The Black Mage series by Rachel E. Carter

Back in 2019 when I read the first of The Black Mage series, First Year, I remember enjoying Rachel E. Carter’s debut novel for the most part and wanted to continue on with the rest of the series. I’m finally getting to the rest of the series so I thought this would be a good opportunity to binge Apprentice, Candidate, Last Stand and the prequel novella, Non-Heir.* (Might as well put that Kindle Unlimited to use.)

*I admittedly did that around 2020-2021 — I know, I’m terrible at this reviewing business hoarding all these reviews.

Non-Heir

Non-Heir by Rachel E. Carter
The Black Mage #0.5
Published by Self-Published on January 24, 2017
Age Group & Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited

Prince. Prodigy. Mage. Perfect for fans of Throne of Glass, Falling Kingdoms, and Tamora Pierce.

This prequel novella is set before the events of The Black Mage series. Novella follows Prince Darren as a child through adolescence and his first run-in with Ryiah at the Academy of Magic. Readers discover the dark backstory between the two princes and their father, as well as the ensuing events that shaped Darren into the Academy’s most illustrious mage.

Trigger & Content Warnings: abuse, bullying

I read Non-Heir after right after Apprentice and before Candidate, even though I did want to read it right after First Year because I just wanted to know more about Darren behind his broody coldness to Ryiah and almost everyone.

This was a solid prequel and I enjoyed this more than I did First Year. With Non-Heir, Carter’s writing has definitely improved and this was perfectly paced, although I do think the length of the prequel had something to do with it. Either way, I feel this gave so much more depth to Darren that we don’t get to see in First Year because this is set in the events leading up to the first book. In addition, there’s also a backstory for a lot of the characters we meet in the first novel that couldn’t have been covered, and it is dark and brutal.

While this gave me a better understanding of Darren, I still don’t think his backstory justifies his actions and treatment of Ryiah nor is their relationship healthy. But I highly recommend reading the prequel at some point in the series for the backstory at the very least.

First Year

No review in this post because I don’t want to get penalized, but you can find my review in its own post when I read it back in the day! (Also I didn’t bother rereading because it hasn’t been a super long time since I did, so I remember major plot points.)

Apprentice

Apprentice by Rachel E. Carter
The Black Mage #2
Published by Self-Published on January 24, 2017
Age Group & Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited

She survived a trial year at the Academy of Magic, but that was the easy part…

Now sixteen-year-old Ryiah is an apprentice of Combat, her school’s most notorious faction. When she finishes, she will be a war mage, but in order to do so, she has to survive four years traveling across Jerar, training with a master she hates, her old nemesis, Priscilla, and Prince Darren, her sometimes-rival sometimes… more?

Ry’s new apprenticeship is nothing like what she prepared for. War is on the horizon and her lessons aren’t just for practice anymore.

It’s time to fight.

Trigger & Content Warnings: death, cutting (pain casting magic), sexism

One of my biggest issues with First Year was the pacing that missed out on building the world and the characters more because much of that book was focused on training as Ryiah goes through the trials to become a Combat mage. Apprentice is much faster-paced than the first, now that Ryiah has survived the trials to get an apprenticeship, and this novel focuses on her academic journey.

The formatting is different, covering all the years she’s an apprentice, so it’s not a surprise this would be quicker. While I enjoyed the format because this gives readers an opportunity to see how Ryiah will overcome the obstacles and explore the world of Jerar the book is set in due to the practical experiences the apprentices go through, I also feel this had a few setbacks as well. Specifically, I would’ve loved to see the mentor/mentee relationship more because it felt like this was an important part of the apprenticeship outside of mock battles and this was covered for each year at the minimum on who the mentor/mentee was, but it got easily forgotten as well.

We also lose a little of the independent and ambitious Ryiah we meet in the first book as this one is much more focused on the romantic relationships she goes through. Personally, I think the romance started to overshadow the book and I didn’t care about either side of the love triangle involved since there wasn’t much development; while we get a little of it in First Year, I feel like the triangle was forced here. Honestly, I likely wouldn’t have minded if this was divided into two books because not only could there have been more development especially with Ian and the hot/cold with Darren, but also the friendship with Ella and sibling relationship with Alex.

Despite my issues with Apprentice, I did enjoy this sequel and think this is a solid sequel to a series that intrigued me into reading the third novel.

