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A review by dc7
Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe
4.0
Basically, this is HARRY POTTER meets POKEMON. It's a fun read and it feels a lot like a video game, especially the chapters inside the tower.
But here's the first wrong expectation I had when I picked up the book: I thought the whole thing would take place inside the tower. It doesn't. We're only inside the tower for the first 10% of the story and then the majority for the book actually takes place at a magical school (which is awesome). The school felt a bit like Hogwarts with the different houses and the competition for points.
I absolutely loved Corin. He is a previous introvert and I really felt for him. The story is told in 1st person and I enjoyed Corin's sense of humour so much. His father is the worst though. Corin's half-sister Sera is a total ursurper but I loved her and she comes around and becomes Corin's ally quite quickly.
The magic system is one of the best I've ever read about and certainly the most complex. Magic users can reach different levels and have different types of magic ... I ate that stuff up. Great to nerd over. Only thing that pulled me out of the story was that Emerald-level mages, who are supposed to be incredibly rare (12 in the whole world), seem to be everywhere ...
SUFFICIENTLY ADVANCED MAGIC is LGBT friendly and there are brief mentions of same sex attraction. However, there is almost no romance in this book. A male character asks Corin to be his date and Corin agrees, but the whole thing never goes anywhere (plus Corin has much better chemistry with another male character). So don't read this book hoping for romance.
One thing I found strange is that the 17-year-old university students were constantly referred to as "children", including by themselves. I don't think any self-respecting 17-year-old would do that.
Overall it's one of the best fantasy books I've read in years. The first half would have easily been 5 stars, I had so much fun, but for some reason the 2nd half didn't grip me as much as I started to loose interest.
But here's the first wrong expectation I had when I picked up the book: I thought the whole thing would take place inside the tower. It doesn't. We're only inside the tower for the first 10% of the story and then the majority for the book actually takes place at a magical school (which is awesome). The school felt a bit like Hogwarts with the different houses and the competition for points.
I absolutely loved Corin. He is a previous introvert and I really felt for him. The story is told in 1st person and I enjoyed Corin's sense of humour so much. His father is the worst though. Corin's half-sister Sera is a total ursurper but I loved her and she comes around and becomes Corin's ally quite quickly.
The magic system is one of the best I've ever read about and certainly the most complex. Magic users can reach different levels and have different types of magic ... I ate that stuff up. Great to nerd over. Only thing that pulled me out of the story was that Emerald-level mages, who are supposed to be incredibly rare (12 in the whole world), seem to be everywhere ...
SUFFICIENTLY ADVANCED MAGIC is LGBT friendly and there are brief mentions of same sex attraction. However, there is almost no romance in this book. A male character asks Corin to be his date and Corin agrees, but the whole thing never goes anywhere (plus Corin has much better chemistry with another male character). So don't read this book hoping for romance.
One thing I found strange is that the 17-year-old university students were constantly referred to as "children", including by themselves. I don't think any self-respecting 17-year-old would do that.
Overall it's one of the best fantasy books I've read in years. The first half would have easily been 5 stars, I had so much fun, but for some reason the 2nd half didn't grip me as much as I started to loose interest.