The Torch that Ignites the Stars
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- Create Date：2021-05-10 04:20:37
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Andrew Rowe
- ISBN：B08VS9F2BG
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Jeffrey Greene
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This book had a little progression but it was a lot of little stories tied together。 I was hoping for more after the long break in the series。 I enjoyed it but weakest of the series so far。
Kaitlin
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A new country filled with adventure！This is arguably the slowest of the three this far but it continues to deliver quality content and witty dialogue。 Well told story and character development。 One thing to note is that there are many references to the sacred swords books。 Overall a good read。
Kashii
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How dare he end the book like this 😭
Alex Freimuller
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More good stuff。 If you're liking the series you'll probably enjoy this instalment。 Bit more slice of life than the previous two。 But sometimes that's to be expected in a longer series。 Some questions get answered but many more get raised。 All in all， an enjoyable read。 More good stuff。 If you're liking the series you'll probably enjoy this instalment。 Bit more slice of life than the previous two。 But sometimes that's to be expected in a longer series。 Some questions get answered but many more get raised。 All in all， an enjoyable read。 。。。more
mark w blaylock
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Great Magical Concept and StorylineThe author packs a lot of action and sub plots into a very short time period within the story。 The motivations and plot is fleshed out a bit more and we start to see a bigger conflict evolve。 I enjoy the writers focus on the motivations of the characters and the magical system and world building。 These concepts are original and unique the writing is tight and we'll paced。 Great Magical Concept and StorylineThe author packs a lot of action and sub plots into a very short time period within the story。 The motivations and plot is fleshed out a bit more and we start to see a bigger conflict evolve。 I enjoy the writers focus on the motivations of the characters and the magical system and world building。 These concepts are original and unique the writing is tight and we'll paced。 。。。more
Matthew Langham
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I just didn't like this book。 There were several things that I found annoying and several more that I just didn't like。 First thing that I didn't like was that this was basically a side quest。 The author ignored a lot of very important main story line objectives to take a side step （vacation） to an uninteresting city。 There was a different spire storyline that was boring and strange。 The furniture named Patrick did a deep dive into the spire and came out almost as underwhelming and underutilized I just didn't like this book。 There were several things that I found annoying and several more that I just didn't like。 First thing that I didn't like was that this was basically a side quest。 The author ignored a lot of very important main story line objectives to take a side step （vacation） to an uninteresting city。 There was a different spire storyline that was boring and strange。 The furniture named Patrick did a deep dive into the spire and came out almost as underwhelming and underutilized as when he went in。 There are actual summons that get more spotlight time than the MC's best friend， and subordinate。 What is up with this？ He is supposed to be a very powerfully attuned person that is fiercely loyal and dedicated。 Meanwhile Mara does the same sidequest into the same tower with the same group and nearly doubles in power。 I don't get it。 Is Patrick just that sucky？ Is he just that underwhelming？ Who cares？ All I want to know is why is it that Sera's first and only priority isn't fixing her lungs？ If they are that seriously scarred and messed up why is it that she just continues to ignore the damage and use her attunment？ Why does that seem to make her more powerful？ Just all together it was a strange installment。 That is just the content though， there were a lot of other issues as well the biggest and most annoying of which was the constant bumps to the other spinoff series。There were so many references to Keras' series that I almost rage quit on multiple occasion。 I never intended on reading the other series even before I started reading this book， but now there is no way I will read it。 There were near constant references about something that happened during his story。 Near constant subjects that weren't explained， but introduced then carried on for a little while before an explanation occurs。 And every time it happened I just rolled my eyes and kept on reading。 I was hoping for some kind of continuity to return， maybe some first person from Meltlake， or maybe a Patrick centered sentence， but no just more of the same。 So many things were introduced that were never mentioned prior to this novel。 The MC is going to be like the Pure Lake before this is over （little Stormlight reference there）。 Just shallow and wide， no depth or specialization at all。 Why hasn't anyone else attempted the things he is attempting？ Why is it so rare to have multiple attunments he basically stumbles into them？ Sera gets more powerful when she sneezes。 