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Glynn Stewart is a fantasy and science fiction author from Kitchener, Ontario best known for his “Starship’s Mage” series of novels. Growing up, he remembers that his parents had a library full of science fiction works. It is from the library that he first got interested in reading and writing. By the time he was an adult, he had run out of his favorite traditionally published authors such as Ian Douglas and David Weber. Needing something to read while commuting to his accounting job in Calgary, he turned to self-published authors. Apart from being a voracious reader he has always been a writer and remembers the disconcert he caused among his teachers in elementary school, when he transformed a story about hockey-playing mice playing into an action story. He wrote his first novel as a high schooler, though he never published it. The manuscripts that would follow it were published in some form or other in the course of his career. While he showed a lot of promise while he was in high school, he decided to pursue accounting when he went to college and writing took a backseat. When he graduated and became a financial analyst, he started writing again as a hobby and would write up to 2,000 words a day in his free time. In 2014, he published Omnibus the first of the Starship’s Mage series. The success of the title made him start thinking of making writing a full-time career. When he wrote “Space Carrier Avalon,” which enjoyed almost double the success he decided to go full time.
While it may seem that Glynn Stewart had quite a smooth ride to becoming a published author, nothing could be further from the truth. Before he experienced his phenomenal online success, he had almost quit writing, even with five novels to his name in 2010. He had always wanted to publish the traditional way and he was frustrated when one of his manuscripts sat at a publisher for more than a year without a response. His struggle to become a writer whatever the path is what birthed his blockbuster “Starship’s Mage.” He had been struggling to get any of his projects past 25,000 words and so he began writing 25,000 word novellas. In one year alone he had more than five to his name. He credits his resurgence at this time to his wife Giesen. She came from a fine arts background and she told him to try online publishing if he found too much resistance in traditional publishing. He was wishy-washy about the idea and it was not until she promised to do his eBook covers that Glynn agreed to give it a try. By the end of 2014, he had self-published “Omnibus,” his debut novel to rave reviews and much popularity.
Since Glynn quit his day job as an accountant, he has become quite a prolific author. He has published more than 40 novels and sold more than a million copies of his space opera, urban fantasy, and science fiction novels. Even though he started as a conventional indie author doing everything on his own, he eventually gave up and brought in help when it became too much to handle. He now runs a semi-independent corporation known as “Faolan Pen Publishing,” which employs three people that help him run the publishing side of his writing business. With help, he can write more than four thousand words a day, which is what helps him publish an average of eight books every year. His publishing team coordinates the art, formatting, and publishing processes, manages the proofreaders, advance and beta readers, and copyeditors in addition to reminding him when he needs to report for an AMA. Glynn currently lives in Kitchener, Ontario with his wife and two felines. When he is not writing his novels, he may be found playing RPG games or one of his board games even though he only has so many hours in his day, given that he also has to write.
“Starship’s Mage” the debut novel of the series by Glynn Stewart is the story of a recent graduate of the mage academy named Damien Montgomery. He is also a member of the elite Jump Mages, who travel faster than light at the click of their fingers. But despite all his skills and capabilities, he has discovered that the future can sometimes be strongly influenced by personal contacts and nepotism. In his world, progress up the ranks depends on who you know and Damien is severely limited in that regard, which makes finding a job difficult. But then he gets the opportunity of a lifetime when an independent captain gets blacklisted by the orders of an influential person in the local system. He is sure to invite other problems if he signs on with the out of favor captain but he has no other option. What unfolds is the story of how Damien gets himself entangled in a conflict that pits the criminal underworld and the higher-ups. With the conflict getting ever bigger, it is brought to the attention of the Mage-King, setting the stage for even more interesting adventures.
Glynn Stewart’s “Hand of Mars” is set three years after Damien Montgomery the Ship’s Mage of Blue Jay the starship was pursued to the edge of the known galaxy by enemies and agents of the Mage King of Mars. But he has now been trained by the Mage King and has a lot of new powers he can put to use. With his new skills, he has teamed up with the Hand of the King Alaura Steauly and together, they head to the planet Ardennes. There arose a rebel movement on the planet that has devastated the land as the insurgents fought a governor given to corruption. At the opening of the novel, Damien is heading out for the first time as an emissary of the Mage King with Steally charged with holding his hand in difficult times. This is by all intents and purposes his training on the job and he has to learn how to speak for the king and put his new powers to use. But the apprentice will have to step up and become a master when the circumstances change for the worse. But things on the planet are not what they seem as chaos erupts all around and allies turn into enemies, testing Damien’s newfound integrity and skills to the limit.
“Voice of Mars” by Glynn Stewart sees Damien promoted to Hand of the King, having proven himself in the previous mission. He has now been sent out to do his first solo task, which is to investigate the tensions between Sherwood and another planet due to a deadly incident. He cobbles together his team, gets on a ship, and is soon on Sherwood. There he meets Grace and both of them have changed a lot, which makes their reunion quite an interesting event. They had not parted on good terms and the tension on their meeting was so thick it could be cut with a knife. As is his habit, Damien immediately gets to work and things go wrong almost instantly. An unknown person is stoking the conflict between the planets looking to start a civil war. It is up to Damien to find a way to find the man and prevent a civil war that could destroy the two planets and possibly spread across the galaxy.
Thank you for bringing back science fiction. I loved this genre and had read all of Asimov, Heinlein, Ellison and so many other. But going to the moon then became a reality and sci fi cratered. The books coming out became filled with knights on horses and maidens waiting for their knight in shining armor. Sorry that not sci fi that’s fantasy. My grandson called one day to tell me about the mage series. The sun rose again. Actual sci fi, space and all the rest. Love Damian and all the others. I’ve read almost all the books in 3 series. But really this is a just a heartfelt – Thank You.
Keep writing please. I have been looking for books like yours since forever. I have been listening to them for almost a year now and have got through 18 and am nearing the end of number 19. I cannot get enough. I can’t say I have a favourite book or series yet as they are all so far my favourites. Please oh please keep them coming.
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Thank you for bringing back science fiction. I loved this genre and had read all of Asimov, Heinlein, Ellison and so many other. But going to the moon then became a reality and sci fi cratered. The books coming out became filled with knights on horses and maidens waiting for their knight in shining armor. Sorry that not sci fi that’s fantasy. My grandson called one day to tell me about the mage series. The sun rose again. Actual sci fi, space and all the rest. Love Damian and all the others. I’ve read almost all the books in 3 series. But really this is a just a heartfelt – Thank You.
Keep writing please. I have been looking for books like yours since forever. I have been listening to them for almost a year now and have got through 18 and am nearing the end of number 19. I cannot get enough. I can’t say I have a favourite book or series yet as they are all so far my favourites. Please oh please keep them coming.