Starship's Mage

If you can accept the premise that magic rules the universe this book will delight you. The hero is well written and somewhat self conscious. The book itself moves from event to event without a lot of blood and guts and the good guys win. The BAD guys are all human, and the world's are not invaded by aliens, but the book is full of pirates and criminal syndicates. If outer space works like the Carribean in the 17th century, you are going to love this book; add magic and you have a fine swashbuckler with starships. I greatly look forward to the next book.

Light weight but fun read - liked the author's developed game world and substituting humans carved into psychic circuit board to wield magic instead of the typical starships and methods of interstellar travel. The plot was fast moving and excellent and carryied me through the novel, however the characters themselves were paper thin and I plain thought the hero was an egotistical wimp with no real loyalty to the friends who stood with him throughout the book - just say goodbye and grab the Hand to the next adventure. But still the story did what it was supposed to do and provide some hours of easy read entertainment.

I wish I could give fractional star ratings, because Stewart's Starship's Mage: Omnibus is actually really, really good. If he had a better editor, it would be outstanding. The book really warrants more like a 4.25 or a 4.3 as compared to how I've rated other books, and it would be a true 5 stars if not for missing words, extraneous commas, and a handful of other individually minor defects that become irritating (for me) after a while because they're so consistent. It's a shame, because the world and characters Stewart created are EXCELLENT. The Omnibus was a real page-turner for me - one that compelled me to find time to read a few pages whenever I had a free moment, which is a sign of a really terrific story. The idea that magic allows humans to go to the stars, and how Stewart integrates it with technology, is fascinating. If you're the sort of reader who is annoyed by continual and consistent editing errors, I say read this book anyway but be prepared for some irritation. If you're not all that swift at grammar yourself, to where you won't notice the difference, then have at it and prepare to genuinely enjoy this story. For my part, I plan to continue reading the series with the sincere hope that Stewart will, at some point, get a better editor or at least learn how to apply commas properly.

Great read! Was taking a break from reading romance novels and stumbled across this series at the recommendation of ...a romance author.
Anyway, this was a great read, I couldn't put it down. Stewart has a great way of crafting the story and building characters.
Damien has no connections, mediocre talent and is unemployed. He finds work on a blacklisted ship that is being hunted by pirates and in the process discovers talents he doesn't know existed and makes him the most wanted man--by both the proctorate and the syndicates across the galaxy.

I've read the 5 books available in this series and will certainly be watching for future installments. I really enjoyed them all. This is my opinion of the SERIES, not just the first book that has the confusing name of Omnibus! It may originally have been a serial, but the combined first book needs another subtitle, "Starship's Mage Series - Book 1."

Yes, as is the curse of so many of Kindle Unlimited offerings, these novels do not seem to have been sent to a proofreader. There are inconsistencies, confusing passages, wrong sound-alike words, punctuation errors and basically the whole grab-bag of editing issues. Did these affect the story? No. Did these affect my reading pleasure? Yes. I am a very critical reader. I read very quickly and truly dislike having to reread sentences or paragraphs because what I just speedily tried to absorb was not readily digestible. Perhaps I should reach out to the author... maybe my new sideline will be proofreading! I'll certainly not make is as a reviewer!

Great story, fun series, definitely recommended.

I waited a long time to start this series due to the wrong perception that it was a YA series. What a pleasant surprise to find a masterful blending of magic based science mixed with complex conspiracies and epic space battles. It was not YA except in the sense of the main protagonist being young and inexperienced.
The story of a young, orphan space-mage as he joins his first ship and the galactic criminal enemies he must fight to save his ship and crew left me wanting to download the next book immediately. On to book 2!

Very fast paced space opera. They crew of the Blue Jay flee various enemies with their mage Damien. The idea of space travel by magic is an interesting one, but the book suffers from poor character development. The mage Damien who is the the hero of this tale is so one dimensional that it is almost impossible to get any idea who he is or any sense of him as a person. The captain of the ship has more personality and that is not much. We have half a book. The plot works the characters don't.

I passed over Mr Stewart Mage books many times because I didn't think it would work. Not because I don't like magic and socery, I love it, and not because I don't like space opera, I devour it but because I didn't think they would work together. In this case they do. Quite well. I had read one of his space opera- thrillers and liked the way he built his characters and the suspense. At the end of the second space opera series I believed this author was in the top tier. At the end of that book book was an excerpt for this book. After reading couple of pages I was hooked.

I have read a lot of self-published sci-fi books, being both a compulsive reader and an the store Unlimited subscriber. This book doesn't read like most of those.

Starship's Mage is an extremely well written story with a fascinating concept, great story telling, impressive character development and most important, was fun to read.

