A Journey to Power

Defenders of the Realm #0.5

by Marie-Hélène Lebeault

A Clean YA Epic Fantasy

Join Penelope, Wickham, Kaia, and Herja on their journey of self-discovery and adventure in a magical kingdom where teens are sent to the stream to discover their destiny. These four children, with diverse backgrounds and unique skills, embark on a journey filled with challenges, teamwork, and bravery to rescue the captured witches and dragons. With their combined abilities and quick thinking, they become heroes in their own right, saving the day and leaving a lasting impact on the kingdom. This is just the beginning of their journey as they look forward to starting the academy and becoming powerful protectors of the peace and safety of their beloved kingdom.

Get ready for an exciting adventure filled with magic, friendship, and courage in this coming-of-age tale.

88 pages, ebook

Published February 27, 2023

About the author

Marie-Hélène Lebeault writes Speculative Fiction for children, teens, and adults

Be sure to follow her here and on https://www.bookbub.com/authors/marie...

Join her newsletter for events, sales, and new releases at https: //mhlebeaultauthor.substack.com

Marie-Hélène is a Canadian author. She writes young adult quest and adventure stories rooted in the world of fantasy, magic and time travel. With important coming of age lessons at the core of her writing, children and young adults alike will revel in the fantastical journeys of her characters. When not immersed in the worlds of magic and mystery, you’ll find Marie-Hélène hiking, cycling, or lying on the beach with a good book.

Reviews

[Joseph Lau · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exciting new series with an interesting plot.
The Realm is comprised of humans, witches and dragons. People are not born into these roles (and there seems to be no genetics tied to each) – they learn of their fate when they come of age. From there, each is trained in that role to serve the people.
Worldbuilding is really imaginative, and the characters have good backstories.
Since this is the prequel, it seems set up well for important things to come for this group of children.

[Susan May · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting start to a new series. A new author for me & now I am curious to see where this series goes. I found it to be well written with interesting characters.
The story features 4 teens who are getting ready for an adventure. Penelope, Wickham, Kaia, and Herja all come from very different lives and have very different personalities. They will have to learn to work together to accomplish their goals. In the Realm of Eldavon, thirteen is the age that kids are considered to come of age. All the thirteen-year-olds of the Realm journey to the palace to set off on a three-day quest/journey together to the Silver Spring. There they will discover which group of society they will belong to… witch, dragon or human.
A great start for a promising series.

[Pierre Fortier · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written prequel, a good story in its' own right. The author skilfully fleshes out the world and the characters while telling the tale without burying the reader under a ton of unneeded words. A good start to a promising series.

I received a free ARC copy of this book and am under no obligation to leave a review.

[Marie-Hélène Lebeault]

Human. Witch. Dragon. The Silver Springs will reveal their destiny!

So excited to introduce this new series! After the Prequel, expect 5 clean epic fantasy, action-packed main books, and 4 clean fantasy romance novellas. Body-positive and diverse characters, queer representation, no spice, low trigger. Releasing every month until December.

ARC Copies Available on StoryOrigin

[TaniaRina · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘No child is nobody’
I LOVE how the author uses this tale to teach our youth about service to others. This society has a systematic coming of age ritual in which all thirteen year-olds participate – a group quest in the form of a three-day hike (supervised by adults, of course). The teens learn about their roles and themselves via folktales and personal interactions; some even teach others along the way.
‘Serving others was their sacred duty…’

A friend stand up for you; a true friend stands up to you.
‘I get it; you’re smart. Stop thinking about what that means for you and start thinking about how you can use your smarts to help other people.

If real life were only so organized and fair! May we adults be as resourceful as this young teens in making the world a better place.


We can follow along on their journey at the Institute in ‘The Quest for the Emerald Rattleback’ (expected toward the end of March).

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading A Journey to Power by Marie-Hélène Lebault. It is the prequel to her new series, Defenders of the Realm and sets the foundation for the rest of the series. The first book of the series, The Quest for the Emerald Rattleback, is due out in late March. I am really looking forward to book 1 and the rest of the series.

Even though I am long past my youth, Marie-Hélène Lebault’s books always pull me into their world. Because she keeps it clean, I feel safe introducing my thirteen-year-old granddaughter to Marie-Hélène’s books. This new series looks like it will be another engrossing series to share with my grandgirl. Lebault has created a fully developed ideal Realm. It’s not perfect, but it is good. She has populated this ideal world with intriguing characters, from a princess to an orphan. The main characters, Penelope, Wickham, Kaia and Herja, each had very different home lives, education and expectations. And they have very different personalities.

In the Realm of Eldavon, thirteen is the age that kids come of age. All the thirteen-year-olds of the Realm journey to the palace to set off on a three-day quest/journey together to the Silver Spring. There they will discover which facet of society they will belong to… witch, dragon or human. Each evening the group stays at a cabin with adults of one of the three facets of the society and listen to each facet’s foundation story.

