The ancient magic of wizards was anything but dark. It was the enlightenment that lifted humanity from the squalor of superstition, and the worship of fell spirits and capricious gods, but those days are gone. The shining glory of the sorcerers burned away the subtlety of wisdom, replacing it with easy power, held only in the hands of the elite—a new age built upon the elemental supremacy of aristocrats and the ignorance of the masses.

But this will change, for the greatest power comes with knowledge, and the deeper teachings of wizardry have not been utterly lost. The last wizard of the old tradition still survives in solitude, nursing tired grudges and waiting for death.

His passing might have gone unnoticed, but for the imposition of a youth too stubborn to accept his refusal to take an apprentice. With a new student comes new hope, and that hope has caused old powers to stir again. That the world will change is inevitable, but the shape of the future is anything but certain.

**

Review

"Picking up a Manning book I expected it to be a winner. And once again he hits a homerun.The perfect balance between action of suspense made The Choice of Magic was a real pleasure to read. I can't wait to see what he does next."
~ Brian D.Anderson , Author of The Godling Chronicles and Dragonvein

"Michael G. Manning has crafted a unique story of a young wizard's coming of age that's a wonderful start to an engrossing new fantasy world."
~ D.K. Holmberg , Author of The Dark Ability **

About the Author

MichaelManning spent his formative years in Texas, reading fantasy and sciencefiction, concocting home-grown experiments in his backyard, and generallyavoiding schoolwork.  Later at collegehis love of beer blossomed and his love of role-playing games led to what hecalls his 'best year ever' and what most of his family calls 'the lostyear'.  Eventually he graduated and bysome strange irony, became a pharmacist.

Unfortunately, Michael was not a very goodpharmacist.  Being free spirited was nota particularly good trait to possess in a career focused on perfection, and theletter-of-the-law.  He wound up workingin pharmacy informatics (for the safety of the public) but after ten years orso, he eventually grew tired of that as well.So he wrote a book, and one thing led to another, after a while he gaveup trying to live two lives (much to his mother's chagrin), and here we are.