A couple of months ago, I reviewed Naiya’s Wish by Astrid V.J., a retelling of The Nixie of the Mill-pond. Afterwards, Astrid asked me whether I wanted to name one of the characters in her upcoming novel, The Destitute Countess. Thanks a lot for the honour, Astrid! I loved getting to know Lady Mildred <3

The Destitute Countess

The Destitute Countess is the sixth stand-alone novel in The Wordmage’s Tales, which is a series of novels accompanying the Wishmaster Series, each of which containing one of the tales that the apprentice storyteller learns in the main series. Both series are cross-overs between Fantasy and Space Opera.

In this novel, Jo (the apprentice) tells his audience the story of Lady Mildred, an heiress who learns upon her father’s decease that her estate is in big financial problems. Upon learning of her family’s debts, all but one of Mildred’s friends distance themselves from her. Will Mildred and Kayden be able to turn around her fortunes?

The Law of Attraction

One of the remarkable things about The Wordmage’s Tales is that each tale illustrates one of the fundamental principles of human transformation. This novel features The Law of Attraction, which is a philosophical principle that states that you can attract positive things by focusing on positive thoughts, and negative ones by doing the reverse. This is indeed illustrated beautifully by the hope, positivism and willpower displayed by the main character. This provides a stark contrast with the behaviour of Mildred’s mother and friends who all tend to focus on the negative.

I greatly appreciated the worldbuilding in this novel. I admit that I’m usually not a big fan of science fiction, so I wasn’t sure about reading something that was described as a fantasy/space opera cross-over, but it was done beautifully and worked very well for the story. I’m in fact curious to discover more about this world, so I will dive into the Wishmaster’s Series next.

I also loved the frame story setup. Such a narrative immediately transports me back to 1001 Nights or to long nights around a campfire, listening to stories. Delightful concept <3

Last but not least, I was pleasantly surprised by Mildred’s interest in Magical Creature Rights. She even joins The Protection of Magical Creatures Association. As a child, I was very much appalled by the way Remus Lupin was treated in the Harry Potter series, so I tried to enlist my entire family in a similar organisation as well. This made me feel an immediate kinship with Mildred, and I’ve decided to take the next spaceship towards her world and become her new best friend 😉

Very well written, great characters and a unique concept: four gemstones out of five!

Age Category: Suitable for a broad audience

Representation: Supporting character with a disability

Trigger Warnings (click here, may contain spoilers)

Very mild. Warnings for debts, death of parent (off page) and alcohol use.

As you know, I try to learn a new word each time I read a book. This time, it’s “raucous“, which turns out to mean “making or constituting a disturbingly harsh and loud noise”.

Do you want to discover more?

If my review inspired you to pick up the book, don’t hesitate to check it out at Goodreads or at the below online stores.

Amazon.nl: eBook edition

As mentioned, there are several other tales in The Wordmage’s Tales Series. The seventh one, Silvana’s Trial, has just been released a couple of days ago (review)! The main series this series accompanies, The Wishmaster Series, currently consists of one book, with more on the way (the next one will be published in December 2022). Start your journey with book one, The Apprentice Storyteller!

Similar to this

Are you into fairytales? Then definitely check out Astrid V.J.’s Elisabeth and Edvard’s World Series, which consists of retellings of lesser known fairytales. The story I mentioned earlier, Naiya’s Wish, is the third novel in this series, but can be read as a stand-alone! My review can be found here.

In July, the Enchanted Forests anthology will be published. All proceeds of this collection of illustrated fantasy short-stories are being donated to the Rainforest Foundation to support their conservation efforts. It includes a story by Astrid V.J. as well, namely Willow Daughter. My review of this amazing anthology can be found here.

Looking for more fantasy series? Check out The Water-Folk Saga by Victoria Ravenwood! It’s a great adventure story currently consisting of two parts. My review of book one, Jade and Tar, can be found here.