Valley of Trachians by Ellis Shuman

Paperback, 428 pages
Published February 21st 2013 by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 1482552442 (ISBN13: 9781482552447)
edition language:English

A Peace Corps volunteer has gone missing in Bulgaria and everyone assumes he is dead, everyone except his grandfather, who refuses to give up hope. Retired literature professor Simon Matthews launches a desperate search only to be lured into a bizarre quest to retrieve a stolen Thracian artifact—a unique object of immense value others will stop at nothing to recover.

Matthews travels through a Balkan landscape dotted with ancient tombs and fortresses, unaware that his grandson has been confined to an isolated mountain cabin, slowly recovering from a severe head injury. Nothing can be taken at face value, as the woman assisting Matthews in his quest and the nurse caring for his injured grandson may have ulterior motives in helping the two reunite. Even when Matthews succeeds in joining up with his grandson, departure from Bulgaria is only possible if the missing relic can be found.

I loved this story. Being a huge fan of travel, Bulgaria has always been one of my destination I still needed to visit. Thanks to Ellis, I sort of got a taste of it. His descriptions is really vivid and it makes you feel that you are right there. It follows a grandfather, Simon. Who never gave up searching for his missing grandson, Scott, somewhere in Bulgaria. He gets plenty of help from the locals and that’s when the motives gets questioned. Why this and Why that? The plots were set up amazingly, it had a real ‘treasure hunt’ type of feeling to it, but instead of treasure, it was a missing grandson.
There is really everything in this story. From smuggling with artifacts, to murders and car chases.
Now what I didn’t like about the book: I struggled with getting into the story. But as soon as I did, I couldn’t put it down. It is a novel worth reading and I promise this is something for everyone, doesn’t matter what genre your favourite is. His characters are so strong, that you easily connect with the.
I wish Ellis all the luck with this,
Kind wishes,
Adrienne Woods

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Review for Crowning of The Good King by A. Jarrel Hayes

Title: Crowning of The Good King
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: Paperback, 532 pages
Published: December 1st 2004
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN1413429432 (ISBN13: 9781413429435)
Edition Language: English.

Welcome to the Six Lands, a collection of islands, where magic exists and adventure lives. Five of these Lands are joined in federation and ruled by a group of the world’s best sorcerers, known as the Wizards Elect. The Wizards Elect, led by High Wizard Wizzen, use their magic to oppress the people and gorge themselves on power and flesh.

In Dark Land, the sole Land outside the federation, a Dark Lord, a powerful warlock in his own right, has a long-standing grudge against the Wizzen and the Wizards Elect. When he sends his war griffins to attack a small hamlet in the Land of Rogard, he sets begins an unexpected series of events.

Edgar Winefellow, an orphaned teen raised by his grandparents, lives in the village attacked by the Dark Lord. He loses a loved one in the senseless attack. Edgar vows to take revenge on the Dark Lord, and sets out with his friends and the mysterious Agon Laragen–known as the Failed Wizard–to make the Dark Lord pay.
Along the way, Edgar will uncover the secrets of his parents, and become entangled in a destiny that would see him crowned King of the Six Lands. But is that what Edgar wants? Find out in this epic sword and sorcery adventure.

Over 125,000 words of fantasy action!

Few! When I saw how many pages this was on my e-reader I almost faint. But it’s about the right size of a fantasy.
The Crowning of the Good King is a tale that follows Edgar Winefellow, a orphaned teen who is raised by his grandparents. Not knowing who his father was, and thinking his mom was a lady of the night? Only for a minute because his grandfather smacked that out of him. Edgar embarked on a quest of revenge when he lost someone close to him through an attack that was for nothing.
It’s basically the formula and skeleton of a normal quest driven fantasy. What I like about Crowning the Good King, is that A. Hayes had a huge imagination when writing this novel. His characters are strong and colourful, and can be related to easily. The Wizzen and Wizard Elect, I love. The plots were well driven and I like the mystery part surrounding who Edgar’s parents where.
I like a quest type of story and I think A. Jarrel Hayes has done a really good job with this.

Now what I didn’t like. There are parts that was really slow paced and it felt a bit dragging. However he did somehow manage to pick it up again. The beginning is a lot of telling, but not in such a way that it feels like backstory info dump. I easily got into his writing style.

I’m going to give Crowning of the Good King a four.

I really enjoyed it.

Good luck with Crowning of The Good King,

Kind wishes,
Adrienne Woods