Review: Magefable

Magefable by Heimdall Thunderhammer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received this book free through a GoodReads First Reads Giveaway

There's a lot that Magefable is.

Magefable is adorable, fun, quirky, intriguing, and epic.

Magefable Magefable is the story of some little critters working to defeat a big bad one, against all odds. What does that mean? Well. Clove is a Mouse Mage. She is being trained by Elementals to control the four main elements and one other: light so she can become a Geomancer and defeat the evil Lion King of Feralis, Sinviscious, who is a Necromancer (which means he controls the four main elements and one other: dark.

Clove travels with Herod, a spear-hog (aka Porcupine). In their travels, they meet Durbin, a young mouse who dreams of becoming a Swashbuckling adventurer, and his friend Morro, a Hedge-hog who tends to be thinking about the next meal as soon as he's done with the last.

But Clove and Herod are being tracked and hunted by a Rat army sent by Sinviscious to stop them from succeeding, so they leave Durbin's village behind to keep the people there safe. But Durbin isn't going to let them go that easily and soon he and Morro set off on their own quest in search of Clove.

On the way, they meet Bailey, a Squirrel that wants to tame dragons, and Reverie, a bird with a broken wing. And together they meet up with Clove and Herod and turn back to fight the Rats before they continue to the next elemental.

Magefable has a colorful cast of characters, all of whom have distinct, clear personalities. From the gentleness of Clove and Reverie to the excitable bravery of Bailey and Durbin, from Herod's responsible shoulders to Morro's simple look on life. Each character is their own distinct person, and it shines clear in Thunderhammer's writing.

The world Thunderhammer has created is beautifully crafted. His descriptions bring the landscape to life - from the village of Sapsward to the Swamp of Wrath, Thunderhammer paints a stunning picture of the world that these characters are traveling through.

Magefable is quite the adventure, and it leaves you wanting more.

But it wasn't perfect.

First and foremost, Mr. Thunderhammer, I ask you this: why is Clove the only girl? She's a wonderful character in a wonderful story, but she's surrounded only by male characters. Everywhere we turn, more boys. I would love for there to be a few more girls in the mix, because it's the perfect setting for some, and your characters are all so unique and fresh I have no doubt that you have more awesome female characters somewhere in that brain of yours.

And my other problem was the fight scenes. They felt very...telly instead of showy. I felt disconnected from them. Especially when all of the main characters *plus* a horde of rats are fighting. I think it was the head hopping, perhaps it would have been better if one character had been used as the POV character for the fights, instead of jumping between and making sure the reader always knows exactly what each character is doing and how.

That being said, Magefable was fun and I really enjoyed it and I look forward to reading Talonridge.



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