Quite different from the first book. The MC is on a diplomatic mission with the Kings Hand when a corrupt Govenor of the planet Ardennes comes into play....
The MC now gets a bit overpowered but still a nice story with good twists and what i really like are the space fights as the starships need hours to come into action distance and even message transmission takes a lot of time. I like that kind of realism in SF - even if it has mages. ( )

Stewart, Glynn. Hand of Mars. Starship’s Mage No. 2. Faolan’s Pen, 2015.
Our hero in the Starship’s Mage series has impressed the Mage King of Mars and been recalled to the red planet to sharpen his spellcasting skills. After three years of this magical master’s class, he is now an envoy cum super cop tasked to put dysfunctional planetary governments in order and be the Mage King’s diplomatic big stick. What follows is about what you would expect—lots of magic-wielding bad guys and magical combat from our hero. Expect him to move up in rank as the series goes along. ( )

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Title: Hand of Mars
Series: Starship's Mage #2
Author: Glynn Stewart
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 279
Format: Digital Edition



Synopsis:

Damien is sent to a planet, as an Envoy under the tutelage of a full Hand. They are ostensibly looking into terrorist activity but in reality are on planet to arrest the governer who is corrupt as they come. What the Hand nor Damien realize is that the Martian Navy personnel have been co-opted by the governer as well.

This all leads to the death of the Hand, the destruction of her ship and crew and Damien on the run in a hostile world where his only allies are the “terrorists” he was publicly investigating. He has to survive the governer and his forces, the Martian navy and it's corrupt Captain and the rebels.

Making an alliance with the rebels, Damien gets off a message to the King, who sends out a force of sufficient size to handle the rogue Navy. Damien must take care of the governer and his forces so that the arriving Navy, with its marines, don't have to invade the planet. Things get complicated when one of the governer's loyal generals has nukes planted under 7 of the major cities and threatens to blow them all up if the Martian Navy doesn't leave.

Damien “does magic” and things get all straightened out.

Dang. I was hoping to “play a game of Thermonuclear War”. That Broderick was a pansy and I would have shown him up by WINNING the game I played!

My Thoughts:

I actually enjoyed this more than the first book, mainly because this was one single novel instead of 4-6 “episodes”. However, I kept it at the same rating because Damien has power jumped so high, so fast that the suspense wasn't really there.

I am really enjoying this mix of magic and technology. Stewart has combined them in a way that doesn't annoy me or set my teeth on edge. It is also just fun. The story is full of fighting and trials and battles.

There really isn't much else to say. I enjoyed this, it was fun and Damien is a bit too powerful.

And speaking of too powerful, now I'm off to read some Eyeshield 21 manga, ha!

★★★★☆ ( )