Fantasy Book Critic: Book review: First Mage on The Moon by Cameron Johnston

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Cameron Johnston is a Scottish writer of fantasy and lives in the city of Glasgow in Scotland. He is a member of the Glasgow Science Fiction Writers' Circle, loves archaeology and mythology, enjoys exploring ancient sites and camping out under the stars.

Publisher: Angry Robot (April 14, 2026) Page count: 328 pages Formats: audiobook, ebook, paperback

There are many ways to start a fantasy novel. A prophecy. A battle. A mysterious stranger in a tavern.

First Mage on the Moon starts with a hanging.

From there, the book rewinds to show readers how did a bunch of overworked, underpaid mages end up committing what is apparently the greatest heresy imaginable - touching the moon?

The answer, as it turns out, involves paperwork, bad management decisions, and one very unfortunate lightning strike.

Ella Pickering is tired and stuck in a system that chews people up. She's basically trying to get through the day without losing more than she already has. Her sections revolve around the repetitive work, the debt, the physical strain. And perhaps the author is trying too much to make the point. There’s a stretch in the middle where you’ve fully grasped how miserable and repetitive her job is and then you keep watching it happen anyway. It felt overextended to me.

Whitlaw Goddard is another highlight. He has spent years doing things properly and has finally decided to do something wildly improper instead. Which, in this world, means trying to advance knowledge without asking permission. His arc is excellent. You know where it’s going, but it still lands.

The setting is industrial, and often unpleasant. Things are built, tested, broken, and occasionally launched into the sky by accident. The "moon project" itself is handled like engineering. There are calculations, adjustments, and a lot of trial and error. It’s refreshing, even if it sometimes slows the story down.

There are downsides, too. The antagonists (priests, hierarchs, powerful figures in general) are clear enough, but they don’t evolve much. They exist to block progress, and they do that job efficiently. You just don’t get much beyond that.

And while the ideas are strong, the pacing isn’t always helping them. Some sections feel tight and engaging; others move way too slowly.

The ending is exactly what the book promises from the start. No last-minute twists. No clever escapes.

The characters pay the price for what they chose to do. Of course, there's more to it, but you'll have to learn it on your own.

In the end, First Mage on the Moon is a good idea told well, just not always tightly. There’s a lot here to like: the grounded approach to magic, the working-class perspective, the central concept itself. But it doesn’t quite hit as hard as it could have with sharper pacing and a bit more depth on the opposing side.