Reign & Ruin (Mages of the Wheel Book 1)

GemLeVi

This series should get more attention!

"This is the first book in the Mages of the Wheel series (which will be a total of six books plus a prequel) and probably the most intimate of them all. It’s the first step toward a larger tale that uses the growing relationship of Naime and Makrum to introduce the reader to the world and the larger story arc. I call it intimate because J. D Evans’ writing really makes you feel like you’re living in the moment with the characters - whether they are tracing a circle around another person’s palm with their thumb or desperately trying to find a secret passage that will help them escape danger. There are also many things set up in this book that you’ll want to pay attention to because they will matter a lot in later books. I have read some reviewers find this book slow but for me it created a experience that is meant to be savored - especially knowing what it’s setting up for later books. The overarching story is the effort to find and bring together the six most powerful mages in generations to help stop a powerful, non magical Republic from destroying their world. But mages like this haven’t existed in a long time and each book focuses on a different one (some who don’t know what they are). Each book also has a key romance and is told from the two perspectives of the couple. As the series progress, though, you still see the characters from previous books and revelations in the plot build throughout. This is really a smart way of telling the story because as the tale grows you have significant investment and understanding in the people that populate the world and the complex story that is being woven. ( I also likened the idea of finding the mages to assembling all the Avengers- but with a lot more intrigue and heart) J.D Evan’s has a detailed writing style that manages to pull you in to the experience of the characters and somehow also manages to build suspense even in small moments. This series has amazing world building, an interesting magical system, intrigues/ secrets, fully fleshed out characters, healthy romances (that thankfully avoid stupid soap opera tropes) and a really fascinating and complex story that I am happy to follow. I can’t wait til the next book. ["

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October 28, 2025 Verified Purchase

Rose Carmel Gaspard

Reading slump is over!!!

"I have been struggling to find a good book that would grab me and keep me for the last 8 months! The wait is over. This was such a great read. The magic system, world building, characters!! All of it was so good. I will devour the remaining books in the series!! ["

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August 8, 2025 Verified Purchase

Deanna

Beautiful start to this fantasy series filled with shrewd characters and achingly slow burn romance!

"4.5 stars! This marked the start of a beautiful fantasy series, filled with political machinations, shrewd characters, and achingly slow burn romance. “You will never find a battleground more relentless and exhausting than a royal court in transition.” Right off the bat I liked the main characters, Naime and Makram. They are both honorable and savvy, and since the book is dual-POV, you get to see them feel each other out as they try to discern the other’s motivations (they are from opposing kingdoms). It felt like a game of chess as they tried to ~read between the lines~ of all their interactions. In this, the author did an excellent job of showing and not telling! The world and magic system itself are really fascinating. The elemental mages don’t just control a specific element, but have other talents as well (i.e., fire mages can lie easily, death mages can detect grief, water mages can sense deception…). There are certain personality traits that are attributed to someone’s mage affinity and I liked that twist, too (fire mages are passionate, air mages are cool, calm, collected, and so on). When it came to the worldbuilding, I actually would’ve liked a little more telling. The reader is kinda thrown into the story and there are a lot of terms and titles that are never outright explained, you just have to catch on while you read. For me, it was a little confusing and took me out of the story as I tried to process all of the different terms. Because it’s such a complex system, I think what would’ve been helpful is having a glossary at the beginning that described the elemental system and hierarchy of titles. I did really appreciate how the romance was healthy and conveyed a partnership. And the intimate scenes were so well-done and felt authentic. Seeing them grow together was my favorite part of the book. “All right, Sultana. I am at your side. Command me.” There are going to be 6 books in this series, each following a different couple with the same overarching plot, so I’ll definitely be reading on to see what happens next! Update: After having read the next three books in the series, I DEFINITELY recommend this series to lovers of slow burn romance and political courtly intrigue. Each book follows a different couple that adds a different perspective to this ever-expanding world! ["

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October 20, 2024 Verified Purchase

Kay

it was good 👍

"I discovered this book through a creator on TikTok or BookTok(no surprise). As far as TikTok recommendations go- this was a pretty solid one. The world building is very cool. It’s a bit of an info dump for me at first just because obviously it’s the first book so I’m new to the series. So I think I was getting a lot of info I didn’t know enough to understand at first if that makes sense? But that may of just been on me or a personal preference. I also liked the Arabian theme or setting (sorry if that is the incorrect way to label it). But the characters I think were done pretty well. Personally I didn’t particularly care for Naime the MF, but it wasn’t unbearable or anything like that. Overall this I enjoyed it. It’s a standalone it looks like though the others are obviously connected and just follow different couples I’m assuming. I’ll be reading the next one shortly ✌️ ["

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November 9, 2024 Verified Purchase

Mainer

Wonderful start to this series

"Reign & Ruin is a romantic fantasy or a fantastical romance - maybe even 1/3 fantasy, 1/3 politics, and 1/3 romance. It's also the 2021 winner of the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-off contest (check it out for some great reads). Naime is the Sultana, a mage of the air, who is desperately trying to save her country Tamar from war. Her father's health is deteriorating due to the use of his magic, and the Grand Vizier, a fire mage, is determined not to have a woman on the throne. She must always stay calm, clever, and one step ahead of the Council who is trying to marry her off to put their own puppets on the throne. Sarkum is the neighboring country that was split off many years earlier. While Tamar has many mages, Sarkum relies on its huge army under the generalship of its ruler's brother, Markam. Both countries are threatened by the Republic which intends to wipe out mages and conquer both countries. Markam arrives in Tamar to negotiate an alliance, hiding his own darker magic while admiring Naime. The setting is Middle Eastern which I loved. I ended up looking up some of the garments mentioned and went down the rabbit hole of caftans, entaris, and salvars on Pinterest which are just gorgeous. The author does a wonderful job of immersing the reader using architecture, food, and dialect. The politics in both Sarkum and Tamar are intriguing, and I really enjoyed those sections of the book that dealt with double-dealing and one-up-manship. The lore adds a lot also; the magic system is well-defined and fascinating. There is a six-pointed wheel at the center; each point balances another: "The Wheel was a circle, and so could be interpreted from any point. But so few ever viewed the void as the beginning. Only the end, only destruction, death, decay. Samira shared with Naime a love for some of the old poets, who often argued that in fact, endings were beginnings. That creation did not end with void but began from it. From nothing comes everything, and back to nothing, and again." It's an old motif but Ms. Evans does a fine job at making it her own and making it the center of the series. I read a lot of romance so I loved the romantic scenes between Markam and Naime. It's a very slow burn with lots of gazing and hand clenching, but when it cumulates, it's perfect. I think the sex scenes are some of the best I've seen written. I tend to skip most of them lately, but these are beautiful and descriptive while still tender. I'm very excited about this series and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books (I think there are six planned, one for each wheel point so different couples each time). ["

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May 18, 2022 Verified Purchase