The Wizard's Butler

An enjoyable light read, which is mainly slice of life as our main character Mulligan gets to grips with there being magic in the world. Most of the other characters are kind and thoughtful, with only a couple of exceptions. As with pantomime performances, it’s pretty obvious who we’re supposed

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to cheer for and who to boo when they arrive on stage, and there’s a good dollop of wish-fulfilment mixed in. The finish seemed to leave a couple of loose ends, which makes me wonder whether there’s a sequel planned.

A pleasant, low-tension story for when you’re not in the mood for high drama.

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Roger Mulligan, an ex-Army medic and certified EMT, needs a job. He answers an ad to be an elderly man's assisted living helper. During the interview, the family members doing the hiring sweeten the deal by offering $5k a month salary, in addition to room and board, plus a $1 million bonus if Roger

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can last a year. Suspecting a trap he asks what the catch is. The catch, it appears, is that the old man thinks he's a wizard and that they'd like Roger to act more as a butler than anything. Roger takes the job. How hard could it be looking after a "wizard?"

I loved this slice-of-life fantasy. I burned through a 12 hour audio book in a week, which is unusual for me. I kept making/finding excuses so I could keep listening I enjoyed it so much.

All of the characters are likeable. Mulligan has quite an adjustment to make as he realizes that magic is real, as are the fairies and pixies that help keep the mansion and its grounds maintained, and that there may be more than meets the eye to the dementia episodes that Mr. Shackleford is experiencing. Mulligan grows to enjoy his new role as a butler and it seems to suit his personality well.

I'm happy where everything ended and can't wait to see what the author has in store for these character's next.

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Easy enough of a read but lacks tension. I guess this is 'cozy' fantasy? For the main 'good guy' characters, (and the good guys are all good while the bad guys are simply there to be antagonists with nary a shade of grey to be found), everything is very smooth sailing throughout.

One thing I

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particularly liked was the ambiguity of why Roger falls so easily into the rhythms of being a butler; is it really the job he didn't know he was missing in his life - or is he being manipulated by magic? The aspect of this that I didn't like as much is that it's never really addressed. It's very much something that occurs between the lines and is never even brought up as a consideration. In my opinion, it should have been, and there should have been some type of confrontation over it - with a positive outcome of course! ;)

So... All in all this book is an pretty decent read but not one that would make me want to seek out a sequel, (if one existed).

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Its a heartwarming and very satisfying story. Its easy to read, but the story line does get bogged down a but with so many details. Do we need to know every single time Mulligan starts the coffee pot or tea kettle how the cups are arranged on the serving tray?