A Young Man Without Magic [Hardcover]

Lawrence Watt-Evans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 10, 2009

Lawrence Watt-Evans, author of the acclaimed Legends of Ethshar and Worlds of Shadows novels invites readers to embark on a rollicking journey in a brand-new fantasy series.

Anrel Murau is a scholar, a young man with no magical ability even though he is the son of two powerful sorcerers. Anrel’s lack of talent bars him from the ruling classes, but he is content to be a simple clerk.

Upon returning to his childhood home after years of study in the capital, Anrel finds his friends and family held under the thumb of the corrupt local lord. When this lord murders a dear friend, Anrel finds that although he’s not a sorcerer, he is not without other means to demand justice.

If he can survive life on the run, that is.

Carrying only his sword, a few coins, and his wit, Anrel must leave behind everything he has ever known, trust himself to unexpected allies, and outmaneuver leagues of enemies who will stop at nothing to keep his dangerous ideas from ever being heard. Magic and intrigue collide in a swashbuckling tale of daring escapes, beautiful witches, and one quiet young man’s rise to hero—or traitor. Nothing will ever be simple for Anrel again, as his personal quest may provide more peril for those he holds dear.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fantasy veteran Watt-Evans (The Summer Palace) unveils a new series set in a time of civil strife and famine. As noble magicians perform human sacrifice to replenish the land's fertility, the poor riot for food in the capital, Lume. Anrel, a magicless orphan and a stiff-necked cynic, returns home from Lume to learn that his childhood friend Valin has become a hotheaded, treasonous radical. When Valin is killed in a duel, Anrel implausibly swears vengeance and devotes himself to Valin's cause, making impassioned speeches even as the nobility target him for death. While the political plot lines intrigue, they are left underdeveloped and unfinished. Easily accessible and agreeable prose and fast-moving, action-packed scenes fail to distract from the unlikable characters and their many stunningly daft decisions. Only the tight plotting and absorbing new world make this tale readable. (Nov.)
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About the Author

Lawrence Watt-Evans has been a full-time writer and editor for more than twenty years. The author of more than thirty novels, over one hundred short stories, and more than one hundred and fifty published articles, Watt-Evans writes primarily in the fields of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and comic books. His short fiction has won the Hugo Award as well as twice winning the Asimov’s Readers Award. He currently lives in Maryland with his wife.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (November 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076532279X
• ISBN-13: 978-0765322791
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,181,439 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been writing fantasy for thirty years... no, my fantasy's been published for thirty years. I've been writing it since I was eight. It's what I always wanted to do for a living, and I've been very fortunate in that I've been able to manage that. I try to write fantasy with an element of common sense to it -- not so much mythic archetypes as sensible people.

Other than my job, my life's pretty ordinary -- a nice house in a quiet neighborhood, a wife, two grown kids, and an overweight cat.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Huge Letdown, August 14, 2010

By 

Solomon Foster (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Young Man Without Magic (Hardcover)

I am a big fan of both the fantasy of manners and swashbuckling genres, and this book appeared like it might be a good example of both. Alas, this book has neither the wit of a fantasy of manners, nor the panache of a swashbuckler.

It starts off quite promisingly with some nice world-building. But it goes nowhere. Our hero is bland and unlikeable, and what passes for a plot is largely driven by him failing to dissuade his even more unlikeable friends from doing things which are (literally) criminally stupid. In fact, it is the sort of book where the characters' actions are routinely so stupid that they stop and discuss just how stupid they are -- before going ahead and doing them.

The villain is only marginally villainous at best. The hero is inept; the only thing he seems to be really good at is starting major riots. (Which probably means he is responsible for more innocent deaths than the villain!) Most of the other characters are paper-thin. The love interest, in particular, shows no noteworthy characteristics at all, and seems to exist mostly so that her relatives can drag the hero into further plot.

The ending is a complete mess. Without getting into spoilers, the majority of the plot threads are left unresolved, and the hero goes from being crazily heroic to being completely unheroic in the space of about two pages. It is utterly unsatisfying.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Left me hanging, May 2, 2010

By 

The Big Bee (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Young Man Without Magic (Hardcover)

I found this book not really up to the usual standsrd for Lawrence Watt-Evans. The story is interesting enough and shows promise but never quite delivers. The characters are realistic and believable and suit the story.

I have enjoyed many of this author's previous novels, but this one just didn't quite get there. For one thing, the story didn't have an ending. The plot built nicely towards a conclusion, but then it sort of fizzled into nothing. Oviously there is a second book planned, but this one needed to have a better ending to encourage me to follow the story on. At the end I felt cheated for having read so much story to end up with nothing in my hand.

Will I buy the next book? Possibly, but I certainly wouldn't buy the hardback version. I'll wait until a paperback version comes out and make my decision then.

4.0 out of 5 stars A quite enjoyable story, May 24, 2011

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Young Man Without Magic (Hardcover)

Anrel Murau finishes his education in the capital, and returns home to find that the Walsian Empire is indeed in trouble. Failing harvests and the depredations of a sorcerous aristocracy have left the people on the edge of rebellion. Caught up in events beyond his control, Anrel soon finds himself on the run from the law, having inadvertently fomented a rebellion. But Anrel never wanted to be a revolutionary, and he desperately wants out of his new role...if only events will allow it.

Overall, I found this to be a quite good book. Admittedly, I can't compare it to the works of Rafael Sabatini, but stacked up against such wonderful classics any other work is likely to look like a poor relation. But, having read it just for itself, I found it to be a quite enjoyable story, with interesting characters and an interesting milieu. As for me, I am very glad that I read it!