"Well, damn," is an accurate description of this book (see blurb). Gritty, brutal, exciting, and deep, The Wizard was a page-turning masterpiece due to its fun narrative voice that evoked emotion and resilience--a light in a dark fight.
Blurb:
A wizard and his temperamental dragon. A stranger with a staggering secret. An ancient stone ring forged from the petrified bones of a powerful witch. Identical twin sister assassins. A pugilistic princess. A deadly prophecy. A story you won’t soon forget.
A mysterious stranger scours the vast kingdom of Greywyn, searching for the long-lost stone ring of a legendary, centuries-dead witch—a ring with unimaginable power.
The king’s young but talented wizard goes after the stranger, determined to stop him from using the ring to overthrow the kingdom.
He’d feel better about his chances if his life wasn’t already complicated by his tenuous allegiance to the king, his tricky relationship with the king’s daughter, and by painfully justified fears that he can’t protect the people he loves.
And now he’s just discovered that he’s got a bigger problem—a twice-proven prophecy that says he’ll die trying to save the kingdom.
Well, damn.
This book sucked me in from page one. Instant dragon appearance and magic, followed by political intrigue, a tad of romance, and loads of character depth? Definitely my cup of tea. I am always 100% honest in my reviews, so I devoured this book. I consumed 50% of it in a day before life's hardships interrupted my time to read. Once I was able to pick it up again, I consumed the rest, again in one sitting.
"Well, damn," is the personality of the book--yes, this book has a narrative voice full of snark and many deep emotions. So many fantasy novels these days lack that voice and focus on action and world-building, leaving us cardboard-cutout characters. This book is not that. It has a bit of everything you'd expect in fantasy but truly that voice and character depth set it apart from others. The King's Wizard, Boggs, is a man torn between his powers and morality, self-loathing for his failures and always wanting to be better. Involved with Morgan, the badass warrior princess, they team up together with others to fight a complex and interesting villain (no spoilers). The depth of the relationships and inner workings of characters' points of view is exceptional. I felt with them, rooted for them, and aligned myself with them; this narration and character depth sets aside, for me, an okay book from a great book. The Wizard is a great read.
My only issue was the improper tense shifts, but I saw no other writing issues. At times I was lost in time and not from flashbacks because those were carefully formatted differently and done well. Overall, though, if you don't teach grammar and edit on the side like I do, you probably wouldn't notice. It did not detract from the book's enjoyment at all.
Fantasy is known for its battles, and there are many inner and outer ones in this book. Descriptions of the magic and world were short and to the point, but descriptive enough to paint it alive in front of me like a movie. Perfection. The ending was phenomenal (no spoilers). I am eagerly awaiting the next book because it looks like it will be at least a trilogy.
The Wizard, by Bob Masingale, has everything one would want in a page-turning fantasy novel but its true triumph is the snarky narrative voice and world-building. "Well, damn," Bob, this book was a delight.