well written fantasy story with a very awesome main character and some very fun twists. i like the worldbuilding although at times its a bit trite. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

The Outcast Mage by Annabel Campbell follows the story of Naila, a mage who cannot seem to access her magic in a city where magic is everything. The plot explores how a single figurehead can wield fear as a tool for control, while unraveling the mystery behind Naila’s power (or lack-thereof).

The book takes a multiple POV approach, which is never my favorite. With that being said, I think Campbell is successful in her execution, as she mostly sticks to Naila’s perspective, which is the most compelling.

Naila is, crucially, an outcast in this story, but the lack of a true sense of camaraderie among the characters diminishes the emotional depth a bit. The narrative hints at potential found-family dynamics, but they don’t fully materialize until much later in the story. This lack of emotional connection may cause some readers to struggle with fully investing in the characters, though the political plot remains gripping enough that I still found it easy to stay engaged.

The pacing of The Outcast Mage was fairly typical of a fantasy novel. The first two thirds of the book establish the world, magic system, and set the stage for the plot effectively with just the right amount of exposition. The final third of the story is the payoff - I could not put it down and devoured it in a single evening.

Overall, while the book doesn’t fully deliver on the emotional connections one might hope for, its political and social commentary, combined with a strong plot, makes it a worthy read. The ending leaves enough questions unanswered to make me eagerly anticipate the sequel.

There was something wonderfully nostalgic about this while also feeling fresh. The multiple POVs kept the action going and every character had their own part to play in the overarching conflict. There's school drama, a developing teacher/student, father/daughter relationship, political strife, discrimination (mages vs non magical folk), and a great surprise appearance by some fantasy creature favorites at the end. As much as I love high fantasy, I'm often confused at the beginning when the world is being built (I also have a difficult time learning the controls when I start a new video game, so this struggle follows me everywhere in life), but I actually found this very easy to follow.

Naila: a 17 year old mage student at the Academy, an orphan, unable to actually use magic (or is she?), treated terribly by most other mages
Haelius: the most powerful wizard around, in his 30s, born from non-magical parents ("hollow-born"/Mudblood angst), very idealistic and also very foolish (my favorite type of man)
Larinne: member of the mage Senate, Harlius's childhood friend and possibly paramour
Entonin: priest/spy for a somewhat antagonistic neighboring kingdom, hot for his hot bodyguard
Ra'akea: badass lady, tracker/hunter? old? ???

The first chapter is a mage political rally that devolves into mob violence. That sets up an undercurrent of tension and dread throughout much of the book; you know there'll be more violence, you just don't know when it'll bubble forth. Some of the characters made extremely shortsighted decisions in the face of this, and quite a few of them had upsettingly centrist views when there was a clear oppressor vs oppressed dynamic in Amorian society, but these were also unfortunately believable and very human. The geography/culture had some clear MENA influences, which was refreshing to read, but I think most of the characters are polytheist.

This was a fun beginning to what I can see being a very interesting fantasy series. I can't wait to see where this goes.

In Amoria, all mages must learn control at the Academy and only then are they released back to their lives. For Naila, that has meant 9 years struggling, caught between what she once knew of her life in the Southern Quarter and her alleged abilities. When a renowned Wizard takes her under his tutelage, she may finally find out why she’s different and where that may take her.

The Outcast Mage was reminiscent of Babel for me in the sense of a dark academia based in a world where there are magical haves and non-magical have nots. Zealots abound and the political machinations that Halieus struggles to navigate to protect Naila and teach her how to access her magic.

Normally I’m not a fan of multi POV stories, but it absolutely added to the depth and pacing of the storyline weaving its way together for the reader.

I am absolutely keeping my eye out for book two and highly recommend giving this a read!

Thank you to Net Galley and Hachette Book Group for the opportunity to review.

I enjoyed this opening novel in this series! The Outcast mage followed someone who can't touch her magic and yet she has the aptitude/ability to be a mage, a high-ranking mage "wizard", and a mage on a high governing council. As the story opens, tensions are rising between those with magic, and those without "hollows"--or at least, tensions are being manufactured so that a certain faction of mages can rise to power. Each of these characters is thrust into different aspects of the coup, and the outcome hangs upon the outcast mage's ability to harness a strange, unexpected magic...

