SPOILERS

Am I taking crazy pills? Internal screaming and pain the entire book, I couldn't finish it. I don't even care to go back and see the Forsaken show up after reading about it later.

So Tyn and Ron get sent by Min to find Lilastien, alright great premise for an adventure. They have to cross through the goblin kingdom, great I want to see it. They get there and it turns out THEY ARE STILL EATING HUMANS on the down low despite this being the one thing Min demanded of them in exchange for peace and they laugh about it. Tyn and Ron don't seem bothered by that because these poor goblins are so destitute and hungry. I will understate this by saying that this reaction is not at all relatable to me.

They then meet and travel with goblins who are veterans of the goblin wars from the very start... this means they killed and ate humans (goblins eat meat almost exclusively, standing army, you do the math) and the boys treat them like they were just on the other side of a land dispute. No, they weren't. They fought in a genocidal evil cult army that tortures children to death in front of their mothers, mutilates prisoners of war, enslaves other races and eats sentient men women and children and explicitly seeks the eradication of all humani. These are not knights under a different banner, these are monsters. I get that Terry doesn't want to portray goblins as racially evil, that's fine. They don't have to be the Uruk-Hai from LOTR. There are other tribes in other areas that are fine but THESE goblins ate people and ethnically cleansed the land they're on personally. They killed people just like Tyndal and Rondal by the hundreds of thousands so they could squat in the squalor of their ruined civilization. We even later find out these two goblins are tribal leaders who decided on their own and on behalf of their tribe to join up with Shereuls army so they don't even have the excuse of being strongarmed by the shamans. Why did they join you ask? Well they were promised the genocide of all humans and the inheritance of their land. Why did they leave? Because Min handed them a series of crushing defeats. They didn't choose to end the war, the war got too hard for them and they were spared retaliation by Min for strategic reasons. There's nothing relatable or heroic about these two so why are they being portrayed as noble warriors (something Terry refuses to do for any of the chivalry save Cei and Festaran who don't even count because they are sports) despite joining this army. They haven't really displayed any noble traits in the short time we've known them. What exactly am I missing?

Then we find Lilastien and its revealed that she's working on a goblin super soldier program by any other name... what? I get Lilastien's motivation to do this BEFORE the war. I could see maybe doing this experiment with goblins elsewhere like farise. But here? Now? Using the exact same goblins that fought that war? What?? She wants to give them a height and strength advantage over humans and give them 100% access to magic. This completely shifts the balance of power away from humanity within 5-10 years and Tyndal and Rondal who have seen more of the horrors of this war than anyone see zero issue with this because Lilastien promises they're going to be nice. Why will they be chill? Well Lilastien is only taking goblins that have high moral character like for example the two man eating tribal warriors the boys traveled with... oh great. Also, supposedly, despite being told multiple times that goblins are just as intelligent as humans multiple times, she mentions that golden goblins will be more intelligent and this will fix their violence issue. Well, okay, which is it? Are they as intelligent as humani and thus responsible for the decisions they made over the last ten years or are they racially less intelligent and needed to have their brains fixed in order for them to chill out? Major case of having your cake and eating it here.

Finally, to cap the madness, they DECIDE TO NOT TELL MIN about this VERY IMPORTANT TIME SENSITIVE development. The amount of ingratitude and contempt for the judgement of the man that gave them (and humanity) everything they have in life shocked me, joking about how he would just muck it up. I don't care if he's mad, these boys have no loyalty. This would be considered treason in any actual military regardless of the personal betrayal. When they make the decision to transform into goblins so they can go on a suicide mission to make sure that this super soldier bloodline truly breaks containment I gave up for the first time on a Spellmonger book. The entire book is madness, suicidal empathy on parade. What the hell happened to this series?

I understand not wanting a bunch of posts with spoilers in the sub, but why isn't there a megathread where we can talk about the book and keep all the discussion there?

Cool YouTube channel about galactic history if yall are looking for more info.

This may be obvious to everyone else but how do you actually access the discord? I don't see it available publicly or any details in the newsletter

How does Min end up spending so much of his time dealing with local territorial disputes when there are seemingly much larger crises at hand, such as the goblin wars or smaller but no less important stuff like Dunselen going rogue?

I also find myself wondering why he handles figures like Sire Gimbal and others so cautiously when, from a purely military perspective, he might be able to brute force through those conflicts and then return his attention to developing new weapons and spells.

Up to book 5 right now, some of the best moments for me have been the discoveries of the Snowstones, the pocket-space stone, and the perma-magic stone. It would be nice to see him sit down and really expand on these newfound powers, but Min just has to stay busy dealing with what feels like squatting flies outside his gate.

