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    The Accidental Sorcerer
    The Accidental Sorcerer
    The Accidental Sorcerer
    Audiobook16 hours

    The Accidental Sorcerer

    Written by K. E. Mills

    Narrated by Stephen Hoye

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Gerald Dunwoody is a wizard. Just not a particularly good one. He's blown up a factory, lost his job, and there's a chance that he's not really a Third Grade wizard after all. So it's off to New Ottosland to be the new Court Wizard for King Lional.

    It's a shame that King Lional isn't the vain, self-centered young man he appeared to be. With a princess in danger, a talking bird who can't stay out of trouble, and a kingdom to save, Gerald soon suspects that he might be out of his depth. And if he can't keep this job, how will he ever become the wizard he was destined to be?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateFeb 8, 2009
    ISBN9781400183197
    The Accidental Sorcerer

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    Reviews for The Accidental Sorcerer

    4/5

    20 ratings17 reviews

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    • 4/5
      One of the unfortunate truths of reading is that every reader will open a book with certain expectations as to what they are about to experience – expectations unavoidably communicated by the title, cover, blurb and any attached criticism. In the case of K.E. Mills’ The Accidental Sorcerer, my expectations were the result of a relatively solemn and dramatic blurb and cover, and a tacky sticker reading, ‘Hot Explosive Magic: $24.99’. Alas – if only this book had been marketed more perceptively. The Accidental Sorcerer is indeed a thoroughly enjoyable novel, though for completely different reasons than those indicated by the cover. Mills’ omnipresent sense of humour makes this book a wry delight; a stylistically exaggerated romp through a world of deliciously absurd characters. The slight melodrama may grate somewhat at first, (along with the missing commas here and there,) but once the reader opens up to Mills’ particularly verbose brand of nonsense, they are indeed in for a treat.The dialogue is perhaps the best part of the novel – it charms and delights and screams to be read aloud. Had my family walked in on me reading this book, they may well have found me heartily vocalising Mills’ conversations, complete with silly voices and the appropriate measure of theatrical vehemence. It is this same dialogue which helps to make the novel so pleasantly readable. As other critics have already noted, there is more than a touch of Harry Potter about this witty, wizarding tale of good versus evil, and it will appeal to many of the same readers that Rowling’s books did.It seems, however, that all good things must come to an end, including the lighthearted fun of The Accidental Sorcerer, which deteriorates somewhat during the latter half of the novel. As the plot takes a turn for the more tense, this book begins to take itself too seriously, and, as a result, falls just short of the maturity and realism which its audience must expect from a serious novel. It is by no means poorly written – but Mills’ flair for witty melodrama can seem a little out of place in her own deadly world of ‘Hot Explosive Magic’.As a gripping tale of wizarding adventure, The Accidental Sorcerer is satisfactory. As a humorous tale of wizarding mishap, it is highly entertaining. I will certainly be reading the sequel as soon as I can lay my hands on it.
    • 1/5
      I just couldn't get into it. Everything seemed a little too wordy and political.
    • 4/5
      Gerald Dunwoody is a wizard. Not a very good wizard but enough of a wizard to get him a job at Department of Thaumaturgy as a magical inspector. However when he blows up Stutterly's a premier staff making factory its time to lay low and wait for the scandal down.He heads off to New Ottosland to become the court wizard. At first everything seems perfect although the King is a vain, self centred, arrogant bastard. However Gerald quickly realises the Kingdom is in danger and it is up to him to save the Kingdom and the Princess. How can he save a nation when he can barely perform a basic spell?Mills has done a good job creating this new world. The technologies that exist are consistent with having magic at your fingertips. For instance a crystal ball is used as a telephone like device. There is a big contrast between Ottosland and New Ottosland. new Ottosland is a bit of a backwater and has not progressed very far technology wise.There is a wonderful humour through out the book making it a fun to read. It is not a heavy going fantasy book. Mills writing style flows smoothly and is easy to read. It is not light and fluffy the whole way through as the story does turn serious. I have seen reviews where this is a problem but for me it wasn't, for me it was just the natural progression of the story.The characters are funny and well rounded. Reg the bird is a crack up. The growth of Gerald and Melissande is realistic and believable. Geralds character in particular has to deal with some heavy issues.I really enjoyed the book and will look forward to reading book 2 and 3 in the trilogy. I would recommend this book if you don't like your fantasy to heavy
    • 3/5
      Gerald Dunwoody has a lot of problems. He's a grade 3 wizard, he's blown up a factory and now he is the court wizard in a very strange country, for a very weird royal family.Thats the basis for this fantasy, which seems mostly to be spoofing civil servants and bureaucracy in the same way as Terry Pratchett uses all sorts of themes within his books, such as the postal service, Hollywood etc. However, this book is nowhere near the standard of Pratchett.The characters are reasonable and eccentric additions including a talking bird and a butterfly loving prince add smiles. Dunwoody himself is far too reminiscent of Rincewind on Discworld for me to be able to take him seriously as himself.The main complaint I had about this was that had it continued as it had started, being lighthearted and bumbling along through the storyline, it would have received a better review. However, Mills attempts to add gravitas by adding unnecessary (in my eyes) details of violence that didn't add to the storyline. Not so much initially but as things progressed it seemed an attempt to establish this as a more 'serious' read. It doesn't work.It wasn't a bad read as in.......this is terrible I can't read any more. Its not a good read as in........I really enjoyed this. It was........eh.
    • 4/5
      Overall this book is a fun read. The book follows the adventures (well, mostly misadventures) of Gerald Dunwoody, a somewhat career-challenged low-grade wizard. The first half of the book is dominated by the kind of light-hearted humor and meandering plot that is very much like one of Terry Pratchett's books. At about the halfway mark the tone becomes noticeably darker as the plot becomes more focused. The second half drags a bit, but some of the witty humor survives.
    • 3/5
      When Gerald Dunwoody blows up the Stuttley's Staff factory it pretty much ends his career as a lower level civil service wizard. In fact, he'll be very lucky if he manages to find another job of any sort. Arguably, his luck is in - he manages to land a post as court wizard to the tiny kingdom of New Ottsland. Only one problem: his new employer has a few disturbing tendencies toward megalomania. Out of the frying pan is putting it mildly.A bit long-winded and wordy in spots, and it gets off to a slow start, but not too bad for all that.
    • 4/5
      Found this review on my blog and realized it never made it to GR.

