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Trial by Fire #1
Arcania
Born without arcania in her blood, Adia has lived in the shadow of her magical twin her whole life until the day she accidentally inherits her spellcaster sister’s talents. Now she’s got the ability to save the lives of everybody she loves…if only she knew the first thing about how to use it.
Once she leaves Earth for the training academy in Arcania, there are plenty of people who could show her the ropes, including darkly passionate Grey, the top shield at the school, devil-may-care charmer Seger, a swashbuckling rogue with a talent for daggers, and Finola, the clever and empathic healer with a gift for keeping her team out of sickbay.
With a battle heating up, Adia doesn’t have much time to learn how to use the magic that now flows through her bloodstream, earn a spot on a fighting team, and stop the ancient war between the forces of magic from spreading to Earth and destroying the loved ones she’s been forced to leave behind.
This is an Active Fiction title
"Active fiction" is a new type of e-reading experience that allows the reader and the author to interact with each other and the text in new and different ways.
In Arcania, Liz allows readers to hunt for clues alongside Adia. Struggling to unlock the secrets of her new powers, she also searches for answers about her sister’s last moments. What really happened to her twin? And what are the elders trying to cover up? Careful readers and Adia will learn that seemingly inconsequential choices can change your perception—and your reality—in an instant. Arcania - Trial By Fire 1
Once she leaves Earth for the training academy in Arcania, there are plenty of people who could show her the ropes, including darkly passionate Grey, the top shield at the school, devil-may-care charmer Seger, a swashbuckling rogue with a talent for daggers, and Finola, the clever and empathic healer with a gift for keeping her team out of sickbay.
With a battle heating up, Adia doesn’t have much time to learn how to use the magic that now flows through her bloodstream, earn a spot on a fighting team, and stop the ancient war between the forces of magic from spreading to Earth and destroying the loved ones she’s been forced to leave behind.
This is an Active Fiction title
"Active fiction" is a new type of e-reading experience that allows the reader and the author to interact with each other and the text in new and different ways.
In Arcania, Liz allows readers to hunt for clues alongside Adia. Struggling to unlock the secrets of her new powers, she also searches for answers about her sister’s last moments. What really happened to her twin? And what are the elders trying to cover up? Careful readers and Adia will learn that seemingly inconsequential choices can change your perception—and your reality—in an instant. Arcania - Trial By Fire 1
- GenresYoung AdultFantasy
Kindle Edition
First published January 11, 2012
About the author
Liz Maverick
34 books495 followersBestselling, award-winning author Liz Maverick is a novelist, adventurer and odd jobs specialist whose contract assignments have taken her from driving trucks in Antarctica to working behind the scenes on reality TV shows in Hollywood.
Liz is known for writing out-of-the-box romance novels with fast-paced, unique plots and lots of kick-butt action. Her previous works include Cosmopolitan Magazine Book Club Pick What a Girl Wants, PRISM/Daphne finalist The Shadow Runners, Golden Leaf winner Crimson Rogue, and Waldenbooks/B&N bestseller Crimson City, the first book in the multi-author continuity series she created.
Liz and her books have been featured on Fox's Geraldo at Large and in USA Today, Cosmopolitan Magazine, San Francisco Magazine, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Toronto Star, and more.
https://www.facebook.com/LizMaverickC...
Liz is known for writing out-of-the-box romance novels with fast-paced, unique plots and lots of kick-butt action. Her previous works include Cosmopolitan Magazine Book Club Pick What a Girl Wants, PRISM/Daphne finalist The Shadow Runners, Golden Leaf winner Crimson Rogue, and Waldenbooks/B&N bestseller Crimson City, the first book in the multi-author continuity series she created.
Liz and her books have been featured on Fox's Geraldo at Large and in USA Today, Cosmopolitan Magazine, San Francisco Magazine, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Toronto Star, and more.
https://www.facebook.com/LizMaverickC...
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 24, 2012
I really liked Arcania. I don’t have sisters but I can imagine what it is like being a twin and always living in the shadow of the ‘good’ twin. The parents are absent in this book but that seems to be the norm for the magical children in this universe. Arcania deals with magic, and alternate realities and the choose your own path style that Coliloquy provides makes the reading more enjoyable. It feels more high stakes, like what I choose effects the storyline and my reading experience.
There is a love story, a familial drama and a delightful catty relationship with another warrior. Our MC must find new friends, learn to control a power that doesn’t belong to her and solve the mystery of her sister’s death all at once. If you have a Kindle e-ink device you should read it.
