Format: Paperback, 336 pages
Release Date: September 11, 2018
Publisher: DAW
Source: Publisher
Genre: Fantasy / Epic / Action & Adventure
A young woman must work with a magician who is not what he seems to find her father in this new contemporary portal fantasy series.
With her father vanished under suspicious circumstances and her old life destroyed, Tessa Andrews is determined to pick up the pieces and forge ahead. If only their borrowed house didn’t shake and rumble as if haunted. But at least she and her mom have a roof over their heads, so her luck couldn’t be all bad, could it?
As if to prove her wrong, Tessa gets an urgent call for help one night from crusty old Professor Brandard, one of the people on her charity meals route. She dashes over, only to find the house in flames and the professor gone. A handsome young man steps out of the ashes to request her assistance, claiming to be the professor and a Phoenix wizard. She not only has to believe in him, but in magic, for an ancient evil is awakening and it will take the two of them, plus a few shady friends, to stand against it.
Because the rejuvenation ritual has gone horribly wrong. The late, great wizard desperately needs to get his mojo back, for only if Brandard regains all his magic do they stand any chance of defeating this deadliest of perils.
The Late Great Wizard, by debut author Sara Hanover, is the first installment in the Wayward Mages series. The Wayward Mages is a urban fantasy series that follows
19-year old Tessa Andrews as she becomes embroiled in magical mysteries in her quest to find
her father, John Andrews who disappeared after apparently draining the families money to pay off gambling debts, leaving Tessa and her mother pretty much at the mercy of a great-Aunt.
Tessa is a student at a Virginia community college. She also plays on the schools field hockey team. She doesn't have any real friends of note thanks to her father's disappearance. Tessa and her mother are under constant scrutiny by the local LEO's who claim they aren't suspects, but there are answers to questions that need to be uncovered. That doesn't stop Tessa from crushing on 23-year old Carter Phillips who is a war hero, veteran, and local detective who she believes only sees her as a suspect to her fathers disappearance.
Then one night upon delivering Meals on Wheels to a Professor named Brandard, she over hears a curious conversation between two men. Soon thereafter, the Professor's home goes up in flames. The Professor is nowhere to be found. Tessa discovers a young man apparently being chased by men who wanted something from the Professor. Tessa decides to help the young man.
The shock comes rapidly when Tessa learns from Iron Dwarf Mortimer that Brian is actually a phoenix wizard which means the Professor died, and was reborn in a newer body. But, something went wrong, and Brian has to find clues and artifacts that can help him regain his memories. Tessa finds herself deep in a world that she knew nothing about, but one that she can't stay away from now that it has found her; literally. It is a hidden world of magic, mystery, and twisted shenanigans that will lead her to discover some curious family connections to magic.
She finds allies with similar goals, and enemies who were once allies. She discovers people aren't who they say they were, and allies who have agendas that may not be the same as hers. She collects a strange assortment of allies including Brian, Mort, Simon Steptoe's, and even Carter who also has a few secrets of his own. It is a dog eat dog world where the strongest will survive, where old alliances have fallen, where people are choosing sides in the upcoming battle against an even more dangerous villain. A villain who Tessa will get an up close and personal look at.
Overall
a good story, but I would have loved to have more action. There is very
little romance apparent in this story, but Tessa does have a crush on
Carter, and feels a connection to Brian to the point of putting her life and that of her mother's on the line. Impressive that the author doesn't
go down the road to where Tessa hates her mother. Her mother is really
supportive, and that's not something you see in this particular sort of
story. This is a story that will take Tessa and her allies from her home in Virginia, to the Washington Monument, to NYC, and back home again.
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