A Mage's Guide to True Magic

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

There are a few facts to consider in a mage’s life: The world ended, but not really. Magic is energy but also is everything. And Wanily will be the Archmage and save everyone. ... Well, we’ll see about that last one, won’t we? The only kind of people in the world are those trying to live their lives. Whether they be petty criminals, aspiring mages, simple townsfolk, or masterminds working to bend society to their will, they are all just trying to make their mark on the world before they are gone forever. So how come so many of these people from different walks of life keep meeting a curious girl named Wanily? Why does she want nothing more than to be the most powerful mage in all the land? And why is she so fixed on helping people? Once, humanity was ruled only by the laws of the old gods; then, they were governed by the principles of the new ones. But the world is changing once again. Magic is becoming the center of everything, but so is the means to control it. And you know what they say: a rolling stone gathers no moss. But, what they don’t say? From Moss we came, and to Moss, he’ll make sure we return.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2023
Author: j_r_totten

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 222
Views: 41,316

Chapters(52 total)

What readers say about A Mage's Guide to True Magic

“The story is great, the switches in perspectives between arcs is really novel and each one felt like a really well written slice of life story while still connecting with the overarching narrative. The overarching plot itself is nothing too complicated, wit…”
JuminohRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“From what I've read so far the story is incredibly well written, I just won't be continuing because it's a multi pov heavy story and that's just not my thing. I do recommend for anyone who is into that to read this story though. Truly an enjoyable experienc…”
NeonGhostRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(6)

JuminohRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The story is great, the switches in perspectives between arcs is really novel and each one felt like a really well written slice of life story while still connecting with the overarching narrative.
The overarching plot itself is nothing too complicated, with the protagonist having a clear primary goal, but critically it feels like the main character actually has a clear evolving personality and complex secondary goals/morals that deepen the plot and character interactions. The characterization is excellent, even in the brief arcs each character really pops and they never feel like static story props. I also appreciate the willingness to commit to heavily emotional arcs, makes the world and characters feel deep and textured. Descriptions of places are immersive and by the third or fourth arc I felt pretty confident I understood the state of the world at a high level without every getting anything approaching an exposition dump. The magic system rides the thin line between gameified and ill-defined really well, I'm looking forward to see how the author continues to expand on it. Mild spelling errors but never enough to take me out of the story and outside of that the grammar is clean. I would highly recommend this story to anyone looking for a complex, character driven fantasy adventure story or who enjoys well written slice of life stories.
NeonGhostRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
From what I've read so far the story is incredibly well written, I just won't be continuing because it's a multi pov heavy story and that's just not my thing. I do recommend for anyone who is into that to read this story though. Truly an enjoyable experience and I wish more stories on RR were of this quality.
ShadyPopeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
There is a lot of things to like here. We've got well written characters, interesting worldbuilding and mature themes. The plot is technically simple, what with Wanily's goal of becoming the Archmage, but with the various small arcs, all with new characters and subplots it has not been boring at all.
The form of the story is unusual and is a first for me. Instead of following the story through Wanily's point of view we see most of her journey through the eyes of side characters focal to each arc, or you could say: the main characters of each arc. All of their plots either focus entirely or are heavily entangled with Wanily so don't worry that they might lead you away from the main plot. I like how the author executed this style and I find this quite refreshing but it might not be for everyone.
The story is quite mature, includes family issues, abuse, loneliness and in general can evoke some heavy emotions. I personally think it's one of its strengths but people looking for a lighter read beware. All those elements are usually tied to a lesson or eventually take on a brighter, more hopeful outlook but before that it can be a bit depressing at times.
The story also might be a bit slower in pacing than the usual fare we are used to on Royalroad, including the progression elements. More on that in the spoiler:
Instead of focusing on magic and power straight away, as is common for stories on this website, there is a lot of setup before Wanily starts learning magic. The story first focuses on the more traditional type of progression with self-growth, mundane skills and knowledge etc. Some of those skills will or already have helped her with magic(as of chapters 15-16) but it is definitely less numbers go up juice injected straight into your veins and more traditional fantasy.
In conclusion, story be good and me want more story. Can't wait to read what the author is cooking and they be cooking good.
P.S. One thing that I'm personally not fond of but others might disagree i
v0lcanoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Excellent story, I absolutely LOVED reading it. But a quick warning for anyone about to dive in - skip the prologue. It has very little relation to the start of the book and, if put chronologically, would be near when the series ends - which I don't think is even close to being written yet. It feels lowkey like an author-made spoiler. Just lowkey because details are sparse. But what is there I feel doesn't add anything.
With that out of the way, here is why you should ABSOLUTELY read this story.
First, the author uses a method of storytelling that's very unique, especially in progression fantasy. Every POV is from other characters who encounter the protagonist. This style of storytelling ends up doing a whole bunch of things. First among those, every POV character is knowledgeable about things Wanily (the MC) is not, and provide a whole lot of context - context about why things happen the way they do, context about the location the characters are in, and most mundanely, the context of the POV characters thoughts. Each POV character has a different way of seeing the world, and that changes how they view and interact with Wanily, and which flaws of theirs are brought out and confronted, then overcome, with Wanily's aid. Every POV character is their own mini-arc, both for them and Wanily, and it's lovely.
Emotional impact - there are parts of the story that are very sad, very poignant, and others that are very satisfying and hopeful. If you're like me, you will cry while reading this. But while there are a lot of sad events, and some tragedies, the overall tone is still positive, so it's not depressing. A lot of the most tragic happenings - for the POV characters and Wanily - were never inevitable, being avoidable events that happened anyway due to conflicting interests and chance. There wasn't any particular reason that events followed the path they did outside of that, which is what I think makes for a good tragedy.
Next, the quality of writing is just really, really
vetsinRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
It started off rough for me, too much flowery language that seemingly didn't add value. It also was a little difficult as it was hard for me to grow attached to any character early on with things jumping around. That said it's a very interesting story, even if I think the writing sometimes loses me just a little. Id compare it, so far, to The Last Orellen by sieley, which I also enjoy. It may be just me but the story does seem to flow much better as I go on, and I look forward to reading more. Thanks.
DraconisViridisRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Slice-of-life so far, a few pieces of interest, but did author-san learn the secret art of filler-no-jutsu? If you like picking prosaic petunias, this is for you.
Characters themselves are real, story is good (when you get to it), but wowzers does it take a long time to get anywhere - and I'm a speed reader!