Blurb: Arcania: Trial by Fire is a rapid story line with high stakes that will leave the reader breathless with their choices.
There is a love story, a familial drama and a delightful catty relationship with another warrior. Our MC must find new friends, learn to control a power that doesn’t belong to her and solve the mystery of her sister’s death all at once. If you have a Kindle e-ink device you should read it.
Blurb: Arcania: Trial by Fire is a rapid story line with high stakes that will leave the reader breathless with their choices.
November 2, 2012
I have a different type of review today, it’s still a book review, but it’s for an eBook app. I was hunting through the apps on my Nook and came across one called Arcania- Trial by Fire by Liz Maverick. It looked so interesting I just had to buy it.
So, Arcania is what Nook calls an “active fiction” book. According to them, “it’s more like a TV series, where the characters and stories evolve and grow.” Some of you might already be familiar with this type of story, but it is totally new to me. I just got my Nook Tablet last week sort of like a choose your own adventure, but more detailed and flowing.
The author uses choices that the readers make to affect scenarios in the next installment. So, instead of there being just one storyline, there can be multiple scenarios.
The Story- Adia Hawkins is solely responsible for her two younger sisters, what with her mom and dad and twin sister Lara off fighting the evil Synelv. Magic runs in the family, only Adia got the short end of the stick, so she’s stuck on Earth raising her sisters and watching to see if they develop powers.
Everything changes when Adia’s sister Lara dies in battle and all of her magic is transferred to Adia. Suddenly Adia is forced to leave Earth and travel to Arcania, where she is thrust into a school with people way more advanced than she is, and guess what? She has to learn everything super fast or people could die.
My thoughts- The story is great. I read it straight to the end and then bought book 2, Dark Fuel. The whole mystery surrounding Lara’s death haunts Adia, and no one will tell her what really happened. Then there is Grey, the strong, yet sulking dude, who “let” Lara die. Adia can’t figure him out, and he seems to hate her. Too bad she’s totally attracted to him.
Regarding the parts where the reader is supposed to make a choice, there were only two. Kind of lame. I was hoping for more. Plus, they didn’t really have any relevance to the story. Who cares if Adia offends a school colleague on Earth? I felt a bit jipt. So, as an interactive story I give it a low score. But, it redeems itself in the plot category.
My one concern is how many parts of the book are they going to make? The first book is good, but a quick read. The second book then cost me, I think, $3.99. It’s an even better read, with somewhat better interaction, but how many will I have to buy? It could end up costing way too much money, more than a new hardcover.
I’m excited to see where this series goes. The ending of part 2 is shocking, and I can’t wait to see what the author does with the choice people make.
So, Arcania is what Nook calls an “active fiction” book. According to them, “it’s more like a TV series, where the characters and stories evolve and grow.” Some of you might already be familiar with this type of story, but it is totally new to me. I just got my Nook Tablet last week sort of like a choose your own adventure, but more detailed and flowing.
The author uses choices that the readers make to affect scenarios in the next installment. So, instead of there being just one storyline, there can be multiple scenarios.
The Story- Adia Hawkins is solely responsible for her two younger sisters, what with her mom and dad and twin sister Lara off fighting the evil Synelv. Magic runs in the family, only Adia got the short end of the stick, so she’s stuck on Earth raising her sisters and watching to see if they develop powers.
Everything changes when Adia’s sister Lara dies in battle and all of her magic is transferred to Adia. Suddenly Adia is forced to leave Earth and travel to Arcania, where she is thrust into a school with people way more advanced than she is, and guess what? She has to learn everything super fast or people could die.
My thoughts- The story is great. I read it straight to the end and then bought book 2, Dark Fuel. The whole mystery surrounding Lara’s death haunts Adia, and no one will tell her what really happened. Then there is Grey, the strong, yet sulking dude, who “let” Lara die. Adia can’t figure him out, and he seems to hate her. Too bad she’s totally attracted to him.
Regarding the parts where the reader is supposed to make a choice, there were only two. Kind of lame. I was hoping for more. Plus, they didn’t really have any relevance to the story. Who cares if Adia offends a school colleague on Earth? I felt a bit jipt. So, as an interactive story I give it a low score. But, it redeems itself in the plot category.
My one concern is how many parts of the book are they going to make? The first book is good, but a quick read. The second book then cost me, I think, $3.99. It’s an even better read, with somewhat better interaction, but how many will I have to buy? It could end up costing way too much money, more than a new hardcover.
