Kate Elliott has made her name on large-scale Epic Fantasies…not just large in the sense that each book is large (upwards of 400 or 500 pages), but of long series (her superb Crown of Stars saga is 5 doorstoppers). Servant Mage is a departure, at least regarding the length of story. But despite Servant Mage being about a quarter the length of some of her shorter novels, the potency of the story, characters, and world-building are pure Kate Elliott.
In Kate Elliott’s Servant Mage, a lowly fire mage finds herself entangled in an empire-spanning conspiracy on her way to discovering her true power.
They choose their laws to secure their power.
Fellian is a Lamplighter, able to provide illumination through magic. A group of rebel Monarchists free her from indentured servitude and take her on a journey to rescue trapped compatriots from an underground complex of mines.
Along the way they get caught up in a conspiracy to kill the latest royal child and wipe out the Monarchist movement for good.
But Fellian has more than just her Lamplighting skills up her sleeve…
A young servant mage, a Lamplighter, Fellian, is rescued from her indentured servitude by a group of rebel mages. Although she is not in an ideal situation largely because she misses her family having been pulled away from them, Fellian finds some solace in secretly helping to teach younger people around her. The catch for going along with the rescue / escape is that she must help these rebels save a child born of dragons. This child will have abilities in all the elements, an extreme rarity. Typically, mages like Fellian can only manipulate one of five element. In Fellian’s case as a Lamplighter it is light. Fellian agrees to help, but she has her own goal: return to the home from which she was ripped and forced into indentured servitude.
Fantasy Heist! That’s what we’ve got here. At least that’s what the story felt like to me and I was all aboard for the ride. Elliott’s prose is always top notch and that proves to be true here in Servant Mage. The character work with Fellian is outstanding, but I’d like to have gotten a little more on the supporting characters. The pacing is a little more brisk than I’ve come to expect, but with a plot that has many heist elements, the pacing should be brisk. That’s not a negative on any of her work, a nice surprise and essentially another layer to what a great storyteller Kate Elliott is.
The world-building is outstanding, and especially more impressive given the small page count of just over 160 pages. There’s a deep, believable magic system, layers of classes, and the world these characters inhabit has a sense of a long history.
I liked a lot of what Kate Elliott was doing in Servant Mage, I just wanted a little more of it, if I’m being honest. A little more with the supporting characters, a little more time in Fellian’s head, even. The way the story concluded leaves a lot of room for more story to be told. While it is a complete story, this book could work as an introduction or even a prologue to something larger.
Servant Mage is a nice quick ride through a fantasy world that is immersive, with a character who has much depth and seems to have more to offer. I enjoyed my time with the book, I would like to spend more in the world and following Fellian’s story.
Recommended
© 2022 Rob H. Bedford
Published by TorDotCom Publishing | January 2022 | 162 Pages
http://kateelliott.com/
Review copy courtesy of the publisher
For me it was a little too dark and a little too cool, and the emphasis on the dystopian political situation rather than the characters didn’t work for me. The focus was just set a bit too wide; I felt like I was stuck not very far into the viewpoint of one member of an ensemble cast, and not the most effectual one.
But it’s certainly well executed.