The Awakened Mage

Really disappointed by the end of book one.

Held my interest to finish the first in the series but found myself shrugging by the end.
Very misleading title and cover art too!

Perhaps things pick up in the second book but I can't see myself continuing with the series based on the strength of the first.
Simply put not enough happens!
I found the initial premise interesting but I suspect this was originally one book stretched out into two and it certainly shows in the pacing and cliffhanger ending.

In a nutshell:
- Characters and writing I generally liked.
- magic was boring, mundane and boiler plate. I don't mind it not being technical, rule based and complex but it's an especially vague affair here.
- lead character doesn't really do anything. For an innocent mage - - he does zero magic. He even spends the climax of this book doing admin which you might not expect given the cloaked figure on the cover looking all mystical.
You can absolutely imagine the marketing meeting that went on prior to publication:
“So the hero doesn't kill anyone, fight anyone or cast even a single spell?”
“oh god no, the magic is mainly admin and plumbing based. It's not really the point of the story.”
“mmhmm mhmm, I see. Let's call it the Innocent Mage and throw a wizard-ninja on the cover.”