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Hydra Tower
Hydra Tower is an exciting story that follows three powerful heroines in an exciting swords and sorcery fantasy!
Trouble plagues the Kingdom of Grasen. Not only is King Edwards dealing with bandits, but he’s helping distant relatives, including young Princess Lavina, escape a diphtheria outbreak. But shortly after Princess Lavina and her family arrive, a monster attacks—a fierce, acid-spitting hydra that even magic can’t defeat.
As the island evacuates, King Edwards’ son, Prince Malcolm, becomes trapped in the castle tower, unable to escape the hydra. His disappearance leaves Grasen vulnerable to political intrigue, and the hydra’s appearance foreshadows a powerful evil growing in the land. When the king is poisoned, it’s up to Princess Lavina to gather legendary warriors to kill the hydra, rescue the prince, and save the kingdom…before it’s too late.
Trouble plagues the Kingdom of Grasen. Not only is King Edwards dealing with bandits, but he’s helping distant relatives, including young Princess Lavina, escape a diphtheria outbreak. But shortly after Princess Lavina and her family arrive, a monster attacks—a fierce, acid-spitting hydra that even magic can’t defeat.
As the island evacuates, King Edwards’ son, Prince Malcolm, becomes trapped in the castle tower, unable to escape the hydra. His disappearance leaves Grasen vulnerable to political intrigue, and the hydra’s appearance foreshadows a powerful evil growing in the land. When the king is poisoned, it’s up to Princess Lavina to gather legendary warriors to kill the hydra, rescue the prince, and save the kingdom…before it’s too late.
- GenresFantasy
338 pages, Paperback
Published April 24, 2023
About the author
Daniel Jones
3 books40 followersDaniel Jones is a Creature Feature author who puts the focus of his stories on a variety of legendary and mythical animals.
He was born in California US, growing up in a military family, he lived in several places all around the world; including Japan, Germany, New Mexico, and England. Daniel is an Eagle Scout; an accomplishment he takes great pride in, as well as the oldest of three brothers, and a total child of the 90's.
He has a passion for nature and animals and can often be found wandering local parks, zoos, or aquariums in his spare time.
Some fun trivia about him is that his favorite colors are dark green and teal, his favorite animals are Leopards and Rhinos, favorite movies are Tremors, Aliens, and Predator.
"If I had to say anything to new authors, it would be don't give up. There is a network of amazing people who can help you with anything writing related, and there's no timer on accomplishing any goal. Take it one word at a time until you reach "The End," because that's a feeling that is worth experiencing."
He was born in California US, growing up in a military family, he lived in several places all around the world; including Japan, Germany, New Mexico, and England. Daniel is an Eagle Scout; an accomplishment he takes great pride in, as well as the oldest of three brothers, and a total child of the 90's.
He has a passion for nature and animals and can often be found wandering local parks, zoos, or aquariums in his spare time.
Some fun trivia about him is that his favorite colors are dark green and teal, his favorite animals are Leopards and Rhinos, favorite movies are Tremors, Aliens, and Predator.
"If I had to say anything to new authors, it would be don't give up. There is a network of amazing people who can help you with anything writing related, and there's no timer on accomplishing any goal. Take it one word at a time until you reach "The End," because that's a feeling that is worth experiencing."
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 14, 2023
I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The author's idea to add acid-spitting monsters to the already complex mix of court intrigue and sword-and-sorcery fantasy was a stroke of genius. What seals the deal for me is the addition of a female protagonist who is not the usual girl boss. Although, as a reader, I’m not accustomed to third-person present tense narration, it stopped bothering me after a few pages. It's really that good.
The well-crafted storyline in "Hydra Tower" is just one of the many things that make it an engaging read. To me, being an author myself, the book’s vivid imagery and rich world-building made it a standout in the fantasy genre. With the action picking up the pace, I didn’t have time to catch my breath for even a minute. Hats off, Mr. Jones!
