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Into The Heartwyld

Well this sequel did not go as I thought it was going to. As my previous review stated I was looking forward to where this book would pick up based on the whirlwind of a cliffhanger The Innocent Mage left us on. To be quiet honest and fair, I was let down. I was expecting the same high energy to start us out but was not given that. It took a few pages before the book caught back up to where book one ended. After that it was just a whirlwind of pacing, and not the good kind either, it was fast, then slow, then fast, then it felt like it dragged on, it was so all over the place. This should have been cut down and both books could have been smashed together to create one book, a stretched out mostly mind numbing duology just wasn't the route it should have gone.

You spend a majority of the first small percent of the book dealing with the aftermath of the end of book one and it puts a lot of strain on Gar and pretty much sets into motion his behavior for the rest of the book. One of the few parts of this book that I really did like was the erratic behavior Gar had through it. This guy has been through a lot and it was written so well in showing how he was just not handling it well at all. One minute he was kind the next he was a raging beast, then the next a grieving mess, and this is something the was used through the whole story, which gave him a very realistic behavior and one that I feel not a lot of writers touch upon when dealing with a character who has been through more than any person should ever have to go through, and the things he goes through only continue to pile on as the story continues. I really did end up liking Gar's portion of this story.

Now Asher, Asher I have mixed feelings about, one on hand I love the guy on the other not so much. But given the state of everything he is going through and that he is constantly being coerced into agreeing to and essentially tricked, blackmailed or manipulated into, his rage and anger are completely understandable. To be quiet fair both Gar and Asher spent a lot of time in this book being angry and yelling, and fighting with every person possible.

Mid way through this book that dreaded romance rears its big ugly head again and by the gods was it so awful and just lasted FOREVER. Look, I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about me, I do not hate romance, what I hate is UNNECESSARY romance. And for me the romance brought nothing to the actual story besides being a means to create drama between the two characters involved. When the romance appeared in the first book it felt so out of place and for a good majority of this book it became a heavy focus and just felt like it did not belong. What made me even more annoyed by it was how it was being initiated from our female character, she manipulated the male character and used his feelings for her to "keep control of his destiny" yet Miller also wanted me to believe that said female character was actually in love with him as well. Sorry but up til that point she only ever referred to him in regards to the Prophecy and how important he was. And all this did was bring about drama between two male characters and later drama between the two "lovers" which resulted in the classic "I hate you but guess what we are still end game and i'll totally forgive all the lies, deceit and manipulation because we might die and oh we are having baby now" Sorry but I guess I'm different and don't find love built on manipulation, lies and deceit romantic.

Now with that being said, the romance was my biggest issue with this book, but my next big issue was the lack of villain actually being present. He makes a few small appearances in the start but then pretty much does not come back into full play until the last 20% again. Actually all the "good stuff" didn't start until the last 20% just like with book one. All the build up to the major battle was stretched out for so long with having all the characters constantly bickering and arguing, so the final battle ended up only being a few pages, and was just not satisfying. There was no big magic battle, there was some monsters "demons" that killed people and weather magic making havoc. But as for watching Morg and Asher have a battle of the mages like I thought was going to happen it wasn't anything like that, a few spells and bam we are done. Plus some characters died and I felt nothing, because it felt like their deaths didn't matter to anyone in the story. My favorite character was ripped to PIECES and it felt like no one cared which made it hard for me to care, even in the epilogue, he was just mentioned as a passing death, yet was prominent in both books as being a good friend to Asher (not that Asher wasn't a total dick to him in this book though which ticked me off)

The Awakened Mage was a total mess and a complete miss for me. From the unnecessary romance and constant bickering among all the characters and the long dragged out feeling that the book gives you, it just didn't make this journey worth it. I honestly really wanted to DNF this book and only made it through with the help of the audiobook. I really wish I had liked this more but unfortunately not all books can be a winner. ( )

3.5
Enjoyed this book. It had some issues, but overall I thought it was worth the time it took to read //the over 1,300 pages// that the two novels took to tell the story! I will be reading the prequel at some point, but may not pick up K. Miller’s other other series. ( )

The finish to this duology.
Morg takes over the next in line to be king and becomes king. Has Asher executed and the Prince exiled. Asher is spirited away and comes back to finish off Morg.

While this book was longer, it seemed shorter, a lot shorter. While Innocent Mage seemed to be about Asher's journey from fisherman to Olken noble, Awakened Mage seemed a rush to finish the story. ( )

The Innocent Mage wasn't a bad read but a vast majority of it was filler. It was a nice way to introduce the cast but it drug on for a rather long time before actually getting to the "meat" of the book. The Awakened Mage feels the same way. It drags on for so long, in fact, that over halfway through the book I began to wonder if there would be a third installment simply because I couldn't imagine this book wrapping up in time. I was shocked when I realized that this is, indeed, the end of this part of the story; I was on the edge of my seat wondering how Miller pulled it off.

It has a little more to it than The Innocent Mage but way too much time is spent inside the minds of the characters rather than on the main plot.

What's even more disappointing is that, despite the large amount of time the author dedicates to everything but actively pushing the main plot, most of the characters fail to grow. The main character begins the series as an annoying jerk and is even more frustrating by the end of the tale. He's no hero and yet he's referred to as a good guy all throughout the series. Having everyone say he's a good guy isn't enough; you actually need to show it which Miller failed to do.

Then there is the female lead, Dathne, who starts out as a strong, intelligent woman but turns into a blathering fool. Her dialogue by the end of the series is so unlike her it's uncomfortable to read.

The only character that really makes much of a change is Darran. I don't think that spending this much time on "filler" should result in undeveloped characters... So much potential wasted. I don't want to hate my hero! Give your readers something - a redeemable quality, an interesting backstory, anything.

Also an issue is the fact that all of this magic exists and it all ties together somehow and yet by the end of this book, you aren't really sure how. You know this does this and that does that but have no idea why. You don't understand why Barl made the decisions that she did or why she was treated like a holy figure.. And once you realize why Morg is so evil, you can't help but go, "What? Really? That's it?!"

I think the idea is interesting but the execution was sloppy. If you want me to invest more time in reading your work, give me a good reason to. Between the two books you are already looking at over 1200 pages; I don't think I should have to delve into yet another installment to understand certain plot points when the first two books were so disappointing. ( )

Loved it. Genius. I absolutely loved it. ( )