Mara grows faster than most weeds。 Someone made reference in another review of the massive quantity of queer sexual preference representation and attention in these novels。 I wasn't put off or offended by it at all， but it just isn't carried through the novels very well。 Another one of his friends turns out to have interesting feelings about another species， race， or maybe even kindom of creature。 Not even sure how such a thing would work， but sure it happens you can't limit your heart。 The blind acceptance is a little refreshing， but completely unrealistic。 I know a lot of queer individuals and they aren't readily accepted in most any setting。 I have participated in a predominantly gay softball league and heard openly gay men sneer and jeer at a transgender person。 These massive， difficult and interesting concepts seem to be thrown in as an afterthought instead of being an integrated part of the story。 It doesn't take away from the story， but it doesn't really add much to it either。 The characters in question have their preferences mentioned once or maybe a couple times a book and they aren't explained in any way other than the factual condition of their existence。 So points for the normalization of the culture into a fictional setting， but the execution was somewhat lackluster。 There was a better discussion of the existence and feelings of monsters and summons that was pretty interesting。 Overall this story-line wasn't bad， but it was another one of those heavy references to the spin-off series。 It was sort of like， "Hey there is the person that exists and if you had read the other book you would know why！ But since you either didn't or have forgotten I will summarize their entire existence in a couple sentences，" so yeah that happened more than once。 Overall it was not a good book for me。 I did enjoy the second book a lot， and the first one moderately。 I have now read 4 of this author's books and I liked 3ish of those books。 I don't think I will continue with this series， maybe I will pick up the next series he writes。 The author seems to be a standup guyy and I have been on an online community with him even if we never interacted。 He generally seems like a great guy that wants to use their platform for good things。 I hope the best for the series and author going forward。 Maybe other people will enjoy this book， I certainly didn't。 。。。more
Daniel Johnston
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Is it good that I'm mad how it ended because I don't have the next book in my hands to find out what happens next？ Is it good that I'm mad how it ended because I don't have the next book in my hands to find out what happens next？ 。。。more
Trent Baker
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I really liked this， but I continue to have a problem with the principal protagonist Corin。 The banter and fighting are great， but when I am stuck in his head while he is geeking over some magic then the story starts to drag and I tend to skim through that。
TheNemesysFTW
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9/10This review is spoiler-freeAs this is a follow-up review from the other books， I'll only point out the differences between those since this one is equally as good。 If you want a more in-depth analysis of the series， take a look at my review of the first book。First， as I mentioned above， this book is as good as the others。 The reason why I lowered the punctuation a bit is that it's really similar to them。The author doesn't revitalize the formula in the slightest， which isn't a bad thing， but 9/10This review is spoiler-freeAs this is a follow-up review from the other books， I'll only point out the differences between those since this one is equally as good。 If you want a more in-depth analysis of the series， take a look at my review of the first book。First， as I mentioned above， this book is as good as the others。 The reason why I lowered the punctuation a bit is that it's really similar to them。The author doesn't revitalize the formula in the slightest， which isn't a bad thing， but you don't get the impression of reading a new book， just a continuation。The fights are as good as always， as the writing is， so I'm not going to make any comments on that topic。One of the good things about this book is the progression in the magic system and the new knowledge we get about the world in general。 There is a lot of discoveries and clarifications that will probably be very important in the next book。This leads me straight to the last point of the review。 This book is clearly a preparation for the next one， which makes me very excited because it tells us that it probably will be even better。 I won't say anything to avoid spoilers， but the story feels like there's a big twist incoming， and I can't wait to discover it。To finish I want to say that you should totally read this book if you enjoyed the other ones， and if you haven't， you should read them too。I hope you liked the review and that you enjoy the book too。 Good read！ 。。。more
Kshitij Nirjar
