Paranoid Mage

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Now on Book Five!  Check the Volumes selector to make sure you start at the right place!

Book One: Paranoid Mage

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Callum had seen things all his life.  There are monsters and beasts living among people, but he learned very early not to admit such things, not if he didn’t want people to think him crazy.

It turns out that the supernatural is real, but at thirty Callum has no desire to be part of that secret.  Not that he has a choice when it turns out he is a mage, albeit one that hasn’t cast any spells in all his life.  There are requirements, duties, and education that the powers that be insist he be subject to.

To hell with that.

Book Two: Renegade Mage

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After escaping from the Guild of Arcane Regulation and the Bureau of Secret Enforcement, Callum has lost his greatest protection: his obscurity.  Now the powers that be know who he is, and hiding is harder than ever.  Nor is hiding a plan, just a reaction.

Now Callum is forced to decide how he wants to approach the supernatural world, and how he’s going to keep himself secure when the apparatus of government is arrayed against him.  Even if he wanted to live as a mage, that bridge has been thoroughly burned, and even if he wanted to live as a normal person, he is far too deep to close his eyes to what he’s seen.

He has to make his own terms.

Book Three: Heretic Mage

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Callum is at war with the Guild of Arcane Regulation, the organization that governs mages on Earth.  He’s spent most of his time lying low and hiding out, trying to understand what he can do and how he can remain free from their meddling.  What he’s learned is that he can’t.

It’s time to move from reaction to action, and take on GAR and its evils directly.

Book Four: Reclusive Mage

The Guild of Arcane Regulation has fractured, and new forces move on the board.  Callum cannot quite declare victory, for even a weakened GAR still forces him to hide from the world at large, yet he is no longer prepared to run. Instead he builds his own strengths to stand against those who wish to do him harm.

Change, once started, is hard to stop.  Callum’s actions have brought change to the world of the supernatural, but that can bring chaos and destruction even as he eliminates tyranny and corruption.  He has to move beyond being one man against the world, and stand in the world he’s made.

Book Five: Sovereign Mage

The portal to the Night Lands is closed, and vampires are barred from Earth, but at a high cost.  Not only does Callum have to deal with the fallout of the vampire race’s final spasms, but the political consequences of demonstrating his ability and willingness to attack portal worlds directly.  The forces that were moving to control a weakened GAR have come out into the open, and Callum has to deal with stakes much higher than his personal freedom.

It's time to join with his allies and move to open conflict.  Even the secret of supernatural presence on Earth is at play, and Archmage’s Council and the Seven Lesser Courts threaten the very concept of human sovereignty.  Everything comes down to removing the would-be tyrants, and so preserving the Earth as it should be.

Paranoid Mage is an urban fantasy but it goes rather sideways from the normal stuff fairly quickly.

Chapters are Fridays, 5PM EST, with approximately 5,000 words per chapter.

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Information

Status
Completed
Year
2022
Author
InadvisablyCompelled

Tags

ACTIONFANTASYMAGICMALE LEADURBAN FANTASYCONTEMPORARY

Royal Road Stats

Rating
4.7/ 5.0
Followers
17,827
Views
10,533,553

Chapters(112 total)

