i really thought I’d like this one but it ended up being a huge disappointment. it has the typical fantasy set up, with someone who doesn’t have a good grasp on their magic and is shunned because of it. i honestly was so confused for the first half of this book, the author really just throws you into the story and i had no idea what was going on. then when we start to get more insight into the world and how it works, it’s given through chunks of info dumping that made the writing feel even more clunky than it did before. there’s also way too many POVs (around 5 or 6, maybe?) and they all blurred together for me besides Naila, Haelius and Entonin. i could not for the life of me connect to the characters and because of that i wasn’t interested in how things would turn out for them. i will say that the ending was action packed and there’s dragons— so this book DID have some potential but i just couldn’t get into it much.

Something about this book was not hitting for me. I thought the writing was beautiful but I think resulted in a slow story. Also it was not focused on world building (I would be interested in reading a not fantasy book from this author). The characters were frustrating most of the time and their decisions were frustrating.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the opportunity to read and review The Outcast Mage.

I loved the world-building in the book, there was so much history and lore packed into every page that I was always stumbling on something new.

While I really enjoyed this, there were a lot of uncomfortable parallels to real life with Oriven sweeping in and establishing himself as a dictator working under the guise of the city’s best interests.

I loved watching Naila grow into her power and enjoyed her found family with (redacted) and I’m so eager to see where the story goes in the sequel.

Because of the slow start (it took me two weeks to read the first half and an evening to finish the last), I’m giving this 4.5/5 stars.

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an ARC of The Outcast Mage.

I was so excited to read this book, it had all the makings for me to enjoy it. This is a debut high-fantasy novel from Annabel Campbell. As a debut, I am a bit more lenient on my ratings because the author is still working on their craft. I can honestly see Annabel Campbell becoming an amazing fantasy author. She has a great starting point but there are areas for improvement.

My biggest issue with this book was the pacing. It felt like nothing happened for half of the book. It was very slow to read and when I thought the pace was picking up it only slowed down more. As well as the world building being a lot all at once. There were times when you can see the author trying to weave in the world building into a scene naturally, but it did not read like it. There was many times where the world building was just dumped upon you.

I did really enjoy being thrown straight into an intense scene and figuring out what is happening in the world. My favorite parts of the story were the interlude portions. The mystery kept me reading long after I should have stopped. This is honestly a great debut that has the bones to become a great series. I am very happy to have read this and cannot wait to continue to see where the series progresses.

I strongly recommend checking this one out, but maybe keep your expectations on the lower side and know that it is a slower paced read.

What do you do when you have magic but can’t do anything about it? That question haunts our main character Naila - called the “Hollow Mage,” using an insult towards those without magic, she is one of the oldest students still taking her class - and she still can’t perform even the simplest of spells. The problem is - she has magic, and if she never learns how to control it one day it’ll consume and destroy her. But when she finally finds out where her power lies, it might just be the thing causing destruction in her home.

Filled with political tension, magical bigotry, and an overarching plot connecting multiple different perspectives together, The Outcast Mage is perfect for fans of intense fantasy worldbuilding and multi-POV stories. While it takes a while for the reader to fully understand everything going on in this story, dumping us into the world with little buildup - as the novel progresses you’re able to begin to piece together the larger puzzle.

I loved the characters within this story, and there were even a few that surprised me with how much I grew to love them, but every character had a reason for their perspective to be included and I never found a chapter lacking or like a character could have been removed without losing any of the plot.

My biggest issue was only that sometimes when a chapter would end and the next would start, we would be shoved further in the story than we had left it, and had to figure out what exactly happened in the meantime. It wasn’t always entirely jarring, but there were a few times where (Naila especially) would be in a situation and the chapter would end, and then the next chapter shows her already having resolved that same issue.

A book that sharply reflects the American political landscape, with a central political figure taking more and more power and preaching hatred towards a group of citizens living within their city - blaming them for each and every problem regardless of facts - and creating a group of secret police that follow only him to root out dissension and arresting anyone who isn’t a member of his “in-group,” this book has a refreshing amount of things to say within its pages.

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Orbit Books for providing this e-ARC.

