If you were a fan of Sorcerous Rivalry or Mistress Mage (or just want to know what all the hoopla is about) you will want to get in on this anthology! Full of bite-sized stories about Reshi’s siblings, this gives us a peek at their lives and insight to their characters before the big Mage-Hunt that spurred the events of Sorcerous Rivalry.

her other books Kayleigh Nicol’s tone is light even though some of subject matter can be pretty heavy and dark. It’s a delicate balance that she does very well.

*

The first story is about the oldest, Reina. She’s the bookworm, avoids socializing and is a total introvert. Her father the Duke is trying to get her to choose a suitor without much luck. She is at the Academy when her powers manifest. Unfortunately, they’re uncontrollable to her; surging and hurting people. She goes to the fairies to bargain for help with learning control.

We also get a little bit of Eagan in this story who is home because his family is trying to secure him a bride. It was nice to see some sibling interaction in this story- due to them being separated this is it until Sorcerous Rivalry. 

Eagan is the typical spoiled noble, sleeping around, big chip on his shoulder and bucking the system because he can get away with it (for the most part). He’s a bit of cad and it’s very hard to him.
The best part of his story was everything between him and his manservant, Tresance. As the story goes you do see there is a little more under the surface with Eagan and I had hopes that Tresance would bring those better qualities to the forefront as their friendship deepens.

Kila is next. Twin to Laki she was one of my favourite characters in the series. I enjoyed her interactions with the Reshi and Kestrel so much and I was looking forward to her story the most.

Kila is rather prickly and motivated to learn to fight and doesn’t have a lot of patience for anything else.
Being in the army, fighting and doing what she loves, gives Kila a hard choice to make when an attack on her group is the trigger for her to realize that she is one of the people that she has been fighting against all this time.


Laki- He has an affinity to animals. He can carve figures of them, and bring them to life (it’s really cool). Quiet and contemplative, he is naïve and doesn’t see when people want to use him. He worries about doing things wrong or doing them exactly as he is told to do them.
His position as the king’s bastard has the dedicates from the different factions vying for him to join their sects so they can gain favour with the prestigious people. His kindness has him trying to please everyone. I felt the saddest for him of all the siblings. He was just a good-hearted kid.


Velyn- Was is an orphanage now lives in a transitional home after he aged out of the orphanage. He is trying to earn enough for a boat with his friend Tawni.
 Velyn already knows he is a sorcerer when we meet him and has even had some training. Growing up around the fishing villages the people are more lenient towards mages because the wind-mages help with the boats.

His story was my favourite. It was a rather sweet story about first love, and acceptance. His best friend Tawni (who is transgendered) and him, have a lifelong friendship that has moved into love.


Cera- The fortune teller/seer, she travels and lives with an acting troupe. She is kind and cares a lot for her family troupe of actors.  When a fight injures one of the acting troupes’ men, she accidentally outs herself as a mage while helping him.

 Cera was another I felt bad for she is kind and caring and unfortunately the world she lives in, is not.

*There was a soldier in this story that I wondered if it was a cameo from Kestrel.




The surprise for me was the two bonus stories that I didn’t know I wanted.


Wix- the fairy (she had a big part in Sorcerous Rivalry). Her friendship and eventual relationship with Rasella a girl from a neighboring village, endangers Wix’s Glen causing all kinds of trouble.
I loved this story it was one of my favourites in the book after Velyn.

Also, a short tale about Ammon- (Kestrel’s good friend) when his sister comes for a visit and lands the two of them in a little bit of a hot spot while sightseeing.
 This was a lot of fun and a bonus of Kestrel before he turned into the present-day serious hunter we know and have grown to love.

*

I almost wished I could have read this anthology before Sorcerous Rivalry just because there was such a bittersweet feel to the whole book, with getting to see their hopes and dreams and knowing the turn their lives take.


all anthologies there were stories I d more than others- surprisingly Veryn’s was a huge winner for me and Kila, whom I loved in the series, was my least favourite.


All in all, this is nice addition to the series if you are looking to round out the sibling’s characters or just need an excuse to revisit the world.



Thank you to Kayleigh Nicol for the review copy!



Also posted here:

https://starlitbook.com/2020/01/28/th...2020 anthologies tbrinder-request-books4 s Samantha || Fictionally Sam240 37

Rating: 4.5 stars
Representation: LGBTQIA+, non-traditional family, adoption

“A Bargain made.”
“The terms upheld.”
“The price agreed.”
“The debt repaid.”

I really enjoyed myself with this one! The Mage-Born Anthology is a collection of short stories that follows the six bastard children of the King of Zarapheth as they come to learn the knowledge of who they truly are and learning to master their new found abilities.

Each story told in a different perspective from each of the seven children, we are introduced to a world where magic has been stifled and those who are born with the power to wield it are killed during the Great Mage Hunt. Which is a solid yikes period for our main characters as they have to learn quickly and quietly on how to control their new abilities, and as children of the King this challenge proves exceedingly difficult.

From the beginning we are shown a complex world where each story delves a little bit farther into it, weaving our imagination into the magic and struggle of these lands and its people that range from human to fae. I was absolutely smitten with most, if not all, of this collection, with some stories stealing my heart more than others and making me a fan of this world in a matter of hours.

“…nature’s magic is a force greater than that of any one mage. Our magic is just an imitation of real power.”

At the start of the collection we meet the eldest of the kids, Reina, who by far speaks to the Ravenclaw and Vulcan lover in me on the deepest of levels. A scholar at heart, Reina does everything from a logical perspective, almost to the point where I believe if things cannot be quantified through scholarly articles or science, then it truly cannot exist. However, Eagan is almost the exact opposite of his older sister. Wild, mischevious, and playful; He is the bad boy you can’t help but love. The banter he has with everyone he cross paths with–especially his manservant, Tresance–was one that always put a smile on my face and made me love him that much more. We then are given the chance to meet Kila, a lover of battle and a soldier at heart that to every other person would appear to be the first person on the battlefield the moment it was to begin. However, we get to take a look within her story at the inner conflict she goes through that I really enjoyed as she worked through and struggled with having to kill those who were just her–a mage. We also get to meet Velyn, and Cera both of whom lead a closer to normal life than the other siblings, Velyn who is the first of his siblings to grow up in an orphanage rather than in a place of nobility, and Cera, a traveling performer. However, un the first three siblings, I didn’t care much for Laki’s story as I felt he didn’t have as much depth or story arc his twin sister, Kila, did or even the other siblings.

“That had been her hardest lesson to learn at finishing school—a male might throw a punch when offended, but a lady must always smile and speak kindly”

I think one of the things that made me fall in love with this world and these characters even more so was that the author wasn’t afraid to have them question and tackle societal issues that we in modern society have to tackle ourselves on a daily basis. From sexism, women’s rights, and gender dysphoria, all the way to the debate of gender pronouns; these characters face these issues head on and I found myself letting out many “YAS QUEENS” during my lunch breaks at work because of them.

Kayleigh Nicol does a fabulous job of world and character building. Each new place and each new character brought out a complete different voice that was raw as it was real, and made the connection I had with them, as well as my investment into the story that much more intense and deeper. With that said, I do have to mention that this book did take me a while to get into solely because the dialogue and inner dialogue at the beginning is so very formal (which after reading it makes sense to the character), and because of the formal verbiage and large vocabulary of Reina, who kicks of this collection, it was hard to get into the world and the story at hand.

Overall though, I highly enjoyed my time reading this anthology, as it gripped me in ways I didn’t think it would. I think it is safe to say that I am now so invested in these characters and their lives; and I honestly cannot wait to pick up the rest of this series and see what happens next.

If you are a lover of fantasy, I highly recommend picking this up and giving it a go. The Mage-Born Anthology is an action packed fantasy that is as gripping as it is mystical–this is a book you don’t want to miss.

Huge thank you again to Kayleigh Nicol for sending me an ARC for my honest review! 4-5-star fantasy1 Kristen616 113

Full review is here, on my blog!~

Oh anthologies. You take me literally forever to get through. Such is the world of reading bits of them around other things, I guess. This one took an absolute aaaage to get through, by no fault of its own, of course, but mainly because I was so busy with review requests and the SPFBO that I couldn’t really even stop to read a story from this in between. It kind of fell off my radar for a bit but never fear! I always picked it back up for more!

Wayward Scholar – We start this one out with a story about Reina, who is the oldest Mage-Born sibling. The story takes place when she first learns she has magical powers, and includes a little bit of her efforts to control them and how she went about scoring a magical education. It also features Eagan a little bit. I found this story difficult to get through not because it wasn’t written well or anything, but because I honestly never really cared for Reina and thus didn’t really care for her here either. Honestly I should have skipped it when I realized I wasn’t digging it because it took me longer trying to get through it regardless. Oh well. It was good insight into Reina’s life and motivations all the same.

Noble Ambition – This story is about Eagan, a fire mage and the second-oldest of the kiddos. This story was hard to put down! Eagan is seventeen in this story, a blackout drunk, and promiscuous to the point of having slept with pretty much everyone in his circle of influence, with the exception of Arazeli, the woman whose family is in talks to enter into betrothal to him. I d this story, because really I ended up liking Eagan’s manservant, sometimes bedmate, and best friend Tresance. He’s usually there to clean up Eagan’s messes, and is… pretty much unfailingly faithful to Eagan. Kind of adorable really. So, when a couple of mage hunters show up in town, shenanigans go down. And Eagan, as it turns out… is Eagan. ?_?

Warrior’s Weakness – This story follows Kila, and more or less details some of her exploits in military school. She is fifteen in this story, and is already so proficient with most weapons that they have to how special instructors too even teach her at all. As the magical wards have been randomly going off (wonder why), the school brings in an expert, and with him comes her new special instructor. Omiro is fast as hell, and Kila has no idea how he keeps winning against her, but she knows he’s there to teach her something, so she’ll roll with it. When they take on guarding a caravan together, all sorts of shenanigans take place. Fun times!

Star Signs – This one is about Laki. He is also fifteen in this story, and it takes place about a month or so after Kila’s story. Laki is a novitiate at what is basically a monastery. The monks choose a path when they’re sixteen, which is kind of choosing your profession, or order. He’s still a year away, but suddenly a few of the people in the warrior-monk order come calling hoping to get him to pledge to them early so they can use his parentage to their advantage. Their plans are thrown off course when Laki gets a sign he believes is urging him to join a different order.

Storm Front – Ahhh finally. Velyn’s story. We’re going in order of age, so he’s second to last of Reshi’s siblings. Velyn grew up mostly in an orphanage, because the king and his mistress apparently decided that after pawning off their children on other noble families, school, church, and military, that they were out of ideas on where to put them. This story follows Velyn and his best friend Tawni as they go out fishing for clams in order to make cash to buy themselves their own ship. With Velyn being a wind mage and Tawni a salt-mage, they’re more or less the perfect team to crew a fishing boat. When they get caught in a storm, some shenanigans go down. I really enjoyed this story most of all. Tawni is a great character, and the relationship between him and Velyn was endearing.

Blind Side – Cera’s story. She is part of an acting troupe, traveling the land with her family, boyfriend, and troupe. When one of the troupe is injured in a bar fight, all sorts of shenanigans go down. I really enjoyed this story as well. This and Velyn’s tale were my run away favorites.

We also get a few bonus stories. One is a brief look at what happened when the Mage-Born bounties went into effect and people began hunting the siblings (which left me with questions). Another is a story about Wix, which I really enjoyed. Thirdly, there’s a story about Ammon and his sister Zera in which Kestral makes an appearance.

All told, I enjoyed this anthology quite a bit, even if it took me forever to read. I think, in the end, that it was because I didn’t love the first few stories and set it aside for too long. I was far more inclined to read on after finishing a story I d a lot, so once I got to Laki’s story, I was on board far more. Some people may love Eagan, Kila, and Reina’s stories a lot more than I did. Anna K. ScottAuthor 1 book4

This is a great companion book to the main stories. I have a thing for short(er) stories and anthologies. I think so much can be explored through them. In the Mage-Born Anthology, we get to see snapshots of the lives of characters we wouldn't see otherwise: the royal mage siblings, Ammon, and even Wix the fae. It adds more rich detail to the world, giving more insight to the Great Mage Hunt and other aspects of the kingdom such as the three Star sects.

First is Reina, a character we see briefly in Sorcerous Rivalry, as she discovers something unbelievable about herself. Her tone is spot-on for how I'd imagined: 'While she knew herself to be remarkable and quite agreed with the standards the instructors set, there was simply no excuse for being forced to study out-of-doors.' I always loved when we got to have class outside, but hey, it takes all sorts right? As the story goes on, the reason for her aloof attitude becomes clearer. It makes her more real, less one-dimensional. I found Reina increasingly sympathetic as I learned more about her. Special mention: 'It was rude for her to ignore them, but shouldn’t it also be rude of them to interrupt her reading?' X100 so relatable ugh.