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

  • DlandisRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    I'll preface with: I've read and listened to each book in this series. A wonder and a treat. Lots of magic and theory and enough tomfoolery to loosen up the build in drama. A good read for anyone that approves of the fantasy genre. Callums run from the supernatural police kept me excited and turning pages. The fae were odd, always are odd. Loved the magitech and the solution to many hiding in plain sight issues. Thanks to the author for letting me glimpse into a different kind of earth.
  • GoldarchRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Very high quality writing with an interesting and different plot. Starts off as one man's struggle against a totalitarian regime and morphs into a story about the intersection of the various magical and "mundane" societies. Creative / innovative combat and magic, that while powerful doesn't [usually] seem overpowering. I prefer strong, rational protagonists that triumph over their opposition, so this was right up my alley.
  • Velk ArathRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    I love this story so far. If the rest is even half as good as the beginning it is going to be one of the greats.
    The blend of creative and practical problem solving to magical problems really appeals to me after so many stories that basically break down to 'want it harder'.
  • petercoRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    It's a great read.
    It starts of strong with a new twist on the good old urban fantasy - the protagonist is an adult, notices all the shady things in the worldbuilding, and tries to get out.
    He ends up a kind of villegante freedom fighter, but never devolves into hoboism, and doesn't take unnecesary stupid risks. (Except this once in book 3 or so when his wife bullied him into it.) Morailty is complicated, there are many 'right' courses of action, and Well's course of action is one of them.
    The worldbuilding is excelent, I especially love the fey of this story. The history of the mage world could have been expanded upon, we only see hints of it, but it's enough to tell us archmages came into being maybe around 1600ad. We don't really know anything that happened in that period though.
    The ending is good and satisfying. No silly "surprise" victory for the protagonist, but rather we see a satisfying build down. And an happy-but-not-boring epilogue/hapily every after.
    The story is finished. Go read it whilst it's all there!
  • irondruid7Royal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    I think the strong suit of this story is a mc who operates on a different line of thinking than normal, and it results in the mc making choices you don't often see mc's making.. And it feels completely genuine. It's less "This is my character's gimmick" and more "This is who my mc is, so let's see what he does in these situations I put him in".
    Plus, even if it wasn't for his paranoid personality, his story would still feel original because the author didn't give him the generic introduction. Or they did, but then they subverted it very quickly and seamlessly by virtue of the mc not being someone who'd go down the generic route lol. He had the chance and then went "Nope. I'm out of here."
    Tbh this is something I could see getting published. With an actual publishing company I mean. Though I guess that still largely depends on where the author plans to go from the... eighth chapter I just finished. But it feels very put together and the characters are great.
  • Lord PongRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    The technobabble makes sense, I appreciate the characters albeit they are a bit shallow. The action! my god the action scenes are great.
    And after finishing this novel I can say it with complete confidence that this ended great! while it wasn'nt a *strong* ending it was a good one and that's already a high bar.
  • NightTrainedRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    The only parts of this truly interesting take on urban fantasy is the transition from normality to magic. The section is hugely rushed and nearly made me stop reading. Im very pleased I didn't and I cannot wait for new chapters to drop.
    Take your typical loner that has found their niche in life. Now, try to force totalitarian ideals and expectations on their life due to circumstances beyond your control and you get an aggressive loner that uses their creativity to enforce that isolation. Prepare for unforseen consequences, established power structures.
    Give it a shot.
  • starportDOTsethRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Its not so much that the mc is op but the rest of the world's mages are garbage. They round them up young and conscript them into dangerous scenarios that kill many and prevent the rest from exploring the magic system on their own, needing working spells now to survive. All information on spells and inner workings of magic are super secret and intentionally not taught or shared. Once they do learn a certain way of thinking and casting they are basically stuck in that rutz and they live longer than normal forcing everyone else into the same rut with them. It leaves room for innovation and incorporating muggle ideas, which is how th mc barely keeps ahead of such powerful and widespread enemies.
  • BlazingstarRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    This deserves and anime!!!
    The character is not overpowered like in other fantasy novels, but uses his ingenuity to pass through crisis.
    The romance is fine and not exaggerated.
    The pace of the story was really nice, kept me engaged almost all the time.
    Love that his best friend is one of the most OP existences in that universe, but does not overly help the MC and is a Gym bro.
  • wip3outbruceRoyal Road
    ★★★★★ 4.5
    This is the 2nd time I have read Paranoid Mage. The novel is a refreshing look into magic with a healthy dose of espionage (hiding, planning, assassinations etc) thrown into it.
    Some chapters were too slow, and others I wished the auther expanded on the magic action to truly pull you into it all. Most of the time it was just right.
    If you fancy yourself a magi nut, and ever wondered what you would do if you discovered you had magic powers all of a sudden, this one is for you. Hopefully you have the same broken ability as Callum has to make your transition easier. Who knows... you might be the catalyst for some change in the world.
    Thoroughly enjoyed it, makes a great read!