A middle grade/young adult light fantasy in the veins of Harry Potter, Rowan of Rin and Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic books.

Hugh of Emblin might have been told he was a mage but he certainly doesn't feel like one. His first year at Skyhold Academy has been fraught with wonky and failed spells, bullying and despair. But all that changes when Alustin Haber, Librarian Errant, chooses Hugh and two other mages, Sabae Kaen Das and Talia of Clan Castis to be his apprentices and includes Godrick Wallbreaker in their training. The four become fast friends and find in each other the acceptance, care and loyalty they've been looking for.

This was a good straightforward fantasy, with your chosen one, steadfast friends, obvious evils and minor bully. There's nothing particularly unique here but it solidly delivers an engaging tale. It's on the younger side of the young adult audience and Hugh definitely sounds younger than his supposed fourteen years of age. He felt closer to the twelve mark which might make it a bit too simplistic for older readers.

The plot was a bit thin in parts but enjoyable nonetheless. The magic system is mostly familiar with a few unique twists. I don't think I've read of a crystal or scent mage before and I liked Talia's flame flavoured bone and dream affinities even if I have seen them before. Hugh can be a bit whiny at times (and I guess there were reasons...demons influencing his thoughts, etc...) but in general he's pretty likeable and his social anxiety is very relatable. The rest of the characters were a bit flat in parts but I liked them all too. I really loved the dynamic between them. They were all so nice to each other and supportive and it was great.

My favourite part was the magical library - because it's a MAGICAL LIBRARY!!! I mean what reader could possibly go past that? Honestly seeing that in one of the reviews was probably the main reason I picked it up to begin with. I loved the librarians using paper origami animals to find books and the concept of the Great Index. And Alustin's title - Librarian Errant was awesome - I mean a battlemage employed to retrieve rare books - freaking cool. To be fair it's not a new idea and I've seen similar concepts before (A.F. Kay's Divine Apostasy series with Ink Lords is th most recent to come to mind) but I love books. I loved Hugh's unique approach to getting them out of the labyrinth. And the idea of bonding with the library was epic. I was only disappointed to find there's no sentient library but rather a head librarian sphinx. Still cool. But bonding with a library is hard to let go.

Overall a fun adventurous tale with likable characters and intriguing magic. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars. ( )

4/5 I really liked it.
A young mage in mage school has problems to cast spells and is bullied by the star student.
At the great choosing a mage takes him as apprentice.
He finds friends in other outcasts and has his big prove in the labyrinth...
Pretty straight forward story. but what can i say - I LOVE mage school books.
the MC is a bit to whiny but he evolves and his friends are cool as well as the described magic system. Hope the series stays this good. ( )

The book goes pretty fast through the plot, not as much world building as other books (perhaps a hyper focus on Hugh is to blame), but it makes up for it with an enjoyable clear plot. A suprisingly fun read in the genre. ( )

This book just made me happy for all the right reasons. It had an awesome world that we didn't get overwhelming details about (only enough to understand what was happening), awesome characters (who were both realistic and likeable), a great plot (magic and libraries and labyrinths), and didn't come with any unnecessary drama or romance. The writing flowed well and easily carried you through the story, and the actual order of events and pacing were also very well done.
So happy to have stumbled across this book, and will defs be moving on to the next one! Hugh is 15 so this book is kinda YA, but it's more pure and less cringey so I would recommend it to all audiences~ ( )

Fairly formulaic and quite a bit of exposition, but a nice simple read. ( )