap you on the back. Hugh could have done literally zero magical training at all and still shot that laser if he’d signed the same contract. He could have done it without a single day of schooling.
That, like much of this book, annoys me.
Edit: I forgot to include that there are a lot of infodumps in this book, of every kind. Magical, character, setting-- if there's an infodump that can be made, it's in here somewhere. Usually more than once. I happen to not mind infodumps about magic (unless they're beyond excessive) but most people, I suspect, will find them to be rather a lot.
I’d like to start with the good things about this book, to make it clear that there are definitely people who will like it and that it has a number of redeeming qualities. Spoilers ahead; you have been warned.
1) The world isn’t expanded on in a comprehensive, holistic sense, but what we do see is intriguing. There’s an ever-expanding list of fascinating creatures and cultures described in the story. We don’t get much of an idea about how they interact with each other (what nations are the dominant powers? What does the continent’s geography look like? What do they use for money?) but that’s a natural consequence of the story taking place entirely inside of a remote mountainous school hidden away in a vast desert. What we do see is creative and varied.
2) There are some funny bits: “Helgrim the Corpulent: Eaten by a flock of spellbooks.� Poor Helgrim. He did not deserve this.
3) Seeing a formerly weak character do impressive things is satisfying in any medium. I’m not saying it’s done especially well here, but it’s still enjoyable.
4) Stays engaging enough that I did finish it, which is more than I can say for some other 2-star books. The pacing is very fast. This has major drawbacks, but it does mean I finished the book quickly despite its length. It has some fun to it.
5) The prose is fine. It was never especially beautiful in and of itself, but it was descriptive enough to get the job done and give me a good idea of what I’m supposed to be imagining. There are a lot of filler words: actually, just, or ‘actually just�. Also a number of typos: ‘a� when there should be ‘an�, a lack of hyphens in words that should be hyphenated; little things that an editor should catch. But these are minor and rare.
So why didn’t I like this book? Again, this part contains spoilers.
We’ll start off with the main character. Hugh is the least confident person ever. He is so utterly lacking in confidence that after one of his friends figures out where his room is and comes to visit, he hides in his room without moving, eating, or cleaning himself for two days. That's pretty bad, but anxiety is rough and complicated and representing it as such in a story has some real value (if it is done respectfully). With that being said, giving your main character paralyzing anxiety is difficult to do as a writer-- it takes a lot of skill, a careful hand, and an understanding of how it would be interwoven through all of your character's life.
But Hugh is also confident enough to break the very strict rules on accessing the restricted section of the library, illegally changing a keep-out ward to do so, and then take his friends inside as a birthday sightseeing trip. Which is it?
Turns out that it’s mostly the first one, because that one strange moment of rule-breaking is due to subtle mind control. Yay for agency!
In fact, I’m not sure that Hugh has any agency at all. Hugh makes no decisions. In fact, the only choice I can think of that actively impacted the plot in a direct, noticeable way is when Hugh convinces his friends to illegally break into the extremely dangerous restricted section of the library (where people die all the time). While they’re there, they all decide to split up. Great decision-making, team! Hugh also decides to make a contract at the end of the story, but his hand is forced and it's basically 'make a contract, or die', so I find it hard to credit him with his decision-making ability.
Hugh doesn’t decide to go to magic school, he doesn’t decide to enter the labyrinth as a real goal of his; he doesn’t really have any goals at all. He wants to� make friends, I guess? Which is great, I get that, but it’s not exactly an engaging desire for readers who are promised adventure. Hugh also wants to be cool and successful in a vague way, which is relatable, since everybody wants that—but again, doesn’t make for engaging reading with a passionate protagonist.
We do get adventure. Sort of. Apparently all of the mages have to enter a life-or-death labyrinth as part of the test to finish their first year of schooling. But don’t worry! As Sabae states, “They’re only permitted to explore the first level, which is fairly safe. Most students come back.� Yes, this magical highschool sends its equivalent of freshman students into a labyrinthian hellscape filled with demons, sentient traps, and walls that reshape themselves to keep people trapped as a final exam. But it’s okay, because the proportion of students that die or are trapped forever is pretty small as long as they move around in teams.
Why do magical schools keep insisting on lethal tests for students? I want to be a well-digging mage or something, but in order to qualify I need to go into the monster-infested, trap-ridden Labyrinth where dozens of students die every year? Does a ‘janitorial mage� (yes, that’s a thing in this book) need to get over a spiked pit trap or something to earn the right to use a magic mop properly?
Who agrees to these insane final exams? And why? Why is combat even the focus for all of this training; who are they training to fight? There’s no bigger threat out there in the world that all mages are being drafted to fight. This is supposed to just be a regular magic school, albeit one of the better ones in this world.
It’s possible to ignore that particular bit of insanity, but there are plenty of other bizarre decisions made in this book. Hugh is being mentally assaulted by a demon for the entirety of the book (unbeknownst to him) so that he can be lured into the labyrinth and forced into a contract with the demon. It is revealed that Hugh’s master, Alustin, knows about this, and has in fact known for a long time. He doesn’t tell Hugh?!? And is still presented as the good guy, the caring teacher doing his best for his students?
This bit was so insane that I didn’t even process how terrible it was until a while after the book is complete, because the characters treat it so nonchalantly. Alustin knows that his student is being subtly mind-controlled, knows that the danger is trying to get Hugh into the labyrinth to claim him forever, and says nothing about the matter to Hugh. No character notes this as being objectively terrible on Alustin’s part. At the end of the book Alustin just reveals that he knew all along, tells Hugh that he’s proud of him for resisting the demon’s mind-control so well (we never see hints of this in the story; Hugh’s resistance is entirely subconscious and is not foreshadowed in any meaningful way) and claps him on the shoulder.
Bizarre choices (or outright insanity) plague other characters as well. Rhodes goes straight to murder when someone gives him a (pretty lame, frankly) comeback in the labyrinth. Classic school bully, but if he was this easily enraged he would absolutely have killed another student by now; sane people do not act like this. If Rhodes is literally insane, that could be interesting, but we’d need a little more setup and payoff for that to work. Apparently students are allowed to murder each other without repercussion—and it’s not a matter of ‘he-said, she-said�; there are a bunch of witnesses and it’s implied that the professors tracked the magic of everything that happened afterward. Hugh has his own socially-high-ranking people on his team who can attest that Rhodes tried multiple times to kill (not bully; literally kill) Hugh and the others.
Sabae and Talia also vomit up their life stories to each other and to Hugh, with each story having a coherent beginning, middle, and end (almost as though they were planned, or written in advance) a few minutes after meeting each other. They go from being weirdly angry and dismissive of each other to being best friends in about twenty minutes through the power of awkward silences and biographical exposition. You know, just like in real life. That scene ends with all of the characters in it laughing uproariously for a long time. Laughing so hard that one of them falls to the floor. I sat through that scene, stone-faced, confused as to what I was supposed to be feeling as a reader.
Should I have been laughing too? Smiling and shaking my head at their antics? These people met each other a few minutes ago, and this is the ‘joke� that got them going: “Your family isn’t worth the water they drink. Anyone who would treat their own blood like that in need are honorless snakes, and they deserve to get sheared with their own sheep. Though I reckon it’s probably hard to tell the difference.�
That’s Hugh’s family, for the record. They suck. (They’re not actually in the book, but Hugh talks about them a little). But would you really roll around on the floor laughing about it?
The humor in general is hit-or-miss. There are other not funny bits that are strangely treated as funny. Lots of characters laugh, some scowl or shake their heads while chuckling, and I’m still sitting here, reading on in confusion. This is especially noticeable when Rhodes insults the team in the labyrinth and Sabae responds to his taunts with the classic, ““Really? That’s the best set of insults you can come up with?� She goes on to say that his insults of ‘whores�, ‘dumb brutes�, and ‘sheepherder� are unoriginal and lazy. She does this while ‘smiling cruelly�, as though calling a bully’s taunts unoriginal has literally ever worked with real people. But apparently this is such an amazing comeback that everyone else is grinning and Rhodes is enraged into murder-mode.
