Jo de-Lancey’s The Blue Mage, the second instalment in the Tempered Souls series, aims high and is a sweep of fantasy threaded with tangled loyalties and a romance that ebbs and flows with the storms of the characters’ lives. It’s a generous book – big on atmosphere, expansive in scope – and de-Lancey’s world remains vividly realised; there are even some character illustrations at the start of the book, a terrific addition that helps in building their identity.
The land of the book feels verdant and storied, ports bustle with gossip and graft, and places feel real and lived in. Readers who enjoy detailed settings and the slow pleasure of immersion will find much to savour, and there’s visible care in how character growth is woven through the widening world.
Characters’ inner lives are a real strength.
Where the novel is at its most persuasive is in the attention paid to the characters’ inner lives. Here de-Lancey writes anxiety, grief and guilt, not as convenient plot levers but as emotions that shape choices and missteps. Self-doubt and fear rise unbidden in situations of tension; numbness and detachment linger after violence; brittle humour papers over dread.
Having spoken with Jo, it’s clear that these elements of her story telling are, in part, drawn from some of her own experiences, ensuring that these passages never read like box-ticking mental health references for a modern age. Here the book is humane and lived-in, and readers may recognise themselves in the quieter, spiralling moments between set pieces. The romance, too, is likely to be a draw. It is central without overwhelming the adventure, tender without being saccharine, and aimed squarely at readers who want heart as much as they want magic.
Problems with momentum and consistency sometimes interrupt the flow.
That said, The Blue Mage sometimes struggles with momentum and plot building, with some key moments arriving a touch abruptly – as if compensating for previous longer passages of emotion and character drawing. Occasionally the rhythm can feel like a chain of “and then… and then…,” a sequence of happenings rather than a progression driven by rising pressure and consequence. Streamlining would help. If scenes asked more insistently, “what changes and for whom?” then several intermediary steps could sharpen into consequential beats, and transitions could take on more narrative work, ensuring we travel between moments with earned friction rather than tidy hop-cuts.
Tonal consistency is another slight sticking point. De-Lancey’s secondary world largely wears a quasi-historical register: sailcloth and superstition, barter, and blades. Against that background, the occasional detail feels jarringly modern such as references to cigarette smoking, coffee, iron railings, and the like. Where this is used it means that some of the writing reads more like modern taxonomy. At such times, these sections sound as if they’re from a more contemporary setting, which is a little jarring for a story that otherwise speaks the language of another age. The effect on the reader is a brief slip in immersion at the very moments where the book most needs the spell to hold. Reframing such details through in-world metaphors – or simply trimming the excess – would better harmonise diction and design. However, overall de-Lancey is good at the small civic textures – markets, inns, backstreets – without losing sight of the grander myths. When the book commits to that register and lets scenes earn their keep, it sings.
An epic fantasy with a romantic feel
If you like epic fantasy with a strong romance, you’ll enjoy The Blue Mage as the relationships between several key characters builds. There’s plenty of longing, cautious feelings, and slow-building trust. Others may find the quest energy thin whenever the spotlight lingers on these elements but that is simply a matter of taste. Credit where it’s due: the tenderness isn’t cheap. The lovers’ inner turmoil – fear of abandonment, letting go of parts of the self, patterns of self-sabotage – feels thoughtfully drawn and sits comfortably alongside the broader explorations of mental health.
World-building traditionalists will appreciate the hum of the magic system (felt more than flaunted). I appreciated the way that the magic comes at a price, rather than as something unburdened and free: this adds an element of reality and a sense of risk to its use. This risk is also carried through in the wider story arc of magic’s development, leading to additional peril, which builds and develops well throughout the story, leading key characters to make unexpected, and sometimes murderous, choices.
There is an existential crisis facing one of the main characters, which takes up about a third of the story. However, this crisis could have been made more interesting if the ‘other side’ had come on the scene at some point too. Instead, the antagonist’s story doesn’t feel like it is tied to the main characters closely enough. They appear near to and interacting but never quite facing off: more rumour than pressure – so setbacks don’t always tighten the screws as much as they could. Bringing the opposition forces onstage together, sooner, and more decisively, bringing their separate motives into direct opposition, would sharpen jeopardy, producing heightened drama and forcing choice from the leads.
However, book two concludes with a strong story ready to reach its crescendo and conclusion with clear hooks for what comes next.
Ideal for younger readers
Stylistically and structurally, The Blue Mage reads as teen-leaning fantasy: ideal for younger readers or anyone who prefers a softer focus on relationships alongside expansive world-building. As a piece of writing there are moments that carry the feel of an able but still-forming author – ambitious scenes running too long, transitions that are a little clunky, and the occasional tonally modern reference that stalls momentum. None of these things negate the book’s strengths; they simply place it on the gentler end of the epic spectrum.
If you relish immersive settings, have patience with a languid pace, and want a romance that runs alongside sorcery and swordplay, then The Blue Mage offers a magic and myth story with an admirably sensitive eye for mental health. If you need pace, tonal clarity and antagonists pressing in, the anachronistic detail and the sequencing may test your tolerance.
The final verdict
This book is ambitious and atmospheric, though a little uneven. De-Lancey has a steady heart for character and a clear fondness for her world. When the compass needle settles – when tone, pace and purpose align – the book shows what it can be. A firmer hand on structure and a keener ear for register would let those strengths carry further. Until then, this remains a generous well-crafted fantasy likely to charm the teen readership – and romantics of any age – who are happy to journey with the pirate captain and her intrepid crew as they continue to deal with the challenges that magic, life and love brings across their decks.
And yes, I will be happy to review the next part, as I need to find out what happens next!