Candidate

Candidate by Rachel E. Carter
The Black Mage #3
Published by Self-Published on January 24, 2017
Age Group & Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited

Welcome to the Candidacy. Where dreams go to die.

Twenty-year-old Ryiah is a black mage of Combat, but she’s not the Black Mage. Yet. She’s had her eyes on the legendary robe for as long as she can remember, and in just one year, she will have a chance at her country’s prestigious—and only—tourney for war mages... Too bad she is going up against a certain prince—the one person she has yet to beat.

The Candidacy finally arrives and a winner is robed, but something dark is lurking in her kingdom’s midst. Rival nations are closing in, and it’s time to make an alliance.

Unfortunately for Ryiah, that’s only the beginning. The worst enemy resides in the palace.

Trigger & Content Warnings: abuse, murder

Candidate is the third novel in The Black Mage series, continuing after Ryiah completes her ascension and officially receives her robes as a combat mage. Not only that, but she’s also engaged to Darren after years of hot and cold from the prince. With her engagement, she’s now trying to prepare herself to be a soon-to-be princess and everything that comes with her new status while she navigates her role as a combat mage and preparing for the candidacy to go for the Black Mage’s robes.

Candidate is much darker than the first two, especially with Ryiah now engaged, she’s also seeing first-hand just how bad things were for Darren in addition to the strong sibling dynamic between him and Blayne (crown prince). There’s enough information Carter reveals that it’s not necessary to read the prequel, but I definitely recommend it since Non-Heir goes into more detail (and there’s some backstory for other characters like Eve and Priscilla).

In previous books, we meet Ryiah as headstrong, determined and independent, which was what I really liked about her as a character in the first book. But in Candidate, we get to see how all of this backfires on her as she prepares for the candidacy and how it makes her relationships with others (in a way) suffer. Personally I loved this side because I feel it makes Ryiah more well-rounded. I also appreciated how she just doesn’t win so far and always getting bested by someone else, which is a definite nice change.

I think Candidate is the strongest of the series so far and it’s obvious Carter’s writing has grown from the previous ones. This novel has a perfect balance between the action, development and pacing, and by the time I reached the end of this book I was hooked and I had to read the last novel (not just for closure).

Last Stand

Last Stand by Rachel E. Carter
The Black Mage #4
Published by Self-Published on February 7, 2017
Age Group & Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited

He’s the Black Mage and she’s the traitor to the Crown.

Ryiah’s world was shattered the night she discovered King Blayne’s nefarious plans. Now, she has to betray the one she loves most in order to save the realm from war. Torn between love and duty, Ry finds herself on a perilous mission to help the rebels and convince the kingdom of Pythus not to honor its pact with the corrupt king of Jerar—all the while deceiving the most powerful mage in the realm, the very man sworn to protect the Crown and hunt the rebels at all costs: her husband.

She’s one step ahead, but sooner or later the curtain will fall.

Sooner or later, she’ll have to fight.

Witness the epic conclusion of The Black Mage series, and see just how far one girl will go to save her kingdom and the boy she loves—even when that boy has become the enemy.

Trigger & Content Warnings: suicide attempt, war, blood, murder, cutting (pain casting magic)

Before reading the finale, I thought Candidate would be my favorite of the entire series, but now that I’ve read Last Stand, I think this one is.

The stakes are higher because now Ryiah has to decide just how in the world she’s going to upend Blayne’s plans when everything feels like going against her. It’s 120% stress for Ryiah, because she knows full well she won’t be able to get between the strong bond Darren has with Blayne and she could potentially lose him. In addition, she’s also on limited time to turn the tide of the war without revealing her cards, especially when she can’t trust anyone in the palace.

Which… y I k e s. I’d be stressed too in Ryiah’s position.

I love the continuous challenges and obstacles Ryiah has to overcome throughout Last Stand, especially all the pushback she gets. Carter really brought to life the amount of stress she’s in and nothing is made easy for her even when the going gets tough. I especially like how the lines between hero and villain blur together, when the characters are questioning constantly if they are making the right choice or if they’ll regret it.

Last Stand is just as well-crafted as Candidate with the right amount of pacing, character development and plot as Carter ties up the series. Outside of one minor issue with the ending, I thoroughly enjoyed the final novel in The Black Mage series. It’s definitely not my favorite, but I am definitely excited for Carter’s future works, including the prequel series that’s in the works.