Knights Magi, the fourth book in the Spellmonger series, focuses on the adventures of Tyndal and Rondal as they grow into their roles as Knights Magi. At over 600 pages, there’s a lot of material to cover, but the content is perhaps best described as an adolescent romp. It’s not serious enough to qualify as a coming-of-age tale (though probably the author intended it as such), nor explicit enough to qualify as soft porn. As the main characters are themselves adolescents in that awkward phase of life, it is perhaps not surprising that (in addition to the usual magic, intrigue, and goblins) the nature of femininity and how to obtain access to a woman’s virtue without being tied down by it occupies a major part of the book.
As with other books in this series, though the story is reasonably well told and the editing is a cut above many other independent ebooks, there are a few elements that render the book a notch less than completely professional. This time, it was the inclusion of a medieval version of “game” that seemed somewhat cheap and out of place, despite at least one actual historical example of a similar treatise. (As the saying goes, the difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense; in this case the inclusion seemed out of place).
The best way to enjoy this book is to take it on its own terms: lighthearted, irreverent, and definitely not serious. On those terms, it will entertain you and occupy an hour or two of your time. It’s best not to look for deeper meaning, or a long-term commitment.