However, it dawned on me that 'Hydra Wake' would have been a more suitable beginning to my journey with Daniel Jones' hydras. I plan to make up for that shortfall soon.
The well-crafted storyline in "Hydra Tower" is just one of the many things that make it an engaging read. To me, being an author myself, the book’s vivid imagery and rich world-building made it a standout in the fantasy genre. With the action picking up the pace, I didn’t have time to catch my breath for even a minute. Hats off, Mr. Jones!
However, it dawned on me that 'Hydra Wake' would have been a more suitable beginning to my journey with Daniel Jones' hydras. I plan to make up for that shortfall soon.
May 24, 2024
My fondness for fantasy, for magic and the supernatural, has indelible existential roots. Born, raised and educated at the majestic feet of Romanian and French writers of monumental, yet excruciating (and historical) realism, left not marks, but festering ulcers on the vulnerable soul of a boy trapped from all sides by painfully sad sagas of generational abuse.
Alone and alienated in a world less than two decades away from WW2 and the Holocaust, I wanted an intellectual and emotional freedom hardly to be found in literary masterpieces born in crucibles of despair, famines, revolutions and wars, all of them trails, where only suffering and death were inescapable companions.
As surprising as it may be for anyone raised around dozens of comic book stores in the "west", I only accidentally stumbled upon my first sci-fi comic booklet in the local library, which opened up a bridge to maybe escape from my perpetuating intellectual agony. What followed, has become a genuine, paralel dimension where rulers like D. Jones' King Edward, lived only by one rule,"Long Live the People".
"Hydra Tower" is a masterpiece, without a shade of doubt.
It took my soul the fraction of a second, to transport itself as the silent, invisible, yet everywhere present witness into a kingdom where eternal values such as dignity, respect, duty, inexpugnable family bonds, are all aligned for their own defence and preservation, against ferocious foes exceptionally well built into the monstrous presence of the Hydra, the summation of everything humankind has had thrown at, for its -as agonising as possible- suffering and ultimate demise, in the struggle for survival against all odds.
The epic plot is of Biblical proportions.
If I have ever found as a scholar, a better exemplification of a Leviathan, it is in this embodiment of the Hydra. A beast of incomprehensible power and viciousness, capable of regenerating exponentially after each decapitation, forcing the island's population to consider even the ultimate sacrifices of their most loved ones, including Malcolm, the King's young son, leaving powerful mages stripped to tears of helplessness of their Gandalfian powers, unexpectedly unravel the narrative into the arms of a 12 years old princess, whose physical inabilities are brilliantly overpowered by an inner strength unseen in their generations. And the fact that for the time, she must carry a miraculously found, throne-heir emerald ring in her pocket, instead of on her fragile finger, should be just one incentive for not letting this book off one's hand.
The second part of D. Jones' book, richly lived up to the expectations raised in the first part of my reading.
The plot's tempo is oftentimes genuinely at warp speed, sending the reader into the depths of a desperation caused by the worst of betrayals, through which kings under the influence of god-like powerful mages will have caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of peaceful islanders, in the wake of the devastation brought upon them by a seemingly invincible Hydra.
Nevertheless, what the evil mage did not expect, is that in the face of such a world-menacing plot of perilous times, once fierce enemies have understood that the age of despise and pettiness has gone, and that unity under the banner of survival is the only option.
And as a reminder that life cannot perpetuate in isolation and hate-stirred loneliness, love will have found its feather-like, gentle way, even behind the most impenetrable armours, into the most battle and suffering hardened souls.
Will the Hydra be defeated, will the traitors be found, will Prince Malcolm be freed from impossible to be broken, enchanted shackles, and brought back to life from the no man's land between death and life?
Who is going to save -this time- a valiant Prince guarded by an acid spitting Hydra in the upper room of the only tower left standing from the once magnificent castle of a ruined kingdom?
Well, the answers are all in the book, waiting to be revealed to the tenacious reader.
Very much looking forward to reading a next book by Daniel Jones.
