The Reluctant Mage: Book One in the Zandar Series

The book is an interesting coming-of-age story, although a bit clunky in places, it seems written to about a 6th grade level, which makes it feel tedious at times. Still, I enjoyed it enough to read it straight through and look for the sequel. It’s decent brain candy for a relaxing afternoon.

The main character is understandable, easily followed and appears balanced. The circumstances of war change his life. He is relatable to others I've known who have lost a parent. He doesn't just stop to feel sorry for himself. He keeps trying and trying to succeed. This gets him noticed by the right people. I look forward to the next installment.
The only negative comment I can really make is about editing, and this has very few editing errors and primarily at the beginning.

This is a decent first effort in desperate need of editing. The author does get better as the book progresses, but this looks like a first draft instead of a finished product.

Standard coming of age story. The protagonist is superboy. He is a master of swords, unarmed combat, mercantilism and can also do magic. All at the age of 15. Amazing huh? Of course this is silly, but the story is still interesting enough that the book is still fine to read. This is light reading to be done after school or on a work break.

I enjoyed this book because the storyline is so different than other fantasy stories . We are at the end of the first book and he's just starting to use his magic , can hardly wait to see what else will happen

Magic system is what you expect. Little char development beyond the main. Country boy becomes a mage. I will probably continue reading series not out of excitement, but because I am out of other things to read.

An enjoyable enough read, but almost moves a long too fast and the characters aren't very memorable. The main character just seems too good at everything to be interesting. That being said, I would probably read a sequel if one were to arrive. So yeah. Entertaining but a bit lacking in depth I guess.

Honestly I think the necklace every night should be teaching him everything possible it knows. Wouldn't it want its bearer to stay alive? Specially since he has magic and is rare and can communicate with it? Don't worry I still like the book just loopholes in the story I think

I have never stopped reading a novel after one sentence. This book made me consider it. This reads way more like a draft than a finished product. At one point early on the book shifts from third person to first person mid paragraph, the author uses the term "fire-team" to describe reserve forces in a fantasy novel where there are no guns (nor was he referring to magic, archery, or seige weapons). Not trying to be overly negative here but seeing only positive reviews did not prepare me for the sloppiness of this text.