There is a strong message of service to society and individuals that comes through loud and clear. Most of the 36 children in the prequel have been raised with this message. Some have not. Each individual has a part to play in defending the Realm’s way of life. They learn that different isn’t bad. It’s just… different and accepting people as they are is necessary for the peace of the Realm. They also learn about self-acceptance. And overcoming unmet expectations. This book will speak to teens about how they live their future. I highly recommend it for pre-teens and teens alike… an maybe their parents.

I received an advance copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review.

[Armanis Ar-Feinial · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Journey To Power is like a condensed version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. You have children not necessarily competing with one another but delving into the concept of getting power, finding their rightful place in the world and so on. You follow a number of kids and their journey, all aged 13. . .there might have been one 12 year old as an exception.

In a nut shell, each child has to go on this pilgrimage and drink from a fountain and find out if they are dragon, witch, or human, and then find their rightful place, or choose their own place. They go on this journey, and that's it. That's the plot. There is some tension, but I wouldn't necessarily call the tension conflict as it has little to do with the story itself. It's a very simple story.

Audience: this is targeted towards children so this affects how I review things, presuming it's intended to read one's child to sleep.

The plot was easy enough to follow, and the writing style was more or less reminiscent of Magic Tree House. The characters were archtypes, and little more. Some seemed more mature for their age, and some just right. There was enough intrigue to keep me going but the world building was rather minimalistic. I wouldn't call this book very original necessarily because it leans heavily into tropes and doesn't do anything new with them.

However, I can absolutely see children enjoying this read.

[Dakota · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Journey to Power is a quick read for a fantasy story with multiple perspectives of very different people all facing the same milestone in life. The author did a wonderful job at highlighting the differences in which a person will face this challenge. Not everyone will be as enthusiastic, or have the same end goal. But these characters are also able to gain and learn from the knowledge of those around them. I also enjoyed the emphasis on familial love appearing in several different manifestations.

Overall, A Journey to Power was a fun, and quick fantasy read. The story is wholesome and clean, and likely targeting a younger teen audience. I would enjoy getting to see more of what it means for the main characters as they move on to their academies, and learning more about the fated mates that may await some of them. The story was well written and has the potential to be impactful to readers for what you can take away from this story.

[Marcus Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is in the school of magic subgenre with its own twist. This is a prequel for the series where the young students trek to a magic spring to discover their identity as either witch, dragon, or human. The world is a utopia where everyone works together for the common good. Whether or not this turns into an interesting plot remains to be seen. This seems to be a new and creative take on the magic school subgenre of fantasy. It is well written, and I found the intro to the characters to be well thought out and developed. My only point of confusion is that it appears they were all human before traveling to the spring. Some remain so while other are identified as witches or dragons. The author never really explained how a human suddenly becomes a dragon or what that looks like, so I didn't really know how to picture the dragons in my head. I'm interested to see where it goes, but that one detail could make or break the series.

[Luc · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this magical kingdom governed by three royal families of different races, the Dragons, the Witches and, the Humans, the author has masterfully concocted a tale based on the adventures of four exceptional young people who will make a special journey to the magical springs up there in the mountains, to find their true identity and how this identity can benefit the collective.
Wickham, a young boy, Penelope, a daughter and sister of FireFighters, Kaia, a young girl interested in helping and healing others and Herja, a young female orphan who dreams of being Queen to right all wrongs and who shuts out every affectionate person as not to be hurt again.
With her pure writing talent, the author virtually takes the reader on the magical journey with the 36 Thirteen years old, while concentrating on the four special mentioned above.
They will learn valuable lessons that will change their direction in life and benefit the whole rather than themselves only.
This book that I highly recommend and rate 5 Stars, is the first in a promising series and I look forward to reading the sequel.

[Keturah Sergeant · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good introduction to the series and I wish I had read it before the first one. It provides crucial context, how the MCs met, the lore of the world they are in and the ordeal they went through. All these are referenced in the first book but are not explained as well as they are in this prequel. I think the first book makes a lot more sense in my head now.

It is still a children's book, and all the characters (being 13 year olds) are a little annoying. The simplicity of the text makes this an easy read, and it doesn't really take any brain power to consume. I am undecided as to whether I will finish off the series, and see if the characters grow at all, this has definitely made it more likely.

[J Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

A prequel to the series.

In a kingdom where a child's future is decided by magic, four children join a group of others and make the trek up the mountain. Once they reach their destination, they will learn if they will become dragon, witch, or human. From then on, they will train to learn the skills they need to serve their people.

The book has a good plot and begins building the characters from the start. I like the premise of how each child reaches the age where they must make the trek, regardless of wealth, education, or abilities. It means a lot of potential scenarios in the series. I received an advance copy but my review is honest and voluntary.

[emeraldragonlady (Maddie) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This prequel Novella we follow the journey of a few kids and learn about the history of the land that they live in and how they keep balance with each other by becoming either dragon, witches, or humans. They do not find out which one they will be until they are 13 years old. After an ambush falls, these newly educated 13-year-olds we learned that the world is a bit bigger than just what is portrayed that there are other countries that long for the power and balance of their country. This is a treating fantasy book that has definitely done something different with magic and working in a society and a utopia. I’m intrigued to read more of the series.