No. That is not a good comeback. Please stop acting like it is. Surely we all remember what it was like to be teenagers? (Or are currently teenagers?) Maybe I’m just crotchety because this story is more YA than I was originally expecting it to be.
Characters aside, there are some strange inconsistencies in the magic system. Talia uses dreamfire, which is described as doing weird things sometimes, but which otherwise works like this: “Still, three out of every four times, dreamfire behaved mostly like real fire.� Except it doesn’t. It hardly ever acts like real fire when it hits a target. Mostly it disintegrates things, or chops them up, or creates vines.
That’s minor, but it’s not the only contradiction to show up. Magical Deus Ex Machina are plentiful. Spells are supposed to be hard work, requiring careful training and mentally inscribed glyphs to channel magic, except when they’re not. Talia goes from literally never using her bone affinity, to using it for the first time to impale a giant crab with exploding fire bones. Where’d she get the spell? Instinct, I guess! Truly amazing. A page or two later Sabae suddenly uses her healing affinity for the first time, healing another character of lethal wounds in seconds. She has had zero training in this beforehand, because she refused to learn or even think about healing magic. Luckily she can fix enormous burn wounds, broken bones, lacerations, and impalement in seconds when she actually tries.
Hugh straight up goes from having to painstakingly calculate spell formulae to levitate a book, to shooting giant solar lasers without even knowing what he’s doing after signing his contract. And maybe that’s how contracts are supposed to work, but it does kind of take the respect for hard work out of the spell—you don’t get to have me admire your character for their painstaking magic, and then take all of the mental hard work out of it and then still have me clap you on the back. Hugh could have done literally zero magical training at all and still shot that laser if he’d signed the same contract. He could have done it without a single day of schooling.
That, like much of this book, annoys me.
Edit: I forgot to include that there are a lot of infodumps in this book, of every kind. Magical, character, setting-- if there's an infodump that can be made, it's in here somewhere. Usually more than once. I happen to not mind infodumps about magic (unless they're beyond excessive) but most people, I suspect, will find them to be rather a lot.
March 13, 2019
4.5 of 5
Fun, Enjoyable Read.
I have been trying to figure out how to classify this book. I finally realized it reminds me of a TV pilot. It gives a introductory view of the characters and how they interact. It provides enough details to move the plot without bogging down and reveals enough glimpses of the world and its mechanics to want to know more. Like a pilot, it draws the blueprint of what is to come. Of course, the downside of this is that it leaves you wanting more. I am looking forward to future seasons/series.
Fun, Enjoyable Read.
I have been trying to figure out how to classify this book. I finally realized it reminds me of a TV pilot. It gives a introductory view of the characters and how they interact. It provides enough details to move the plot without bogging down and reveals enough glimpses of the world and its mechanics to want to know more. Like a pilot, it draws the blueprint of what is to come. Of course, the downside of this is that it leaves you wanting more. I am looking forward to future seasons/series.
June 22, 2022
Hugh de Emblin es un joven tímido y sin amigos que estudia en la Academia Skyhold, donde estudian miles de magos. Cuando ya se daba por vencido, resulta elegido como aprendiz del bibliotecario errante Alustin, que además también elegirá a dos aprendices más, Sabae y Talia. Los tres tienen en común su alto potencial para la magia, pero también ciertos problemas para el aprendizaje, lo que les ha tenido bastante marginados. Posteriormente, se unirá al grupo Godrick, formando los cuatro un compacto grupo de amigos. La historia avanza reposadamente, incidiendo sobre todo en el sistema de magia basado en sintonizaciones o afinidades con elementos, como los sueños, la arena, el hierro, el hueso, etc.
En resumen, una buena lectura, corta y entretenida.
En resumen, una buena lectura, corta y entretenida.