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The first half of this book is SLOW。 It's like the author took the pacing of the previous books and cut it in half。 The lack of action is disappointing， and at this point the ramblings of he main character do more to stall the plot than develop character。Also， conflicting thoughts and actions of Corin don't help either。 （view spoiler）[ The first fighting sequence happens at 200 pages。 None of the questions posed in earlier books are answered。 The biggest problem they wanted to solve at the end o The first half of this book is SLOW。 It's like the author took the pacing of the previous books and cut it in half。 The lack of action is disappointing， and at this point the ramblings of he main character do more to stall the plot than develop character。Also， conflicting thoughts and actions of Corin don't help either。 （view spoiler）[ The first fighting sequence happens at 200 pages。 None of the questions posed in earlier books are answered。 The biggest problem they wanted to solve at the end of the previous book i。e。 Seras scarring， was not given even a single oince of progress， except at the end where Jin appears out of nowhere and just gives them the solution。 Sloppy writing in my opinion （hide spoiler）]Even though it did have some good moments and pleasant scenarios at times， all in all it felt more like a filler book than an actual addition to the series。 。。。more
Dennis Harper
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Corin！ What are we going to do？ Let's see。。。 if I had a mana band-aid， some old runes， a silver disc and rusty nail。。。 I could make a bomb！ Yes， Corin is the MacGyver of Enchanting。 He think out of the extra-dimensional box to find creative solutions so he doesn't get killed by monsters。Seriously， it's cute story and the characters are adorable （one of Corin's favorite words）。 But honestly， I got lost in all the RPG elements。 What runes do what， and how they are applied， and which mana types the Corin！ What are we going to do？ Let's see。。。 if I had a mana band-aid， some old runes， a silver disc and rusty nail。。。 I could make a bomb！ Yes， Corin is the MacGyver of Enchanting。 He think out of the extra-dimensional box to find creative solutions so he doesn't get killed by monsters。Seriously， it's cute story and the characters are adorable （one of Corin's favorite words）。 But honestly， I got lost in all the RPG elements。 What runes do what， and how they are applied， and which mana types they are assigned to， and what level of attunement is needed， and what class mana crytals are needed， and。。。 whew！ It reads like a game of Dungeons and Dragons。 Perhaps that's the whole idea。Hey， I play RPG video games so I know what up here。 But the story gets lost in paragraphs and pages of mana formulas。 I need more suspense and intrigue。 It was fun， but overly loaded with applied magical theory。 。。。more
Kyle Dougherty
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I'm torn between 2 and 3 stars for this book but in the end the negatives slightly outweight the positive for me。 It's also a worrying trend that I feel like I am enjoying Rowe's book less and less the more I read。I don't have a problem that the plot doesn't move much in this but I did find half of an encyclopedia being shoved into the first 50% of this book。 Seriously， I don't mind some systems explanation， but this felt like I was reading a textbook at times。 Later in the book Corin learns new I'm torn between 2 and 3 stars for this book but in the end the negatives slightly outweight the positive for me。 It's also a worrying trend that I feel like I am enjoying Rowe's book less and less the more I read。I don't have a problem that the plot doesn't move much in this but I did find half of an encyclopedia being shoved into the first 50% of this book。 Seriously， I don't mind some systems explanation， but this felt like I was reading a textbook at times。 Later in the book Corin learns new systems and just recaps it for us（MORE OF THIS）。My absolute biggest problem in the book is the characters and how inconsistent they are。 For parts of this book Corin and Sera don't feel like Corin and Sera。 In addition to this Mara and Patrick are continually shoved out of the story for no real reason。The bigger problem of these for me is Sera and how this book very much has her trivialize abusive behavior。 I'm sure this wasn't the author's intention but Sera portrays tons of characteristics for emotionally abusive behavior towards Corin。 I'm sure some of this is supposed to be witty banter but I have a few problems with it。 This comes after the end of book 2 where Corin shows his abuse（Sera tries to rationalize/minimize here） and then Sera trying to justify/fix the abusive relation with Corin's dad in this。 She then spends almost the entire book minimalizing， berating， and diminishing Corin。 An example of this is in the duel scene around 50% into the book。 This stuff happens consistently through out it。Sera has also become a Mary Sue which is disappointing。 She was one of my favorite characters in books 1 and 2。 I almost stopped reading this because of her。Also， can we stop having this all being stories told on trains， it just doesn't work。There were some fun moments。 A few rooms in the spire were great and some of the world building is appreciated but I don't know if I will continue this series。I'll likely try the fourth book but I don't know if I can recommend this series anymore。 Also， can we stop forcing Keras into the story constantly， we almost went a whole book without him。 （view spoiler）[Also， why didn't Corin face Lars instead of Sera。。。 （hide spoiler）] 。。。more
Turky
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This entry focuses somewhat more on world-building with the ongoing plot slowing down a little。 Overall， like the rest of Rowe's book an incredibly fun read perfect for reading in between some more serious novels。 This entry focuses somewhat more on world-building with the ongoing plot slowing down a little。 Overall， like the rest of Rowe's book an incredibly fun read perfect for reading in between some more serious novels。 。。。more
