History Literature / TheSpellmongerSeries

The rest of the series follows this [[FirstPersonSmartass smart-alecky narrator]] on his quest to save the world of men from the new goblin scourge, all the while dealing with the ridiculously inefficient and corrupt feudal government, the inherent distrust/ignorance of magic in his culture, his own struggle with his ambitions and social class as he grows in both magical and political power.... [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers and his transition from horndog bachelor to faithful husband and father]]

* HurtingHero: Minalin experiences this at various times, but especially throughout the entirety of Necromancer. It's clear how much the state of his wife is weighing on him, affecting his decision making.

* TheSpymaster: Duchess Grendine's sinister alter ego as "The Mother", the head of the castali intelligence apparatus known as "the Family"

* Crazy-Prepared: Minalin's battle staff Blizzard and its successor, Avalanche. Minalin has loaded them with pockets that hold everything from field dressings, to magical equipment, to string. Useful stuff, string.

* LargeHam: Azar and Caswallon. Any time he has more than one sentence to say, you can guarantee it's going to be self-aggrandizing.

-->I am Azar, the Scion of Death,” the grim warmage said, fixing her with his gaze. “I was born twixt the bloody thighs of Conquest, sired by the loins of Battle, itself! My midwife was Destruction, my wet nurse, Lamentation!” he said, in the tone he apparently used to impress clients, back when he was an itinerant warmage, Pentandra figured. She was glad he could still use the line.

“Oh,” the baroness replied, unsure of what to say. “They must be very proud,” she finally decided.

%%This story deserves a lot of praise for managing to turn what, at first glance, seems to be one of the most generic and predictable fantasy plot-lines into a tremendously enjoyable and original work, mostly because of the author's superb world building, and the stunning amount of realism and attention to detail in both the military and political arenas. Its like the fantasy equivalent of Hard Sci-fi.

Currently there are 9 full books, with the 10th on its way:

* ''Sky Rider'' [[note]] ''scheduled for 2018'' [[/note]]

%%* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: In Magelord, Duke Rard IV has one when he becomes King Rard I
%%* BloodKnight: Most of the close combat oriented warmagi.
* CharacterFilibuster and AuthorFilibuster: Pretty much any time Penny has more than one line in a conversation, prepare yourself for ten to fifteen pages of lecture on economics 001 or politics 001. How necessary any given piece of exposition is is somewhat arguable, but it's worth noting that the author tends to condense all of her conversations to one-paragraph summaries in the third volume.

* DyingMomentOfAwesome: The Aronin of Amadia and Co. They actually manage to hold off the big bad of the series, who is a RealityWarper, while simultaneously teleporting the main characters miles away from the fight. Minalan even stays behind for a second because "It didn't seem right to let the Aronin's heroic last stand go unwitnessed".
* FirstPersonSmartass: The narrator Minalan the Spellmonger, is this in spades.
* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: straight. gods have the powers that believers associate with them, and can only act within their spheres of influence

* TheHorde: The goblin armies fit this exactly, with Minalan even referring to them as this in universe

%%* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Duke Rard and Duchess Grendine of Castal

%%* TheStoic: Sire Cei

* ColonelBadass: Bold Asgus, Commander of the Orohan's band. He oozes command and confidence. Proficient with almost all weapons, he is a one man wave of death on the field of battle. The man launched himself onto a troll, and killed it with one hit. [[UpToEleven then he dismounted into a double decapitation of nearby Mooks]]

* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: In Magelord, Duke Rard IV has one when he becomes King Rard I
* BloodKnight: Most of the close combat oriented warmagi.

* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: has happened twice

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Duke Rard and Duchess Grendine of Castal

* TheStoic: Sire Cei

* ''Necromancer''[[note]]''scheduled for 2017''[[/note]]

* Spellmonger
* Warmage
* Magelord
* Knights Magi
* High Mage
* Journeymage
* Enchanter
* Court Wizard
* Shadowmage
* Necromancer[[note]]''scheduled for 2017''[[/note]]

* Hawkmaiden
* Hawklady

In addition, he has also published a number of short stories which can be found in the anthology "The Road to Sevendor"

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Subverted HARD in enchanter [[spoiler: when Isily rapes Min so she can get pregnant again because she is obsessed with him.]] though he keeps it secret and still functions throughout the book, this event traumatizes him and slowly begins to alienate him from his allies and affect his good judgment throughout the story