The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S. Pratt

Barnes and Noble Author Page

I forget how I originally found The Unsuspecting Mage, but it was when I was searching for books on my Kindle (Yes I have a Kindle and a Nook... let's move on!). I quickly fell in love with the story, and purchased the other 6 books in the 7 book series.

James is a high school senior living with his grandparents after the demise of his parents. His grandfather is pushing him to find a job, while his grandmother nurtures his love to fantasy/science fiction novels, as well as role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. One day, his grandfather slips a job ad into his lunch sack that seems right up his alley. It calls for someone who would like to learn real magic, who loves adventure/role-playing games, and who will be able to travel if necessary. When he decides to answer the ad, he is transported to another world, into the middle of the forest. There he is met by a greenish, imp-like creature named Igor who tells him that in this world, magic is real, he cannot go home yet, and that he needs to travel to the nearest village, that of Trendle.

Thus begins James' series of adventures in this world, as well as his trial and error take on magic (after losing the book that is supposed to tell him how magic works), and his desire to find out more about the God, Morcyth, whose amulet he now possess. He makes many friends along the way, from the young, roguish Miko, to the deadly Jiron, as well as many enemies, some who he defeats, and others he does not (at least yet). He must follow his heart and intuition to find out more about WHY he's been summoned to this world, and how he can help those around him.

It's amusing to see how lost someone from our world would be in another world, or even back in time. Common phrases and pop culture references would be lost on others, while probably making us laugh (as they do James). While many reviewers dislike the book series, comparing it too much to a D&D campaign, I find it to be thrilling. While I read the series in its entirety at least a year ago, I have recently picked it up again, and have read all the way to the 7th book, where I am now. I would disagree with some reviewers who say that the characters are static and do not change much. While it's true that many do stay the same in certain areas of their personalities, in other ways they do change. James has a hard time with killing, unless he absolutely has to, which many of the other characters do not have issues with. Throughout the series, he still hates it, but does come to realize that it may be a necessary evil in order to save himself from fighting the people again, later on down the line.

While many characters do make stupid mistakes (like seeing someone tied up in a hotel room being surprised with a blow to the head when he enters the room), to me it makes them more believable as characters. I'm in my mid-20s, and I still make stupid mistakes, often the same ones over and over again. So it's nice to see characters who don't automatically become amazingly astute and perfect over the course of the series.

I will admit that the writing does seem to be a little juvenile (granted the series does seem to be written for a younger audience), it was the author's choice to write it the way it is. I find the pace to be well set most of the time, and for the action to be enough to keep my interest. There are many puns and pop culture references throughout the series (meeting a Captain Kurk), which just added to my enjoyment of the series. (I love horrible puns and word play)

If you want an enjoyable read that wont take 7 years to get through, this is the book for you!

Final Report:
The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S. Pratt
316 pages
$13.95 (Paperback)
$9.99 (Free)
7/10

Available at your local Barnes and Noble or at Barnes and Noble Online