Warlocks before their time …

Fourteen-year-old Augum and friends Bridget and Leera dream of becoming warlocks. But with a kingdom in total chaos, it will take courage, sacrifice, and an iron will to make that dream come true.

The Lord of the Legion, a vicious tyrant, has overthrown the king in a relentless and murderous quest for seven mythic artifacts–and Augum’s mentor, the legendary Anna Atticus Stone, possesses one. While Augum struggles with demons from a painful childhood, a betrayal puts him, his friends, and his mentor through a harrowing ordeal that threatens to destroy them all … and change the course of history.

Arcane, the debut novel in the fantasy adventure series The Arinthian Line, follows three friends as they navigate an ancient abandoned castle, endure grueling training, challenge old mysteries, and learn that a bond forged in tragedy might just be the only thing to save them from a ruthless enemy.

Thoughts

A story about magic - oh sorry, what I meant to say was arcane, is always a good story. Who could go wrong reading a story about anything magical, right? I don’t want to compare it to other books, but while reading this, it kind of reminded me of The Iron Trial, but not really. I know, I’m confusing myself as well! Come to think of it, Arcane is a bit bloody, what with the Legion bringing death everywhere they go. I can’t quite explain it well but there’s something about this story that makes it feel epic. I know that’s too strong a word, but writing this now, I realize that this was the word I was looking for to describe it, that was in the back of my head while I was reading Arcane. It’s not yet that quite epic but, I feel that as the story progresses on to its sequel, it’d be on its way to epicness. I’m not obsessed about it right now but I really think this series will go far and I think a lot of people will love it as well. As I said, this story is a bit bloody compared to other stories involving kids in their early teens. I was really surprised about the slaughtering of whole villages, with no more than a few survivors. So I guess that was the thing that set it apart for me.

The characters are likable enough but most are cliched. Augum, an orphan, discovers that his element is lightning in the arcane discipline. He is taken in as apprentice by Mrs. Stone, a seasoned witch with a high degree in arcane. Augum, in the beginning of the story, is portrayed as a push-over, like most of heroes in stories are. He gets stronger as he continues practicing under Mrs. Stone, and is even able to match some of the legions. The quality that I like most in Augum is that he is sensitive and humble. Discovering that he’s from a great line of family did not change him, but made him even work harder. And discovering that his mother had left him with a family that treated him like an animal, I was expecting so much bitterness for it, as is usual in stories with heroes that experienced abandonment, to see the characters at their worse. But in Augum, you believe and know that he really has a golden heart unlike his abomination of a father that has a big obsession with necromancy.

Actually, I would like a back story of how Augum’s parents met. Mrs. Stone did tell a short version of it, but I want more. We need a prequel for this. It reminded me of Jocelyn and Valentine of The Mortal Instruments series. If not a prequel, then I hope to read a more expounded story about it in the next books!

I really like the story and of course I’m gonna read book 2.

Rating

4 stars

About the author:


Sever Bronny is a musician and author living in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He has released three albums with his industrial-rock music project Tribal Machine, including the full-length concept album The Orwellian Night. One of his songs can be heard in the feature-length film The Gene Generation. Arcane is his first book in The Arinthian Line series, a saga scheduled to span five books. Less than three weeks after its indie release, Arcane hit the Amazon #1 bestseller spot in the UK and USA in fantasy coming of age.