This book drops you right into the story with no explanations or worldbuilding. It is extremely off-putting as it feels like you're in the middle of a series instead of the beginning. I thought the characters dialogue and writing in general was very awkward and didn't enjoy reading this book.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC!

It took me about 20% of the book to really understand what was happening and who all the characters were. The frequent POV changes didn’t click with me for some reason, and I don’t think all of them were necessary. Once I started figuring things out, I began to enjoy the story more.

That said, I often felt like I was reading a lot without making much progress. There was a lot of overwhelming world-building, which sometimes felt redundant or misplaced—like character descriptions for people introduced much earlier in the story. The pacing was inconsistent, with sections that would pick up only to slow back down for much of the book.

However, around the 70% mark, things really started moving, and I found myself flying through the pages! I’ll definitely pick up the sequel when it comes out.

What a fantastic read! The Outcast Mage had everything I look for in a high fantasy: interesting characters, clever magic system, in-depth worldbuilding, varied relationship dynamics, and just the right blend of action and slower moments. I admit, it took me a few chapters to fully get into it. Like many high fantasies of this caliber, The Outcast Mage doesn't spoon feed you the details. Campbell knows how to weave her world building into the plot, so you're never overwhelmed with information but you aren't left confused, either. Some things might not make sense at first, but they all come together beautifully.

I can't decide which character is my favorite. Initially, I thought Larinne was the primary FMC, but her chapters really set the stage for Naila to shine. And Naila is wonderful! Her actions reflect the hardships of her life: rejected by mages because she cannot access her magic, but not magic-less enough to be accepted by non-mages, she has never felt truly loved or welcomed. She is insecure and a little bit stubborn, and watching her character growth as she discovers her own unique abilities was a true delight. Honestly, all of the characters are equally enjoyable to read, and given the cliffhanger of an ending, I cannot wait to see what happens next.

The Southwest Asia/North Africa setting was also such a breath of fresh air. It's obvious that Campbell has done her research and had her work reviewed by sensitivity/cultural readers. I loved it. I loved the implication of the effects of magic on the environment, and I'm so intrigued by the references to the wars, etc that take place before the start of the story. There's an impressive amount of depth, and I think it's written in a way that is really accessible to all readers of fantasy.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for giving me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, it has some issues and the story is a bit all over the place, but I think this is a good start for a new fantasy series and I am excited to see where this series goes from here.

I didn’t feel connected to this story or any of the characters. The plot was not complex or interwoven enough to need multiple points of view, so instead of making for a richer story, it made the narrative convoluted. It has a good premise but the world building was extremely weak and i think the author tried to use the multiple povs to cover that.

Rounded up from 2.5 stars

The Outcast Mage is a lively, high fantasy debut. It’s what I’d call a kitchen sink fantasy. Lots of different fantasy tropes, most not well developed. It reminded me a bit of the Eragon series. Good bones, a well worn plot and characters, in need of some work.

The title of the Outcast Mage is a bit of a misnomer. At this stage, Naila is neither an outcast nor a mage. The world building is fine, nothing groundbreaking, but there are multiple “main” characters and very abrupt plot changes. It doesn’t help that characters have multiple names and titles that make it hard to get them straight. The author introduces something that will be important at the end as Interludes, but the Interludes seem out of place and pointless for most of the book.

Naila is an older student who can’t pass the basics of magic but can’t be released from school until she shows she has control of her powers. She clearly has powers, but they don’t manifest in any way like the powers of others. She is a pretty stock character – she is an orphan, she stands out in her unusual appearance alone, she fits in nowhere, she has an unknown power no one understands. There’s a stock conflicted wizard and a stock evil bad guy. A priest healer. The welcoming couple who run the local pub. The mysterious mercenary who may be something more than a mercenary. It reads a bit like a D&D campaign. It’s a typical us against them story – those with magic, those without magic. And those who have magic but came from those who didn’t better watch out. Politics and religion come into play.

I found the narrative slow going until we found out the truth of Naila’s powers. Based on book 1, I expect this to be part of a very long series. So many things get barely introduced. I found the conflicted powerful wizard and his oldest, dearest friend to be the most interesting characters.