Honestly reading this book reminded me of some of the masters, like Heinlein, Larry Niven and Anne McCaffrey. I cannot wait to go download more of the author's work so I can keep reading.

Well done, Glynn! You have a new reader for life now.

I purchased these one-by-one as they came out. I may still get a physical copy at some point! As I finished each of the chapters I would set my calendar with a reminder for the expected release date of the next installment. ... but you don't have to go through that it is all ready for you to read as and when it suits you ... which might be all at once right now!
This is a far future filled with some serious hard-science, science fiction ... and magic for all that other stuff that makes the interstellar stuff possible. Loads of drama in this series! I very much enjoyed this!
A pretty interesting magical economy too!

I was pleasantly surprised with this one. Was just looking for a quick read while watching a game. Eventually though I turned off the TV to focus on the book instead. I think the best comparison is probably the Vatta's War books by ElIzabeth Moon. Same view of a universe from the perspective of a merchant crew that eventually become something more.

I'd definitely recommend it to someone who likes sci-fi and is looking for something a little bit different.

I enjoyed the Omnibus and while it did remind me some of a novel from decades ago called Space Angel, I found it for the most part fresh with a different take on things.

The descriptions of the characters make sense given that this was originally a serial and relied somewhat on the reader's understanding of culture. It allowed me to form my own imagery or who these people were physically and I found the characters defined well enough to get a feel for each personally. The character growth is there but understandably focused on the main character as in many ways this is his specific story.

As it was originally a serial it is a little repetitive in places but I understood the reasons for this and appreciated the refreshment as I did not read it all in one sitting. If you want something a touch different, fresh, and with definite potential to grow as a series I would recommend reading this and any books that are part of this series.

Incredibly likable characters, really fantastic world building, tight storytelling that made me lose sleep several nights in a row because I just couldn’t put the bloody book down... This was an awesome tale, and I can’t wait to read book two! Thank you Glynn Stewart for your truly wonderful writing!

Excellent writing, I really enjoyed this book! I actually stopped reading years ago because there were no good books out, no good authors anymore. That’s the problem when you’re stuck to only one genre. This book harkens back to the time of Asimov. Great story, intriguing, not too many logic holes.

This was a pleasant surprise. Enjoyed this very pleasant, action packed, little romance, bad men chasing the good guys, no win situations that are turned into wins. BUT the best is that there are Mages here. Our protagonist has special talents that provides excitement and changes outcomes. Of course our protagonist "wins" and is thrusted into another adventure. So, have to read book two as I will like the follow this character and see where this humble protagonist ends up.

And a seamless combination it is. A fresh take on the rogue merchant mariner theme. Likeable developing characters and lots of action. Masterfully drawn heroes & villains. The rules of magic are believable and carefully explained. The whole story just WORKS. Big fun! Can't wait to read the next in the series!

This is an excellent blend of sci fi and magic. Our hero is 16 year old starship mage Damien Montgomery. Unlike most mages his parents did not have the gift, however the government and the Mage Guilds screened for people with the talent and if qualified trained them to the limits of their abilities. Unfortunately for Damien there is a good old boys network entailed in getting selected and he has no family connections. He is tipped to a ship that has been blacklisted and is hired. Then the adventure with good guys and bad guys begin.

I‘m reading all of the author’s books in this series and have never been happy setting them down in the middle of a story to take a break. It’s extremely hard to find such an interesting and exciting author who not only writes intelligently but also proves top rated plots, characters and excitement in the stories.

Combine space pirates with a magic based space technology, add plenty of adventure along the way and you have the recipe for a real page turner. Found it hard to put it down as I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. Give it a try. You won't be disappointed.

This was an interesting take on the space opera. The mechanics of space travel are limited a special group that push/teleport the ships through space. It focuses on an individual that is able to grasp the mechanics in a way that is thought to be impossible.

First of the Mage series book is entertaining with some fresh ideas. I enjoyed this book. The author fails to keep the interest up for his subsequent books, but entertaining enough. I recommend this book, and maybe book 2. Others you can probably skip.

I don't read a lot of science fiction, but was interested in the mix of magic and technology. The author did a good job of blending the two. The story was well written, which I appreciated, and had a good flow with few typos (also appreciated). The swearing wasn't extensive, but still more than I like. I don't plan on finishing the series, but I think a lot of people would probably enjoy it.

Took me back to some of the best books of the science fiction of yesteryear. It is episodic written as a series of stories, but they flow together well. Despite magic being a centerpiece of the universe, this is actual close to science fiction, with magic just more honestly taking the place of "handwavium". Psychics or mages, is there really a difference? Still good space opera, in the best sense.

