Ink Mage (A Fire Beneath the Skin Book 1)

Colorful, rich, deliciously descriptive, what a stunning surprise; I wish the author immense luck and success with his ink mage. If you’re thinking of reading it, please do with one tiny caveat: it’s not YA even though the title and cover art sort of suggest it.

Just my kind of fantasy/Science Fiction. It was the kind I used to like to read after studying serious stuff, getting ready for those mind blowing finals. Something to enjoy without having to commit facts to memory. Fun!

Love the multiple story lines that are all interrelated. Depth of culture is great - can feel the cold and the power because the author does such a great job. I was totally enveloped in the story.

More! More!

The makings of a good series if Mr. Gischler doesn't get overly enthusiastic about more tattoos. At some point she will run out of skin and that could be the death of her and her Duchy. I'm looking forward to the next one.

Enjoyed the book and it certainly left you wondering where they would go after winning the war and trouncing the invaders. Will Rina still retain her powerful gifts after her serious injury? Great set up for a sequel!

This was a most interesting read. A magic system based mainly on tattoos? Color me intrigued. As it turns out, this has basis in our history, as yantra tattooing. Yantra tattoos are supposed to be a sort of good luck charm, or bestow magical powers, much like in this book. The practice is two millennia old.

Ink Mage certainly follows some Game of Thrones clichés. Almost rape? Check. People getting killed left and right? Double check. Turncoat traitors? You betcha.

While I understand the need to follow some of the fantasy industry's "swing" into darker themes and gray morality, there was a certain amount of eye-rolling on my part in the first chapters of this book. Of three people who were killed in the first part, I only felt the slightest twinge of pity for one of them. The brutality didn't ring true for me, because I wasn't invested in the characters at all (at that early point). When Bran Stark made his fall from the window, I felt awful. And that was in the early pages of Game of Thrones, and he didn't even die.

It is unfair of me to compare this book with one that is almost a masterpiece. But by injecting grit into a fantasy in the form of blasé violence that didn't quite seem realistic, this intriguing book commenced with a thud.

The Plot:
Nineteen year old "Little Duchess" Rina Veraiin lives a life of luxury. As daughter of the Duke of Klaar, she spends much of her time shopping, and occasionally dueling with her tutor, Kork. Until one day, a Perranese army arrives to take over her father's duchy, and suddenly she is on the run from an enemy within her own palace. She seeks help from a wizard at the top of a nearby mountain, who bestows upon her with his last breaths a tattoo across her shoulders and spine, making her an Ink Mage. Her mission is to gather every tattoo she can muster, and then seek vengeance on those who stole Klaar from her.

The book has more viewpoints, but the plot mostly follows Rina and her journey of vengeance. I didn't have much empathy with Rina, as she felt a bit hollow, aloof, and just plain detached. She goes through a lifetime of heartache in the first stages of the book, and she doesn't appear any worse for it. In fact, her magic tattoos can take away pain, but I didn't know they took away emotional pain. If I was put through what she was, I'd be a wreck.

There was a certain scene in the book that the narrator called her a "monster", after killing to defend herself, and hunting down those who would betray her. Hold up. I thought that a monster was one who killed innocent people, not those who would kill or torture her. This interjection may have been from Rina's mind, but still. If a man did the same thing, would anyone dare narrate that he was a monster? No. This is a major double standard. I loathe this crapola.

Overall, the story was entertaining, and I read it in two nights. But there were major parts of the story that didn't ring true with me, and the ending felt rather rushed. Would I read it again? Perhaps. Will I read the sequel and hope that the crap with Rina is cleared up? Yes, but I will not read it as a Serial, as this book was released. I understand the angst with the first readers of this Serial, because he fed them a bunch of cliffies. Will I throw my Kindle across the room if Rina calls herself a monster again? Most definitely.

As posted on my blog and Goodreads.

Klaar has been invaded bt the Perranese as a first step in conquering the kingdom. The ruler is murdered, leaving his nineteen year old daughter, Rina Veraiin as the new Duchess. The story is about her traveling across the world searching for mages to give her various tattoos of power to free her Duchy and alert the king of the invaders.

Accompanying her in her quest are Alem, head stable boy, a border guard named Tosh, a nobleman called Brasley, and a gypsy girl, Maurizan.

Things are complicated by a sort of love triangle. alem wants Rina and Maurizan wants Alem.

Fine fantasy a bit different.

Great fun, but the ending was precipitous. With all the story build up, it just seemed to end ... poof! There was a lot of potential for future action and real beginning development of a super monster villain, then it was over.

Who knew? Sheesh.

I understand that this book was originally written as a ten part serial but there is no choppiness in the book. I think I noticed three typos, big deal. The format is pretty much classic for the genre, a little romance in the mix but not enough to get mushy.