I’m excited to see where this series goes. The ending of part 2 is shocking, and I can’t wait to see what the author does with the choice people make.
March 31, 2013
Arcania by Liz Maverick was a super cool book. It was fantasy, but definitely had a bit of a sci-fi feel to it for me! I loved the characters and the plot. Arcania was a great read and start to a series, and will only take off from here.
When I first started reading, I was a bit confused. It took a bit of reading and then I was able to more fully grasp what was going on. The set up of the story is very intriguing, so I can’t wait to see where the story will continue to go. Certain aspects of the plot were not as developed as much as I would have liked, but I’m hoping those will be sorted out in future books.
The world was super cool as well. I would love to know more about the different planes and Arcania, as I didn’t get a real great idea of what it was like. It was part of the experience I feel like, since Adia is so lost and not filled in on all the happenings, so I was discovering things along with her. As Adia grows in Arcania, I am super intrigued to see more about the world, the plots, and the Ether.
I really liked the characters. The only one I wasn’t crazy about was Minka, something about her was just off for me. Finola, Grey, and Seger were hands down the best characters of the book. I loved all three, and while I liked the other characters, they were just too awesome. I really hope to see a lot more of them in the next book. Adia was an interesting main character; I hope she grows a lot as the series continues, as she was a bit weak at times. It was almost a bit cliche with the “my sister is the talented one and I will be the under achiever”.
Needless to say I am very excited for book 2! Its release cannot come fast enough. The ending was a killer – the plot is built, and I cannot say how awesome I feel the next book will be. Arcania for me had a few bumpy spots, yet for me, all of that was forgiven with the awesome plot and the wonderful characters. For the most part while I was reading I just wanted to read more and find out what was happening, what was next, and who was behind what.
When I first started reading, I was a bit confused. It took a bit of reading and then I was able to more fully grasp what was going on. The set up of the story is very intriguing, so I can’t wait to see where the story will continue to go. Certain aspects of the plot were not as developed as much as I would have liked, but I’m hoping those will be sorted out in future books.
The world was super cool as well. I would love to know more about the different planes and Arcania, as I didn’t get a real great idea of what it was like. It was part of the experience I feel like, since Adia is so lost and not filled in on all the happenings, so I was discovering things along with her. As Adia grows in Arcania, I am super intrigued to see more about the world, the plots, and the Ether.
I really liked the characters. The only one I wasn’t crazy about was Minka, something about her was just off for me. Finola, Grey, and Seger were hands down the best characters of the book. I loved all three, and while I liked the other characters, they were just too awesome. I really hope to see a lot more of them in the next book. Adia was an interesting main character; I hope she grows a lot as the series continues, as she was a bit weak at times. It was almost a bit cliche with the “my sister is the talented one and I will be the under achiever”.
Needless to say I am very excited for book 2! Its release cannot come fast enough. The ending was a killer – the plot is built, and I cannot say how awesome I feel the next book will be. Arcania for me had a few bumpy spots, yet for me, all of that was forgiven with the awesome plot and the wonderful characters. For the most part while I was reading I just wanted to read more and find out what was happening, what was next, and who was behind what.
January 22, 2012
To be posted on Page Turners Blog:
I was both excited and skeptical when I began reading Arcania. Excited because I thought that the summary sounded positively enthralling. But skeptical because of the "interactive" element to it. You see, the new Coliloquy books are interactive books. Readers determine which path the stories take and new segments are automatically downloaded onto their Kindle. To me, this sounded like electronic versions of Choose Your Own Adventure books, which I vaguely remembered from my childhood as being less-than-wonderful. Happily, the Coliloquy title Arcania was much much better than that.
At first, I worried that Adia and I were not going to mesh well-- her relationship with her boyfriend seemed a bit too clingy for my tastes, but once she was off into the world of Arcania itself, things changed. Adia became a character that I loved. She was frustrated with her seeming inability to master her new Arcania, but didn't become whiny. She worked her butt off for every little thing she got and won me over easily as I got to know her.
The same is true of many of the other characters like Seger, Finola, and Grey-- people that I wasn't all that crazy about in the beginning, but I grudgingly had to accept their behavior as realistic given the circumstances. I think that was part of what I loved about Maverick's writing-- she didn't cater to what someone would like right away. She created a good story and believable characters and let that be what I fell in love with.
Maverick's world fascinated me: between the war going on, the training school that Adia winds up at, and the magic itself. It's exactly the kind of story that is great fun to fall into and live vicariously through.
