Secondhand Sorcery

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Godlike power at a reasonable price.

Istanbul, 2012. Decades of paranormal research have led to a new golden age in black ops, and Titus Marshall's adopted family of orphan conjurers is an attractive option for a government looking for mayhem on the cheap. A small troupe of children, wielding stolen powers, can eradicate an entire army of conventional soldiers--then return to the shadow of their fearsome father. But all children have to grow up sometime. The fledgling sorcerers are ready to leave the nest, and plenty of people are waiting to help them out of it. The only question is how they will find their freedom, and how much of the world will survive the process.

Secondhand Sorcery is a military fantasy (with sci-fi aspects), told from multiple perspectives, about trauma, greed, identity, and whatactuallyhappens when you give terrifying magical powers to teenagers.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2022
Author: Theredsheep

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 283
Views: 174,025

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

DysfortuneRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
One of the best-written stories I've seen on Royalroad. It has well-written characters with diverse viewpoints, their own struggles and feelings, and who make their own actions that drive the plot - whether you're screaming at them to stop or not. The world is fleshed out and realistic around the fantastical elements that have been added in. The plot doesn't stall due to being dragged out with poor pacing, but because the characters aren't Mary Sues the story maintains tension and intrigue as the situation changed.
Recommended if you're looking for something interesting and fun to read that isn't your standard isekai junk food.
HisperiaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I can’t put a number to the times I’ve had my intellect prodded into stumbling upon a great classic which I found myself ignorant of. All while enjoying this work set locations among historical narratives that harmonize well with my interests.
I find myself coming up short on ways to express my pleasure without expounding in essay format. I’m getting the feeling that when I’m finished I will be doing just that. There’s no way to properly explain and express how thrilled I am reading this kind of novel in this kind of setting with such level of extreme care taken for setting and context.
Usually I wait to review until I’ve finished however I’m making an exception. Nadia is looking like everything you would want in a lead character even more so perhaps considering her young age. This is an easy favorite already, highly recommend giving it a read.
JeffersonSighsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Secondhand Necromancy is a thrilling and beautifully written novel that explores the complexities of grief, identity, power and religion.
The story follows the journey of a young woman named Nadia, who has been suborned into a cult lead by a self-proclaimed ruler alongside her brother. She struggles to come to terms with the life she has been forced into, and we see how her goals develop naturally from this. Upon gaining a new familiar, Nadia is drawn into a dangerous world of magic and politics, where she must confront her own family first and the rest of the world soon later.
What sets Secondhand Necromancy apart is its vivid and immersive world-building, which blends elements of contemporary urban life with the supernatural. The setting is richly detailed and vividly realized, and the pacing is fast and the action intense, making for a page-turning read.
But it is the characters that really shine in this novel. Nadia is a complex and deeply 'real' protagonist, and the supporting cast is equally well-developed. The relationships between the characters are complex and nuanced, adding depth and emotional resonance to the story.
Overall, Secondhand Necromancy is a must-read for fans of urban fantasy and anyone looking for a beautifully written, emotionally powerful novel.
Joseph GreenwoodRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Fascinating, gripping and engaging, Secondhand Sorcery grapples with themes of geopolitics, faith, and trying to do the right thing in a messy and unjust world in a way that is sincere and heartbreaking and heartwarming by turns. It's never content to be shallow, and engages in neither platitudes nor grandstanding.
The only webserials I can grope for a comparison to are Wildbow's--Secondhand Sorcery is different in tone, in scope, and in content, but in both Redsheep's and Wildbow's works I find an unflinching gaze focused on the beauty and tragedy of the human soul, highlighted by well-grounded magic and a well-thought-out world.
NotMCRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story is a realistically presented thriller in a well developed world, with Characters that show personalities dyed in grey, with personal circumstances and wavering loyalties. Well written, no infodumps and no righteous saints or Mary Sue in sight.
I don’t like thrillers personally so I won't keep reading, but if you're a fan of Agent Thrillers give this one a chance.
ShadowkeyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Secondhand Sorcery is an engaging and well-written urban fantasy story set in a world that answers the question, ‘What would have happened if something came of governments’ attempts to look into the supernatural as a viable means for military use?’
With a tagline like: ‘Godlike power at a reasonable price’. It’s hard not be interested. The story focuses on a troupe of children soldiers, who are a direct result of the aforementioned militarization of the supernatural, and led by one, Titus Marshall. Mr. Marshall is a man I like to playfully describe as a cosplayer with too much power (I’m sure you’ll understand when you meet him.), but don’t take that description and see him as joke of a character. As you see, Mr. Marshall is a man that has found a way to turn the misfortune of others into his profit, through the reclaiming of lost assets and making them his own. Those assets being that of Familiars.
As a fan of Jojo’s Bizarre of Adventure and Persona the idea of summoned spirits with special abilities is always appealing to me, but don’t take that description as all there is. There is more to Familiars and they are fucking terrifying.
So far the story follows the perspective of two characters, Nadia and Keisha. I think it’s safe to say that Nadia is the dominant protagonist though.
Nadia is one of the many children owned by Titus Marshall and she’s also a young girl that has lost a lot because of him. Which is an interesting situation for a child to be in. Nadia, to me, is someone with a lot of anger, but it doesn’t show because of how defeated she feels. Having no one to properly rely on, (even though her actual brother is also present, but he’s… Let’s just say that Yuri is a bit different in the way he thinks.) Nadia is someone that relies heavily on faith, out of equal parts fear, hopelessness and loneliness. At the start of the story Nadia is sent out to become yet another proper asset for her adoptive father. Something she desperately needs for her own survival
Wishful_seer_AngelRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The reality of a new power changing warfare is really painted well. The character interactions are nice to read and the imagery and description of powers is superb and entertaining to read . Grammar is good although i dislike the font. Another great story not meant for this site. I binged a bunch of chapters and it’s highly entertaining.
aarongertlerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A thrilling story based on a highly original magic system, with relatable (yet imperfect) protagonists and more geopolitical ambition than any other RR story I've seen? Nothing not to like! Feels closer to an actual, Hugo-competitive novel than something I'd find for free online. And I'd very gladly read many pages of notes about the Emissor system outside the main story, which is not something I usually say.
cagrifRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I’m giving this a five star review because the work is quite good in terms of the authors ability to convey emotion through use of words, and the setting and plot are both extremely interesting. I find that my personal feelings on this work are a bit different than my rating, at first the reading experience was like riding a roller coaster, and then that roller coaster never ended. I think that’s where the story lost me a bit, there is never a moment of calm or peace and I think the story would greatly benefit from it not just because it would make the pacing better but because the characters are very hard to connect with. I feel bad for all of them, but none of them are particularly like able in my opinion, Nadia’s got a superiority complex, Ruslan is somewhat of a wimp, Yuri’s crazy and Fatima is the most likeable of the characters so far but is becoming less so. It’s not that I have a problem with a story having a seemingly unlike able mc that has to grow up and get character development but when it’s every one of the main characters it gets a bit hard to swallow. I guess it just boils down to the pacing for me, I was shocked to find out that all the chapters I had read and everything that had happened had only taken place within three months.
I think Yuri staying dead is a bit too far for me, with Ruslan now having the ability to bring back the dead. I would have understood it if Yuri was really depicted as this completely messed up person but he never outright wanted to hurt any member of the family. And it just seems out of character for Nadia to give up so easily on him just because she could tell he was lying but had no idea what he was lying about. And it seems like it’s portrayed as if Yuri doing what he did was somehow any worse than any of the other things he did in the past just because Fatima had weird ideas about staying with them.
All in all, the reading experience reminds me of Vita Nostra a bit and I really like that but really disliked the pacing.
incurianRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The world building is top notch, I am contiually impressed with the level of detail he manages to effortlessly imply without getting bogged down in lore dumps. The characters, even the ones I hate, are so real and believable that you get sucked in and start to really care about them. These days I basically just read theredsheep exclusively, he's the best. My only critique is I wish he would write more, once a week isn't enough!