Maria Savva's Blog - Posts Tagged "adventure"

**Guest post by Dionne Lister**





Shadows of the Realm is an epic fantasy for teens and adults. Join Bronwyn and Blayke, two young realmists, and their animal companions, as they are forced to leave the only home they’ve every known to undertake a dangerous journey towards Vellonia, city of the dragons.

The gormons are invading, slipping through the corridors between realms, and they want blood, lots of Talian blood. Will the young realmists learn enough of the Second Realm magic to prevail, or will everything they love be destroyed?

The first book in The Circle of Talia series is on sale from the 8th to the 22nd of January for the bargain price of $1.99 on Smashwords and Amazon.

Grab it now and escape into an original and enchanting world filled with mystery, danger, dragons and adventure.

One of my favourite writers, Mat Nastos is part of a team who have just launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring back a series of comics from the '70s/'80s.

If you're a fan of epic fantasy with a lot of action, this series will be for you.

Check out all the details on the Kickstarter page and find out how you can support the project and what rewards you can get for your donation: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...

Just Plain Weird by Tom Upton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Definitely one of my favourite reads this year. Storytelling at its best. It's just so imaginative and yes, "weird"!

Teenager Travis leads quite a dull life until he meets the new neighbours, Eliza and her father Doc.

Travis and Eliza's first adventure together is read edge-of-your-seat stuff, and then the story just gets even more strange and engrossing.

This is a really entertaining mix of sci-fi, romance, adventure, and fun. It would make a great movie.

It's quite fast-paced with lots of interesting ideas, and plenty of twists and turns.

It could have done with a proofread, but I'm giving it five stars because it's such an amazing story. I loved the ending and the last line was just perfect.




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Maisie by Julie Elizabeth Powell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"Maisie" is a story that would appeal to older children and young adults. It's a fantasy adventure that begins in the real world and takes the reader to another realm, Mageia. Julie Elizabeth Powell is one of the most imaginative writers I know, and in this book she has excelled herself with a fantastical story that challenges the way we view the world.

There are two characters in "Maisie" who will be familiar to fans of the author. Jorga originally appeared in the novel "Of Sound Mind" as did the world of Mageia. The other character, Adam, first appeared in "Lost Shadows". Adam plays a pivotal role in "Maisie".

Maisie is a seven-year-old blind girl, although while dreaming and while in the mystical land of Mageia she is able to see clearly. It's often hard to remember that Maisie is a child, when reading the story, due to the way she interacts with other characters but the reason behind this is cleverly revealed towards the end of the book. In this fantasy tale, the young girl soon starts to realise that she has many magical powers. For a seven year old all of the new discoveries are quite bewildering and confusing. The author portrays this brilliantly.

We follow Maisie in this adventure where she discovers that her destiny is to enter a strange new world and fight against the evil powers that threaten to destroy everything. She meets many colourful characters along the way, including fairies, elves, and giants. She is caught up in a win or lose situation and is helped along the way by a magical collection of characters that have a deeper connection to her than she knows.

One thing this author does well, and something that is a hallmark of her work, is introducing and developing multiple characters each with their own distinct quirks and foibles. It really is a skill and is not easy to master. There were a couple of times where I lost track of which character was speaking, but it didn't affect my enjoyment of this intricate tale.

The story moves at a fast and furious pace and is full of intrigue, danger, and magic. It's a wondrous adventure. The story flows well and introduces some interesting ideas about life and death, past lives and mortality.

Recommended for fantasy fans.



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WaR: Wizards and Robots by will.i.am and Brian David Johnson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I really enjoyed this book. It's a fun, young-adult, sci-fi/fantasy adventure.

Ada Luring is a teenager living an average life when her world is turned upside down. The plot is set some years into the future and there are a lot of references to futuristic technological advances throughout, which make the story interesting and thought-provoking. It sparks the imagination with ideas of future technology and how people could be living in the next couple of hundred years. The fun thing about fantasy is that no one really knows, so it's interesting to read other people's ideas about such things.

Earth is threatened by an evil attack set to take place in the future and Ada is called upon to help to avoid the catastrophe. This book cleverly skips between the past, present, and future as we follow the Ada, along with her companions, in their quest for answers in an attempt to prevent the impending destruction of Earth.

As indicated by the title, this book features wizards and robots. A team of killer robots are threatening to destroy everything. Ada and her friends soon discover there is more to this than meets the eye.

Ada's companions include a wizard from the past and a robot from the future, as well as her own pet robot.

I think this book can be enjoyed by all ages, although it is in essence a young-adult book.

The story is compelling and I found myself looking forward to finding out what would happen next.

There are a lot of action-packed scenes that keep the story moving forward. The main characters Ada and Geller are enchanting and endearing.

The idea behind the book is intriguing and it's written in a enthralling way. It kept my interest throughout.

The ending really brings everything together nicely. Definitely worth reading.





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