• Alien Arcana

  • Starship's Mage Series, Book 4
  • By: Glynn Stewart
  • Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
  • Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (1,520 ratings)

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Alien Arcana  By  cover art

Alien Arcana

By: Glynn Stewart
Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
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Publisher's summary

When a scientist is murdered after finding signs of alien magic in an archeological dig, Mage Damien Montgomery, Hand of the Mage-King of Mars, is sent to investigate both the murder and the alien runes.

His investigation is interrupted when a mysterious ship attacks the ruins with weapons only available to the Martian Navy. Despite saving the dig site, Montgomery is left with more questions than answers.

His investigations reveal questions about the origin of his magic and his nation - and lead him back to the one place that should be safe: the court of the Mage-King of Mars.

©2016 Glynn Stewart (P)2016 Tantor

What listeners say about Alien Arcana

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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This is the fourth book in the Mage of Mars

I'm a huge fan of this series and look forward to each new edition. This Author knows exactly how to give the reader just the right amount of intrigue and action with a mystery twist . These books always leave me wanting more and I find myself always coming back to them .

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Better and Better

Each story in this series just gets more exciting and challenging.

Damien Montgomery is an epic character.

Bravo

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • KW
  • 11-26-16

Betrayal

The 4th book in the series has shown that the lead character is maturing and now making the tough decisions, which he would probably not make earlier in his career as the Hand of the Mage King of Mars. For those who are considering buying this audio book, I do highly recommend it, although it might confuse you a little as it isn't the normal magic and sci-fi story one would imagine it to be. It does require a bit of a mental adjustment if you are a pure fantasy or sci-fi fan but you do get into the plot and enjoy the ride. Hope you find this book and its first 3 books enjoyable.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Intrigue

Newest challenge is really dangerous for everyone especially our hero. Loving this series. Great characters and the storyline is always intense as well as entertaining. Another winner.

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

addicted to glynn stewart.

Damon is looking for a vacation after the previous 2 books. He then states what could go wrong. Listen to this book to find out. On to book 5.

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

Was good, but...

Glynn has just made sure I can't turn this story over to my teenaged kids due to scene in this book. Sad really because I was starting to compare him to Jack Campbell until that moment.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Space Opera meets Magic!

The entire serise is a wonderful blend of colorful space opera and a new flavor magic.

Being selfish for the multitude, "Where's the next one?"

All of Glynn Stewart's audio books have been /are good listens!

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1 person found this helpful

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

Moves at a good clip

The series is developing, gaining more complexity. Characters are are growing and changing. I look forward to the sequel.

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

decent story ends in the middle

I've enjoyed this series, however each novel has been a complete story in itself. This book ends in the middle of the story. Since this book is relatively short it could have easily included the entire story. That's disappointing. otherwise I enjoyed the book.

One minor quibble I had was the author's tendency to fixate on one word and use it several times in a sentence or two.That's something that I probably wouldn't have noticed reading, but was very obvious when listening.

The narrator read in a kind of radio announcer's voice, which didn't really fit the character's personally.

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

Behind the OODA Loop

I've been having loads of fun with this series. very original concepts, good prose, solid characters. That said, and I'll try to do this without spoilers, our protagonists spend much of this book suffering from a sudden case of plot-induced stupid.

Damien does have an endearing knack for finding problems by obliviously whacking his sad little face into the sticky bits, and yes, it's entertaining to see him creatively wizard everything into submission (or pieces) once he catches on, but I thought he'd picked up at least a little guile in his last few years. He issues several of his trademark ultimatums here, where he might have otherwise employed his wits and knowledge to make threats that would use the opponent's priorities to make compliance, negotiation, or further explanation of the opponents' opinion more attractive than the course they did choose. Our protagonists seriously need to quit reacting sometimes, and try to proactively screw with opponents' ye olde OODA loops.

I love a good conspiracy, but some of the secret plots and criminal organizations in this universe are just getting unreasonably competent for their size. Their funding and motives are plausible, but the scale of the things kept secret over this book and the last seem to imply a future that lacks Snowdens and Clintons. (Too soon?)

This is, nevertheless, absolutely worth a read, and the Starship Mageoverse continues to develop in interesting directions without a hint of staleness.

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3 people found this helpful