Official Review: The Last Days of Magic by Mark Tompkins

[katiesquilts]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Last Days of Magic" by Mark Tompkins.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Review by katiesquilts

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Why have magic users ceased to exist in modern times? What happened to all the magic that used to be so prevalent all around the world? Mark Tompkins’ The Last Days of Magic is a fantasy novel that details these worldly changes, and to do so it takes the reader back centuries to a time when magic users and humans co-existed.

The Last Days of Magic mostly takes place in medieval Ireland, where many faerie families are ruled by a Goddess who takes three forms, always being reborn through twins and keeping one part of the spirit in the Middle Kingdom. Aisling and her twin, Anya, are the latest reincarnations of this Goddess and are going through training in order to one day rule over the faeries. However, one sect of faeries plans on rebelling, and launches an attempt to assassinate the girls. With the Goddess’ powers weakened and forces fighting them from both inside Ireland and from overseas, will they be able to protect the land of magic they call their home?

Tompkins certainly put a lot of time and effort into fleshing out his characters. The story itself is full of action, betrayal, and mysterious magic, but the characters carried the novel’s success on their shoulders. Even the exorcists from Rome and the witches in France were hard to hate, despite threatening Aisling’s leadership. My favorite character by far was Jordan, an exorcist with some magic of his own. The contradictions Jordan embodied and the tough decisions he had to make were always interesting, because I could never tell whether he would sympathize with his fellow magic users or ruthlessly cut them down in the name of the church.

Unfortunately, there were quite a few characters in the novel, and many of them had similar names. I personally felt like it was hard to keep track of some of the minor characters who ended up filling large roles later in the novel. Not only that, but there was a lot of dialogue in the novel, which slowed down the pace and made me put the book down quite a few times. I admire Tompkins’ story-telling skills, but he certainly crammed a lot of information into a single page.

Overall, I would rate The Last Days of Magic 4 out of 4 stars. The characters delighted me and I enjoyed getting a peek into a world full of magic and political turmoil. I would definitely recommend this book to fantasy and historical fiction fans, especially those with an interest in European history. There were a few violent and sexual scenes in the novel, so I would not recommend it to minors. The sequel to this novel was nicely set up, and it may or may not take place in modern times.

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The Last Days of Magic
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Like katiesquilts's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Emie Cuevas]

I love tales about magic and always wished it was still around. I want to know what happened to make it disappear, and this book looks like the place to find out. Excellent review, thanks for the insight. I look forward to reading this one.

[The Researcher]

Who doesn't love magical stories? I am definitely going to read this book. Nice review!

[kandscreeley]

This sounds like quite an interesting book. I do love magic and faeries! It's too bad there are so many characters, but it doesn't sound like it detracted from the story too much. Thanks!

[Gingerbo0ks]

I love anything with magic in!!! Hopefully the dialogue doesn't slow the pace down too much that it lessens the enjoyment.

[geoffrey ngoima]

Jordan looks like a well fleshed out character I'd like to see,..always up for a book of magic

[CatInTheHat]

I tend to agree that it can sometimes be difficult when there are a large number of characters.

[imi_30]

i love magical stories
thank you dear
add to my TBR

[juliusotinyo]

I love tales about magic and always wished it was still around. I want to know what happened to make it disappear, and this book looks like the place to find out. Excellent review, thanks for the insight. I look forward to reading this one.

I am curious as well as to what happened to all the magic that once existed in all communities and continents. This is a really good review.

[kimmyschemy06]

Sounds like a great read. I love it already. It seems like there are a lot of characters to like in this book. Basically, I like books about magic and I think I'm going to enjoy it. Great job on the review. Congratulations to Mark Tompkins on such an obviously well written book.

[katiesquilts]

Thank you for the kind words everyone! If you get around to reading the book, please let me know what you thought in this thread or post a link to your own review!

[geoffrey ngoima]

You're welcome, & I can do that!
http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewto ... 21&t=48497 ..
http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewto ... =2&t=48780 ..

[katiesquilts]

You're welcome, & I can do that!
http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewto ... 21&t=48497 ..
http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewto ... =2&t=48780 ..

Those links are not for The Last Days of Magic, they're for other books! Do you have a link for this book specifically?

[geoffrey ngoima]

You're welcome, & I can do that!
http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewto ... 21&t=48497 ..
http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewto ... =2&t=48780 ..

Those links are not for The Last Days of Magic, they're for other books! Do you have a link for this book specifically?

Lol, you're the only one who has ever reviewed it in OBC