Great story. I would have given it a 5 star except there were editing errors. It takes something away from a great read to find repeat words, words that should have been removed and errors. With such a good author he would be my top pick if he would pay to have a good editor go over his work before releasing it.

Still I recommend this book to anyone who likes SciFi with a new twist.

This book is outstanding while not the most perfect book written it creates or at least expands heavily on a version of science fiction altogether it's an incredibly enjoyable read with hardly any grammatical or spelling mistakes to trip you up (unlike this review) Character development could use some work but I am hoping for much more of that in his later books I personally enjoy the near lack of any sort of romantic interest as it's incredibly stereotypical to foist a random romance into a book right off the bat the author uses a lot of Deus Ex Machina but it's well placed and it keeps to the pacing of the story even if it makes you want to punch a character in the face I loved the writing style and really enjoyed the plot overall 5 stars

Epic opera .... This is as good as Hamilton and as fun to read as any hard sci-fi novel in recent years. This story brought together some of my favorite elements from some of my favorite trilogy and omnibus. I really enjoyed the intertwined magic and technical work needed to create the runes and magic woven into each ship.
The fact that mages are required to jump the ships and how it is a mixture of natural talent and technical aptitude.

Praise:
1] magic
2] technical science
3] human interfaces with technology
4] mind / computer/ magic interfaces

Regrets:
1] Kings / royalty (i don't care much for birth right superior caste..... sounds like England with its Queen)
2] Sporadic character development

In all the plot was interesting, unique, and fun to read.

I see a lot of well written breakdowns and critiques of this book, and I don't find any flaw in them, I just never felt it took away any of the joy I felt reading the story. Personally, I just really enjoyed the book. If the rest of the series fails to create deeper personalities for the characters other than the protagonist than I can see it getting tiresome, but I feel like this book did a great job at making me excited for what's to come...kind of like a really good opening in a movie. I'm definitely going to continue reading, and I would recommend.

This book has well-developed characters and a good story plot with twist That You Don't See coming. I greatly enjoyed it and it kept me busy for many hours. I had originally read the recently released book called red Falcon, and that linked me back to this book as the start of the series.

Probably should not have read this book. Problem with these stories is that no matter what happens, the hero just casts another spell. The reason I read this book was because I thought it was just about a navigator who used his mind to navigate. It starts that way, but then he gets carried away with spells, runes, etc. I had the entire series d/l, but turned them back in after reading this first volumn.

Whoa whoa WHOA! I rarely like books that mix technology and fantasy (especially magic) but THIS series of books is just amazing! I love the characters, the technology, and the whole idea of the techno-mage stuff. This is an absolutely outstanding series of books and is perfect for any and all age groups. I am DYING to see more in this series; I hope the author keeps up the good work. AAA+++ story

Be prepared to set off on an adventure virtually unparalleled in current space adventures.
Glynn Stewart has created a masterpiece and offered it up for us mere mortals.
This is the first chapter in the adventures of Damien Montgomery. Enjoy.

Absolute delight to read and very unexpected find. I was searching through authors for a new scifi series and this was a lot of fun to read. Just the idea of mages in space was a fun champloo mentally. I've always loved fantasy settings with mages and magic and always loved the space aged future setting. To see both melded together so well... Just give the series a chance! Now one of my new favorite authors!

Glynn is a VERY good writer. I am not going into the story line, just be it said, I have downloaded and read every book I found on the store written by Glynn and enjoyed them all! the self effacing by his main character is the only thing that got a little old, maybe because I read them one right after the other!

An awesome universe where high-tech and magic work and co-exist. Mr. Stewart seamlessly blends space warping mages and fusion drives, fireballs and hi-tech plasma rifles. Beyond the tech, Mr. Stewart has created a compelling society, where magic users are defectors royalty, with a different justice system.

Started out strong but a became too "check the box" social justice wise. The oppressed minority overthrow the evil empire and take their place justly ruling over the stars. Guaranteed free health care for all. Inserting political views in a blunt fashion without furthering the story. I stopped reading two-thirds of the way through. Better books out there.

All I can say is ENJOYABLE! The author really spins a good yarn. And while I am not a professional or semi-professional critic, I found it to be good, old-fashioned, entertaining Sci-Fi. Look forward to the next book.

I managed to read this in two days. It's a fast light read. Not a bad world, starships powered by mages who jump them a light year at a time. Pirates and crime lords trying to gain an upper hand with Mage Knights trying to hold it all together.

This one kept me entertained. Realize that it was originally published as a series so there is a bit of recapping that tends to get repetitive. Easily corrected by a good editor.

As to the story, good light sci-fi with a hint of fantasy thrown in. It could use a bit more intrigue but was fun.

