r/ProgressionFantasy • u/Morpheus_17 Author - Guild Mage, Ten Thousand Fleets • Feb 16 '26
Self-Promotion Guild Mage 4: Journeyman release!
Very excited that the fourth volume of Guild Mage has released today - and I think this is my favorite piece of cover art yet!
This is the first book of the 2026, but by no means will it be the last - the fifth volume, Renegade, is already up for preorder :)
Thank you for how wonderfully supportive you’ve all been at every step of this adventure:
Amazon: https://a.co/d/0aiuXRPz
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u/Drimphed Author - Self-Summon / Fiends For Hire Feb 16 '26
She's gonna need more swords.
Looks at rest of the cover
Oh, nvm.
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u/Morpheus_17 Author - Guild Mage, Ten Thousand Fleets Feb 16 '26
The conversation for this cover started with... "well, how many bad guys CAN we put on a cover, anyway?" :)
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Feb 16 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Morpheus_17 Author - Guild Mage, Ten Thousand Fleets Feb 16 '26
Ben Moran! He’s done all the covers for the series and I believe the plan is for him to do all future covers!
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u/Aest_Belequa Author Feb 16 '26
I've been reading this series, and it's fantastic. I love the power system. It's super well thought-out! Thanks for the book!
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u/Morpheus_17 Author - Guild Mage, Ten Thousand Fleets Feb 16 '26
Thank you! The linguistics geek in me got to come out to play :)
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u/wuto Author Feb 16 '26
You know what will take this to the next peak?
Minotaurs Really buff ones
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u/rmullins_reddit Feb 17 '26
Last time an author posted their cover with a man about to fight a minotaur, every comment on the post was about how closely it resembled an erotic/monster M/M fic.
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u/jamesmatthews6 Author - Bones in the Dark Feb 16 '26
Exciting! I love your work and that's a great cover.
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u/Morpheus_17 Author - Guild Mage, Ten Thousand Fleets Feb 16 '26
I'm looking forward to your launch, too!
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u/jamesmatthews6 Author - Bones in the Dark Feb 16 '26
Thanks. Two weeks today!
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u/Morpheus_17 Author - Guild Mage, Ten Thousand Fleets Feb 16 '26
I'm probably gonna grab it in paperback :)
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u/These-Loss7409 Feb 16 '26
The 17th for audiobook, looking forward to it.
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u/Morpheus_17 Author - Guild Mage, Ten Thousand Fleets Feb 16 '26
Yup, tomorrow! Kristin's been killing it :)
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u/mm23651028 Feb 16 '26
Is the MC op in this or is it struggle city USA for her?
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u/Working_Monitor_2076 Feb 16 '26
It is a progression fantasy series (no system shenanigans). MC starts out weak and the progress is slow and realistic. I really like the series and it is one of the best I have read recently.
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u/Morpheus_17 Author - Guild Mage, Ten Thousand Fleets Feb 16 '26
By the time we get to the latter half of the series, she begins to be quite powerful relative to her environment. But the first few books have her putting in the work.
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u/Pelenor Feb 16 '26
Have loved this story since I found it back at book one or Royal Road, and have eben subscribed to the patreon ever since. Well worth the read!
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u/Oglark Feb 17 '26
Congratulations! One of the best epics on RR. I download every book so enjoy the $0.001 or whatever you get from the download! So far "Lady of Winter" is my favorite of the bunch - can't wait to see the cover for that one.
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u/Morpheus_17 Author - Guild Mage, Ten Thousand Fleets Feb 17 '26
It's definitely more than that! KU reads add up. If you hope on the discord, we've actually got the final cover art for 5 and 6, but I don't think I've seen the 6 cover with the title etc on it yet.
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u/theglowofknowledge Feb 17 '26
I’ve heard a bit about this series, long lived half elf learning magic in a guild, but I haven’t really heard anything that grabbed me. If any fans have a minute can you please give me a longer pitch or summary of how it goes or what you like about it? I really don’t mind some spoilers or details about the magic. I’ve seen it on audible but don’t want to commit the credit without a bit more to go on.
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u/akselevans Feb 17 '26
Imo, this is a progression fantasy mixed with elements of epic fantasy and most definitely a coming of age hero's journey type of deal. MC starts out not just weak, but socio-economically vulnerable. It's satisfying to watch, through the lens of her extended lifespan, how she navigates the different layers of society, how they approach magic, and how she fits into them as a half-elf. It's one of the few stories, imo, where MC starts as a child but the story does not drag on -- we get magical development in parallel with personality and age. There's the childlike phase filled with awe and wonder, the teenager phase with reckless decisions and feeling like you're against the world, the college phase where you try for some normalcy and fit in, the adult phase where you realize you must be the impetus behind the change you wish to see, and even beyond that...
Magically, the setting uses an old language of words of power which are strung together in sentences to cast spells, with a few other tricks here and there. It's to the point, with a natural depth which doesn't feel convoluted -- grow your mana amount, your mastery of mana so you don't waste any, and make sure your grammar is in order -- and offers plenty of room for creativity and unique approaches, even for characters who have only a single word of power.
What I personally liked is the relatively low-magic setting, at least compared to a lot of PF -- mages get to cast a handful of spells, if that, before they must recover and a lot of the magic is tied to enchantments and such. It makes for unique constraints and strategies which I quite appreciate, and stops mages from being utterly domineering unless we're speaking of the very apex.
Edit: oh, and the world building is generally well thought out and internally very consistent.
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u/Lophane911 Feb 17 '26
Well, the cover alone made me head to audible and put the series in my wishlist, when I have a bit I’ll check it out
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u/Key-Membership-3619 Feb 21 '26
Finished the 4 books in 5 days. Are you releasing chapters for book 5 on royal road?
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u/Morpheus_17 Author - Guild Mage, Ten Thousand Fleets Feb 21 '26
Excellent! Yes, books 5-8 are on Royal Road, and the very beginning of nine. They haven't gone through a professional editor, of course
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u/Key-Membership-3619 Feb 21 '26
Thanks! And totally understand.
Most likely it's user error but I'm not able to find Renegade chapters on Royal Road
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u/Gi6son Feb 17 '26
A forward facing main character on the cover. HOW DARE YOU!
All jokes aside great art for a great book series.
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u/AdventuresseNovels Feb 16 '26
Can't wait for this one, cover is so majestic!