I bought this book on Friday, I've decided to use it to make things a little different when the Party heads off into The First World. The Magus will be introduced into the campaign as will the Words of Power casting system. Of course, since the Words of Power have to be chosen at character creation the PCs will not have access to it unless they make new toons.

So far the book is useful. I use the PDF versions and miss the links that the Core Book has. But I do like that, unlike the Core Book, the pages automatically size to fit the window.

This is a good product for a GM that is looking to change things up a little.

This book appears to have taken a bad rap. I for one quite like this, from the Magus class, through all the options for any class that is even slightly magical. I actually really liked the words of power idea, though I will never use them in any serious way (perhaps a shamanic npc) and I enjoyed the feats and discussion on magic use.

Really gives magic a good feel in the campaign. Mind you, the book is not an essential addition at all. If you want a fully fleshed out magical campaign though it is a great book.

I thinking the paizo is simply taking the left overs from other books and slapping it to take another bite of the apple. This makes me sad, I hope this doesn't continue.

It's hard to take reviews seriously on this board. If you're a longtime lurker or poster, you know well that every additional book Paizo has put out for Pathfinder has from its inception been a bright, shiny target seemingly custom made for the hurled monkey poo of a horde of miserable would-be design "experts." These people were prepared to hate from the outset, so should we be surprised when they rain their hate down on the product once it has been released?

Here is a frank and honest review from somebody who actually does make a side living making games and related accessories, and who doesn't have an axe to grind or a big fat ego to polish.

I love this book. I admit, I don't use all of it. I don't care. What I use, I love. What my players use, they love. Nothing here has yet broken the game. Nothing here is out of whack or out of balance. I make great and memorable NPCs from this material, and I have never been so happy doing so.

This book, as with Advanced Character, and Ultimate Combat, continues what Paizo does best. They zero in on what options were missing, or were cluttered, or required five 3.5 books to accomplish, or that were originally poorly conceived by 3rd parties, and they improve on them and put them all in a nice, clear, tidy reference for me to have all the fun I wanted to have, but never did.

In short, the book provides great fun alternatives, and covers a lot of ground, making the work of a 3rd party designer like me, a whole lot of fun, and accommodating a wide variety of imaginative builds.

As expected, no real gem there. Its chunk full of tweeks and half chewed class specializations.
Fun for a read. Not much else there.
Sub-par.
Nowhere to go but up, Paizo.

Except for the section in Chapter One on profession archetypes, there is nothing in this book that I couldn't live without.

IMHO, the Magus class was poorly thought out and the Words of Power are a needless complication. The lack of usefulness in this book will make me think twice before purchasing other titles in this line.

I was hoping for new clerical domains, new (non-elemental) wizard spells, more options for existing classes, etc.... The fact that I didn't get those things disappoints me.

This has been a long time coming, but the need to try everything out trumped review attempts.

Let's get the negative points detailed first:
A great deal of the book seemed to just exist to "test the waters" and lacked clarification. I hope this won't be a standard practice, as it hurts the new material introduced. Editing mistakes were very obvious in the first printing, which gave the book a faint 'rushed' feel. The Words of Power variant can be useful in some playstyles, but generally won't see much time at my table. While the approach is fairly balanced, it's also weaker (with an already weakened class type)and I did not like the sacrifices required.

None of this compared to my utter disappointment when I realized that seven pages were devoted to sample spellbooks. I will never use these and feel that the 'preparation ritual' boon (and suggestions on how to add them to existing spellbooks) should have been the focus. This reminds me of when WotC began introducing old monster races with class levels in new bestiaries. The focus should be on the mechanic, not on examples of the mechanic.

Now for the good stuff:
The magus is exactly what it needed to be, despite the odd name choice. While the spellbook requirement is an ongoing problem I'll ignore for the moment, the only immediate fault I can find with the class is very limited spell list.

None of the archetypes were a disappointment and quite a few really set my imagination alight. Arcane discoveries are easily my favorite class option and I encourage Paizo to publish more. The new familiars were welcome additions along with the construct modifications. The feat section addressed pressing concerns and needs and I'm quite content with the remainder. As for the new spells, I'm pleased with the majority (95%) in spite of the lack of 0-level spells.

Summary:
Very rarely is hype surpassed by reality and this is just another case of that combined with limited space. The negative may seem to outnumber the positive at first glance, but it's still a damn good book.

This book expands on the power of casters, obviously. I'm in the camp that puts casters at the top of the food chain already, so I feel like some of the boosts were unnecessary. Also, I wanted a swarm-shifter druid and didn't get it, so I'm still a little sore about that.

But still, there is so much awesome in this book I can barely remember all of it. I am a huge fan of Paizo's archetypes, and they delivered in spades with this book. I'm particularly fond of the Crossblooded and Wildblooded Sorcerer, and the Summoner archetypes.

This book also introduces several awesome feats, like the chain that grants you sorcerer bloodline powers. This floored me, because it makes a lot of sense that there could be people out there with bloodlines that just don't have innate arcane talents.

Then there's the Magus. A lot of people wish it had a full base attack bonus, but I think it's perfect as is. The blend of casting and melee combat through Spell Combat and Spellstrike is a slick concept, one that pulled me off the fence when I wasn't sure that the game needed the Magus when it had the Eldritch Knight.

I was unimpressed with the Words of Power, but I think that had more to do with my lack of interest in arcane casters in general, so I feel as if I'm being unfair to judge it. The changes made from the playtest seem solid, and the concept is sound.

As with my Ultimate Combat review, the archetypes alone make this book worth it for me. Overall, I give it four stars, only losing a star for two reasons: 1) I don't think casters needed a whole book of new toys and 2) cantrips got cut for space. I think a few higher level spells could have been tossed out instead, but that's just me.

I am pretty much done with buying any more rule books for pathfinder. It is almost a crying shame that all the balancing in the core book is being destroyed by these rushed and un tested rule books. This book I had to ban from my home Legacy of Fire Campaign. So many broken things. Next campaign I will probably use the core book only. I know paizo needs to make money but come on. It is turning into a major turn off.

Ultimate Magic has everything that I want from a book by that title for my Pathfinder game. Beautifully enhancing the magical aspects of the game, this book offers everything from a wonderfully realized new base class (the figher-mage styled Magus); to a plethora of flavorful archetypes for all of the Pathfinder core/base classes; to feats and spells; to new magical subsystems such as spell duels, binding outsiders, and more… And all of this is done in the typical, ultra-high-quality manner that Paizo has come to be known for. Certainly a wonderful supplement to sit alongside the Advanced Player’s Guide and Ultimate Combat.