Ken Magee

This is the finale of an excellent trilogy - I've enjoyed them all immensely.

A Darker Shade of Black

Amazon.com  A Darker Shade of Black

My review -

This is the third part of Ken Magee's Black Trilogy and if you haven't read any of them you're missing a real treat. Thousand-year-old magic comes into contact with the internet - for many of us, a modern form of magic. Evil Wizards are trying to get their hands on some magic spell scrolls and Tung and Madrick, old friends from the first two books, are trying to prevent this. However, due to the wayward effects of the Spell Spell, they have become separated. There’s a mad journey in a little car to Ireland while another group take the journey in the opposite direction. Will they ever find each other?

This is a smashing adventure story with huge amounts of added laughs. It has its solemn moments though, as Tung exacts vengeance and kills 40 people in Dublin with a plague spell. Ken Magee weaves this story from start to finish leaving the reader happy and satisfied. I wonder if he'll be able to leave these characters alone, though? I'll certainly be delighted to read more about them - or indeed anything else this author writes.

Ken Magee

Ken Magee writes very funny fantasy novels which manage to combine the internet with ancient magic.

Dark Tidings

Amazon.com  Dark Tidings

My review -

What an unusual cross-genre book this is, and how heartily I have laughed at and enjoyed it! There are two parallel story lines for the first part of the book, one being set a millennium ago and its two major characters being an elderly magician and a young thief. The other story line follows a young securities expert in a big bank, who discovered that money is being syphoned into the vaults of the already rich, to the detriment of the poorer savers. Incredibly, the first two characters time-shift and the three meet. So far, so fantasy.

The later chapters become the most wonderful, story-twisting thriller where, on so many occasions, I wondered what was going to happen. Usually it didn't; something completely unexpected happened. I found these characters so interesting and engaging that I was stuck to the book to find out the outcome. Ken Magee has a delightful sense of humour and the whole book was a joy. I would love to think he has more in store for this odd bunch! I really recommend this to anyone who loves a good tale, well told.

The Black Conspiracy

Amazon.com  The Black Conspiracy

My review -

This wonderful book takes the story forward from Ken Magee's debut novel Dark Tidings. It's a fantasy but with a difference - ancient magic meets big banking and the internet. The characters from the first book are even better fleshed out here and we meet some new ones. A favourite of mine is Tung. He's illiterate, inept, can't get to grips with the modern world - he makes me feel good about myself! He has depths though and the team would be totally lost without him. There's a huge conspiracy by the Black Magicians to take over the world and ensure that evil reigns. Just a few good men (and an elderly wizard and an inept illiterate) stand in their way.

This is a hugely funny book. Ken Magee's sense of humour shines out through the story and leaves the reader with some beautifully memorable phrases. It's not often that I've encountered the Universe as a character. She's a corker, if a little unpredictable after a tipple! He is a clever and fluent writer and I enjoy his work immensely. I detected enough little loose ends to allow me to hope that there will be more of the same. Utterly brilliant!