The Outcast Mage is coming soon! Thank you to @orbitbooks_us for the review copy.

This is a fun book, nuanced characters, and an interesting setting/ plot line. Magic system is well-done and our FMC is a lonely, fierce student at a magical academy. Definitely a lot of political intrigue and a slow burn plot that feeds us world building rather than a complete info dump.

I believe there is a lot of grow growing ahead for our main character as she struggles with her identity as well as her newfound magical abilities. Something that you may enjoy is that this is a multiple POV book and it is interesting to have different perspective on this city at large.

I think my favourite character may have been the antagonist of the story who had probably the most compelling chapters. This is a stunning debut fantasy novel, and I truly recommended for people who are looking for something a little different.

My only gripe and this may be resolved in other books is that the plot was so slow at the first 50% and I believe this was due to that fact that we needed a lot of context and information, but due to that it took me a rather long time to plow through the first 50%

Overall I quite enjoyed the characters and world building! The writing was well done and the magic system was quite unique based on a lot of other fantasy I’ve read recently. This is definitely fantasy with a dash of romance sprinkled in and it will be the first book in a series. Naila is a lonely and fierce FMC and it was neat to see her journey from the beginning. I am grateful for the opportunity to read this book through NetGalley as an ARC. I will say that there were a lot of characters and POVs in this book and it was a bit hard to wrap my head around for the first half of the book. I also felt like the book dragged at certain parts and most of the action wasn’t until the last quarter or so of the book, where it really picked up. I’m excited to see where this series leads next!

This felt like a fresh take on classic epic fantasy. it starts with an isolated, domed city surrounded by desert which is experiencing tensions between mages and non-mages + a clear march towards fascism, a girl trapped in between both worlds (and just such a fantastic character) and then an ensemble of other POVs slowing coloring in the rest of the world. It trickles in worldbuilding rather than info dumping and there’s still a lot unanswered after this first installment, particularly about the history of the city, workings of magic, and a mysterious force or two. I found so many of the POVs compelling and likable, making this a really enjoyable read.

I will absolutely be reading the next book to learn more.

This is a dark academia novel with some adventure thrown in so it doesn't take place in full academia setting.

I am in love with this magic system and it has a found family trope which is one of my faves! I really think this is one many will enjoy, but especially epic fantasy readers in particular. There isn't really any romance in the book and most adult fantasy readers appreciate that. Check this out!

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Outcast Mage is for people who feel nostalgic for classic high fantasy (especially with your chosen one MC at magic school who is struggling) but wants a little bit of a twist and also more women. And for it to be less white. I don’t know if I’d recommend it to those who are deeply into the hard magic system style fantasy and/or want to get in the weeds of how a magic system works, but as someone who cares little for a D&D handbook on how a world works, I had a lot of fun with it. I found this to be easy to read, though there’s a bunch of new terms that would trip me up on occasion, so it didn’t read as smoothly as I’d expect. I wouldn’t really call this “fresh” because the overall plot does feel familiar, but I thought it was polished and well crafted, so I didn’t mind.

I thought the use of multiple POVs was effective though at times the voices sounded a little similar. I felt that Campbell switched POVs at appropriate times and kept good tension throughout the novel. I liked the world itself and I thought the politics were well done (albeit impossible to misinterpret because by the end it isn’t particularly subtle). Naila’s story in particular is compelling, especially if you’re partial to coming of age stories—I’m very interested in what’s happening to the world at large and Larinne and Haelius’ stories, but Naila is at the heart of it and she’s great. The story itself is a slow burn, but the last couple of chapters and the epilogue were wild and I am very eager to read the second book!

This is an epic high fantasy story that literally throws you into the deep end with little to no explanation—and I absolutely LOVED it. The way I would describe the world/magic system is that it feels like harry potter but if the muggles knew of the existence of magic and lived side by side with the wizards - so yes SO MUCH political tension. The book is told from multiple POVs, following a student mage (Naila) who struggles to use her magic, one of the city’s strongest mages (Haelius), a mage on the council (Larinne), and a priest from another nation.