Josh Bibb
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What a massive waste of almost 600 pagesHonestly I had high hopes for this book。 I really enjoyed the first two so I was excited when this finally came out。 Unfortunately I am now on the fence about the whole series as this book was almost 600 pages of nothing much happening。The entire driving plot of this book was the main character learning about artificial attunements， but the entire part of the book where that happens is at best boring and at worst a complete waste of words。 And the dudes si What a massive waste of almost 600 pagesHonestly I had high hopes for this book。 I really enjoyed the first two so I was excited when this finally came out。 Unfortunately I am now on the fence about the whole series as this book was almost 600 pages of nothing much happening。The entire driving plot of this book was the main character learning about artificial attunements， but the entire part of the book where that happens is at best boring and at worst a complete waste of words。 And the dudes sister， sorry I can't even remember the characters names they're so forgettable， just whines about being hurt and unable to really do anything throughout the entire book。 Creating a secondary storyline of them trying to heal her， which at this point I'm not even sure is worth it。 She's a character with almost no real development and we know next to knothing about her ascended attunement after， what， 800 pages of her having it？There has been next to know information learned about what attuned can really do with their powers as if it's some big mystery and everyone has to learn for themselves as they go along。 And if that's the case， why is there a school for them to go to？ The ascended and foreign attunements are treated like nobody knows a damn thing about them at all after how many years of them being around？ Like， nobody in this universe is a scholar and has written any books about this shit？The entire book could have been cut down by at least half and used as a "minibook 2。5" for the series for people who care to read more about the stuff that happens in-between the things that matter， but alas， that is not the case so we get an entire almost 600 page book that is boring and feels completely unimportant as a whole。 。。。more
Henrik Lgn
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Not quite as fun as the first two books in the series， but I still enjoyed it a lot。 It picked up a lot of pace in the second half， including a nice temporary shift to a more 'dungeon core'-like story。 Can't wait for the next book in the series。 Not quite as fun as the first two books in the series， but I still enjoyed it a lot。 It picked up a lot of pace in the second half， including a nice temporary shift to a more 'dungeon core'-like story。 Can't wait for the next book in the series。 。。。more
Amanda Vu
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NEED。 MORE！ I love this series so much。
Bitchy Ghost
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Another excellent book in the series。 Lots of ingenuity from Cadence and Serah。 We get to see Merah and Patrick become more confident in their abilities。 We learn more about the history of atunements and and various other types of magic。 Only two things kept this book from being a 5 star。 The ending。 I hate when books end like this one did。 And the fact that this book was more of a filler episode than a book unto itself。 Other than that， great read。
Brian Wright
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ReviewThis book felt like filler。 Taking out the school element of the last two books really affected the enjoyment。 At ！sat there was good character development。
Kyle
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A strong installment， though the pacing of this story， and the overall development of the plot is much slower paced than what I would have hoped for。
Ron
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I enjoyed this a little more than the first two books in the series。 It focuses more on the “dungeons” and less on the world building and Big Events。 The best parts of these books to me are the dungeon crawls （i。e。 towers， shrines）。 They are really creative and fun to read。
Jamie
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2。5 ⭐️ I really liked the first two in this series and plan to read the next but honestly I skimmed and skipped a lot of this one as I read it。 It took to the 50% marker before it got interesting and then went back to having to skim to get through it。
Epper Marshall
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This one didn't seem to have as exciting as a plot as the previous too which were excellent This one didn't seem to have as exciting as a plot as the previous too which were excellent 。。。more
Ben
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Love the story， hate the writing style。
James Clark