Needless to say, I can't wait for the next "episode" of Arcania to come through the Coliloquy platform.
I was both excited and skeptical when I began reading Arcania. Excited because I thought that the summary sounded positively enthralling. But skeptical because of the "interactive" element to it. You see, the new Coliloquy books are interactive books. Readers determine which path the stories take and new segments are automatically downloaded onto their Kindle. To me, this sounded like electronic versions of Choose Your Own Adventure books, which I vaguely remembered from my childhood as being less-than-wonderful. Happily, the Coliloquy title Arcania was much much better than that.
At first, I worried that Adia and I were not going to mesh well-- her relationship with her boyfriend seemed a bit too clingy for my tastes, but once she was off into the world of Arcania itself, things changed. Adia became a character that I loved. She was frustrated with her seeming inability to master her new Arcania, but didn't become whiny. She worked her butt off for every little thing she got and won me over easily as I got to know her.
The same is true of many of the other characters like Seger, Finola, and Grey-- people that I wasn't all that crazy about in the beginning, but I grudgingly had to accept their behavior as realistic given the circumstances. I think that was part of what I loved about Maverick's writing-- she didn't cater to what someone would like right away. She created a good story and believable characters and let that be what I fell in love with.
Maverick's world fascinated me: between the war going on, the training school that Adia winds up at, and the magic itself. It's exactly the kind of story that is great fun to fall into and live vicariously through.
Needless to say, I can't wait for the next "episode" of Arcania to come through the Coliloquy platform.
January 14, 2013
Let me start off by saying that the choose your own adventure books were my absolute favourites in elementary school. I'm pretty sure I read every one in my school library. So I was super excited to get the chance to read this book, which sounded like it would give me a chance to rekindle my love of this type of book.
Unfortunately, the interactive portion of the book fell flat for me. I think there were only a couple of places where I got to make a decision for Adia and they are super minor. So I was a bit disappointed on that front.
On to the actual story. I'll be straight with you; Adia's life sucks. Her parents and twin sister have ditched out to some magical land, leaving Adia on her own to care for her younger sisters. Then, when she ends up inheriting her sisters powers and going to the mystical academy, things get even worse. She's miles behind everyone and people are so mean to her. Liz Maverick did a good job making me feel the tension of the hyper-competitive academy.
However, I'm not a huge fan of Adia. Sometimes she does or says things that are incredibly stupid. I think I'm a much less impulsive person, so I can't sympathize as much as other people can.
Overall though, the world that Liz Maverick has created is very intriguing and I can't wait to see what happens between Adia and Grey, considering the history between Grey and her sister. I just hope the next one does a better job of being interactive!
Unfortunately, the interactive portion of the book fell flat for me. I think there were only a couple of places where I got to make a decision for Adia and they are super minor. So I was a bit disappointed on that front.
On to the actual story. I'll be straight with you; Adia's life sucks. Her parents and twin sister have ditched out to some magical land, leaving Adia on her own to care for her younger sisters. Then, when she ends up inheriting her sisters powers and going to the mystical academy, things get even worse. She's miles behind everyone and people are so mean to her. Liz Maverick did a good job making me feel the tension of the hyper-competitive academy.
However, I'm not a huge fan of Adia. Sometimes she does or says things that are incredibly stupid. I think I'm a much less impulsive person, so I can't sympathize as much as other people can.
Overall though, the world that Liz Maverick has created is very intriguing and I can't wait to see what happens between Adia and Grey, considering the history between Grey and her sister. I just hope the next one does a better job of being interactive!
February 9, 2012
I got this purely on a whim to see what an "interactive" Kindle book would be like. As far as I remember, there were only two points where you could pick one path or another for the main character to follow. It was a super quick read, quick enough that I plan to read it again and choose the other path and see how (or whether) it turns out differently. Interesting concept, but ultimately kind of a novelty, in my opinion.
Read
July 27, 2013Graded By: Jenny
Cover Story: Thank God It's On A Kindle!
BFF Charm: Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 4
Talky Talk: Straight Up Gamer Style
Bonus Factors: World Building, Choose Your Own Adventure
Relationship Status: I Like Hanging Out With This Book When I'm At My Friend's House
Read the full book report here.
Cover Story: Thank God It's On A Kindle!
BFF Charm: Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 4
Talky Talk: Straight Up Gamer Style
Bonus Factors: World Building, Choose Your Own Adventure
Relationship Status: I Like Hanging Out With This Book When I'm At My Friend's House
Read the full book report here.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews