Thief Mage, Beggar Mage by Cat Hellisen
Published by Ghost Moth Press
Age Group: Adult
Format: Fiction
Genres and Categories: Curses, Various Magic, Diverse Representation, Magic Users, Epic Fantasy, LGBTQIA+ Authors, Scottish Authors, Mobility Aids, Physical Disabilities, Outlaw Characters
Series: Beggar Mage Cycle #1
My Rating:
Published on: 13th September 2022
Pages: 368
Disability Representation: Amputee, Chronic Pain
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Tet is no longer a priest-mage; thrown out from his temple and cursed by his gods to return a stolen relic. With every passing year, the curse works deeper into his flesh, breaking and twisting him until finally, driven by pain, Tet makes a drastic play to escape the gods.

His luck turns sour, and the escape costs him his soul, drawing his death even closer when he is captured by the despotic White Prince. In order to escape the prince, retrieve his soul and break the curse, Tet must form a fragile alliance with a man he cannot trust. An alliance made brittle by lies and deception; one that may take his heart as well as his soul.

Thief Mage, Beggar Mage is a lush, queer reimagining of Andersen's The Tinderbox, embroidered with dreams, secret identities, stolen magic, giant spectral dogs, clockwork monsters, prophetic dragons, and the grand games of gods and humans.

This book was provided for free by the Publisher and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

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Thief Mage, Beggar Mage tells the story of Tet, a former priest-mage who, through no fault of his own, ends up cursed by the gods following the events of a relic being stolen from his temple. Over the course of the novel, his story unwinds, and we learn that there is more to Tet than even he knows. What is clear is that he has angered the gods, and they have taken it out on his flesh. They have carved it into his body, leaving him with terrible chronic pain.

Other disabled readers may be thinking that this is beginning to sound awfully familiar right about now, and to begin with, that was my concern as well. But Hellisen has not used disability as a plot device. Instead, she has written a diverse fantasy novel with an LGBTQIA+ disabled protagonist and secondary character. At every stage, Tet’s pain is recognised and described accurately, including how someone with chronic pain and problems with their knees would move and navigate the world around them.

Tet is the beggar mage mentioned in the title, and Dohza, a wonderful character I dare you not to fall in love with, is the thief mage and a below-the-elbow amputee. While Tet’s chronic pain has limitations for him, neither character lets their disability stop them from doing things. This is especially true for Dohza, who is the greatest thief in the kingdom, and it was brilliant to see this in a fantasy novel where usually disabled characters are relegated to the realms of tropes, that’s if they exist at all!

The world-building of Thief Mage, Beggar Mage is very clever and intricate, and I enjoyed following the story as it unwound. I am not familiar with The Tinderbox by Hans Christian Andersen, so many aspects of the story were a surprise to me. While I did overall enjoy this novel, I found that the pacing and the feel of Thief Mage, Beggar Mage were not quite to my liking. It is more akin to epic fantasy, and that can be a hit or a miss for me. This is a personal preference and not a criticism of the book or the author.

About Cat Hellisen

Cat Hellisen writes weird, lush speculative fiction for adults and children. They are the author of several novels, including When the Sea is Rising Red and Beastkeeper, and their short fiction and poetry have appeared in various magazines and anthologies, including Tor.com, Apex Magazine, Shimmer and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

Their favourite writers are Ursula K Le Guin, Margaret Atwood, Tanith Lee and Clive Barker, though they love discovering new writers of the fantastical.

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Thanks for reading my review for Thief Mage, Beggar Mage by Cat Hellisen! Thief Mage, Beggar Mage is out on September 13th and is available for pre-order from any of the links in this review.

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