I didn’t expect to fall completely in love with Haelius, but I couldn’t help picturing him as Viktor from Arcane! He’s a deeply flawed, tragic character, which only makes him more compelling. I really enjoyed Naila’s chapters, though she did start to annoy me halfway through—but I think that’s consistent with her character, and she clearly has a lot of growth ahead of her in the next book(s). I also wanted a bit more nuance from the “villain” and a deeper understanding of his motivations, so I'm really hoping this is explored more in book 2.

One thing that really surprised was the fact that this was kind of middle eastern inspired?? I had no idea going in so catching all the references and the use of Arabic words was pretty cool! There was also a cute slow burn romance brewing between 2 of the characters that I absolutely fell in love with I NEED them to get together

All in all, this is a fantastic debut! I had a blast reading it and even shed a tear or two, lol. I’ll definitely be picking up the sequel :)

This was a really fun book! I was looking for a good epic fantasy with a strong female main character, and The Outcast Mage delivered! And an even greater surprise was the dark academia twist into the mix. I wouldn't call myself a dark academia fan per say, but I loved how it was woven into the story with fantasy elements involved. Another fun element was the fact this book had very little romance. I can see that changing in later books, however the main relationship in this book was more of a mentor/mentee situation. That was a nice change from the other fantasy books I've read recently.

Overall, definitely pick this up if you want an entertaining read. I'll be continuing this series as it's released!

This book follows the path of a young mage who seems to have no access to her magic. She lives in a glass city held together by magic, a ruling class of mages who are becoming fewer in number and a magicless class maltreated by those in power. The city is on the cusp of an upheaval, those in power are using every excuse to blame the magicless majority of being a threat to the city. There are many interesting and well written side characters in this story but it is our magicless mage who steals the show. The world is well crafted, the characters vivid and compelling and the story itself fast paced and exciting. There are flavors of Arabic mythology mixed in with the fantasy of this world. It is all wonderfully written and a pleasure to read. I look forward to the next in this series. Thank you to the publishers for allowing me to read this book in advance.

Well this was pretty cool book!

When I saw Inkstone was featuring The Outcast Mage as their Quarter 1 subscription pick, I immediately went to Netgalley to see if an ARC was available to request.

I'm happy to report it was and that I got accepted.

We started off with a magical academic setting but this became much more. I found myself so attached to Naila and Haelius. We follow this journey of self discovery and trying to find a place to fit in with some interesting elements thrown at us in the end.

I suppose my biggest criticism is the book lacked a real sense of danger and urgency. I personally didn't feel like the stakes were high enough and this felt more YA despite the Adult classification.

The Outcast Mage was still an enjoyable read and I would recommend it to readers who enjoy books that feature a high magic system, rooting for an underdog and veeeery light romantic teasing.

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit books for a copy of this ARC. All opinions are my own.

A civil war between mages and non-mages and a girl who can't use her powers meant to save them all! There is a lot of politics going on at the beginning and it takes quite a while to get to the heart of the story. I think it's well told but suffers from being too drawn out. But what it lacks for in pace it makes up for in curiosity for the story.

Thank you NetGalley, Orbit & Annabel Campbell!

This is reminiscent of classic fantasy, in a really good way!

The magic system was fairly defined, though a big part of the plot is to try to figure out the magic of Naila, the main character and titular outcast mage. The choice of POVs helped to show off different sides of the magic system, between Naila as well as Haelius, her mentor and a notably powerful mage, Larinne, a council mage and an inside look into the politics of Amoria, and Entonin, a mysterious priest who is an outsider to the city and very much not a mage - or supportive of mages. I also loved the interlude chapters, which showed a totally different side of magic and hinted strongly toward the world's overall lore.

As mentioned, the different POVs all gave interesting perspectives and added to the story. Naila is full of grit, but she's also naive, so the choice of having these particular POVs helped to round out the story in a natural way.

A highlight for me was the bit of found family vibe underlying both halves of the story. Naila, Ko, Haelius, Malek - what a group of stars together. All of the relationships between the characters were standouts, honestly.

It can be tough, launching a new epic fantasy series with multiple characters and an entirely new world and magic system, so I have to give kudos for the plot of this. We spent some good time getting to know and understand the tensions in Amoria and understand how the characters played a role in that regard, and then diverged - this wasn't a book that spent its entire time with Naila learning from Haelius, or even much time on any point of the plot, as it built quite a bit in scope across the course of the story. (And went a little bit batshit - like, I would not have predicted where and how a lot of characters ended up where they did, but it all made sense!)

