Fiction Reviews
The Outcast Mage
(2025) Annabel Campbell, Orbit, £9.99, pbk, 488pp, ISBN 978-0-356-52420-7
A mage, struggling to unlock her powers must find if she is destined to save the world or destroy it… In the glass city of Amoria, magic is everything. And Naila, student at the city's academy, is running out of time to prove she can control hers. If she fails, she'll be forced into exile… or consumed by her own power. When a tragic accident threatens her place at the academy, Haelius Akana, the most powerful living mage saves her, but he has many enemies of his own who would like to see both of them fail.
The Outcast Mage is the first of Annabel Campbell’s 'Shattered Lands' series set in the glass domed city of Amoria which was built by mages who fled persecution by crossing the desert to establish their own place, even welcoming non magic practitioners into the city, but tensions have been rising between the have and have-nots, or those who can perform magic and those who can’t. Naila is a young mage who walks a precarious line between these two camps, because she might as well be in the “those who can’t camp”, as tests have shown that she has magical abilities, except she can’t seem to use them, or control them. She is labelled a Hollow Mage by her peers who don’t want her in the Mage’s Academy, nor do her teachers, and they might get their way until the most powerful mage in the city takes her under his wing with the intention of helping her harness her abilities.
So new, so familiar, or so it seems with a central character who is a bit of an outsider, not confident at all, especially considering the way they are treated by those around them. She would rather keep her head down and avoid drawing attention to herself because under the laws of Amoria it is a case of use it, or get lost, and getting lost means being sent into exile which looks increasingly likely until she encounters Haelius who is not like Dumbledore or Gandalf, or Merlin, staying in the sidelines and offering wise words and gentle encouragement. He is about twice Naila’s age and has a profile within the city, he’s a living legend, and quite arrogant in his own way so it is not going to be plain sailing between master and pupil, but Haelius has a natural bond with Naila as he comes from a family of “hollows” and despite his powers and abilities he is regarded as a second-class citizen by most of the other mages.
Since my review is of a proof version, there is no map in this edition, but it is there in the published version, honest! The novel itself is told in three parts, over 44 chapters, plus an epilogue, and the story is told from multiple viewpoints plus the odd interlude. The other viewpoints are those of Larianne, who is a Senator struggling to hold back the ambitions of Oriven who wants the mages to have total control of the city, and himself to have total control of the mages. We also get inside the head of Entonin who is a visiting priest from Ellath, the very empire which banned mages as heretics, so as you can expect his presence doesn’t go down well with some of the inhabitants of Amoria. He is accompanied on his visit by Karameth, who acts as his bodyguard for the priest and is a welcome contrast in attitude and actions, but are these two visitors as innocent as they seem? The plot quickly veers away from the teacher and novice to take in wider concerns such as impending war, myths becoming real, conspiracy and political intrigue, oh, and dragons.
Campbell has delivered a great debut, taking her story beyond the traditional fantasy tropes when dealing with people with magic abilities. She certainly ticks all the boxes regarding magic systems, world-building, interesting characters, plot machinations, hint of romance, but we get a deeper societal look at city of Amoria and the divisions that are being fostered, which alarmingly could be applied to our own real-life world. Of course, there is a cliff hanger and twist to set up the next book in the series. Proceedings might start of a bit slow, but that is to be expected when introducing the reader to a new world, and new characters, but the plot soon quickens. Recommended.
Ian Hunter
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