November 8, 2018
John Bierce has given us a very quick and fun read with Into the Labyrinth. This is YA fantasy that maintains many of the tropes of the genre; mage school, dungeon tests, and a fascinating magic system. I normally find YA books a little hard to rate, and this one is no exception. But in the end it’s just a lot of fun.
There is quite a bit to like in this debut from Bierce. For starters, it has an interesting magic system. Mages gain affinities to various types of mana and this allows them to cast particular sorts of spells—or at least more powerful sorts of elemental spells. The specifics are unclear here in the first book, but there is a lot of potential. At its core though, Into the Labyrinth is really a coming of age tale about Hugh of Emblin. One of the things I loved was the entire lack of confidence and fear of failure that Hugh has. To me this felt very authentic to what I struggled with myself as a teenager. One of the things I love about coming of age stories in fantasy is the way that characters are often forced to struggle with the same sorts of things many of us did as young people—they just do so with the added frustration of magic, or prophecy, or whatever else. Hugh’s friends, while not nearly as well drawn as Hugh, are still worthwhile secondary characters for a YA novel. The plot is serviceable, though nothing to write home about.
There are several weaknesses to the novel, unfortunately. To begin, there were a number of typos throughout the manuscript. More importantly, while I thought Hugh was a well drawn character, the antagonist is the most vanilla of vanilla characters. He’s basically a jerk for the sake of being a jerk with no motivation that I could distinguish. Frankly, Hugh’s own fears work better as the antagonist of the story than the actual antagonist does. In addition, while I liked the magic system and felt like it had a lot of potential, I also felt like the magic system didn’t entirely cohere based on the information we have here in the first novel in what will be a series. There are a lot of moving pieces to the system, but they aren’t always clearly explained. Some of those pieces work differently, warding versus enchanting versus spell glyphs. Eventually it all gets a little (overly) complex and I felt like the differences—and more importantly the reasons for those differences—were not adequately explained.
There is a lot to like here, and as a whole I did like this novel. Although the score rounds down to three stars I feel like I enjoyed it more than I normally do a three star. However, some of the problems described above keep me from bumping it up to a four. If you’re looking for a fun YA fantasy, definitely give this one a try. I hope to see more from John Bierce in the future. 3.4/5 stars.
5 � I loved this, couldn’t put it down, move it to the top of your TBR pile
4 � I really enjoyed this, add it to the TBR pile
3 � It was ok, depending on your preferences it may be worth your time
2 � I didn’t like this book, it has significant flaws and I can’t recommend it
1 � I loathe this book with a most loathsome loathing
There is quite a bit to like in this debut from Bierce. For starters, it has an interesting magic system. Mages gain affinities to various types of mana and this allows them to cast particular sorts of spells—or at least more powerful sorts of elemental spells. The specifics are unclear here in the first book, but there is a lot of potential. At its core though, Into the Labyrinth is really a coming of age tale about Hugh of Emblin. One of the things I loved was the entire lack of confidence and fear of failure that Hugh has. To me this felt very authentic to what I struggled with myself as a teenager. One of the things I love about coming of age stories in fantasy is the way that characters are often forced to struggle with the same sorts of things many of us did as young people—they just do so with the added frustration of magic, or prophecy, or whatever else. Hugh’s friends, while not nearly as well drawn as Hugh, are still worthwhile secondary characters for a YA novel. The plot is serviceable, though nothing to write home about.
There are several weaknesses to the novel, unfortunately. To begin, there were a number of typos throughout the manuscript. More importantly, while I thought Hugh was a well drawn character, the antagonist is the most vanilla of vanilla characters. He’s basically a jerk for the sake of being a jerk with no motivation that I could distinguish. Frankly, Hugh’s own fears work better as the antagonist of the story than the actual antagonist does. In addition, while I liked the magic system and felt like it had a lot of potential, I also felt like the magic system didn’t entirely cohere based on the information we have here in the first novel in what will be a series. There are a lot of moving pieces to the system, but they aren’t always clearly explained. Some of those pieces work differently, warding versus enchanting versus spell glyphs. Eventually it all gets a little (overly) complex and I felt like the differences—and more importantly the reasons for those differences—were not adequately explained.
There is a lot to like here, and as a whole I did like this novel. Although the score rounds down to three stars I feel like I enjoyed it more than I normally do a three star. However, some of the problems described above keep me from bumping it up to a four. If you’re looking for a fun YA fantasy, definitely give this one a try. I hope to see more from John Bierce in the future. 3.4/5 stars.
5 � I loved this, couldn’t put it down, move it to the top of your TBR pile
4 � I really enjoyed this, add it to the TBR pile
3 � It was ok, depending on your preferences it may be worth your time
2 � I didn’t like this book, it has significant flaws and I can’t recommend it
1 � I loathe this book with a most loathsome loathing
May 29, 2022
A coming of age book with magic? What could go wrong?
Well quite a lot actually, but in this case, the Author misses the pitfalls and brings an interesting blend of outcasts to the fore while only putting forward one Bully to make sure we don't forget that no matter what teenage years we are looking at they exist. I was very impressed with the book and will be moving forward with the rest of the series.
Well quite a lot actually, but in this case, the Author misses the pitfalls and brings an interesting blend of outcasts to the fore while only putting forward one Bully to make sure we don't forget that no matter what teenage years we are looking at they exist. I was very impressed with the book and will be moving forward with the rest of the series.
October 8, 2024
Life hasn’t been easy at the Academy at Skyhold. Unable to cast spells , make friends or evade bullying. Even if chosen to apprentice there is the looming terror of the Labyrinth! Sometimes however things take a turn you would never expect!
Such a fun read! Magic school wizardry!
Such a fun read! Magic school wizardry!
Read
January 26, 2025Progressive Fantasy
March 9, 2021
Somehow it feels more like a written adventure game where the author invested more time and ideas into rules and graphic than in character development and story arc. It's incredibly good on the concept of magic and the single pictures it draws of that world are intriguing. So although the single characters are more well known (and well loved) stereotypes their magical abilities are top-notch and will increase before the next level i.e. book. The scenery is awesome with the academy built halfway into a huge mountain and the view on a nearly endless desert which is crossed by ships like an ocean and I didn't even mention the inner library � but maybe except for the library they are of a lifeless beauty, only background pictures. The magical creatures supposed to inhabit that world are imaginative but at least in the first book they are not more than set-cards collected by the reader/player for future use. Probably it's asked too much for the first book to show them right away and at least at the end we get one. So there surely is no surprise that the first book culminates in a labyrinth adventure where items are collected, foes are revealed and the fellowship is tested.
It's entertaining and well paced like a good game is supposed to be and the teenage-me liked to spent the time at Skyhold but closing the book and looking back I became aware again that since decades I'm no teenager any more.
It's entertaining and well paced like a good game is supposed to be and the teenage-me liked to spent the time at Skyhold but closing the book and looking back I became aware again that since decades I'm no teenager any more.
April 23, 2023
i really enjoyed this! it was a fantastical adventure of a young mage trying to find his way in the school he is attending, not knowing any magic himself.
i loved the friendships, the loyalty between them, the characters are lovable and creative. the writing style is simple and enjoyable, and it's short enough to just enjoy it on the fly.
ahh, this is the type of magic world i like to dip down in~
i loved the friendships, the loyalty between them, the characters are lovable and creative. the writing style is simple and enjoyable, and it's short enough to just enjoy it on the fly.
ahh, this is the type of magic world i like to dip down in~
September 16, 2023
3/5
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It built friendships a bit faster than I think would organically occur, however given the length of the book I thought it was great. I did notice that sometimes the phrasing or perhaps the sentence structure was a tad weird. All things aside, I can’t wait to see what happens next.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It built friendships a bit faster than I think would organically occur, however given the length of the book I thought it was great. I did notice that sometimes the phrasing or perhaps the sentence structure was a tad weird. All things aside, I can’t wait to see what happens next.
September 4, 2021
This was really enjoyable, I liked the main character and his arc throughout this first book, and his new friends, adorable.
