A Blight of Mages

Name: A Blight of Mages
Author: Karen Miller

expanded novel 2012 Kingmaker, Kingbreaker

Record

First published	2012
Original language	EN
Work type	novel
Canon status	expanded
Reader rating	3.88 (3,161 ratings, collected 2026-09-11)
Internal chronology	0

Synopsis

A Blight of Mages moves centuries before the Mage War at the heart of the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker series to tell the origin story of the land of Dorana's magical order. Barl is a young woman of exceptional raw talent who bristles against a rigid, class-based system that reserves formal magical training for those of proper pedigree, leaving her locked out despite her gifts. Her frustration drives her toward increasingly reckless choices that risk disgrace and the loss of her powers entirely. Everything changes when she crosses paths with Morgan Danfey, a powerful member of the ruling Mage Council, and the two discover together a wholly new and unprecedented form of magic. Their breakthrough proves double-edged, as it stirs something dangerous within Morgan that threatens to engulf the land they both call home.

Where it sits

Universe: Kingmaker, Kingbreaker
Series: A Blight of Mages expanded; position 1 of 1 in the series' recorded order
Author: Karen Miller

Notes

From the series record (A Blight of Mages): Standalone prequel set generations before The Innocent Mage; classified Expanded, same treatment as the Fisherman's Children sequel duology.

Neighbouring works

Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.

Internal chronology, within Kingmaker, Kingbreaker: position 1 of 5: next The Innocent Mage (2005)

Sources

← Kingmaker, Kingbreaker dossier · All universes

Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.