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Aether's Blessing

Aether's Revival, Book 1

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Aether's Blessing

Written by: Daniel Schinhofen
Narrated by: Andrea Parsneau
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Every year, the empire administers the rite of passage into adulthood. That rite serves to identify those blessed by Aether to become magi. The new magi are shipped to the academy to learn the arts of magic.

The academy is a dangerous place; the tournaments held twice each year can cripple or kill the students, and the clans of the empire will go to great lengths to recruit the students they want.

Gregory had one dream: to become a magi like the legends of old. Though he was ridiculed by the residents of the village and his unsupportive father, he never wavered from his dream. Would his age day bring the fruition of his dreams, or would reality come crashing down on him?

(This audiobook contains some adult themes.)

©2020 Daniel James Schinhofen (P)2020 Daniel James Schinhofen Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Magic Dream Magic Users Wizardry Student
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This is a very will written book

I can’t wait for the next boom to come out one the series

Andrea parsneau fantastic as ever

This book is awesome

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A great series that’s not afraid to deal with heavy topics with characters who are well written.
Also the bloopers at the end are amazing and I wish more series had them. 10/10 made me laugh so much.

A great slow burn with very well done characters

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I almost returned this book. The narrator has a wide range of voices, but the one she uses for the male main character is grating and raspy - all the more annoying because it's clear she can do different male voices. I also found the female love interest to be a bit annoying to listen to, sounding like she's trying to be childlike, which is off-putting for a romantic interest. But once you get past that, it's a good story of growing power and relationships set in an Asian fantasy magic academy setting.

I do have some issues with the plot - it's easy to accept the main character as especially gifted, but it turns out a large part of his unique nature is being able to follow all three paths at once, which he does through the secret method of...practising them all equally. That's it. Somehow this has been lost to generations of thousands of mages? But he can teach it to another novice? Eh. It feels like it's all too easy to be so secret and powerful, even if the empire seems to be trying to bury knowledge of it. Edit: I wrote that at 95% through the book. In the last hour people begin to question how easy it is, and in the last five minutes it's explained.

The racism of the series is also layered on thick. People seem to be divided into two types: racist and utterly evil and non-racist and good people. But aside from that, I'm enjoying the plot and the characters. It's definitely a slow series, but one that I'm glad I gave a chance. I'm just not sure if I'll continue it on paper or audibly.

Edit: raised the Star for the narrator thanks to the bloopers at the end. I've never heard that before and they made me laugh.

Once you get used to the narrator it's a good book

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It was a great listen. It’s a slow burn series in a way. But that doesn’t make it bad if what you like is seeing characters you care about interacting with each other.

Also the bloopers at the end gave me the time of my life. They were just sooo good that they made the entire book worth it just for them.

If it’s for you, you’ll just love it.

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Andrea is a delight as always. Book is decent otherwise, some threads that didn't go anywhere but may be picked up in later books.

Solid.

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