The Outcast Mage is not a bad book, but it’s clearly a debut and is a little under edited. The author shows promise that is not fully realized in The Outcast Mage. Will I read book two? Maybe.

I read an advance reader copy of The Outcast Mage from Netgalley.

I was really looking forward to this book as the premise sounded incredibly intriguing but I made it about 15% of the way into the book and could not figure out if I cared about the characters enough or not. I generally give a book 50-100 pages to hook me in and I just was not feeling it with this book. I'm not sure if this is a failing on my part with not feeling in a fantasy mood, but I tried to pick this up three separate times (starting over each time) and I just could not make it past this 77 page mark. The glossary was a nice addition, but it still did not help me with forming attachments to these characters. I wish this book all the best, though, as it does have promise! Just not the book for me.

The Outcast Mage is a high fantasy debut that sets up this world and conflict. The multi-POV let's us see into the perspectives of different characters. From the very first page, the reader is immersed into this world. I found it very confusing in the beginning with not much explained. The multiple POVs did not help this confusion. While I enjoyed reading about the magic and the mages in this story, I found myself putting this down often. The beginning of the novel was very slow, with most of the conflict on the back end. Overall, I think it was a decent start to this series. I wonder how things will get tied together.

This is a very easy and uncomplicated read - there is not a lot of background info and the characters feel deceptively simple. But at the same time, we've read this unique snowflake plot before (typically in YA) as well as the usual "mage vs mage hater public" scenario. So this did not feel original at all. Because it is fairly straightforward, it also felt like not much happened in this first volume.

Story: In a land beset by a war over whether mages are acceptable or to be reviled, several characters become embroiled in magical anomalies that could be presaging a coming conflict. A student with strange powers, a very talented mage, an administrator, and a priest all have fates intertwine as magic begins to go awry.

The story centers around three people mostly, though there are multiple POVs: A magic student with seeming no magic, her young mentor (one of the greatest magicians of the time), and the magician's friend who is heavily steeped in the politics of her land. They will discover that the student has an old and powerful magic that makes her a target for those who would manipulate her and take over the world.

The book Is part politics and part journey. As such, it can feel inert since it is mostly about discovering the issue around strange magical happenings. But the prose flows smoothly and it is a very quick and easy read.

In all, because of the tired plot of unique snowflake and mage vs non mage, I didn't get into the book as I would have liked. But it was by no means a terrible book and the characters were painfully earnest. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

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The Outcast Mage begins right in the middle of the story, with minimal explanation or buildup. It felt like I started the book about a quarter of the way through, leaving me a little lost and unsure of the characters and their motivations.

That said, I did enjoy some of the characters. They had depth and a sense of mystery that kept me curious about what was happening. However, I struggled to fully connect with the story and ultimately decided to put it down at 30%.

I do think this book could appeal to many readers, especially those who prefer less emphasis on world-building and enjoy getting to the heart of the story right away. It’s also a great choice for readers who aren’t looking for romance to play a central role in the plot.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books. My review is voluntarily my own.

★★★★

"The Outcast Mage" is an enchanting debut that breathes fresh life into familiar magical academy tropes. Set in the fascinating glass city of Amoria, this novel follows Naila, a struggling mage whose uncontrollable power threatens to either save or destroy everything she holds dear. Campbell crafts a compelling narrative about belonging, power, and the price of acceptance that kept me turning pages well into the night.

The worldbuilding shines brightest here - the glass city of Amoria feels both otherworldly and tangible, with its magical academy politics and social hierarchies ringing true. The relationship between Naila and her mentor Haelius provides the emotional core of the story, avoiding the usual student-teacher clichés in favor of a more nuanced dynamic. Their scenes together are particularly well-crafted, balancing character development with advancing the plot.

While some of the political machinations in the latter half feel slightly rushed, and a few side characters could use more development, these are minor quibbles in an otherwise strong debut. Campbell excels at building tension, particularly in scenes where Naila struggles to control her powers, creating genuine stakes that had me holding my breath.

