Book Review: Outlaw Mage by (The Dageian Puppetmaster Book 1) K.S. Villoso

Rating: 7.75/10

TL;DR Review – A wonderfully complex examination of cultural whitewashing and complicated families.

Synopsis:

Despite Rosha’s best efforts, she will never fit in. To her classmates, she is forever an outsider, a girl from the fringes of the empire just lucky enough to have well-off parents. To her teachers, she is either a charity case or an exception to the rule that Gorenten just aren’t capable of performing complex magic. Worse, still, she is nothing but a status symbol to her father—a child gifted with magic to show his powerful friends that even people like them could belong in the empire. As if she doesn’t have enough problems already.

Haunted by the invisible rules that pull her dreams just out of grasp, she walks out on the eve of her final exams, throwing away her one chance at becoming an official mage of the empire. She practices magic outside the mage council’s grasp, one of the worst crimes anyone could commit. A dropout. A failure. An outlaw.

Years later, her father’s shoddy business deals have finally landed him in trouble and he disappears without a trace. Rosha reluctantly enters the services of a rich sorcerer, his last known connection. The sorcerer’s sudden death leaves her stranded in a sea of enemies—and the knowledge that the man is the voice behind the ageless, faceless emperor. To protect herself and her family, Rosha must impersonate the most powerful man in the empire. As she becomes everything she has ever hated, she stumbles upon conspiracies that seek to break the empire from within…

Full Review:

Outlaw Mage starts off simply: a talented young mage at a prestigious academy abandons everything because she knows she can’t possibly succeed. The world is set against her—due chiefly to her race and culture, belonging to one of the peoples conquered by the all-powerful Empire—so rather than dance to their tune any longer and be reminded of why she’d just not enough, she chooses to defy their laws and leave to become an “outlaw mage” practicing outside their regulations.

Her flight leaves her to a small town, where she builds for herself a small, safe life—a life where she has something of her own and no one to tell her what to do.

All that comes crashing down, unfortunately, when she discovers her father has gone missing, and only her magic can find him.

As the story progress, we’re drawn deeper and deeper into a complex mystery that involves old enemies, new friends, magic and monsters, and which reaches to the highest political spheres of the Empire. There is plenty to be uncovered and discovered, twists and turns that will intrigue and delight.

But where Outlaw Mage really shines is in two areas:

1. Complex family dynamics. Rosha, our MC, has two fathers—the man whose blood she carries, and his brother, who actually did the job of raising her. The differences between the two are so stark it’s almost painful when you see that the one who loves her most can never truly acknowledge her, while the one who stakes his claim to her will never love anyone as much as he loves himself. Her dynamic with her mother and her younger brothers, some of whom are nearly strangers to her, are equally messy. This is not a happy family, and seeing the tension in their every interaction is painful—yet a true testament to the author’s storytelling skills and ability to create incredibly deep characters.
2. The cultural themes. Our main character comes from a people that have been conquered by and absorbed into the Empire, but their blood makes them more attuned to magic, so they are either used as magic-wielding slaves or simply left ignored. All throughout, we see the countless ways they are whitewashed by the Empire, their culture, customs, beliefs, and practices erased—by the people themselves to “fit in” as much as by the Empire—for the sake of keeping the Imperial citizens happy and comfortable. It’s a sobering look at the dangers of Empire, how conquered peoples have no choice but to give in to this erasure in order to carve out some kind of place in a homogenous culture that repels the “outsider”.

This book is perfect for fans of Babel and Blood Over Bright Haven, who are looking for deeper themes and social commentary cleverly laid out through a well-crafted story.

Don’t go into this book expecting a fast-paced action-adventure, but prepare yourself for a truly compelling, gripping read.