Magic was also intriguing, so many aspects that could be explored. I will definitely continue the series
Magic was also intriguing, so many aspects that could be explored. I will definitely continue the series
April 17, 2021
I picked this up because of the narrator, Ralph Lister, who happens to be one of my favorite audiobook performers. His narration of this was superb, like always.
The main character, Hugh, starts off the book as a “loser�. He’s in a mage school, he’s not from the noble class, he has no friends � but he does have a bully. His life is fairly miserable and he feels like an utter failure with very little in the way of happiness. There’s an event called The Choosing where students from the college get selected to be an apprentice for a random mage. Usually it’s just some regular mage with no notoriety, but sometimes the famous mages come down and select an apprentice as well. He was chosen, however, by an errant librarian � a mage who goes about the realm collecting books n� what not. Hugh is pretty stoked but doesn’t understand why he was chosen. This new mentor also selected other lackluster students to be his apprentices, but they don’t know why.
I liked Hugh well enough as a character, in fact most of the characters in this were written specifically to be likable in their own ways � except for maybe Talia. Hugh means well, he’s loyal to his friends, and he comes with a sad backstory that’s meant to bring out empathy for the character. His group of friends that he forms are all loyal to each other, good friends to one another, and work well together. It makes for a warm sort of atmosphere as this loner kid learns how to trust himself and others. That said, it could be a little saccharine at times, but that’s largely personal taste.
I think the world building is the big highlight of the book, and whether you would enjoy it or not is heavily dependent on if you like high fantasy magic school settings. The city of Skyhold is built into the side of a mountain with a library full of dangerous magic books. There are dragons, minotaurs, krakens, sphyinx’s, semi sentient books, semi sentient libraries, and more magic than you could shake a stick at. The magic system is in depth and vast, completely integral to the story and characters. I loved the origami golems that roamed the stacks of books picking out books and bringing them back to people.
The plot is very simple, and this may be middle grade? I’m a terrible judge of these things. It feels about Harry Potter level in the earlier books, it’s only 167 pages and read very quickly. I was done within a couple of hours. I think this would appeal to people who have kids that read fantasy or those who enjoy classic magic school YA books.
Ratings:
Plot: 10/15
Characters: 11/15
World Building: 12/15
Writing: 11/15
Pacing: 11/15
Originality: 10/15
Personal Enjoyment: 6/10
Final Score: 71/100 or 3.5/5 on ŷ
The main character, Hugh, starts off the book as a “loser�. He’s in a mage school, he’s not from the noble class, he has no friends � but he does have a bully. His life is fairly miserable and he feels like an utter failure with very little in the way of happiness. There’s an event called The Choosing where students from the college get selected to be an apprentice for a random mage. Usually it’s just some regular mage with no notoriety, but sometimes the famous mages come down and select an apprentice as well. He was chosen, however, by an errant librarian � a mage who goes about the realm collecting books n� what not. Hugh is pretty stoked but doesn’t understand why he was chosen. This new mentor also selected other lackluster students to be his apprentices, but they don’t know why.
I liked Hugh well enough as a character, in fact most of the characters in this were written specifically to be likable in their own ways � except for maybe Talia. Hugh means well, he’s loyal to his friends, and he comes with a sad backstory that’s meant to bring out empathy for the character. His group of friends that he forms are all loyal to each other, good friends to one another, and work well together. It makes for a warm sort of atmosphere as this loner kid learns how to trust himself and others. That said, it could be a little saccharine at times, but that’s largely personal taste.
I think the world building is the big highlight of the book, and whether you would enjoy it or not is heavily dependent on if you like high fantasy magic school settings. The city of Skyhold is built into the side of a mountain with a library full of dangerous magic books. There are dragons, minotaurs, krakens, sphyinx’s, semi sentient books, semi sentient libraries, and more magic than you could shake a stick at. The magic system is in depth and vast, completely integral to the story and characters. I loved the origami golems that roamed the stacks of books picking out books and bringing them back to people.
