"Battlemage"

Stephen Aryan was born in 1977 and was raised by the sea in northeast England. After graduating from Loughborough University, he started working in marketing, and for some reason he hasn't stopped. A keen podcaster, lapsed gamer and budding archer, when not extolling the virtues of Babylon 5, he can be found drinking real ale and reading comics.

Aryan applied the Page 69 Test to Battlemage, the first book in his Age of Darkness trilogy, and reported the following:

Page 69 of Battlemage is a moment that’s both humorous and scary. The Mad King has now declared himself Emperor of the world and, as the name suggests, he’s a few beers short of a six pack. He’s asking his Generals how the war is going and it becomes clear very quickly that he’s not living in the same version of reality as everyone else. The whole chapter is told from the point of view of the Emperor’s servant, who is utterly petrified and living on a knife edge. He has no idea if he is going to survive the next hour, never mind if he will see tomorrow, as the Emperor’s mood swings and violent outbursts are tremendous.

I really like this chapter and point of view as it shows the terrifying and ridiculous nature of one of the main villains in the book. As far as a lot of people know the Emperor is this malevolent, religious figure who is idolised, but in reality he’s like a confused and incredibly powerful child who doesn’t understand the simplest things. At the same time everyone is afraid to tell him the truth as he might give the order to have their heads chops off. So everyone is walking on egg shells while trying to carry out his wishes to the best of their abilities.

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My Book, The Movie: Battlemage.

--Marshal Zeringue