For as long as Enrandl can remember, everything he desired has come effortlessly to him. In his studies of the magical arts, he has always had a natural ability to channel magical energy. And when his mentor tries to change Enrandl’s views instead of teaching him more magics of the realms, killing him is easy too.
But when he discovers an obscure notation in his former master’s library, he encounters trouble and complication for the first time. The mysterious book, which could make him invincible, soon becomes an obsession; he will do anything possess it, but it always seems to elude his grasp. Enrandl’s determination meets opposition at every juncture from those who strive to keep the power of the treatise away from him. But they cannot keep it from him indefinitely, and once he has the book’s power, the destruction he can inflict will be limited only by his imagination.
In this fantasy novel, a powerful, evil mage searches for a tome that will grant him vast power and make him invincible—while others seek to thwart him and keep the world safe.
My Review
I recieved this book an an Arc in exchange for an honest review and at the reques tof the Author.
This is a fantasy novel by a new author. It opens with Enrandl, which is a bold choice. He reads like a pompous jerk that spends his time reading a thesaurus to make himself sound smarter (pro tip: that NEVER works). My first thought was oh, my gosh, please don’t let the whole book read like this. It’s awkward and doesn’t flow and I had to double check the meaning of some words because I wasn’t following them in the context used. He strings together cheap words into whole sentences, which is frustrating to read. Eventually I stopped trying to decipher his nonsense and skipped to the responses. It was a better read after that.
Thankfully, while he is a POV character, he isn’t the dude we spend the most time with. The other characters tend to think of him as a pompous jerk as well, so that instantly makes them more enjoyable and we can be friends. We spend most of our time with Kellik, Saigel, and Toran, who are much more interesting. I would love to know more about Kellik and Saigel’s history. We got some broad strokes for Saigel but I’d like to know more.
The premise is interesting, but the story didn’t grip me. I liked the characters well enough to keep me going to the end and liked their backstories. The writing though, was awkward in places with more (detailed) telling than showing and the climax was not as tense as I would have liked. I was able to put it down right in the middle of it and handle some chores before coming back and finishing the book. There was a little plot wandering and Paul seemed more like a plot device than a useful character.
I would say this book is suitable for teens and above. There is explicit content and the themes are quite tame. Overall, it’s good for a debut novel, and I would be willing to check out the next novel by this Author
You can get Once Upon a Treatise by Sheldon Saurs book on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn on qaulifying purchases.
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