This came up as a random recommendation, and looked cute enough to try.

What to Expect

A modern day, hard-to-classify, fantasy tale about an apprentice magician and unusual circumstances. AS Raj is following various assignments towards graduation as a ‘mathemagician’, he runs further into all sorts of situations. At the same time, Eliza, a baby dragon, is finding her feet in the world under the care of an elderly woman.

Not urban fantasy, not magical realism, definitely not a parody (the Amazon category). Clearly the first in a series, considering not everything was resolved. Expect just some light fantasy.

What I liked

It’s entertaining in a mindless way. The writing style is engaging, just don’t think too deeply about the characters or magic.

What to be aware of

The story is somewhat confused, the characters (especially support cast) are caricatures, and the magic system is hardly developed. Lots of tropes, little substance.

Felix’s and Jack’s Reviews

Felix had a lot of question about the “number based” magic system that seemed to him utterly silly: counting, either in your head or letting your phone do it, to generate power gets a lot of discussion while what gets done with that power is left completely vacant as ‘spells’ with occasional geometric jargon.

Jack just didn’t enjoy the ‘magic academy / secret society’ tropes, and thought them poorly done.

Summary

If you’re in the mood for airplane reading.

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Enjoying the reviews, but wondering who the heck are those Felix and Jack fellows? Glad you asked! Felix is the protagonist of the Togas, Daggers, and Magic series, an historical-fantasy blend of a paranormal detective on the background of ancient Rome, and Jack is the police detective running the Unusual Crimes Squad, dealing in occult crimes in modern-day Australia.

Come meet Felix and Jack on the free short stories and novels!