A Review: The Mindmage’s Wrath by Garrett Robinson

The Mindmage’s Wrath is the next entry in Garrett Robinson’s ever-expanding Underrealm saga. Book 2 of The Academy Journals is, chronologically, book 7 of Underrealm, and once again, we see new depths of the world he’s built for his readers.

After the attack on the High Seat, Ebon and his friends return to school. But he and his friends there’s yet more danger lurking at the Academy when a teacher is found dead. The trio has several clues about who is responsible, but no one would believe their outlandish theory-especially not their new Dean who seems to have it out for Ebon because of his family ties. Fearing for the lives of their classmates, Ebon, Theran, and Kalem, attempt an investigation themselves, and it leads them to dark places and powerful magic they’re unprepared to face.

Like the first book, The Alchemist’s Touch, we have another fantasy bordering school adventure that’s perfect for readers who loved Harry Potter but wouldn’t mind a few more books with a similar direction but with a decidedly darker tone.

I left the first book wanting more out of the story-more wonder. Here, we not only get a step more of that element but a large plate full of dark mystery and gritty suspense. In my mind, I imagine this story to be a YA fantasy, but the story pushes the boundary of what I thought could be done in a YA book. Though I will admit, I don’t read a lot of YA, so I could be mistaken.

The Dean is a familiar face if you’ve read the Nightblade saga, but that familiarity draws us back to the darker periods with this character, positioning him in a similar position as a “Profession Snape” archetype. This brings a fair bit of sympathy for the characters and complicates their ability to solve the murder mystery and save the school from the threats of outside forces.

The climax of the novel leads our heroes down a much darker path than you might expect. That makes me excited to see how far down into the void Robinson will take his readers.

I recommend this story to anyone who loves the magic school setup in high fantasy stories. If you’re a Harry Potter fan and you’d love to try a story with a similar vibe to the second half of the series, I’d grab it!

*Full Disclosure — I work for the publisher, but I wasn’t paid to review this book. While this is an honest review, I was involved in the production of the audiobooks of other books in this series, and I receive a small royalty for purchases of those audiobook versions.*

Originally published at https://www.jimwilbourne.com on March 21, 2023.