The Choice of Magic cover art

The Choice of Magic

Art of the Adept, Book 1

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends April 30, 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £7.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Choice of Magic

By: Michael G. Manning
Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£7.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends April 30, 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

The ancient magic of wizards was anything but dark. It was the enlightenment that lifted humanity from the squalor of superstition, and the worship of fell spirits and capricious gods, but those days are gone. The shining glory of the sorcerers burned away the subtlety of wisdom, replacing it with easy power, held only in the hands of the elite - a new age built upon the elemental supremacy of aristocrats and the ignorance of the masses.

But this will change, for the greatest power comes with knowledge, and the deeper teachings of wizardry have not been utterly lost. The last wizard of the old tradition still survives in solitude, nursing tired grudges and waiting for death.

His passing might have gone unnoticed, but for the imposition of a youth too stubborn to accept his refusal to take an apprentice. With a new student comes new hope, and that hope has caused old powers to stir again. That the world will change is inevitable, but the shape of the future is anything but certain.

©2020 Michael G. Manning (P)2020 Podium Audio
Fantasy Fiction Sword & Sorcery Magic Users Wizardry

Listeners also enjoyed...

Wizard in Exile cover art

What listeners say about The Choice of Magic

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    524
  • 4 Stars
    83
  • 3 Stars
    16
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    5
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    450
  • 4 Stars
    52
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    425
  • 4 Stars
    68
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    5

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great

One word........... EPIC!
there isn't much else I can say, I loved the entire book. all the way through.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

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

good

i was a little dubious to start with,but presently surprised.
tim gerald reynolds always helps though

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

Very solid and enjoyable start for the series

I don't really know what to say about the book other than this: It's nothing special,nothing new,it won't make your jaw drop,but damn is it good at taking A LOT of story beats previously explored by untold thousand stories and just running with them without coming off as a terrible first attempt at storytelling.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

1 of best pieces of fanatsy this year

I’ve read over 100 fantasy books whic is no exajuration. This is one of my new fav authers. Blown away by how incredible the it is. They stand alongside the likes of Brandon Sanderson, patrick rothfus, m.d Ireman, jay kristoff, Evan winters. This is honestly incredible.

You are so lucky to escape into this book. F**k any negative reviews they are full of rubbish. It’s an incredible story. And there is a second one u can loose yourself into which is just as awesome I’m so looking. Forward to the third

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

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

fantastic

woop really enjoyed this. I can't wait to start book 2. makes my commute so much faster

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Great story

The flow of the story was very realistic and gave a great sense of been present in the actual book….
Great work on to the next one ☝🏾

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Belting if Slightly Flawed!

Hard to know quite what to make of this one! My only previous experience of Manning's work was the fabulous 'Embers of Illenial" series which I thought was a modern fantasy tour de force. Dark and Conflicting, it took no prisoners, and it dared much to bring some harsh realities into the story line.

This is something quiet different, this is closer to an old-fashioned fantasy story, in fact at times it felt like a young adult novel apart from some of the very colourful language. It is though a belting story and Tim Gerard Reynolds gives it plenty of oomph! He has a lot of strong voices and is particularly vibrant as the young apprentice's "uncle".

However, the characters as children did grate on me just a little and there is one particular point where the young wizard makes a completely bizarre decision to join the army when he has things a wizard simply couldn't resist. If you get past those points though you have a genuinely belting tale that has a clever magic system, some interesting characters and after a slow beginning increasingly exciting adventure.

I'm happy to recommend it because I really enjoyed the journey in the end and I will get the next one which promises to be something different again. I just can't give it five stars because it didn't have the same in-depth out and out quality as the 'Embers' series.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

11 people found this helpful

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

kick ass book

Great story can't wait to hear the other ones hope there just as good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

A really good book

Great characters and world, I read a lot of fantasy and would say this is my current favourite series

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Fantastic

Great story better than most
Please read it what a story amazing
Couldnt put it down

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!