A Mage’s Mentor is book one of the Ucksil’s Folly trilogy by Stephen Jarocki. It tells the story of Sinccah, a young woman and trainee mage who crosses the mountains into Ucksland in hopes of finding more information about her mother who had disappeared when she was just a kid. However, in order to do so Sinccah finds herself getting drawn into a variety of interesting adventures in Ucksland as she navigates bandit attacks and interactions with non-human races such as goblins all while working to improve her magic skills.
This was a good book and I did enjoy reading it but at the same time I frequently felt like there was little depth to certain elements of the story. Especially in regards to the backstory of the main character Sinccah as I frequently felt like I had no idea who she was. The story is about her trying to find out more about her mother but there is little explanation as to what prompted that. Why did she decide to go now? Did something happen back home? Where was home for that matter as that was not explained very well either. I feel like understanding her motivation and reasoning for the journey was pretty important yet I also feel like that is somewhat lacking. There is a lot that seems to be missing from her backstory and while not absolutely necessary I do think that it would have contributed to a fuller picture of the character. The book was still good and I am happy to give it three out of five stars.
Honestly, I would recommend this to other readers if they enjoy a good fantasy novel. However, this is also what I would consider light reading so I would warn them to not necessarily expect a lot of depth to the story and for it to be a relatively fast and easy read. In terms of content there is little that they should be warned about beyond some minor violence and hostility. While it is an adult novel it could easily be read by readers in the teen and young adult age ranges as well. If you do decide to try it feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. I acquired this book through the Reedsy Discovery program so you can also find a copy of my review there as well.