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I want to preface this with the fact that the first two books probably got a better rating from me due to listening to audiobook。 This one I read， so I was more immersed。 I wouldn't reread this book， but I still enjoyed it for the most part。There may be spoilers。 I put it behind a spoiler wall， but wanted to reiterate。Let's start with the bad （by bad I mean the things I didn't like so much， but others may appreciate）。 First， there were quite a few typos that should have been caught in the editin I want to preface this with the fact that the first two books probably got a better rating from me due to listening to audiobook。 This one I read， so I was more immersed。 I wouldn't reread this book， but I still enjoyed it for the most part。There may be spoilers。 I put it behind a spoiler wall， but wanted to reiterate。Let's start with the bad （by bad I mean the things I didn't like so much， but others may appreciate）。 First， there were quite a few typos that should have been caught in the editing phase of the book。 Between this and sometimes the characters dialogue not sounding entirely natural， sometimes felt a little jarring。 I can't speak for others， but for me this was the case。 Second， there was an incredible amount of data dumping。 Too much was explained inorganically that it took me out of the story a bit， and I would find myself just wanting the plot to advance。 I would rather some things get peppered in here and there and only focus more detailed on things that are relevant right now。 Third， Corin seems to constantly let us know that he plans to study this in the future， research that in the future， tackle this problem sometime in the future， get more in depth on elixirs in the future。 We understand he doesn't have time for everything and that he wants to do everything， but reminding us every couple pages （or even on the same page twice） that it is a problem for later gets repetitive and once again takes me out of the story。 Four， when will there be a failure？ These students are weak compared to what is out there （as they should be） but they tend to win quite a lot。 I understand that they have unique（ish） abilities， but their teachers， Keras， some of the trials， etc。。。。they seem to always be pit against something that is slightly ahead of their abilities， they either outwit or get a bit stronger and succeed。 I would like to see them fail and see what their response to that would be。The good。 As much as the data dumping took me out of the story， it also helped bring me a bit more into the world。 Again， I would like the information to be a bit more organic， but the world is pretty cool to imagine。 I think there is a lot of depth there， which is making you go data dumpy mode a bit more。 You introduce so many things at once that it would be hard not to data dump。 However， it all seems pretty well thought out information-wise。 The story， when I am immersed， is great。 I love the limits that are put in place。 They are defined， and while they have been exceeded on occasion without horrible repercussions （except in the case of Sera in a previous installment of the series） they have been stuck to quite well。One last thing that is worth mentioning is the LGBTQ thing。 Doesn't bother me。 You do you。 To all the people out there giving the series a bad rap due to this， they can stop reading the series。 The romance in this book may not be for me， but I can cede the point that others don't get nearly as much representation in media as others。In conclusion， would this be a reread for me？ Nope。 If I hadn't already read this but know what I would be getting into would I read through it once？ Yep！ Would I suggest to others to read it？ Yep。 。。。more
Kevin Zigman
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Another good one by RoweI usually am completely full of it when I say “well worth the wait” that’s my go to phrase for it was a long time coming and I’m somewhat disappointed because my expectations were not met but when it comes to Rowe above all others， I mean it。 I genuinely mean that this novel was worth waiting years for。 The intervening books from the same universe helped and even How to Defeat a Demon King helped slake most of my need for this book but nothing quite like throwing myself b Another good one by RoweI usually am completely full of it when I say “well worth the wait” that’s my go to phrase for it was a long time coming and I’m somewhat disappointed because my expectations were not met but when it comes to Rowe above all others， I mean it。 I genuinely mean that this novel was worth waiting years for。 The intervening books from the same universe helped and even How to Defeat a Demon King helped slake most of my need for this book but nothing quite like throwing myself back into the Cadence’s story along with their best friends and Keras。 In fact the best compliment I can give is that time flew when I was reading this book， I didn’t notice how fast when I started reading but bleary eyed and tired beyond belief at nearly 4am I felt great， accomplished， upset， and excited for the next book， it was like being a kid and reading Harry Potter at midnight the night it came out again， or reading the Hobbit for the first time， and while yes there is no actual comparison to those I’m not talking about the level or writing but the feeling of reading great literature， the high that most readers chase since their first scholastic book fair when fifty pages was a big deal and the story sticks with you。 Besides that though， this was an odd one， it did depart from the school as Rowe said it would and it was wonderful。 It was technical and used to explain a lot of that which had yet to be understood in the world of runes and attunements and if that isn’t your thing you probably won’t like it as much as I do。 I also think those who haven’t read it yet will appreciate Sera even more than they already do， she’s a good sibling to Corin in ways Tristan is incapable of。 And I think we can all agree Tristan sucks， I have zero sympathy for him but as you （have or） will read in the opening this book throws characters from other series and Rowe does a good job with that for those who haven’t read them the action wasn’t bad but I think the most unique part was- well you’ll have to read the tower sections。 Anyways as per usual。。。 can’t wait for the next one Rowe puts out whether or not it’s from this series。 。。。more
