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  • Hand of Mars (Starship's Mage Book 2)
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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
967 global ratings
5 star
66%
4 star
27%
3 star
5%
2 star
1%
1 star
1%
Hand of Mars (Starship's Mage Book 2)

Hand of Mars (Starship's Mage Book 2)

byGlynn Stewart
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Top positive review

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Clay Kallam
VINE VOICE
4.0 out of 5 starsVolume one was good; volume two is better
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2021
This is old-fashioned science fiction with a dash of magic, and as an old guy, I enjoy every page.

You've got your interstellar empire. You've got your bad guys. You've got your good guys. You've got a narrative that transcends each book. You've got a likable hero, maybe a little too noble. You've got a convincing villain (or two).

And unlike a lot of authors, Glynn Stewart doesn't devote 200 pages to misery and suffering and 50 pages to positive developments -- in fact, that ratio is pretty much reversed, which makes (for me, at least) a fun read.

Oh, the details. Damien Montgomery is a powerful mage, but didn't come from a family with a genetic predisposition to abilities that, among other things, allow space flight. In the first volume, he took out some bad guys and come to the attention of the Mage-King of Mars, who is essentially the galactic emperor.

In this book, Montgomery has completed his basic training under the Mage-King and is sent off to deal with problems on the planet Ardennes. The plot is reasonably complex, there are some unexpected happenings, but in the end, justice is served (as it should be in these kinds of books).

Bottom line (literally): I'll be ordering volume three very soon, which is pretty much the highest praise any reader can give.
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One person found this helpful

Top critical review

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Denny DimwitTop Contributor: Fantasy Books
3.0 out of 5 stars3 years later...
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2019
This book starts three years after the Mage has been "recruited" by the King of Mars. As usual, it's action packed and as long as you like the meme "superman swoops in to save the world" you'll find this a worthy successor to the first book. I don't like stupid. Both in this series (this book) and in the duchess series, stupid abounds. Worse the villains are such horrible people that Stewart's efforts to show us their side is implausible. Villainous and 2-dimensional - Snidely Whiplash type of villainy. In both series, a prisoner is so ineffectively controlled as he plays a major role in plot development. Completely implausible - unless you convince yourself that those in security has the intelligence of a turnip. I almost stopped reading at that point. I don't understand why such ridiculous asinine plot devices are used here. (I also don't understand why binary poisons are any more effective that any other). The world lacks any effective AI, and drones/automation seems to be stuck mid-1960. For instance, given clear and convincing evidence that the governor is a criminal how could Mars possibly not know that the Navy had to be involved? Why would the only person who could arrest the governor delay that arrest and go to meet him for dinner? (as people literally DIE around the planet) A simple game theoretic assessment would show the high likelihood of an assassination attempt, wouldn't it? If you can read around the stupid and implausible, it's fun. I know Stewart is capable of writing better, but if the next book in the series is as bad, it'll be my last. It's kinda like finding a fly in your soup, once *might* be forgivable, but only just.
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4 people found this helpful

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From the United States

Lance
2.0 out of 5 stars good for a read over a cold beer
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2016
Verified Purchase
This is light fiction, good for a read over a cold beer, but has no depth to it. However, I am impressed with its honesty. Science fiction normally would be better described as science fantasy, with magic disguised as technobabble. Faster than light, artificial gravity and similar miracles are written up as if they will be normal occurrences. This book is honest in that it recognises that breaking the laws of physics can only be described as magic, and the author uses wizardry as the means to do so.
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Triple Three
2.0 out of 5 stars Having very much enjoyed the previous three titles I was looking forward to ...
Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2016
Verified Purchase
Having very much enjoyed the previous three titles I was looking forward to reading this one. It builds up well, keeps building up, building up... Then nothing happens. I am sure once the next book is released then it will be ok, but as a stand alone book it goes nowhere.
This should have been released as one longer book and not released by itself.
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Nick Damato
2.0 out of 5 stars Author misses a great opportunity to lay the foundation of the series in second book
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2017
The first book was pretty rough but I liked the concept and decided to give the second book a try to see if the author developed it further. Sadly, he did not. The first book ends with our mage hero heading off to Mars to train with the Mage King. I picked up the second book expecting to be treated to a tour of Mars, getting to know the Mage King and learning a little about mage society and training. Instead, book 2 starts 3 years later, the main character having completed all his training and he's on a ship to his first assignment. From there the reader is basically dropped into another endless chase scene with near misses, people doing dumb things, and of course always the bad guys underestimating the good guys and getting owned. The book was all third act with no first or second act. I don't feel like I'm in a real universe. It's like being in a bad 80s action TV show like McGuyver or A-Team only with less character development and character history. None of the characters have any history. If you like to skip all the thinking and just go for the action, this book is for you. Personally, I'll go to the movies for that, and spend my money on stories with a little more substance. (Note: I purchased the unabridged audio book on Audible)
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Abish
2.0 out of 5 stars Liked the first book
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2016
The contemporary political commentary was heavy-handed and naive; particularly the bit about staying the course when toppling foreign regimes. I mean, really? We've never successfully crammed democracy down anyone's throats before and we never will. Not by force of arms. Especially not with our own messed up motives.

Also the hard right turn into spouting scripture constantly was a pretty big turnoff, too. Apparently everyone has the Bible memorized in the future.
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