Praise for Rise of the Mages

“This book commits almost every crime against heroic fantasy that I can imagine … and I have not been able to put it down.” —Glen Cook, bestselling author of The Black Company

“Iconic epic fantasy with a fresh, modern voice. Drakeford expertly weaves princely vengeance, unworthy gods, and innovative magic into an iconic epic fantasy.” —Sunyi Dean, Sunday Times bestselling author

“Fantasy lovers will experience the full range of curiosity, anger, delight, frustration, joy, and satisfaction.” —Kel Kade, New York Times bestselling author

“A piece of SFF that refuses to be pinned to any one subgenre. Is it magical academy? Found family? Band of misfits? Chosen One? Grimdark? Mil-fantasy? The answer is all and none of these. Drakeford will give you the fantasy novel you didn’t know you wanted.” —Richard Swan, Sunday Times bestselling author

“Rise of the Mages is a proper adventure, bursting with bloody action and exciting twists. Emrael is a fantastic lead, full of strength and loyalty, but also a hot-headed impulsiveness and a compelling inner darkness that I couldn’t get enough of.” —Brian Naslund, author of Blood of an Exile

“This is old-school and new-school epic fantasy rolled into one. Drakeford has built a superbly crafted world infused with a myriad of well-rounded characters and plenty of action, magic, and mystery. Rise of the Mages is a fast-paced adventure that will satisfy any fantasy fan young or old.” —Brian Lee Durfee, author of The Forgetting Moon

“The balancing act of character development versus large-scale plotting is handled deftly as Drakeford waves together various story threads… Readers drawn to interesting political epic fantasy with lots of violent battles will find it all in The Fate of Silent Gods.” ―Booklist

“Drakeford exerts remarkable effort on worldbuilding, delineating full hierarchies of landholders and military units while also keeping key secrets close to the vest…. Series fans will find this a worthy continuation.” ―Publishers Weekly