[Anne Kavcic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows 4 13-year-olds in the realm of Eldavon as they prepare for and go through the special journey which will decide how they will serve the kingdom. (Everybody has done, or will do this.) I thought the idea was original, and the book is well written - as an older person I still was interested in the outcome for these youngsters as they discover their life path and are about to enter the special school for their type.. I think perhaps the book can be read from 8 years old and up. - I received a review copy and freely leave my honest review.

[Anna Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not my usual fantasy go-to, but it is a good book for those looking for a clean, easy to follow fantasy book.

Giving that the main characters are 13 years old, i feel that the storyline fits with that age group, and I appreciate that.

The story holds an interesting plot. Everyone can have a different power that is unknown until the ceremony. Children become quick adults as they train at an academy and are faced by enemies. Friendships build and are tested.

A coming of age story that explores the trails of changes in a fantasy world.

[The Book Dragon's Hoard by A.V. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novella has a lot of potential but unfortunately the author's choice to focus on many different characters and switching points of view detracted from what was going on and meant I couldn't just immerse myself in the story and experience the events more deeply. There are hints of transformational insights and life lessons as well as a focus on friendship that all kind of disappear in the background as a result of the perspective switching.

So, could have been awesome, but isn't there yet, unfortunately.

[Sherri Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wickham, Penelope, Kaia and Herja are leaving on their quest to Silver Springs to see if they are witch, dragon or human along with all the other thirteen year olds in the land. This story follow these youngsters as they learn more than they expected on their quest to self discovery. The setting is interesting with mystical creatures and experiences. I enjoyed imagining this land and the characters in it.

I received an advance reader copy (ARC) of the book from the author.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook: I enjoyed this introductory novella to the "Defenders of the Realm" series. This story introduced the world that made up the Realm. It presented the characters that will be featured in the series. The short story whetted my curiosity regarding the series. I'm looking forward to the first book in the series. Nicholas Cain's narration was great, and his performance enhanced the story's entertainment. I was given a free copy of the audiobook, and I have voluntarily posted this review.

[Carrie McCauley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great story full of action and adventure of a group of thirteen year old children must go to drink from the Sacred Spring to determine what there roles in society would be- human, dragon or witch. Each one has special duties and responsibilities to help the entire kingdom. Each of the main children come from a different place in society with different reasons for whom and what they "want to be".
Written so that it's hard to put down.

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Journey to Power (Defenders of the Realm #0.5), my ninth read from author Marie-Hélène Lebeault.
the lead-in to the Defenders of the Realm Series. Another entertaining read! I look forward to reading more from this author and in this series, next up The Quest of the Emerald Rattleback. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

[Georgia Tumbleweed McNabb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like that at 13yrs old a child becomes basically an adult, just like many cultures do. These new young adults are now to train and learn what they will need to bring their destiny to fruition.
The Narrator does a very good job with the various characters voices and the entire storyline of this book.

[Nemesis Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A Journey to Power" by Marie-Hélène Lebeault, narrated by the vibrant Nicholas Cain. Lebeault's enchanting prose and Cain's lively narration whisk you away to a kingdom brimming with witches, dragons, and destiny. Join Penelope, Wickham, Kaia, and Herja on a thrilling adventure of self-discovery and courage in this captivating YA epic fantasy.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This prequel was such a great start to the series, it sets the stage beautifully to get the story started. I’m really intrigued to see what happens next when Wickham, Kaia, Penelope, and Herja continue their journeys. I was surprised by some of their placements in the academy, and I am excited to see how they will each accept their destiny, even if it wasn’t what they were expecting.

[Kimthebookishbaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a good introductory start to the series. I assume it helps you understand the ceremony that precipitates the rest of the story in the series, while also helping you get to know the main characters ahead of the full story. It drew me in and made me look forward to the books later in the series, to follow these kids and see what they become in this realm of theirs.

[Carla Zanghellini · Rating 5 out of 5]

discover your fate in life
I liked the book, but it was very short, which makes sense since it is a prequel to the series. I found it exciting to see how the various characters face the uncertain future. It's an everyday challenge that we can overcome better together.

The reading was ok, but the actors' feelings could have been portrayed in a more exciting way

[Sandy T · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting prequel to a new majical fantasy. There are humans, witches and dragons in the majical kingdom where all work together for the betterment for everyone. A group of children are the main characters described and will be featured on the series. I enjoyed the book.
I received a free copy of this book via StoryOrigin and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

[Jane litherland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Other Realm great read , the start of a great series . Humans , dragons , witches…
The perfect teen fantasy novel that sends four unique children on the ultimate journey to their destiny and beyond

I received an advance copy of this book and the review is my own words voluntary given

[Sharli Kaltenbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. These young children who will grow up and maybe change the world. They learn through thier changing journey that each of them is an integral part of the universal balance. I look forward to the next part of thier journey.

[Allicia Faber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hunger Games meets Hogwarts

I love a good prequel!

This was an awesome intro to the series and had me hooked right away! I have already shared it with like 4 people! I cannot wait to read the whole series.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teens went to find who they are and discovered each other and who they are meant to be. Their education and destiny awaits! Lovely read! Makes one want to know what happens next!

I received an ARC of this book and leaving my review voluntarily.