      The Accidental Sorcerer by K.E. Mills (pseudonym for Karen Miller) has strong characters that are fully part of their entirely fictional fantasy world. Which is especially interesting because I don't think the world is given a name.

      I think that indicates how strong a fantasy setting it is. In this book, the first of the Rogue Agent series, three different countries are in play: or rather, primary protagonist Gerald Dunwoody moves from Ottosland to New Ottosland, the colony, which is entirely surrounded by the desert country of Kallarapi.

      Never, in any of these settings, is the audience given a rundown of the political system, the laws, the culture or the population statistics. Instead, the characters move through their surroundings, and like people reflect only on what immediately impacts them. So Gerald doesn't really think about how his government operates, but as a third-grade wizard and cog of bureaucracy, we learn about out it operates on a day-to-day level, and more importantly the attitude the government has to its function. Gerald's whole story begins when, at the factory he was sent to inspect , there is an explosion as a result of lax safety standards. Instead of the illustrious company being investigated, Gerald is fired.

      Because he is only a third-grade wizard, several self-important first-class wizards go out of their way to make him further miserable--a very clear class structure that is only emphasized by his absent-minded, genius-inclined best friend Monk who is so far up the social ladder that, while he cannot directly get Gerald out of trouble, he can make the others back off. However, when his own stunts go awry, he isn't immune from the consequences.

      The focus of the book is Gerald's time in New Ottosland. Unlike the mother country, New Ottosland follows Tradition with the capital "T". They speak the same language, every building is an exact copy, and every king is named Lionel and every queen Melisande--as are the first male and female heir. Gerald's problem is the new King Lionel disbelieves in any need for advisors or anything other than strict obedience.

      And war is brewing with Kallarapi, the desert that surrounds New Ottosland. Given descriptions of turbans, camels, and very prominent Holy Men and gods, at first glance, Kallarapi might read as the stereotypical middle-eastern backwards country. But holy man Shugat is, well, if not good, especially to our protagonists, at least right. Kallarapi is a fully independent county--it represents mostly how backwards New Ottosland has become.

      The beginning the The Accidental Sorcerer is in many ways whimsical. There's a great deal of witty banter, and wry observations on the fabric of society. But the strongest part of the book, the most moving, is that there really is evil in this world, and no one can be perfectly good.