The plot is very simple, and this may be middle grade? I’m a terrible judge of these things. It feels about Harry Potter level in the earlier books, it’s only 167 pages and read very quickly. I was done within a couple of hours. I think this would appeal to people who have kids that read fantasy or those who enjoy classic magic school YA books.
Ratings:
Plot: 10/15
Characters: 11/15
World Building: 12/15
Writing: 11/15
Pacing: 11/15
Originality: 10/15
Personal Enjoyment: 6/10
Final Score: 71/100 or 3.5/5 on ŷ
January 13, 2019
This is a fun, promising debut that sets up some interesting threads for future books.
The novel's strengths lie in the details about the magic system and the small bit of worldbuilding we see. I'm not gonna get into the specifics of the magic (the book does plenty of that), but it's clear that Bierce has put a lot of thought into this system and it feels like a unique, intriguing take on magic that definitely introduced some complications into the plot of this book and could further cause the heroes strife in future stories. And despite how complex all the systems are, they all feed into each other and follow an internal logic so it all feels believable.
As far as the worldbuilding, we don't really see or learn much of the world outside Skyhold, but I enjoyed glimpses of various monsters in the labyrinth and learning a bit about some of the world's stronger monsters and warlock pacts.
The plot itself I was torn on. For a large portion of the book it's kind of a typical magic school story; it's not bad or anything, but a lot of it felt like stuff I'd seen before, magic system aside. The book was kicked up a notch when we finally get into the titular labyrinth during the last 30% or so of the story, which is when I finally found myself invested in the events taking place. This sounds like a huge investment before finally being engaged with the narrative, but like I said before it's not like the start of the book is bad, and it's pretty short so it's easy to breeze through the entire thing.
Another weakness for me was the characterization. I never felt like any of the characters were particularly well-developed, especially the primary antagonist of the book, who terrorizes Hugh throughout the entirety of the novel for reasons unbeknownst to the reader aside from maybe "because he's from Emblin." Which I guess is enough for a teenager to hate someone, but it came across as weak storytelling to me. I also found Hugh to be a somewhat annoying character, though parts of his characterization were explained at the end of the book in an interesting way; it retroactively made me appreciate those aspects more, but in the moment he was not particularly enjoyable.
Everything that happens in the last portions of the book is pretty exciting and intriguing, surprising me at several turns, and setting up what could be some pretty interesting narrative threads for Bierce to pursue in future books. I'm looking forward to seeing where he takes Hugh and the group next!
The novel's strengths lie in the details about the magic system and the small bit of worldbuilding we see. I'm not gonna get into the specifics of the magic (the book does plenty of that), but it's clear that Bierce has put a lot of thought into this system and it feels like a unique, intriguing take on magic that definitely introduced some complications into the plot of this book and could further cause the heroes strife in future stories. And despite how complex all the systems are, they all feed into each other and follow an internal logic so it all feels believable.
As far as the worldbuilding, we don't really see or learn much of the world outside Skyhold, but I enjoyed glimpses of various monsters in the labyrinth and learning a bit about some of the world's stronger monsters and warlock pacts.
The plot itself I was torn on. For a large portion of the book it's kind of a typical magic school story; it's not bad or anything, but a lot of it felt like stuff I'd seen before, magic system aside. The book was kicked up a notch when we finally get into the titular labyrinth during the last 30% or so of the story, which is when I finally found myself invested in the events taking place. This sounds like a huge investment before finally being engaged with the narrative, but like I said before it's not like the start of the book is bad, and it's pretty short so it's easy to breeze through the entire thing.
Another weakness for me was the characterization. I never felt like any of the characters were particularly well-developed, especially the primary antagonist of the book, who terrorizes Hugh throughout the entirety of the novel for reasons unbeknownst to the reader aside from maybe "because he's from Emblin." Which I guess is enough for a teenager to hate someone, but it came across as weak storytelling to me. I also found Hugh to be a somewhat annoying character, though parts of his characterization were explained at the end of the book in an interesting way; it retroactively made me appreciate those aspects more, but in the moment he was not particularly enjoyable.
