Title: Wizard Tournament: Humans Need Not Apply by JDFister
Author: JDFister
Genre: Action, Fantasy
Status: WIP
Library Category: Original Fiction
Pairings: None so far
Summary:
Draevin the elf is a top contender in the annual wizard tournament, he's even won a few times. In all his years he's never seen a human enter. Can humans even do magic? Everyone in this tournament is fighting for something and only the best of the best can win. This year's tournament is looking like it could change everything.
Link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/wizard-humans-40620112

So I came across this story a couple of weeks ago and It completely engrossed me. The general premise is that a human enters a high-level wizarding tournament despite coming from a race that is known not to have magical capabilities.

The worldbuilding is often focused on the titular tournament and it's done absolutely brilliantly, IMO. There were points where I could vividly picture the scenes happening during the tournament, the roar of the crowd, the atmosphere created during a brilliant fight. The author does an absolutely incredible job of depicting fan sporting events.

The fight scenes are the main draw of the story and they are all amazing. The author creates incredibly compelling fighting styles, each and every one of them centered on magic. It's amazing. And yes, at no point is there hand-to-hand combat, where the fighter had to balance on the balls of their feet and dance away from magic lights. (god I hate that trope).

There is a fight where one of the fighters literally narrates things into existence, and the author depicts that fight amazingly. There is never an obvious winner except for the titular human, and even his victories are earned in creative ways.


But, my favorite part about this story is its main character, Draevin. He is the best example of a proactive protagonist. And I absolutely love it. He goes through an interesting character arc that involves him overcoming his prejudices and embracing responsibility.

However, his best characteristic, the one thing that made me love this story, is that he never waits for information to be given to him later. Multiple times throughout the story, people try to tell him to wait until later so that they can give him information. But each. and. every. time, he refuses and insists that they give the info immediately. if privacy is the concern, he creates a private space because he is a wizard. I love it.

This particular characteristic is also utilized in the plot beautifully.

I rate this a strong 4/5

The only weakness is Peter the human is too much of a Gary Stu. No matter the ridiculous odds, he wins. Boring.