![Sufficiently Advanced Magic (Arcane Ascension Book 1) by [Rowe, Andrew]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51UTQ%2BTFQCL._SY346_.jpg)
If I had to sum up my feelings about this book in three words: I feel cheated.
I bought this book after being recommended to read it after Will Wight's Cradle series, which has FANTASTIC character and world building... and boy was I let down by this book.
It starts off interesting enough with a test set within a magical tower that the protagonist, Corin Cadence, must overcome for multiple reasons. The promise the book showed at such an early point in the story compelled me to read more into it beyond the sample... this is where it ALL went downhill.
The story devolves into Corin's strict, military noble, straightedge of a father disowning Corin as the next head of the family and sending him off to a generic magic school setting with characters you wont care about, information dumps on the magic system that take up PAGES of text, and finally the main character's own whimsical musings on every conversation he has. It is less of an adventure/action/fantasy novel and more of a slice-of-life book; watching the protagonist's inner thoughts as he performs his daily tasks. Granted, when there is action in the book, it's generally well-described and immersive... but those points are so few and far between that it makes reading the rest of the book feel like wading through deep sludge.
Also, about two-thirds into the book, a ham-fisted gay subplot appears for the main character out of NOWHERE, and is completely glossed over without any previous explanation or hints. "But what about does the strict overbearing patriarch of the Cadence family think about this?", you might ask. Well, my answer is... nothing. It's as if he almost doesnt care about his only remaining son (as far as he knows) refusing to add onto the family tree and continue the Cadence namesake.
All in all, the book is not egregiously bad, but certain choices are just nonsensical and rip you away from the central plot for chapters at a time. The entire narrative is simply overwhelming with important choices and events just occurring seemingly at random with no prior hints leading to it or explanations afterwards. The core focus of the first few chapters are supplemented instead by the ADHD introspective of the main character as focuses on his weak conceptualization of magic which usually ends badly for him. It's almost as if you are babysitting a 9 year old in a world of young adults.
TL;DR: This book was okay, but I dont think I will read the second book. Author should focus more on the core plot and less hand-holding through explanations of the magic system and how it all works until the situation actually calls for it.
- File Size: 2148 KB
- Print Length: 625 pages
- Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
- Publication Date: February 26, 2017
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
- Language: English
- ASIN: B06XBFD7CB
- Text-to-Speech:
Enabled
- Word Wise: Enabled
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,790 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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