Review: The Magic Battery

The Magic Battery by Gary McGath
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a 3.5-star review which is a reasonable estimate of my experience. Rounding up to 4 stars because the book was very engaging towards the end. The author stuck the landing.

The Magic Battery is set in the 16th century post-Martin Luther, Copernicus, and a few other luminaries of that age. The author admits to taking a bit of license with history in order get magic to be an element of history.

An apprentice mage develops the ability to store magic (hence the "battery") in a manner that will non-mages activate spells. Those with D&D experience will understand the concept to be similar to magical scrolls that can be used by anyone.

This undermines the religious and political dogma of the day as only bona fide mages of the Christian faith may legally cast spells. No women. No heretics (i.e., Jews, Muslims, atheists). The conflict should be obvious.

This book is a slow burn. The early sections drag a bit as our hero looks to learn and use mathematics with magical theory. As someone that uses higher math professionally, I appreciated some of that content. But there came a point where it became almost repetitive without advancing the plot.

The author also hits hard on the themes of social/political exclusion based largely on faith and gender. There were moments when it felt a little too on the nose. However, that may simply reflect a response drive by our modern moment when issues of inclusion/exclusion based on faith and gender are centered in public conversations.

While I think the author's perspective is presented in the book, at the conclusion, he certainly does not rub it in the reader's face. He leaves lots of room for thoughtful reflection regarding individual rights, free speech, right to the free exchange via commerce, and the right to peaceably disagree. This book makes you think, which is what any good book should do.

As an early outing, this is a solid book that is worthy of your time.

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