My Buy Essay

Posts Tagged ‘fantasy’

Author Todd McClimans is a 5th grade teacher and young father, who lives in Nevada with his family. Todd has been writing short stories for his students for more than 10 years and The Elf Prince is his first novel. Currently, Todd is working on a sequel to this book and has two other book projects ahead in his future.

All the elements for a wonderfully mystical tale for youth, and for those with youthful minds are here in this novel. Haunting dreams, caring creatures of the forest, magical swords, a quest to defeat wickedness and free its captives along with humorous moments and unique characters – truly, it is all here. Each of Todd’s characters is pressed to find their individual strengths, to accept the uniqueness of their abilities and learn respect for things they once held reservations about.

There are three main characters in The Elf Prince. “Tenii” is a half-breed Man-Dwarf and just might be the most interesting wizard readers will have met in a long time. “Petra”, a gorgeous young fawn, has a persistent and doggedly determined nature that saves them all more than once. Finally there is “Dantin”, the 11 year-old half-breed Elf-Man Prince – who along with his two courageous friends endeavor to break the dominance of Dantin’s cold-hearted, ruthless uncle. They cannot do this alone and are aided more than once by their friends: Tierra, the she-elf Princess and Byron, the leader of a tribe of Dwarf warriors.

I have to say this was an excellent novel. Scene transition moved smoothly from one to the next in a realistic and engaging style. I completely enjoyed each stage of the tale and did not want it to end. The gorgeous book cover is certainly an asset to The Elf Prince, which pictures one of the two intricately carved magical medallions that play a part in the tale.

ISBN#: 1-4137-8553-0

Author: Todd McClimans

Publisher: Publish America

The Road of Silk is an adventure fantasy, with mystical and magical elements and a high energy feel to it that any reader will enjoy. Although this novel is written for an adult audience, I believe anyone over the age of 10 could easily become immersed in its pages. This is a co-written work between Matt Afsahi and Barbara Dysonwilliams, who have written many of their own books in the past. In The Road of Silk, they successfully combined their wide range of knowledge in journalism, art, archaeology, literature and languages into a wonderful piece of work.

Six main characters play important parts in this battle of good against evil – where there is little hope of survival. Running is not an option, as it would only result in a gruesome war. Queen Yasmin, a stunningly beautiful young woman, is more than willing to sacrifice herself and marry an evil King whom she cannot love for something bigger than herself – the safety of her people. For her, war is a tragedy to be avoided at all costs, even if it means sacrificing love and happiness.

Queen Yasmin finds love where she did not expect it, and learns hidden family secrets that alter her future forever. She discovers a great power within herself and the journey helps her to find the strength and confidence that will help her rule justly and wisely. Along the way a deep friendship develops between unlikely characters that breaks through belief systems and ingrained feelings of duty.

Forced to make choices in challenging situations helps the six main characters grow into better (or sometimes worse) people. They all end up facing their greatest fears and their choices will determine their fate.

The Road of Silk was definitely an entertaining read. It had a smooth story line with interesting characters and had a sense of fun and energy to it throughout. I felt the authors were trying to tell readers that friendship and honor will seek us out when we live consciously. Living is about choices, after all &ndash and few of the choices are easy.

ISBN#: 0974764469

Authors: Matt Afsahi and Barbara Dysonwilliams

Publisher: Synergy Books

The excerpt in the opening page of Waxing, before all the credits and the title page, was fantastic! That little enticing excerpt compelled me to read on with energy. This compact, 204 page fiction could be classified as a paranormal romance fantasy.

Author Megan Powell uses wit and pace to create a fun and suspenseful story. An alpha werewolf male is cursed and assailed from unexpected directions. In desperation, he turns to a solitary witch in hopes of righting wrongs and keeping peace within his pack. This is a story about obligations, finding love and balancing an underground life while intermingling with a society that must never know their kind exists.

Contrary to many stories involving werewolves and witches, Waxing has a believable scenario, is action-packed with an interesting and complex romance between the main characters, Derek and Liz. The author displays a rare talent in bringing the reader into the story at a deeper level by showing the thought processes of her main characters.

Having written her own books, participated in several short-story anthology books and currently editing two e-zines while doing book reviews for another e-zine, one could easily say that Megan Powell is an accomplished and busy writer. Her work tends to involve notes of magic, mystery and the intrigue of the unknown.

I enjoyed reading Waxing by Megan Powell. Actually the story reminded me of another enjoyable book entitled Shifter by J & G Reeves-Stevens – book one of the Chronicles of Galen Sword. Waxing, however, would be appropriate for young adult and adult readers alike.

ISBN#: 1-55410-263-4 (also available in e-book format)

Author: Megan Powel

Publisher: Zumaya Publications

Wooffer is a collection of thirty-three short animal-adventure children stories originally written by Betty Fasig for her family. The center character is Wooffer, a hairy dachshund puppy that “mom”, the author, receives as a surprise Xmas gift from her fun-loving family.

A host of animals grace the pages of Wooffer, including Old Agnes the mouse, thoughtful and protective Margaret the hen, Marygrey the pregnant rabbit, a proud and endearing peacock named Cho Lee who loves to strut his stuff and falls in love with a quail, and best friends Ibie the Ibis and Maudie the horse.

The stories are thoughtfully placed in chronological order, right down to the season. It even includes a Xmas story! This is a book about a puppy that changes the opinions of those around him, wins hearts and becomes a reliable, heroic friend. Wooffer earns respect from all the animals for miles around and becomes a bit of a legend by the time he grows up.

Generally warm, fun and light-hearted, Wooffer also tackles real-life issues from moving, loneliness, gaining respect, discerning truth from what one is told, getting lost, overcoming bullies and more.

Having spent a few years on a farm in my youth, I see germs of truth in the animal relationships and can verify the strange and wonderful bonds that happen between species. The epilogue provides a nice closure by revealing how all the animals still return to the same area annually and spend time with Wooffer and his friends discussing the old times and having new adventures.

Inserted occasionally are several adorable amateur drawings of life and adventures on the farm that are sure to entertain children. The cover is a photograph of the inspiration for the main character &ndash the author’s dog – which gives a more realistic feel to the book than a characterization or drawing could have done.

The book’s underlying theme is that no matter how small a person may think they are, or how small of a thing they may do &ndash they can make a difference to the lives of those around them. And this is an encouraging thought.

Wooffer is an excellent book for bedtime stories, but will be best enjoyed when reading to groups of children. Written in such a way that the reader can easily characterize the animals and situations with their voice, the book is sure to bring giggles of joy to groups of children. As such, I think Wooffer would be an excellent addition to the bookshelves of libraries, schools, daycare centers and the like.

ISBN#: 1-4137-5587-9

Author: Betty Fasig

Publisher: Publish America