Audiobook Review: Seeds of Glory and Ruin (A Mage’s Influence #1)

Author: Melanie Cellier

Narrator: Kira Fixx

Audiobook Length: 9 hours 44 minutes

Cadence and her sister possess the seeds of glory and ruin—or so their father always insisted. Cadence never understood what he meant until Airlie’s seed of power is activated, turning her into the most powerful mage in generations. Despite knowing it must mean her own dormant seed is much more malevolent, Cadence is swept away to the distant Mage’s Guild in her sister’s wake. She’s used to living in Airlie’s shadow, but she can’t see a place for herself in this new world.

Nor can she believe in the apparent interest of the charming Zeke. No one has ever chosen her over her beautiful sister.

But leaving her new home isn’t an option. Plagued by questions from her isolated childhood, Cadence needs answers, and the Guild might hold them. But as the revelations grow, Cadence must find a way to conceal the truth from her new companions before the sisters’ secrets turn everyone against them.

And as word of Airlie’s power spreads, new danger emerges. Across the kingdom’s border, a threat is growing among the ruins of their former neighbor—enemies who will do anything to get their hands on the sisters and the seeds they contain. No longer able to shelter behind Airlie, Cadence must make a choice. Will she embrace her power—whatever it might be—or pursue a different path?

Find It On: Goodreads / Amazon

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I haven’t read Melanie Cellier’s other Mage series, but I decided to try out A Mage’s Influence starting with Seeds of Glory and Ruin. This story not only follows a story of magic, but it also explores the relationship between sisters. After Airlie’s seed of power is activated, while her sister Cadence’s remains dormant, the two of them are sent to the Mage’s Guild. As Cadence narrates, the reader follows her as she tries to learn about the world of Mages. As this is the start of a series, the beginning is a little slow as the world, characters, and plot points are all set up.

Airlie seems to know a lot of information while Cadence seems in the dark, which means there are a lot of questions that need answering. The two sisters love each other, but there is a lot of tension that exists between them. Some of this dynamic is well integrated into the plot and others seemed to add nothing. As this is a series, there could be more exploration for this relationship, so it remains to be seen if some of these moments were necessary for the story or character development. As Cadence is the narrator, it was difficult to connect with Airlie’s inner thoughts. It would be interesting if her POV was added, so the reader can see both sides of the dynamic.

While the story does pick up in the second half of the novel, it is not as gripping as other series in the genre. As I enjoyed Cellier’s fairy tale stories, I am curious to see if that writing integrates into this series. Cadence was a flawed main character who is searching for answers with plot twists and obstacles all around her. Zeke is the love interest for Cadence and while I’m interested to see how it develops, I am not connected with it yet. There is a lot of potential with this romance and the one that was developing with Airlie, so it will be interesting to see how it goes in the next few novels. The concept is interesting, and the story was easy to follow, which made it a nice lighter fantasy read.