This was an unusual read! John Daulton combines science fiction, fantasy with a love story and comes out with an enjoyable, fast read. The Galactic Mage alternates the story from the viewpoints of mage Altin and Ensign Orli of the Earth expedition to learn what happened to the people of Andalia.
Altin is a “Six” meaning a mage with six of the possible eight talents. All previous Sixes have over-reached their magical potential and died, some spectacularly. Altin is determined to avoid this and sets himself the goal to reach his planet’s moon Luria by teleporting rocks and enchanted Seeing Stones. Once he reaches Luria he decides to explore the rest of his solar system, then goes toward the closest star. This is where he encounters hostile Coconuts, which hurl rocky spears at his tower.
He fights the Coconuts off, then sees curious flashes of light. Of course the flashes of light are from the Earth expedition’s fight with the same Coconuts, which Altin joins. Some of the plot is a little predictable after this, yet still fun.
The Hostiles (or “Coconuts” as Altin calls them) seem determined to kill anyone they find in space. It’s never clear whether the Hostiles are alive or why they attack humanity, leaving unanswered questions for future books.
Overall this was fun, different from the usual science fiction or fantasy, meant for adults and squeaky clean. The magic Altin uses is well thought-out, requiring hard work to master.
On the downside, when I was done reading I still had no idea who or what the Hostiles are, why Orli and Altin are so drawn to each other, whether any Earth humans also have magic, or the significance of the small weed Orli finds during the fleet’s time on Andalia. The character of Altin is more developed than Orli. We know little of Orli beyond that she is miserable on ship and in the military. These are small weaknesses and didn’t bother my enjoyment of The Galactic Mage.
I read this as a Nook book. I could not find it in my library nor any of the libraries in the state of Michigan (which has a great statewide sharing system) so you may need to purchase The Galactic Mage.
4 Stars
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