Every year, the empire administers the rite of passage into adulthood. That rite serves to identify those blessed by Aether to become magi. The new magi are shipped to the academy to learn the arts of magic.
The academy is a dangerous place; the tournaments held twice each year can cripple or kill the students, and the clans of the empire will go to great lengths to recruit the students they want.
Gregory had one dream: to become a magi like the legends of old. Though he was ridiculed by the residents of the village and his unsupportive father, he never wavered from his dream. Would his age day bring the fruition of his dreams, or would reality come crashing down on him?
(This book contains some adult themes.)
My Opinion: 596 pages, $4.99, Available On Kindle Unlimited
Full disclosure: I received an advanced copy for review. I purchased a copy when it became available.
This is a great slice of life cultivation and magical academy story with light RPG progression for the cultivation. As soon as I started reading it, I did not want to put it down.
What really made this great story for me was the top notch world and character building. From the first pages, the author takes the time to describe the rich cultural, political, and personal histories without bogging the ready with dense text. Instead it all flows naturally as the main character (MC) learns more about the world outside his village and what it means to be able to cultivate aether in the Empire.
While world and character building were the things that made me bump the story to ‘great’, that doesn’t mean the other aspects of the novel are lacking. While the early portions of the novel mostly do developmental stuff, and the mid story is about the academy, there is still regular action with a big bump happening in the last quarter. There are also elements of intrigue and faction politics that should be familiar to anyone that has read wuxia or cultivation stories.
The progression system takes a good bit to show up with most of the details coming out after the 15% mark as the magical academy comes into play. There are attributes like Body, Spirit, and Mind, each with a training path and sub-paths like specific elemental powers or shadow magic. There’s a good bit of depth here developed as the MC researches and trains. There are also tiers and circles for students that show their level of cultivation progression. However, that’s it as far as RPG progression aspects go. It’s light, but still pulls from familiar systems.
Overall a great story. Though I should warn that like most of the author’s writing there are some graphic sex scenes that are skippable ( less than 5% of the story). They make sense as part of the story is about the MC, a young man, exploring the world, finding love, and his place in it.Dem Mikhailov
Score: 8.0 out of 10