Next is Eagan. Straight away we're thrown into a point of view which is a complete contrast to Reina's. Eagan the roguish noble, hungover and in bed with more than one girl. His interactions with his manservant made me smile, bringing back more of the humorous banter I remember from Mistress Mage. I love Tresance's dry responses contrasting with Eagan's swagger, giving a bit of an odd couple vibe. It’s not even fair such a bad guy gets such a good friend.

It was good to see Kila again, this time during her training camp days. She seems straightforward in her goals and desires, not caring for politics and throwing herself into her love of battle. Even to the point of being eager for a war to break out. But this single-mindedness hides her inner fears. Her story is action-packed, the battles vivid. I was rooting for Kila, while also seeing the moral dilemma of fighting against her own kind, who are only trying to survive persecution.

Fittingly, we meet Kila’s twin Laki next. Un Kila, he’s a character we know little about. Also un Kila, he prefers quiet contemplation to battle. He’s a very different character to the other siblings, quite absent-minded, finding comfort from the calm, repetitive action of carving, or watching leaves in the breeze, or gazing at the stars. He is beset with those wanting to use him for their political agendas, and I found myself wishing he could just be left outside of all machinations.

Velyn is the first of the siblings to grow up poor, in an orphanage, instead of around nobility or in a training academy. It was surprising to see him as a hard-working boy with close friends, an interesting insight into his past. I’d not thought Velyn a very able character before, but then I read this line from him defending his friend’s right to be addressed by their proper pronouns: ‘“You can’t tell someone what they are by what you see under their shirt, mistress.”’ All the more intriguing from someone who later kills/tries to kill his own siblings. Tawni was probably the best part of Velyn’s story.

Cera’s story is one I was looking forward to. Cera lives with a travelling troupe of performers. It’s a fun, happy life with good people. However, after the words of warning from a disillusioned stranger, Cera starts to realise she can’t remain safe for much longer. She displays an innocence and selflessness when she risks discovery using her magic to help family. Over and over, life is too unfair to such a good person. It’s all the sadder to read about her life knowing how it ends.

The author has a knack for making even the most unable characters seem interesting. They are all flawed, and human. I cared about their stories, even if some made me angry (looking at you, Eagan) or sad (Wix). She also addresses interesting and difficult topics, such as gender dysphoria and non-traditional family units. It’s refreshing to see so many different issues addressed in each of their stories. The siblings are all different, their life experiences so varied. Lots of twists and reveals in the stories, but most of all, there are so many feels. I can’t wait for more!

Also, I love the phrase ‘dead-tree eye-shield’ so much. Dianthaa294 25


I read this with no knowledge of the universe and I didn’t have any trouble following along or anything, so if you want to you can read it before Sorcerous Rivalry.

This is gonna be one of those rambling just listing things I d

The stories

The really cool thing is how different all the stories all to each other. They all show how the MC deals with finding out they are Mage-Born, but they each take it differently, and the stories’ settings are also very diverse.

There’s the bookish introvert having to deal with it at fancy school, the young nobleman at court, the warrior at the military academy, the scholar at a sort of religious/astronomy school, two young fishermen trying to scrape enough money to buy their own boat, the girl in a travelling troupe.

There are also two related bonus stories at the end, one of which involved a fairy and that turned out to be one of my favorites.

The characters!

The characters are so cool, Reina is just the best. She just wants to be left the fuck alone to read her books and not have to socialize or go outside, where the are bugs and dirt and things. If you mashed me and my boyfriend into one person you’d get Reina, it was instalove with her.

There’s a character in the second story, Tresance, who’s basically the best and most clever friend a person could ask for. Eagan the MC from the main story was probably my least favorite of the siblings.

Kila, from the third story, is so great. She’s the best weapon’s fighter in her class, because she’s been training longer and harder than her classmates since she was 5. She’s tough as nails, but she also has to acknowledge and deal with her fears.

I really d both Velyn and Tawny from the 5th story, and how strong their friendship was and how their relationship grew.

The worldbuilding was presented in small bites, details that come together to paint a bigger picture. I guess if you’ve already read the other books in the world it’s a different effect, but for a first contact I really d the way it was done.

I really d how right from the start adoption is considered normal, and there’s just a healthy portrayal of it. There are also good LGBT+ relationships

The world itself is pretty glum, what with the ongoing genocide of mage born people, but the general tone is not, and there’s fun parts in between dealing with this massive looming threat to everyone's lives.