PS: Reading some of the less favourable reviews, I am positively sure, that the author will consider the often valid observations in regard of the sometimes difficult following of the dialogues, due to the rather preferred use of the present tense.
Nevertheless, I wholeheartedly recommend the Hydra Tower!
Alone and alienated in a world less than two decades away from WW2 and the Holocaust, I wanted an intellectual and emotional freedom hardly to be found in literary masterpieces born in crucibles of despair, famines, revolutions and wars, all of them trails, where only suffering and death were inescapable companions.
As surprising as it may be for anyone raised around dozens of comic book stores in the "west", I only accidentally stumbled upon my first sci-fi comic booklet in the local library, which opened up a bridge to maybe escape from my perpetuating intellectual agony. What followed, has become a genuine, paralel dimension where rulers like D. Jones' King Edward, lived only by one rule,"Long Live the People".
"Hydra Tower" is a masterpiece, without a shade of doubt.
It took my soul the fraction of a second, to transport itself as the silent, invisible, yet everywhere present witness into a kingdom where eternal values such as dignity, respect, duty, inexpugnable family bonds, are all aligned for their own defence and preservation, against ferocious foes exceptionally well built into the monstrous presence of the Hydra, the summation of everything humankind has had thrown at, for its -as agonising as possible- suffering and ultimate demise, in the struggle for survival against all odds.
The epic plot is of Biblical proportions.
If I have ever found as a scholar, a better exemplification of a Leviathan, it is in this embodiment of the Hydra. A beast of incomprehensible power and viciousness, capable of regenerating exponentially after each decapitation, forcing the island's population to consider even the ultimate sacrifices of their most loved ones, including Malcolm, the King's young son, leaving powerful mages stripped to tears of helplessness of their Gandalfian powers, unexpectedly unravel the narrative into the arms of a 12 years old princess, whose physical inabilities are brilliantly overpowered by an inner strength unseen in their generations. And the fact that for the time, she must carry a miraculously found, throne-heir emerald ring in her pocket, instead of on her fragile finger, should be just one incentive for not letting this book off one's hand.
The second part of D. Jones' book, richly lived up to the expectations raised in the first part of my reading.
The plot's tempo is oftentimes genuinely at warp speed, sending the reader into the depths of a desperation caused by the worst of betrayals, through which kings under the influence of god-like powerful mages will have caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of peaceful islanders, in the wake of the devastation brought upon them by a seemingly invincible Hydra.
Nevertheless, what the evil mage did not expect, is that in the face of such a world-menacing plot of perilous times, once fierce enemies have understood that the age of despise and pettiness has gone, and that unity under the banner of survival is the only option.
And as a reminder that life cannot perpetuate in isolation and hate-stirred loneliness, love will have found its feather-like, gentle way, even behind the most impenetrable armours, into the most battle and suffering hardened souls.
Will the Hydra be defeated, will the traitors be found, will Prince Malcolm be freed from impossible to be broken, enchanted shackles, and brought back to life from the no man's land between death and life?
Who is going to save -this time- a valiant Prince guarded by an acid spitting Hydra in the upper room of the only tower left standing from the once magnificent castle of a ruined kingdom?
Well, the answers are all in the book, waiting to be revealed to the tenacious reader.
Very much looking forward to reading a next book by Daniel Jones.
PS: Reading some of the less favourable reviews, I am positively sure, that the author will consider the often valid observations in regard of the sometimes difficult following of the dialogues, due to the rather preferred use of the present tense.
Nevertheless, I wholeheartedly recommend the Hydra Tower!
May 7, 2023
I was given an ARC copy and freely give this review. I had to think it over, before posting this review. I was conflicted between 3 or 4 stars. I did find myself skimming over some of the court intrigue and the tournament itself. But, I thought the characters and world-building were well defined, and overall I enjoyed the story. Lavinia is my favorite character, and I loved watching her development. There is a lot of action, and I enjoyed the character interactions. If you're looking for a story with adventure, brave women, and a chance at happy ever after, this is for you.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews