Estelan

by Trace Broyles, Barbara Ivie (Illustrator)

The battle for Estelan begins.

Isthile, the last civilization is bordered and protected by a mysterious Fog, governed by the will of the Moon Mother as interpreted by her priestesses and kept at peace by the Council of Elders. One tragic eve changes everything when the priestesses mysteriously disappear and the Council members are driven into hiding or murdered.

Lord Kriton escapes to safety with a small group of young Isthiliens, remnants of old magic. He must convince them to fight against the ancient Darkness before it can eradicate all Light from the world. Under Lord Kriton's guidance the young warriors must evade Darkness, unlock their own powers, and unravel the secrets of Estelan's past to fulfill the prophecy that can save their world.

Genres: Fantasy

262 pages, Paperback

First published March 17, 2012

Reviews

[Mario · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even before the lack of ending, I was not especially happy with this. There were too many characters, for one, and not enough between them to make them stand out. It was nice that the author tended to group people by first letter, so it was a little easier to remember who was related to who. The plot was... intricate. There is definitely a larger story here, but you only get a small sense of what it actually is from the narrative. If this were a small self-contained story and that larger plot was happening in the background it would be intriguing, but the larger story is the central focus of the plot, so that doesn't work, and from what I saw, I'm not convinced that the larger story was all that interesting or different from your standard fantasy black & white war. Another problem I had with it is that the world has no connection with ours at all; the people really aren't human, so there are a lot of layers to go through to figure out how everything works. This, in itself, might be fine, but you need a patient narrator to explain it to the audience or an outsider character for someone to exposition to for our benefit. This had neither.

[Loves To Dive · Rating 4 out of 5]

On Estelan the last civilization of Isthile is bordered and protected by the fog. It is governed by the Moon Mother, as interpreted by priestesses. The Council of Elders maintains the peace. The priestesses live in silence, led by the Elder Priestess Kriya and communicating mentally with each other. All seems well in this world of moonlight until one night Kriya calls the young priestess Shai to her chambers and tells her the darkness is coming and only Shai can help prevent it taking over the light. She sends the frightened Shai away just in time before the temple is overrun by Mages. The temple is destroyed; all the priestesses disappear except one, Pallia, who makes her way to the village. Pallia is taken in by the village healer, and later the mage, Master Elnor, takes her to his home to take care of her.

This then, is the beginning of the battle against darkness, a battle fought by a small band of young people blessed with gifts of magic and lead by Lord Kriton, one of the few First Ones left on Estelan. Kriton and his band of warriors must find a way to survive the dangers that await and fight the battle against darkness before it can eradicate all light from the world.

Ms. Broyles has built a world full of magic, a world that lives in moonlight with only a few who have memories of sunlight. Into this world she brings pixies, gnomes and water nymphs to help the brave band of warriors fight against the unknown dangers that hide in the darkness. The story is told from alternate POVs between the various characters, sometimes told in the past, sometimes in the present. She manages to pull this off well, seamlessly flowing from one to another.

There is a fairly large cast of characters. Despite this, we manage to get to know all of the central ones quiet well. The leader of the small band of fighters is Lord Kriton. At first we see him as a large, hard, somewhat wild man. He is a member of the Council of Elders and pretty much keeps to himself. As the story progresses we learn more of his background and discover who he really is. His little band is made up of a group of young people, all of whom have magical powers of their own. Lady Kitin is also a member of the Council of Elders and the only female to be trained as a warrior. Twin brothers, Dane and Roane, are members of the Council of Elders as well. The two brothers have a strong bond with each other and can speak telepathically. Tyla and Lykae are orphaned sister and brother. Their parents were members of the Council of Elders raised by Lady Kitin after her father’s death. They later join up with Nain and his children Nalon and Nala, along with Nain’s new wife, Mina. Mina appeared on Nains doorstep one night with no recollection of who she was, he took her in and they fell in love. The last member of their little band is Cord, the adopted son of the Priestess Pallia and her mage husband Master Elnor.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I don’t read fantasy, I rarely understand the complicated worlds that are built and find myself getting easily confused and frustrated. So to say I’m not a big fan is an understatement. This book might just have made a convert of me. Yes, the world Ms. Broyles builds is complicated, yes the characters names are strange, yet somehow she managed to write such a good story that I was able to ignore all this and just enjoy. I found myself caught up in our little band of warrior’s lives. I was enchanted with the creatures they encounter, the pixies, gnomes and water nymphs all brought a small amount of lightness to the story. The play and interaction between the characters was fascinating to watch, as the story unfolded I found myself falling more and more into their world. The book does end with dreaded cliffhanger, another one my little pet peeves but I know the author is building an epic adventure so I suppose I can forgive her. I have no problems recommending this book to those who enjoy fantasy. There should be plenty here to keep even the non-fantasy lover interested, it did me. Well done, Ms. Broyles, I can’t wait to find out what happens and if our little band of warriors can defeat darkness.

Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team

[Ladydawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very fun book to read I really did get into to it even with all the made up words for then everyday thing we all know like year and different woods and herbs and things it was refreshing to read. Being a fictional writer I found it interesting to see how this author made up their land and images to bring the reader into the story and keep them there. It was both gripping and comical at the same time. The images running through my head were of creatures big, hugh, and tiny and elegantly small but oh so delicate. All in all it was an interesting read all till the end which I didn't expect, It wasn't finished It left me wanting for the second book which I have yet to find. I want to know the ending to this story it is so good but without a second book that is quite impossible.

[Tom Park · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still wonder about this work. If I had realized it was the first of more, I might not have tackled it. While it reads nicely, it . with no real ending...just a promise that there is more to come (maybe). I might watch for a sequel, but not sure I would read it unless I knew more about it's conclusion.

[Dixie Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good job by new author. Fantasy that is suitable for YA. Will read subsequent titles as they come out.

Kindle book had too many typos and misspellings, but not enough to make me quit reading.