I am always game for a mix of Fantasy and Science Fiction, so a book about a space race to the moon by wizards immediately caught my attention. First Mage on the Moon, by Cameron Johnston, is a clever little book about reimagining the space race between the US and Russia, but set in an alternative fantasy world. While I was delighted by the idea of this reimagining, my biggest fear was that it was going to just be a shallow retelling of history, but with magic instead of math. I am happy to report that this book delightfully avoided that, but has some new, innovative, different problems instead.
Ella Pickering is a crippled skymage who has been condemned to the weapon factory lines in an enormous war. Once she soared the skies in contraptions powered by her aerial magic, now she is drowning in debt and has lost the use of her legs thanks to a single bad day. Jackan Grissom is a brilliant engineer who has had enough of using his talents to make tools of death. He longs to build something to better the whole world, but that isn’t what this war needs. That is, until one of his experiments goes much differently than he planned. In the shop where he and Ella work, an experimental cannon is hit by lightning and transforms into a crude rocket blasting skywards before falling into the war’s spell-ravaged No Man’s Land. But this inspires a dangerous dream: could such a device reach the moon – the forbidden home of the gods? Could they go and beg them to stop the war?
First Mage on the Moon is a surprisingly deep book that has a lot of interesting strengths. The first and brightest asset is the delightful cast. Ella and Jackan are only the first of a good handful of characters who come together to build this magical spaceship, and they all have a delightful chemistry that causes the pages to fly by. The interwoven nature of their varied backstories all have a clear, similar driving point to wanting to build a rocket instead of more guns, and it does a really good job of conveying one of the core tenets of the story (and of real life): that space is magical, and its beauty can unite people across borders, cultures, and creeds.
I have a deep, long-abiding love of space, and this book does a great job of speaking to that passion without pandering to it. I really enjoyed how the characters come to respect and adore space, a sentiment echoed by the transformative experiences of real-world astronauts. The construction of the rocket is a fun, multilayered experience. Seeing Johnston work through how to replicate mathmagical and material breakthroughs in science in a magical world was really fun, and I appreciate how he preserved the incredible wonder of the real-world events without much magical handwaving.
Johnston’s treatment of allegory in general is extremely well done from multiple points. The allusions to the US and Russia are great, having clever nods to both of the giants while also taking creative liberties in reimagining the dueling countries in a fantasy setting. The depictions manage to feel fresh while also having some cutting commentary. I also enjoyed the gods on the moon element that drove the plot. It added a nice, extending dimension to the stakes and motivations of the characters and changed the book from a charming facsimile of the space race to a full, intricate new story.
The real issue that plagues all of this is inconsistent pacing that spans the entire story, particularly the ending. While we do go through several rounds of rocket testing and magical breakthroughs, it didn’t feel like enough time was devoted to the rocket iterations to really give the wondrous creations enough time to breathe. The book moves extremely quickly, and that can often feel like we are being dragged forward through events at a breakneck pace without enough time to truly appreciate them. Most noticeably, the ending is extremely abrupt in a disappointing way. First Mage on the Moon does incredible work setting up very interesting ideas in the back 20% when we actually reach space. I was so excited and enamored by the direction Johnston took the story that it was soul-crushing when he wrapped the entire thing up in essentially a few sentences. It abruptly yanked me out of a book I wanted to immerse myself in more.
I have a hard time recommending books with troublesome endings, but First Mage on the Moon really did do a lot of stellar work. If you love Science Fiction and Fantasy hybrids and have a passion for the stars, I think this standalone novel is still worth it. If Johnston has just added a little more content to the story, I think this could have been one of the best books of the year.
Rating: First Mage on the Moon – 6.5/10
-Andrew
An ARC of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts on this book are my own.
