In Annabel Campbell's engaging debut, The Outcast Mage, a young woman named Naila is identified as having magical powers and is sent to Amoria's Academia to learn how to control them. All she wants is to return to her life and the people she knew before, but she's never been able to make her magic work. Meanwhile, the tension between mages and the hollows--those without any magical abilities--is growing in Amoria, and the already fragile balance maintained in the glass city on the edge of the desert is crumbling quickly, giving way to violence.
Naila intends to keep a low profile, but when she crosses paths several times with Haelius Akana, the most powerful living mage, she learns more about the power within her than she ever bargained for. Naila ends up in the midst of a power struggle between the elite mages who run Amoria, and tangled in wider political games that might change the world--and possibly mean the end of the home she grew up in.
Campbell's fast-paced fantasy plunges readers into a new world, filling out the shape of it by bouncing between character viewpoints. This often leads to more questions than answers but in a compelling way that effectively draws readers along. The magic system is vast, and readers learn about its extent and unknown factors alongside student-mage Naila, as well as other characters who are furnished with more knowledge and more certainty in both the magical and political structures that build Amoria.
Campbell's characters are not stereotypical heroes and villains, but rather complex and flawed figures. Their actions are understandable, and the emotional and internal depth adds to the stakes of the narrative. The Outcast Mage is a contemporary take on classic high fantasy, an update on the genre's hallmarks of magic wielders and political struggles playing out in new worlds. The epic storytelling is full of familiar ideas emerging in fresh ways; just when readers might think they know where they are, the story transforms once again. The cliffhanger ending is sure to keep readers eagerly awaiting what might happen next in Amoria--to Haelius and Naila, as well as the other people who cross in and out of their lives. --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer
Shelf Talker: Annabel Campbell's debut is a fascinating, evocative fantasy with engaging characters that will leave readers eager for the next installment.