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  • The (Sort of) Dark Mage

  • Waldo Rabbit Series, Book 1
  • By: Nelson Chereta
  • Narrated by: Gary Furlong
  • Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (71 ratings)
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The (Sort of) Dark Mage cover art

The (Sort of) Dark Mage

By: Nelson Chereta
Narrated by: Gary Furlong
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Summary

The (Sort of) Dark Mage is the story of a young man named Waldo who grows up in a world where monsters, the undead, and dark magic are part of everyday life. He is forced to go on a journey to prove himself and soon discovers that his beliefs don't fit into the wider world.

©2013 Nelson Chereta (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A fantastic book...Nelson Chereta has a unique talent at writing witty dialogue and engaging characters. He also has that rare gift that manages to successfully infuse humor into the story, without cheapening it." (Fantasy Muse)

What listeners say about The (Sort of) Dark Mage

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Who Framed Waldo Rabbit?

Funniest thing since Pratchett as one Amazon reviewer has said? Well I’m not so sure about that but this one did make me chuckle quite a good few times. It did take me a little while to get in tune with the humour as the book almost seemed to be veering off into something serious at times. I think that was possibly more my mood than the book because Waldo’s family the Corpselovers are set up in a very amusing fashion. As it progresses though and Waldo journeys onwards it resolves into real comedic episodes. Waldo declaring his family name in an effort to placate an angry crowd was probably when I realised just how much I was enjoying the ride. The following battle of the sexes that ensues right up to a genuinely laugh out loud ending to this first book of the series is particularly well done.

The narration by Gary Furlong is bright and breezy so the book never seems never seemed to drag at any point.

In summary this is a light-hearted fantasy road-trip with a slightly different “battle of the sexes” and set of rather fascinating family relationships at its heart. Waldo’s grandfather and his first familiar are the real highlights and his continued utter failure to understand the world around him after his isolated upbringing provides a lot of the laughs.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

One dimensional

I am thinking that this must be a young person's book and I must have bought it in error. The characters and plot are very one dimensional and the whole thing is very simple and predictable. The story unfolds at an unutterably slooooow pace.
The end isn't even nearly the end. The book suddenly stops, as though the last half of the book has already been eaten by bookworms. That is irritating. I dutifully listened to the end, expecting some sort of resolution, after all I did pay for a whole book.
I was pleased when it was over. I won't be buying any more volumes. Sorry Nelson, this just wasn't right for me.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

This is no Pratchett!

I read a couple of reviews liking this book to the great late Sir Terry, so I had to give it a try!

Starting with the positive, I liked the synopsis of a Dark Mage who wants to be evil but just can’t pull it off. There was certainly potential but sadly that’s where it ends.

The book felt like it was written by a sexually frustrated teenage boy who has heard about girls, looked at pictures of girls but never actually spoken to one. That’s how I assume he wrote the character Alice, if she was any more one dimensional she’d look like the floating prison of plastic Superman trapped General Zod in during Superman II

The narrator was the wrong person for this story. He had no comic timing or expression so when there was the occasional humorous bit (there were a couple) it just fell completely flat. Whether that was due to the source material or if he is better suited to other genres I don’t know, his pacing was good and he might have drawn me into a better story.

I only continued with the book as it was included with my Audible Plus perks and I’m low on credits, but I certainly wouldn’t get another book in this series or by this author

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Lovely monsters!

I loved this book! We have monsters and wizards, plots and wheezes, and a good old-fashioned quest. It's fun and lively, and has a really frolicsome air about it.

The story is engaging and left me wanting more. The reading is lovely, and adds to the very warm and friendly feel of the book. This is one I'll revisit if I ever find myself needing a cheering story to capture my imagination and lift my spirits.
I hugely enjoyed it, and feel like I found a little treasure.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Hours of my life I’m not getting back

There’s so much wrong with this story, and its made harder to listen to both by the fact it had some potential, and by the fact that the entirely professional performance is sadly somewhat emotionally dead in the places it needed a bit of emotion. I don’t blame the reader - managing not to cringe through some of the passages in this must have been hard enough. The protagonist manages to be arrogant and unsure of himself at the same time, looking down on virtually everyone even as he bemoans his own inability to do magic as is expected of him. He supposedly has a good heart, but never once questions the slavery of his homeland even though he’s seen slaves he liked murdered in front of him - mostly because he’d given away the fact that he liked them. There’s some slapstick romantic comedy, but the romance is very lacking - given how he treats her, I don’t really understand why the (admittedly naive) female lead falls out of love with him almost as fast as she developed an infatuation with him. Then there’s the choice of surname for the protagonist’s villainous family - if I never have to hear or think the word Corpselover again, it’ll be too soon. It seems to have been picked for a one-off scene where the protagonist is mistaken for a necrophiliac. I can’t imagine anyone ever considering this the name of a prominent family like the protagonist’s. You’d change it. I got to the end of this purely because I was writing a review for a book group. I’d like a story where the female lead Alice ditches protagonist Waldo and goes off to have her own life, frankly. We’re meant to see Waldo as having been raised in an unpleasant, evil land and accepting its values whilst also questioning the ‘righteous’ values of the opposing faction. The problem is that this supposedly smart, kind boy treats others like dirt and utterly fails to forsee the inevitable result when not under his family’s protection - even when he’s supposed to know that infiltrating other countries is dangerous. Plus he’s about 90% unsympathetic because he’s such a jerk. Also looks like it’s going down a harem route, mostly by mystically forcing the females to be tied to Waldo. I’m noping out. Emotionally unrealistic and unfun, the Waldo Rabbit series just isn’t for me, and I’m honestly surprised it’s for as many people as it is.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Genuinely hilarious

I enjoyed this book just fine, but it's the rest of the series that had me laughing hard. It's full of interesting ideas and I listened to them all back-to-back, desperate to find out what would happen next. The narrator also does a fantastic job, better than the ones doing lots of bestsellers.
Highly recommend!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Quite nice

Easy listen. Not to deep, but not shallow either. Something similar to legends & lattes but I actually like this one way more. Would not put it anywhere in line with Terry Pratchett however.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Narrating speed?!

At the beginning, the narrator speeds up and down during different sections of the book, makes it hard to follow. Overall storyline doesn't capture my attention.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great fantasy epic with very funny characters.

I love a good fantasy adventure yarn and this story is a great listen.
I also enjoy the anti hero vibes.
The performance is very well done too.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Too awful to be funny

This is in very poor taste, and has turned me of the auther.
Do not recommend, even for free!

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