Guild Mage: Apprentice – David Niemitz

Very solid, very entertaining. A thousand years ago, the world was ruled by ‘gods’. Humans and Elden (for story purposes, might as well be elves) were property. Occasionally there were half-breed children with some of their parents’ magic. The old world was brought down by civil war and rebellion, and now the ‘gods’ are gone, though some of their artifacts remain. Now one of the old gods is returning. (Goddess of blood; that can’t be good.)

This book is told from the perspective of a young girl. At the start she is twelve years old - and thanks to her half-Elden heritage, she appears to be six. She doesn’t know about old gods or new politics. She scrubs pots, scrubs chamberpots, and helps in the kitchen. As she grows, and her world becomes larger - and as she comes into the magic which is also part of her heritage - the reader starts being exposed to a larger world and a larger story.

Good, well-paced story telling and world building.

Postscript: The initial story held up well through five books that were pushed to Amazon. Book six was ‘next generation’, and I lost interest.