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  • Secrets and Spellcraft

  • Art of the Adept, Book 2
  • Written by: Michael Manning
  • Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
  • Length: 21 hrs and 9 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (344 ratings)

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Secrets and Spellcraft

Written by: Michael Manning
Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
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Publisher's Summary

Now a student at Wurthaven, Will is confronted with the truth of the present.

The powerful magic embodied by wizards like his grandfather is but a distant memory. Though the practice of the current day is timid and uninspired, Will needs the knowledge that’s preserved and managed by the college. At every turn he finds that sorcery is supreme, while wizards are trained merely to assist and support those who hold the real power - a power based on an evil so deep that few who are living know the truth of its foundation.

As a student of wizardry, he’s expected to know his place and stay in it, but Will isn’t like the other students. His grandfather’s teaching has made him into something different, something forgotten - something they will learn to fear.

If he can grow into his power, with every choice, every refusal to submit, Will creates more enemies, enemies who aren’t content to let him live in peace. Without friends or support, Will must survive the knives in the dark, for Cerria is no place for those who refuse to follow the rules.

©2019 Michael G. Manning (P)2020 Podium Audio

What listeners say about Secrets and Spellcraft

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

I'm out.

SPOILERS

The main character actually is an idiot and this second book makes that abundantly clear. Despite his seemingly prodigious capacity to learn and practice forgotten magics, he can barely use them when it counts and makes blatantly stupid decisions, one upon another.

Romance, if you can call it that, takes over the plot and leads to a rushed and tedious tale of immaturity and foolishness without the necessary believability to justify the motives behind the critical consequences of this 'love' arch, one driven by a sensibility that seems to consider the obvious consequences of itself as inconvenient to its very existence and thus, simply ignores them.

Luckily for the main character, the author keeps this character's stupidity from taking its natural course and ending the story at any of the multiple times it probably should have, all while dropping focus from most of the character traits and development the first book built up other than a devotion to the female lead that feels so forced I question if the entire universe has the exponentially required turine(sp?) left to lift a jar of troll piss.

The vitriol above would not be possible without caring enough about the book, the world, the story and the characters, to be so disappointed, which is a credit to the engagement the author's first book in this series was capable of.

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4 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

16h 43min I’m done…

This story was very well written, enjoyed the first book and couldn’t put this one down: There was always something to keep me hooked and on the edge of my seat.

So anyway as I read through some portion of this book I had to ask myself WHAT IS THIS BLATANT DISPLAY OF IDIOCY AND BETRAYAL OF CHARACTER… and that’s about all I had to ask myself before making the statement… “I’m done reading this now… that was too far out”

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2 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

His is CG.

He is Chaotic Good, knowing law existed but doing any Simp thing that the want no matter what people wish. Which makes sense considering his friends.

This starts of with classical themes and continues with the same missplaced chivalry. Will is a farm boy type character from the outskirts of his nation but he does and says things a Prince charm type prince would. A total, break from the wizard type.

Spoiler:
At the beginning of the this book, even though he has a place and new possibilities for his future. He goes out of his way to do will things, which is disrespect everyone's wish, and do whatever he wants. He hasn't learned a single thing from the first book, I think he's actually dumber.

On a side, he know a spell that removes the vast majority of danger he or his family can face. He can survive everything now,Pretty easily.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Another great wizard story

In my opinion this series is a gem. It is a fascinating and captivating story. I enjoyed the characters and the detailed magic system.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Incredible!

You won’t ever be disappointed with the works of this author! Manning is the gold standard of the fantasy genre!

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

The Romance Ended it For Me

The romance just never worked for me. It was like the romance of stupid kids. Which they are. But it consumed so much of the book I just found myself losing interest. I finished it but won't be continuing on.

There is a lot of interesting concepts here but I just couldn't deal with the tropes. OP protagonist who, despite the grim tragedies of his life is perfectly fine and happy and all powerful and of course gets together with the princess.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant Story

The story and performance is amazing! I love this series, I plan on listening to them all!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

amazing story and narration!

waw I highly recommend! binge worthy! the narration puts the whole book to life, which in itself is brilliantly written! I wish there was an aragon story! with that narrator reading it! he's hilarious!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story

This was a very good book, and seems to be on track to be a great series.

Worth the listening time for sure!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Author and Narrator Draw You In

Something about this book 2 drew me in and I wanted to listen to his whole journey! I didn't see the ending coming and had a very enjoyable experience listening to Will's escapades. While I was unprepared for the level of violence that was involved in all of Will's fights, I did feel like their world is very different from my own so the way they deal with problems would automatically be very different from what we would do in "civilized" and non-magical society now. I felt immersed into their world, and rooted for Will -- there's not a lot of character growth, but he does grow as a wizard and learns a lot of magic. Realistically that makes a lot sense, as a teenager he wouldn't suddenly become really wise and have a ton of introspective personal growth in a year haha. I am loving this series so far!

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