The novel succeeds in addressing weightier themes about power, privilege, and prejudice through the lens of its "hollow" outcasts, while never losing sight of the personal story at its heart. Though it occasionally treads familiar ground, Campbell's fresh voice and deft handling of complex characters make this a standout in the genre.

Perfect for readers who enjoy character-driven fantasy with a dash of political intrigue and a generous helping of magical academia. Despite some rough edges, this promising debut leaves me eager to see what Campbell writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for an eArc of this book in exchange for a honest, unbiased review!

Naila attends a magic school for mages without magic. That is, she has the aptitude for it, but for whatever reason, she can't perform any of the same magical benchmarks as her fellow classmates. She's been at this magical school for some time now and has already resigned herself to washing out and all of the baggage that entails, when one of the most powerful wizards in the city takes her under his wing. He's determined to figure out what to do about her problem, and why her magic is different than everyone else's.

We also have Entonin, a priest from a neighboring kingdom with a poor view of mages, arrives in the city with his bodyguard Karameth. Entonin is here ostensibly for negotiations and to try and smooth over feelings on both sides, but is actually there as a spy for a secret organization.

Alongside all of this is Oriven, leader of the city, casually standing up a magic army, seizing control of the food supply, and pitting mage against non-mage citizens. We don't see too much of him directly in this book, but his magical fingers are busily sowing unrest with an eye toward seeing non-mages removed from the city.

I will say, the onboarding in this book is difficult to get through. A lot of terms, places, and concepts are thrown at you from the very beginning, and I found myself consulting the glossary in the back fairly often until things started to stick. There's a lot of information dumps early on, paving the way for the rest of the book. I feel like things start smoothing out after the first quarter or so of the book. I also feel like the bad guy of this particular book, Oriven, didn't get nearly enough direct viewpoints. He shows up in two chapters for maybe two pages apiece, and his existence in the rest of the book is other members of the government talking about what new laws he's enacted or what new controversial thing he's done. He's more of a force in this book than he is an actual antagonist.

But I thought the good parts of the book were enough to really make me enjoy this by the end. I thought the writing was descriptive and really pulled me into the city alongside Naila. I thought the political story being told was intriguing, and the last quarter of the book or so really had me on edge. I thought Naila was a really great female lead, and she had one particularly stand-out scene near the end that I loved. The side characters were also all interesting in their own right, which was also nice. I could go for an Entonin/Karameth novella/series, honestly.

All that to say, if you can get through the information flung at you in the beginning, you're rewarded with a pretty interesting political story, a strong female lead I can get behind, and a fantastic ending that leaves me waiting impatiently for the second book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free ecopy in exchange for an honest review.

First off, thanks to NetGalley & Orbit Books for the ARC of “The Outcast Mage”.



While I very much enjoyed this story, it could have done with a bit more world building at the beginning, we were dumped right into a world we knew nothing about with unfamiliar characters, a bit more context would have been useful.

That said, the story was enjoyable, a ‘coming of age’, found family, quest of a story with mages, wizards, politics, and a quest. Nalia needs to find her power, it’s there, she just can’t reach it…until a wizard unexpectedly enters her life. 

Potential betrayal around many corners, imprisonment possible, Nalia is forced to flee the city in dramatic fashion on a quest with unexpected companions leaving anyone she’s ever known behind.


It’s a fun story, one I read very quickly as I kept wanting to come back to it, and I definitely look forward to reading the next instalment when it happens, for now, I say give The Outcast Mage a shot and discover a new world of fantasy.

3.5/5 - Solid

JL

We follow an ensemble cast but the main character is definitely Naila and her journey. A mage without magic but with the ability to sense others....she must find out if she'll save the world or destroy it. A wizard who'll help her unleash/discover her magic. With much, much more. This book was fantastic! Epic fantasy filled with magic, political intrigue, multi pov and one of the best tropes found family.
The pacing was nice and the world building was excellent.
Overall if you love fantasy this book is definitely for you.

DNF at 24%. The writing is perfectly lovely, but Outcast Mage seems to be retreading very familiar ground and I'm bored, honestly. This might be a hit with anyone craving classic vibes (but with more brown people!) but maybe not so good a fit for anyone looking for something new.