Everything that happens in the last portions of the book is pretty exciting and intriguing, surprising me at several turns, and setting up what could be some pretty interesting narrative threads for Bierce to pursue in future books. I'm looking forward to seeing where he takes Hugh and the group next!
February 10, 2021
5 stars. This book was fantastic! This is my first experience with progression fantasy (besides The Stormlight Archive, which I think is more unintentionally progression fantasy) and I honestly had such a blast reading it. The story is all found family tropes, and follows a main character who feels lonely, which is my shit because I related so much to that. The magic system is truly spectacular, with so many different things happening at once, and so much room for growth. This could be my favorite fantasy magic system, honestly. It's definitely my favorite general spellcasting magic system that I've seen—including my own!!! God, what a fantastic book. I can't wait to read the rest.
I think one thing I will say is that this book is somewhat slice of life-y in the Harry Potter style, but at least so far there doesn't seem to be much of an overarching plot or a major antagonist. There were some hints of that at the end of the book, but I'm not sure if it'll become anything epic. I, personally, do not need it to become anything epic—if the main character deals with smaller problems and threats I will be perfectly happy with that. But I know some people want a more epic plot with their fantasy, so I'll signpost that right now. And if this changes when I read the sequels, I will update this review to let you know, without spoilers.
I think one thing I will say is that this book is somewhat slice of life-y in the Harry Potter style, but at least so far there doesn't seem to be much of an overarching plot or a major antagonist. There were some hints of that at the end of the book, but I'm not sure if it'll become anything epic. I, personally, do not need it to become anything epic—if the main character deals with smaller problems and threats I will be perfectly happy with that. But I know some people want a more epic plot with their fantasy, so I'll signpost that right now. And if this changes when I read the sequels, I will update this review to let you know, without spoilers.
August 15, 2023
This just wasn't for me and I had to drop it at the 60% mark.
I didn't like any of the characters or the writing itself. There were too many exposition dumps and on-the-nose, unrealistic dialogues. I'll also admit that having a character speak patois with apostrophes everywhere is a surefire way to undermine my enjoyment. I wasn't interested in anything that happened, and it felt like the tropes were doing all the heavy lifting.
I could see myself enjoying the story if all the characters died horribly in the labyrinth, but a quick glance at the blurb of Book 2 denied me that flight of fancy.
I didn't like any of the characters or the writing itself. There were too many exposition dumps and on-the-nose, unrealistic dialogues. I'll also admit that having a character speak patois with apostrophes everywhere is a surefire way to undermine my enjoyment. I wasn't interested in anything that happened, and it felt like the tropes were doing all the heavy lifting.
I could see myself enjoying the story if all the characters died horribly in the labyrinth, but a quick glance at the blurb of Book 2 denied me that flight of fancy.
June 24, 2019
Delightful
It’s tough to balance a coming up f age book with the appropriate wonder, learning, doubt, and capability that are their bedrock. It’s even more difficult to layer a good plot and characters on top of that - let alone a fantasy story where magic exists yet there are still Rules that apply to it all.
Here you Willis find a nicely edited book that quite deftly does all of these things and more. You could hardly ask for a better series launch. Highly recommended for all ages.
It’s tough to balance a coming up f age book with the appropriate wonder, learning, doubt, and capability that are their bedrock. It’s even more difficult to layer a good plot and characters on top of that - let alone a fantasy story where magic exists yet there are still Rules that apply to it all.
Here you Willis find a nicely edited book that quite deftly does all of these things and more. You could hardly ask for a better series launch. Highly recommended for all ages.
February 2, 2021
Ended up devouring this whole series (or the currently released books in it, at least!) in the space of a few days. It's a very fun, easy read! Highly recommended if you're looking for something that's easy to binge read and keeps you engaged and entertained.
June 8, 2023
A good start
3.5 this book had a great hook that kept momentum through the halfway mark. Stumbled a bit in the middle, which could have used more and less at the same time. Strong finish though!
3.5 this book had a great hook that kept momentum through the halfway mark. Stumbled a bit in the middle, which could have used more and less at the same time. Strong finish though!
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