      Evil is human, and there is death--and it actually affects the characters. Someone is tortured, and changed forever. Everyone is actually impacted by the end, and there is no magical healing.
    • 4/5
      It starts out a bit silly seeming and light. The end is so different I wanted to "flip back" to the front of the book and see if it was still the same book. Still a fun read.
    • 4/5
      Good book and a fast read. The story doesn't swerve away from much of anything, most writers clearly enjoy one part of the book more than others however here it is more difficult to pick out the author's preferences. The pacing was good- the more tense moments were well written and fit the same pacing as the descriptive moments. The ending wasn't rushed and I was left with a need to get the next book to see what happens.Hero is a wizard who just doesn't fit into society or himself. He finds himself place that challenges him in ways he can't foresee.
    • 4/5
      This is a fun read, about Gerald Dunwoody who has become a wizard, Third Grade, by correspondence course. He really does want to be a wizard, but doesn't seem very good at it, and accidently blows up one of Ottosland's biggest companies (while trying to stop it blowing up). So the only thing he can do is leave the country for its one colony of New Ottosland, to be the Court Wizard - and the adventure begins, as he treads political thin ice, trying to stay on the good side of a dangerous and ambitious king.This is a nicely written book, and I stayed up until the early hours of the morning to finish it. I like the humour, and the title is very catchy - it caught me twice, even though I've not read this author before! The only adverse criticism I have is that one of the characters changed completely and, though not unsuspected, it was a bit of an about face.
    • 5/5
      This book is a fun romp through the British psyche in some respects. Rather bumbling in so many ways and slightly officiously Jobsworth, Wizard Third Class Gerald Dunwoody manages to blow up the most respected magical staff factory in the country when he's there for a simple complaint about paperwork. He is fired, and in desperation takes a job as Royal Court Wizard to a far away county.There his fun really begins - the king is barking mad, his sister is rather cocooned from the world and won't really listen to the truth about him, and the younger brother is daft.Gerald tries to negotiate his way around all these things, and despite making several (ok, several dozen) mistakes, and being tortured for 9 days solid manages to do the right thing, although there is a fair degree of collateral damage - which is better portrayed than reviewed because central characters recognise many of the deceased and mourn them.It's romps along too as an adventure story, and has a fair number of jokes hiding in there too.K.E.Mills is a pseudonym for Karen Miller according to the "about this author" blurb.
    • 4/5
      This was a perfect book, sort of. If I were to write a how-to-write-light-fantasy book, I could use this one as a template. It was the proper comic dialogue, possible romantic interests, impossible situation for the protagonist and slowly developing menace that only the main character, with some help from his friends, can conquer. It even did all that without feeling cliche. How can you not like a book that has the main character say, "Somebody save me. I'm thinking like a civil servant. . ."It was not, alas, a great book. I didn't weep like in Doomsday, think about the characters like they were real people as with any given Robert Jordan, or hunt down people to tell the jokes to like any given Terry Pratchett. I didn't even feel the wonderful sense of a completely right ending like Hero of Ages. But it was enjoyable, I'll read the next one.
    • 4/5
      Gerald Dunwoody didn't ask to be in the job he's in, it was the best he could do, he's a government inspector of magical manufacturing companies. Stuttley's Superior Staff factory hasn't returned safety inspection paperwork in months and he's sent in to ensure that things are ok. It should be routine.And then everything blows up, quite literally, he tries to rescue things but it all looks like his fault and he's out of a job. Little does he know that the explosion has changed his life forever, and it's possible that the assumption that he was a third grade wizard may be a little mistaken.His friend Monk finds out about a posting in a far-off kingdom, Court Wizard for King Lional. However there are things that don't quite add up and his life is in serious danger.It's a wry book with a self-mocking tone, I liked the characters and found it a good enough read that when I came across book 2 in a bookshop shortly after reading it I snapped it up.Gerald is an interesting character, suddenly faced with the fact that he has more power he thinks about the ethics of using it. He is a man caught by his power and the knowledge that if he doesn't use it he will condemn others. It's written with a mostly light touch (you can't do a torture scene lightly) and with a slightly self-effacing apologetic main character that I completely empathised with.
    • 4/5
      This is a solidly written book - likable characters, believable villains, set in world with kings. This book isn't a typical fantasy book, yes, it has dragons and wizards and kings, but it also has telephones, bureaucracy, and a wizard who actually follows the rules, rather than going above them. The characters are also real. For example, Gerald is forced to do something he doesn't want to. He feels incredible guilt for the consequences. The princes, well, she isn't what you expect. But she isn't the head strong thing, stubborn thing (well, yes, she is, but its different in this book) that is typical of a fantasy book.I even like the way it ended, leaving things open for another a series, but I probably won't read them. The ending ties things up neatly, so I don't feel like I need to know more about these characters.My only complaint is the character of Rufus, the brother. There are hints, here and there about him, but I think that that it was too subtle.As a stated, its a solid story. It makes sense, it doesn't have a lot of fluff or silliness that many fantasy stories follow. Neither does it take itself too seriously. But, it is a serious story, especially at the end as truths become known and illusions are shattered.
    • 4/5
      Gerald Dunwoody is a Third Class Wizard with a correspondence-school degree. When he summons unheard-of talents but still fails to save a badly-run staff factory from blowing up, he is fired as a probationary magical inspector. In desperation, he takes the only job offered to him, court wizard in New Ottosland. But something is very wrong there....An interesting twist on magic and wizards, with some real moral dilemmas. I'll be looking for the rest of the series as it is published.
    • 5/5
      I really had a blast reading this book. The Accidental Sorcerer is book one in the Rogue Agent series. K.E.Mills also writes as Karen Miller. Gerald Dunwoody is a Third Class Wizard. He's had a run of bad luck and is just trying to keep from screwing up another job. Needless to say, his bad luck continues and he soon is looking for a new opportunity. Will this be the break he's been hoping for or another botched chance to be a real wizard and not just a cog in the machine? Along the way Gerald and Reg, the talking bird, get in deeper and deeper trouble. Should he trust the princess? Will the King make him the famous wizard he's hoped to be? Will it all blow up in his face?I had a lot of fun reading this one. The characters are fresh, the situations are both comical and treacherous, and things just keep getting more desperate for our poor wizard. I'm really looking forward to the next book. Grab yourself a copy and sit back and enjoy.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this book! It had the humor and irony like Prachatt's wonderful books without making things complicated. This book is filled with some great characters and a plot that refused to become boring. I like the peril of the action, but I am so glad that the humor was not lost at the end. I soooo look forward to the trouble Gerald will get into in the next book!