Wizard Dawning (The Battle Wizard Saga, No. 1) was a good book for one of those tired Sunday evenings when you don’t want to invest a lot of brain power in a novel. It is a wizard and warrior story featuring a seventeen year old Sig, his great grandfather Thor, mother Meredith and assorted bad guys and bit characters. There is a some coming-of-age actions (naturally given our teen aged hero) but there isn’t a lot of angst and misery or girl chasing.
Overall this was a pleasant, easy to enjoy book. The characters were a bit flat but the dialogue was OK and the plot was fun and fast paced. I don’t normally care much for wizard and warrior novels nor martial arts or dressage. Author C. M. Lance used the martial arts and dressage as background, more setting and back story than as critical elements. We did not have tedious explanations of “how things worked” either, which so often drags down a good story.
On the down side, I read this on my Nook. The editor used poor rules for dividing words at the end of lines; for example, aren’t was often divided so one line ended with aren and the ‘t began the next line. This was disconcerting. (A pet peeve of mine is the fantasy writer who insists on using apostrophes for everything! At least we were spared that.)
Another fun element was siting this story in a small town in Minnesota. C. M. Lance didn’t belabor the location, but used it with a deft touch, incorporating the farm lands, hills, lakes, ice as backdrop. It’s always a nice change when fantasies are not set in Central Park or California. I enjoyed the way Lance used zombies, as story fodder, vs. making them a central element.
As indicated by the title, Wizard Dawning (The Battle Wizard Saga, No. 1) is meant to launch a series. The book had a logical beginning, middle and end, but there clearly is more story to come as Sig leaves for college and his mom is starting to learn about magic from an economist/gypsy. We also need to find out how Sig will regain his own magic.
Wizard Dawning was the author’s first book and quite likely future ones will have richer characterizations. This first novel suffered from slightly wooden characters but was livened by an intriguing back story, well-done setting and fun plot. To the positive Lance did not fill it with steamy romance scenes, explicit violence, boring martial arts or swear words!
Overall I recommend it if you want a fun story that doesn’t require a ton of deep thinking.
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