Ink Mage was a fun read, lots of battle, magic and mayhem without unnecessary gory detail. Likeable characters with human flaws on a quest, not a work that requires brain strain. I bought my copy on sale as a Daily Deal but enjoyed it enough to buy a sequel if one should ever be forthcoming.

Recommended as a good frivolous plane or beach read. If you are looking for Diana Gabaldon, Asimov or Anne McCaffrey; this isn't it, keep looking.

Great characters in the book not just the heroine or her two male companions that go traipsing about the country with her but the regular people that were left behind when the city was taken. I also really enjoyed the way the author has tied magic to the tattoos to the Spell Casters Body, it's something I have not seen before in other books I have read so I think it was a "Novel" approach! I just hope book 2 comes out as a complete book and not as a chapter a week serial, the suspense was bad enough in the complete novel, I don't think I could handle waiting for weekly episodes as a Kindle Serial. Besides what if I drop dead before the serial is complete will I have to go haunt Victor to find out if the Rina takes back the city and later the throne? Not to mention if her head stable boy will ever figure out that Rina has it as bad for him as she does for him.

Enjoyed reading it as a serial. Always read the next installment as soon as it was available. I was surprised that it ended in that last episode, I wanted to keep reading to see what ink she would pick up next.

A good concept, especially with tattoos becoming a societal norm. Fast paced and well written. Overall I enjoyed this book and will read the next. Wrapped up a bit too nicely and Hollywood, but still a fun read.

This book was ok. The ending is disappointing in that it could have been made more interesting and added another 50 pages to the book. Overall it is basically a quest game where the heroine goes about getting her tattoos to give her more abilities. The romance is uninteresting and adds nothing to the overall story.

The book has been spell checked but there are a lot of words that are incorrect in the sentences in which they are placed e.g. were instead of wear etc. If you are a Grammar Nazi be prepared and ignore these small mistakes as they do not detract from the book as a whole.

There is a lot of potential to turn this book into a really good series and hopefully the author gets around to it soon. I would happily recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy with a quest game flavour to it.

What an exciting wonderful story. It has good guys bad guys and sword wielding prostitutes. A
'll it needed was a dragon. But I loved it all the same.
It is a fine story and I found it most enjoyable.

Started reading this novel when first saw it. Just couldn't stop reading to find what happens to Rina. Will have to wait for the episodes to find out. So far the book is very good. Looking forward to read more.

Started reading this novel when first saw it. Just couldn't stop reading to find what happens to Rina. Will have to wait for the episodes to find out. So far the book is very good. Looking forward to read more.

This book sucked me in from the very first couple of pages, and kept me riveted until the end. About three-quarters of the way through it I was enjoying it so much, and so desperately didn't want this story to end, that I was compelled to find a way to contact the author. I was able to find his email address and sent him a note thanking him for such a wonderful story and asking him to please write a sequel. I was thrilled that he wrote back!

Rina is a wonderful heroine - she's vulnerable and brave, strong and cunning on her path of revenge. I loved the people she encountered on her journey to recover Klar. Gischler's writing was so descriptive, I often felt like I was IN the book, I just disappeared into this story every time I picked it up.

Here's hoping that he'll be inspired to write more about Rina Veraiin and her ongoing adventures!

There aren't anymore! it kind of felt unfinished in the end; even though it is a series. The characters were fleshed out, and he explained a few things, but we never got to see more of the enemy, nor did we get to understand them better. So I am waiting for the next book.

Enjoyed the book and the characters that were fairly well developed. Hope this turns into a series so that we can delve a little more into the interesting possibilities that this version of magic offers up. However, given that the kingdom is back under her control and the only other major enemy with tattoos was eliminated it would be interesting to see where the story could go.

Overall a good read. It's captivating and intriguing has a lot of action, some sex and a little swearing none of which are bad things in a book! But it wasn't as good as it could have been. As the story progressed it felt increasingly rushed. The beginning started strong and looked to be a very engaging read but at some point in the book the author just seems to stop caring about the details. It's an almost skeletal read just the bones of the story and not as meaty as it could have been! My advice to the author is next time don't rush the story, let go flow is not a race, you want people to enjoy the story, savor it, and a reader can't do that when the story is incomplete and erratic. It also could have used a proofreader lots of grammatical errors but this book has a great foundation I wish the author would have built upon it!

The magic system is unique, powerful but with limits. The characters are easy to associate with. They are just your normal everyday people who take matter into their own hands, and become extraordinary. A good read!

It was a nice easy/quick read. Somewhat disjointed on a few things but then I found out it was written to be released a section at a time for the store and then put as a whole book, which make a lot of sense. Despite this it was a fun read if more basic than I was looking for most of the time.