Midshipwizard Halcyon Blithe - Softcover

James Ward is both an award-winning and bestselling designer of games and author of gaming fiction. He lives in Elkhorn, WI.

Adult/High School–Halcyon Blithe is descended from a line of successful, magic-wielding officers in the Arcanian navy. At 16, he grows into his own magical powers and enters the service to find a world filled with high expectations for him. His first assignment is that of Midshipwizard, a junior officer aboard the Sanguine, a speedy war vessel with decks and sails built onto the back of a sea dragon. Training sessions comprise a good half of the book. From fencing to feeding the dragon, they are designed to teach Blithe different aspects of life and warfare on the high seas. He displays an unusual level of natural abilities, but overconfidence and gaps in his experience make it difficult for him to perform as well as his superiors would like. While the sessions do carry on a little too long, they give readers a chance to meet the crew members. When it becomes clear that one of them is a saboteur, the situation is made all the more dangerous in battle with ships from the evil Maleen Empire. Although the novel is a fairly predictable fantasy adventure at its core, the nautical elements make it just different enough for readers a little bored with the typical fantasy to enjoy it.–Matthew L. Moffett, Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.