A couple of things that didn't quite hit the mark for me were the world building and the characters' personalities. These seem like major things, so perhaps that's a testament to how much fun this was to read that these barely dampened my enjoyment. You get thrown right into the world, which I'm cool with, and I didn't have an issue understanding the class structures and the politics, but I do wish more time was spent on that sort of thing, since it seemed almost perfunctory, like giving just enough information so that you could move forward with the plot. However, if the last bit of the book is any indication, I'm pretty confident this series is going to delve into a lot more of the world and its history over time.

I'm equally confident that my quibble with characterizations will also fade with future books. I liked all of the characters, but, as someone who likes multi-POVs, I didn't feel like any of them had a strong narrative voice nor did I feel like I got to know their actual personalities. Obviously they were all distinct in their general shapes and plotlines, but I felt their personalities weren't super defined and that I don't really know them on any kind of deeper level. But I did like what I did get to know, I just want to know them better and fall in love with them.

A super enjoyable book, and a series from which I'm eager to read more.

Thank you to the publisher, Orbit, and to NetGalley for the ARC.

The Outcast Mage is a debut fantasy novel and the start of an exciting new fantasy series. The main character of the story is Naila, a student at the academy for mages who appears to lack in magical ability. The book is told from several points of view, including Naila’s and several other characters you are introduced to throughout the book.

When I started this book, I was thinking it was going to primarily be a fantasy academia story where Naila learns about her powers. However, about halfway through, this story becomes a hero’s journey fantasy with Naila and other characters moving away from the initial setting.

I really enjoyed the world building in this story, and I am excited to see how this world grows in future books. I also found it refreshing that this was a debut fantasy novel that is not romantasy.

If you are a fan of fantasy novels that take place in an academic setting, like strong female characters, or are looking for a new fantasy world to get lost in, check this book out.

A creative high fantasy book that would be a good re-introduction to the world of mages. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a book about mages and so that was cool. However, it’s definitely high fantasy in that the world building is a big part of it and that could get a bit info-dump-y at times

A mage bereft of her powers must find out if she is destined to save the world or destroy it in this glittering debut fantasy perfect for fans of Andrea Stewart, James Islington, and Samantha Shannon. In the glass city of Amoria, magic is everything. And Naila, student at the city's legendary academy, is running out of time to prove she can control hers. If she fails, she'll be forced into exile, relegated to a life of persecution with the other magicless hollows. Or worse, be consumed by her own power.

When a tragic incident further threatens her place at the Academy, Naila is saved by Haelius Akana, the most powerful living mage. Finding Naila a kindred spirit, Haelius stakes his position at the Academy on teaching her to harness her abilities. But Haelius has many enemies, and they would love nothing more than to see Naila fail. Trapped in the deadly schemes of Amoria's elite, Naila must dig deep to discover the truth of her powers or watch the city she loves descend into civil war.

For there is violence brewing on the wind, and greater powers at work. Ones who could use her powers for good… or destroy everything she's ever known.

Good classical fantasy, with a lot of classical tropes, but also written with a modern style. Fans of Licanious Trilogy and Wheel of Time would like this one.

This was a typical fantasy novel with a Chosen One FMC coming into her own and discovering her powers, while living under a government that's becoming authoritarian. There's stratification in this society, with a push and pull between magic users and regular folks. There's also an MMC who's the son of a non-magic user, but who's also the most powerful magic user in the city.

So, all in all, nothing really new here.

This is labeled as epic fantasy, but I think this would be a good fantasy novel for those transitioning from YA fantasy or genres with lighter fantasy elements. It introduces themes common in epic fantasy without overwhelming the reader with new terminology and concepts.

As a longtime fantasy reader though, this wasn't really all that compelling or interesting. I wasn't really moved by the characters or their actions. It read like yet another iteration of common fantasy tropes (Chosen One, authoritarian wizard government, etc.).

Usually I can get behind the world building or characterization if one of those elements is lacking, but this had nothing that really peaked my interest.

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for this arc.