The Science of Magic: Volume 1


Enter the world of Sheol: a dangerous land, where hatred and immorality are abundant; corruption and war, commonplace; and slavery is but a way of life. From the continent of Ryadell, the power-hungry race of Humans come, pushing deep into the lands of all other races, their eye fixed on the dominance of the entire known world.

On the edge of Human lands, far to the cold north, a young boy is snatched from his quiet home and taken captive by a band of mysterious mages. Unknown to him, he travels to the island of Southkeep, where he will be forced to learn control of his own strange gifts.

But darker, more sinister magics soon take an interest in Fane, forcing him deeper into a path he would not have chosen. Many secrets will be revealed to Fane in his journey which he will come to wish he had never unearthed … secrets for which the boy is hunted … secrets, which will affect not just his fate, but the fate all living things.

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close Excerpt

    Fane cast aside his food, which scattered mid-air and splashed over the wooden floor. The china plate shattered into hundreds of pieces as it landed vertically, but Fane didn’t even blink, he didn’t even look.

    His bandaged head was pale and thin. He hadn’t been eating. He hadn’t been sleeping. His family were gone. They were all dead. He repeated the words over and over in his head until he thought his mind might slip away into insanity. At night the words thumped against the inside of his temples; they bled from his eyes, wetting his pillow. Those dirty, dirty words.

    He didn’t want to believe them. Denial, he clung to desperately, like a grieving mother clinging to the limp, cold corpse of her lifeless child. But he knew … logic prevailed, even his feelings prevailed. He knew the truth; they were all dead, and he would never see any of them again. They were simply gone. And he never got to say goodbye.

    He had tried going back to Tunlan; tried finding his Brother again using his magic. But he wasn’t there. In fact, nobody he recognised was there. There were hundreds of unknown souls, consciousnesses that he simply had never encountered, lending truth to the rumours.

    Tears would have come, but he was dry, his tears were exhausted. The sorrow remained, but it sat now like a deep hunger in the pit of his stomach, eating away at him.

    (Driven to murder, excerpt from chapter 16 of The Science of Magic: Volume 1.)

close Fan Comments

    "This is brilliant! I don't know what else to say - the style with which you write, the ideas bubbling at the surface throughout ... all really wonderful."
    -Rebecca Cold, Fictionpress

    "Unlke many stories I have read, your story is both consistent, well written and compeling ... I am happy to say that this is one of the most inticing stories I have ever read"
    -Eccentric Reader, Fictionpress

    "Holy cow, you got me with the first few words!"
     -Emily Fish, Bebo

    "This story is amazing! ... it's really clever. I really suggest you publish this, I'd definitly buy it please post the sequel!!"
     -Wilko4523, Fictionpress

    "I must ask, has mr. Brown ever published anything professionally? At least a short story in a local paper or something? Because seriously, this is good work. The dialogue's excellent and the writing's good."
     -Minodrin, Fictionpress