I can't speak for people reading it the other way around, but personally I'm really curious to read Sorcerous Rivalry and see how all the solutions found at the end of each story ended up working out or failing in the long term.

I got a review copy of The Mage-Born Anthology from the author through TBRindr and I want to thank her because I really enjoyed the book and I’m looking forward to more of the Mage-Born world! Alex788 20

The Mageborn Anthology is full of short stories discussing the lives of Reshi’s siblings before and after they received their powers. Some of his siblings lived together while others lived on their own, not knowing that they had any siblings. They were all raised in different locations across the country, they all have different personalities, and they all develop very different powers. I’m not going to be able to review all the stories without including major spoilers, so I am just going to focus on my favorite story and the story that surprised me the most.

My favorite story was Velyn’s backstory. He was also raised in an orphanage Reshi, but when he aged out of the orphanage, he was placed in a halfway house with his best friend Tawni. They both want to be fishermen and Velyn as a wind-mage would guarantee that they would be successful. All they have to do is save enough from the money they make off the catch of rented boats to buy their own and start their own business. Even though Velyn is pretty evil in the main series, he seemed genuinely sweet to his friend and an honest worker in this book. Now I need to know what happened between this short story and the beginning of the Mageborn Chronicles to make him into the man he was!

The story that surprised me the most was Eagan’s backstory. I knew that one person would have had to be just genuinely bad, and I guess Eagan was that person. I almost cried while reading the end of this story, and then that was it! I don’t need to read more of his character, but it would be interesting to see how he reacted to meeting the rest of his siblings.

Overall, one or two of the short stories were a bit disappointing, but they were all good for the most part. I just hope that there is more to come from this universe, as I love this lore and these characters so much! The novellas were also written in chronological order, from the time the oldest child got her powers to the point that the mage hunters started hunting the 7 siblings. Through these stories you are able to see to see how the world slowly became more and more hostile towards mages over time, and how the younger siblings were raised in worse conditions than their older siblings. I would not recommend reading this before the other two books in the Mageborn Chronicles, but I would recommend reading it after for a bit more backstory.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for the novellas to the Mageborn Chronicles, a fantasy series with LGBT+ characters.

I received a copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.

Rebecca (Medusa's Rock Garden)216 25

Fantastic addition to the Mage-Born world. I started this yesterday with the intention of reading one story every day or two in between other books.... But I couldn't stop reading it, so, here we are.

It begins with Reina and I absolutely loved her story. I also loved reading more about Kila. Wixs history was super sad. Indeed many of the stories were kind of sad to read about, but I guess that should have been obvious considering these are all leading up to the Bounties and what comes after that. I hate Eagan and I hate what he does in his story, but it was interesting to see his care for Reina and Tresance. Ammon and Kestrals story was interesting, but perhaps my least favourite of the book - it filled in some history, but didn't really do much else really. That said, none of the stories were bad or anything, which is always a risk in short story anthologies. I just d some more than others.

I read the two main books last year, but I can't remember Lord Mavyn from the books, was he in the books or mentioned at all? Seems he should have been, but I can't remember it. I really d him in Kila and Lakis stories.

I hope there will be future Mage-Born books, I would also love more stories about the various siblings - especially Reina and Kila. I look forward to reading more from Kayleigh Nicol.author-female fantasy lgb ...more Andy Winkle13

Emotional and Epic!

Nicol has outdone herself on this work! Each short story is a character from Sorcerous Rivalry and reading about their origins has made the events in Sorcerous Rivalry and Mistress Mage so much more impactful. A part of me wishes that we could have more stories this, but I'm also eager to hear about what's coming next for Reshi and Kestral.

Of all of the stories here, Cera's was the one that spoke strongest to me. The world that the author has built here is a stark contrast to the one we live in and I hope that we continue to see more of Zarapheth. There's something for everyone in this anthology and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a story with characters that explode from the pages and dwell in our minds long after the book is closed.anthologies fantasy lgbtq BriarGrey57

4.5/5 This is an excellent companion to the series that starts with Sorcreous Rivalry. The book follows all of Reshi's siblings as they start coming into their powers in a world where mages are being hunted. Getting these extra glimpses into the world is great, and Nicol's delivers with a series of engaging stories.
2019-read Axel36 15

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