The author G L Cramb had offered his debut novel 'Maegics Heir: Druid Quest' for my honest review. The book's title and its promising blurb attracted me. Also, the book is already a 2020 Reader's Favorites Gold Award Winner for Epic Fantasy! So, naturally, it fascinated me. I found it different and engaging with a good entertainment value.
Maegics Heir is an interesting medieval story happening in the Kingdom of Aeryth. It revolves around the main character Arias, a young innocent lad of 17 years. The author has depicted through his powerful world-building technique, Arias's 'coming of age story'. Arias grows in a comfort zone - on the lap of his mentor dad Etoen, like a frog-in-the-well. Suddenly, Arias is orphaned and thrown into the 'real' outside world with a responsibility to find a Druid, as the King of Aeryth and his men are desperate to kill him, driven by a past unpleasant happening. He must undertake a quest to meet that Druid, the custodian of magics, to unravel the mystery in his life. But he is not sure what exactly is in store for him.
The story is narrated eloquently from Arias's PoV with occasional changes from the author's PoV too. Cramb has remarkably developed the interplay of intriguing events with certain well-formed characters, marking out their individualistic traits. Grayce as neighbourhood supporter helping him through difficult times, Moor the trainer & guide, Maamel Braeder the healer, tutor and philosopher, sow confidence in him to find his courage more than he knew himself.
Along the eventful breathtaking journey, covering the length and breadth of the kingdom, Arias discovers new relationships and establishes reunions. In the process, Cramb has given good descriptions about the places. Arias faces agonizing ordeals but gets saved by a friend - Finnie - his lover-turned-wife. King Aegeas who holds a secret about him, and Mensae the King's ill-advisor, invisibly pose a threat as they want his head, through Thaos - the evil exploiter and child-trafficker. A strong, mægical, spirit-animal type bond with Bane, Lilit, Jilly etc., have added liveliness to the story -- "He had an empathy for all creatures and they just naturally trusted him". Altogether, they aid the story flow distinctively.
Arias is forced to make hard decisions that also come to him with more clarity through 'calming and letting the nothingness embrace him'. There's a lurking inherent danger from the treacherous dark magicians who reappear to take control of everyone in Aeryth destructively. The beauty is Arias doesn't know two important things - that he is an eligible heir to the throne; and that he is an heir to five types of ancient maegics … of healing, prediction, communing with beasts and make them obey, telekinetics and 'power over the elements, such as wind or fire.'
The life-changing quest lasts almost a year. Arias is also exposed to find the true purpose of his life -- "Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans"; "My faith in people restored in that moment, knowing though evil and villainous actors existed in this world also." There are of course interleaved sub-story depicting subtle friendships.
How he achieves his goal forms the story. His insatiable quest keeps the story delightful.
Cramb's diligence to comprehensively portray the medieval period holding up a mirror for the readers is laudable. His depictions of Arias's adventure with iconic scenes is brilliant. I enjoyed Cramb's unique style, a literary licence he has taken to narrate, and his unusual grammatical structure with real medieval period language, beautifully portraying that period. Initially, though I found it strange, I got accustomed to a different kind of imaginative storytelling. Indeed, I felt it a pleasure to accompany Arias on his emotional and arduous journey. I could empathize with Arias and his feelings when he successfully saves the children subjected to merciless slavery.
The story has variations in the pacing and sequencing, unexplained descriptions, misspellings, cultural/colloquialism issues depicting a particular region, repetitive longish descriptions of daily habits, story swaying off the course. Sometimes, I found that the story gets bogged down due to missed 'narratives vs dialogues' balancing. I was a bit disappointed with the abrupt ending and an unclear prologue. Despite these issues, the book did sustain my interest.
Still, do I consider this as a good book? Yes, because the author has cleverly set the reader's imagination in some places. Also, because the book helped me to have a glimpse of the medieval period as I have a fancy for such stories. In my opinion, the author has delivered what I wanted to see with his painting of those times, scenes, and character depictions. I was captivated by the depictions of: a) an evolving Arias from an immature lad to a worldly-wise man - "We would protect each other as family; this gave the meaning to my life"; "there was an insight and calmness that overcame me with the experience."; b) his practicality - "my mind accepted what I could not change." c) his gratitude - "Always do good for others if you can and that will satisfy any debt you feel on my par"; and d) his kindness - "see again the good in people and the value of such a peaceful life with peaceful folk."
I have given 4 stars, just for the uniqueness of story-telling in medieval times' style. I chose this rating because the book depicted relatable characters, gallant efforts and passion of the author to write something new. So, if I mention that I found it just good, it would be an understatement. As a fellow writer, I recommend this book to those curious readers of all age-groups, who possess a characteristic taste for epic fantasy stories of such periods. Its unconventional style will definitely satiate your appetite.
In essence, the author has "walked the walk”. Very good efforts!
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