Mike
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Reading this book gives me the rather odd feeling of oscillating between “this book is awesome” and “I should really just find this tedious， but I’m actually loving it。”Let me explain。 The Arcane Ascension series （of which this is #3， though there are some outrigger books that kind of complicate things） is LitRPG， so it’s got not only a story but lots of video game/role playing game elements packed into it。 These need to be evaluated on their own merits， if I’m going to be fair。The story is grea Reading this book gives me the rather odd feeling of oscillating between “this book is awesome” and “I should really just find this tedious， but I’m actually loving it。”Let me explain。 The Arcane Ascension series （of which this is #3， though there are some outrigger books that kind of complicate things） is LitRPG， so it’s got not only a story but lots of video game/role playing game elements packed into it。 These need to be evaluated on their own merits， if I’m going to be fair。The story is great fun。 It’s got mysteries， adventures， challenges， and great characters。 I particularly like that the protagonist and secondary protagonists， Corin and Sera， are brother and sister - they have a wonderful relationship， and it’s a nice change of pace to have zero sexual tension between the male and female leads。 Throw in the fact that Corin is asexual （though not aromantic） and it’s just a nice read。 I’m generally a big fan of romance plotlines， but having a book with that being a much toned-down element （it’s not gone completely） is very enjoyable。The plot is nicely mysterious， and those mysteries are getting spun out at a good clip。 The worldbuilding is a bit thin， mostly （I think） because Rowe wanted a world where he can do whatever RPG stuff he wants。 It works。 Lots to like here， in other words。And the action is frequently interrupted for A） Corin to get super interested in the very fine technical points of how magic works， and B） literal dungeon crawls。 As in “hey， let’s go through this dungeon and collect some loot and XP。” Though this book Rowe branches out a bit and has Corin doing tower defense as well。 （note to Andrew， if you’re reading this: much as I appreciate Corin’s repeated use of the “pile of couches” item， he really should have had access to a Pea-shooter or a Wall-nut or Melon-pult or something。） I kept thinking these segments SHOULD be incredibly tedious， but they just … weren’t。 It reminded me of nothing so much as the time I’ve spent over the years reading RPG books （by which I mean stuff like the Player’s Guide and Monster Manual） and the little inset booklets that used to come with video games and， to really date myself， things like the guidebooks they would publish that let you find all the hidden things in old school Final Fantasy games。So … yeah。 I firmly put this book， and series， in the “much more fun than they should be” column。 Or maybe I’m just more like Corin than I’d like to admit。 。。。more
Danny Moody
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Great addition to the series。 I think it is interesting that Corin isn’t my favorite character， he is just SO awkward， but I enjoy his plot line more than any other of the series going on in this world。 A lot of cool advancements occur with the characters and we even get some answers as to why there are so many different magics in this world。
Robert Edward
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Great middle actArcane ascension is still my favorite of Rowe's three related series。 This one ties the other two together and expands greatly the characters and common setting， linking the mythos and history of the three storylines together with enough detail to be comprehensive but without massive exposition dumps that slow the plot。 Speaking of pacing， while I feel like some of his other works tend to drag in the middle， this never did- a smooth， well-paced story from start to finish。 Great middle actArcane ascension is still my favorite of Rowe's three related series。 This one ties the other two together and expands greatly the characters and common setting， linking the mythos and history of the three storylines together with enough detail to be comprehensive but without massive exposition dumps that slow the plot。 Speaking of pacing， while I feel like some of his other works tend to drag in the middle， this never did- a smooth， well-paced story from start to finish。 。。。more
Concetta Phillipps
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I want more！That ending！ It's going to be torture waiting for the next book。Seriously， a great romp with Corin and the gang。 Loved it。 I want more！That ending！ It's going to be torture waiting for the next book。Seriously， a great romp with Corin and the gang。 Loved it。 。。。more
Josh Thorne
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