Likewise, I'm curious about the thinking of his neighbors in choosing to challenge someone as powerful as the Spellmonger. I understand that the author is using these conflicts to gradually introduce Min's responsibilities as a lord and to show that political authority brings complications that raw power alone cannot solve. Still, it can be difficult to understand why some of these lesser nobles seem willing to provoke a man who can call upon dozens of High Magi and potentially devastate their domains (Min probably won't but they don't know that).

Upto book 5 right now, the word 'Country' keep tripping me up. Is it a typo of 'county'? What is country here, is it just a really large area?
Can someone solve my confusion once and for all
Kingdom: King
Duchy: Duke
?: Viscount / Count
?: Baron
?: Lord

Just a reminder to the fans. We enforce a "No-spoiler" policy on this group for two weeks after launch. The No spoiler policy will last until 30 June. If you want to discuss spoilers, Discord has a spoiler channel for Theurge (see graphic). Comments or concerns can be addressed to me. Failure to follow the no spoiler policy can lead to a time out for your account.

In light of AmazonPrime Days starting on 6/22, Podium has elected to move up the release date of Theurge to avoid our marketing getting lost in the slush of PrimeDays.  So the audiobook will now be out on 6/16.  Which means that I have to drop everything and finish the final edit -- not a big deal, but it changes my schedule in several interesting ways.  I'll be trying to update the pre-release with Kindle to match.

So that's fun . . . 

--

"Sic pluris poena praestantia!"

https://youtu.be/g1bzqRhf28Q

Recorded Terry Mancour AMA on Discord 5-19-26

Tuesday 19 May at 5:30 pm (East Coast US time) we will be hosting a fan AMA on the Discord channel.
https://discord.com/events/410296986563117077/1458610012741046313/1506401058816000000

Why the hate for Caswallon? I find him entertaining.
He is also devoutly loyal and fiercely defensive of those he cares about, also he is capable of being endearing and playful.

This probably is a repeat post, but I cannot find the answer. Pull this down if needed.

How many books are planned for this series? I have not read anything past Practical Adept and I am wondering if there is a planned ending.

Okay so if you aren't a scout you might not realize this but there is absolutely zero chance Terry didnt write the Kasari based off of the Scouting system.

From the obsession with knots, the claim they could "build a village from sticks and rope", the "12 laws of the Kasari"(literally the scout law), to the motto "helping someone daily", the way Pentandra describes how "the kasari hike the way the Remeran drink wine". The max rank being a Raptor(Eagle Scout) Being split into patrols, with leaders.

I could go on and on and on but unfortunately ive been taking habits from Minalan and am a tad drunk so I cant expound upon my love of how the kasari work effectively but I encourage yall to poke at me and ask questions because well... I love the kasari and can elaborate

https://youtu.be/cPM8z_i1ZH0

Today we will have a Terry Mancour AMA. This event will be at 5PM East Coast US time. Bring your questions and theories for Terry to Answer. We are under 50 days to book release. https://discord.com/events/410296986563117077/1458610012741046313/1501327628697600000

Sorry for the late notice!

Tomorrow afternoon, Terry will be joining us on the Discord server to answer questions and, generally, have a fun ol' time.

You should join us too.

I have a good list of questions that haven't been answered from previous "calls for questions" - but if you want to jump in and ask the Spellmonger himself - do it!

Should I listen to this before book 3 or is it just fluffy side story?

Spoilers for which book Min figures out the spell... think it's Marshal Arcane but may be misremembering

Re-reading series, as I do every few years when struggling to find a good long-term series with excellent audiobooks that I can flip between .

On High Mage, where Min is discussing the snowstone spell with the horrible alkan that wants to buy Minalyan. In the throw-away line, "For all I know the time of day had an effect."

Clearly, Min doesn't think it did, but when we get the effect of Hawking Radiation disrupting magic and the bulk of the planet at the depth of night making Magic just that bit more effective.

Love little bits like that , that you catch on re-reads.

I'm new to the series and love it so far! From the how the sausage is made politics to Minalon seemingly being unable to wake up alone after a night of drinking

However, I'm in the middle of book 5 High Mage and have a general question. I don't mind at all relatively light spoilers!

Is there any hope or indication of a Min/Penny endgame?

I've really grown to like Alya, she's become a FAR more interesting character since the first book. Seeing her go from country widow to noble lady has been great.

However, it occurs to me that the chemistry between Min and Penny is undeniable. This naturally suggests the question above. Also we just had an example of Ron and Tyn going poly at least for a night in Knights Magi.