This was a wonderful read! Had me from the beginning and never let up! Also my first Audible book and saved me from the post election morass on my long commute to and from work for the past week. For that reason alone I would be grateful but it's been much more than that. Looking forward to more from this author!

This is a classic case of Action, Plot and Character development trump technobabble. Yeah, sure, the sci-fi is there but it compliments the story rather than drive it. Thank you Mr. Stewart. Well done. (The next one is equally good)

I very much enjoyed this book. The magic is nicely displayed, and is not the be all end all of quite everything. The extension of his magic flowed nicely. Not a great deal of character development, but still I enjoyed it and am off for the next one.

What's the idea of writing episodes that only have between 70 and 90 pages? Publishers say that currently the average length of a science fiction novel is about 90,000 words (375 pages). Hugh Howey wrote "wool" and it had only 55 pages. However after each novella he increased the number of pages very quickly and wool 5 had 256 pages already. He got away with it because he is such a talent but even he realized that he needed more pages! As for the story itself it's not bad and even has some good moments and the editing (spelling etc) is better than most such. However I find myself being only mildly interested. There is something missing (other than the number of pages) but I am not sure what exactly! If I may make a few suggestions. It would be great if he was going to find a way to reduce the energy expenditure sufficiently so that he can jump more than once before being exhausted. All I know is that something new and exciting needs to happen more frequently that I have seen so far! I agree that the author has potential though

Really good, I enjoyed the rate of suspense/tension and the story kept me fully engaged. I saw it was a combined omnibus, so I was somewhat concerned about the flow. However, it has the same weight as a David Webber or Elizabeth Moon story so my brain was satisfied as well.

Fun read, I've been through quite a few books, but every once in a while I find one that puts my life on hold. This series is more that stuff blowing up in space. Political, military, and Magic (of all things), really work well together.

I like the Mage theme. I like the main character & that he is driven to do the right thing in the face of some nasty stuff. I like that his motivation appears credible. Now I'm off to read the next two books in the series.

The style and tone somewhat awkwardly attempt to reprise David Weber's Honor Harrington series and Path of the Fury while setting, pacing, sequence of events and lack of real suspense very similar to the Nathan Lowell Golden Age of the Solar Clipper series.

I enjoyed reading this book. It's an excellent kindle unlimited choice. Stewart creates an interesting combination of magic/technology. The characters are interesting and the POV's are also well done.

I discovered Glynn Stuart late in 2015 and I have been reading all of his books I can get my hands on! Each of the starship Mage books I finsished in one day because I could not stop reading. I enjoyed the story very much. The characters seem very real and believable.

The story is good, but the author is beyond redundant with his information. How many times in the span of 10 pages do you need to explain the same concept? Literally a big event happens in the first third of the book and not even ten pages later they literally summarize what happens as if you didn't read it just minutes earlier. This is an overbearing concept throughout that almost feels like a college student needed to expand a 10 page paper to 15 pages so they just repeated everything until the quota was met.

Glynn Stewart has started a great story. It's on to book number two!!! Check out the the store page and get the kindle prime membership. Starship Mage is very well written take soon time nd enjoy!!!!!!

I discovered Glynn Stuart late in 2015 and I have been reading all of his books I can get my hands on! Each of the starship Mage books I finsished in one day because I could not stop reading. I enjoyed the story very much. The characters seem very real and believable.

The story is good, but the author is beyond redundant with his information. How many times in the span of 10 pages do you need to explain the same concept? Literally a big event happens in the first third of the book and not even ten pages later they literally summarize what happens as if you didn't read it just minutes earlier. This is an overbearing concept throughout that almost feels like a college student needed to expand a 10 page paper to 15 pages so they just repeated everything until the quota was met.

Glynn Stewart has started a great story. It's on to book number two!!! Check out the the store page and get the kindle prime membership. Starship Mage is very well written take soon time nd enjoy!!!!!!

I kept reading and fortunately had the followup already purchased so I could just keep on reading! It is nicely done with excitement and is readable for young and old with out concern of too much explicitness

This was definitely a good read, especially if you get it from kindle unlimited. This book took me a solid 2 days to read and featured several big scenes that were awesome to read. 10/10 would read again

The writing was so impossibly immature that I had to put it down. I really wanted to like it. The threads of the story were sloppily woven and the characters were thinly drawn. It seems as if the author was trying for a spaceship Harry Potter but it's a pretty far reach for an apparently young author who needs some help. It's just not a complex story on any level. Might work for a YA whose standards for good writing are not high.

Not recommended. I am close to cancelling my Kindle Unlimited subscription. I do not care to read books for entertainment with language used by this author. Kindle doesn't offer an editing tool - replacing crude words with asterisks for example, and I grow weary deleting these foul mouthed, sorry excuses for literature from my Kindke.