Found this while searching through BookSirens! Loved the cover and the synopsis so I downloaded it! I think I’m going to be a fan of this author.

Read: Mar. 4, 2025
*Self-published author*

Genre: High Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery
Audience: Middle-grade
Book contains: child abuse, kidnapping, murder, bullying

Purchase a copy from Amazon.ca

[I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.]

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Like Multiple Books in One—Loved Every Second!

In his village, twelve-year-old Gage Black is known as a cursed child. When he’s around, plants wither and die, and things generally just go wrong. Shortly after his twelfth birthday, he discovers that he’s a magic user, and his world is turned upside-down. Recruited to Runadel Academy where he’s to learn how to control his magic, he finds himself drafted into the war raging through the kingdom.

While I wasn’t wholly aware of what kind of story this would be, I fell in love with it early on. It’s incredibly fast-paced, jumping right into the action. Overall, my only complaint is that while the main character is twelve years old, he acts much more like an older teen, and I feel like the story would’ve worked just a bit better if he was fourteen or fifteen instead. Nonetheless, it doesn’t change much. I still enjoyed the story thoroughly!

I was initially surprised by how many chapters are in this book. It’s a bit long for a middle-grade book (about 97k words), and there are seventy-three total chapters, but the fast pace of the story makes it fly by. Furthermore, the up and down of the journey makes it feel like a trilogy all in one book!

I downloaded a free ARC ePub of this book from BookSirens and listened along on my computer.

As I’ve already mentioned, the twelve-year-old main character Gage Black feels more naturally like a fourteen- or fifteen-ear-old, given his mental maturity and general interactions with other characters, but this may also be due to the severe mistreatment he faced throughout his youth at the hands of the people around him. For ten years, he was deemed “cursed”, only kept around by the gold provided by a mysterious benefactor, who is not revealed in this book (though we’re given enough clues to deduce who it likely could be). Other characters include Alphen, a seventeen-year-old who saves and befriends Gage early on, and two others—Thad and his daughter Nihsa—who take Gage in as family.

Gage never had a family, being an orphan and then severely abused for ten years, but as soon as he joins Runadel Academy, he begins finding his people. He sees Alphen and Nihsa as older siblings, and finds a father-figure in his mentor Thad, who is a healer just like Gage wants to be. His strong sense of justice is also mirrored in Alphen, who is a rebellious and misunderstood magic user who nonetheless lets Gage under his guard.

Overall, the writing was really good, if a bit cringey at times. As a story for middle-grade and younger readers, this is fine, as the characters are allowed to be a bit silly to counteract the darkness and destruction around them. I love the humour and minimal romance woven in.

As I’ve said, this book was fast-paced. We jump straight into the action, and even in the lull between battles, there are no breaks for our characters—especially Gage and his elemental companion, Nightspark. Asher does an excellent job of making this single book feel like three totally different adventures as she compacts so much growth and character evolution into one novel without it being overwhelming.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I highly recommend it to young readers! People who loved The Inheritance Cycle are sure to be fans of this book!

Related Reviews:

Gage Black Book 1: Gage Black and the Void Dragon by Britt Asher
How to Train Your Dragon Book 1: How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
The Last Dragon Chronicles Book 1: The Fire Within by Chris D’Lacey
Dragon Rider Book 1: Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke