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The Paragonia Chronicles #1
The WishKeeper
When a broken-winged, rebellious teenage fairy discovers that her family's WishMakers made an all-important True Love Wish, she secretly ventures to the human world in order to grant it despite the impossibility and prove that she can be a WishKeeper. An adventure to prove her worth turns into a battle against dark forces determined to harness the wish's power, as well as the insecurities that arise within the little fairy herself.
We, WishMakers, all have a WishKeeper assigned to us that protects and guides our wishes to fulfillment. Teenage, broken-winged Shea is determined to become one.
We, WishMakers, all have a WishKeeper assigned to us that protects and guides our wishes to fulfillment. Teenage, broken-winged Shea is determined to become one.
354 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 17, 2013
9 people are currently reading
251 people want to read
About the author
Maximilian Timm
2 books11 followersThe Director of Education for the ISA. Max’s focus with the ISA is on education and to build a creative community, bringing ISA writers closer to managers, agents, and producers by way of developing their writing craft and talent one step at a time.
His personal coaching and development service, The Story Farm, develops writers and their material much like a studio executive or literary manager would, walking a writer through the drafting and rewriting process. He also created online classes for the ISA titled, The Craft Course in Screenwriting and the 30-Day Screenwriting Challenge. Most recently, he and the head of the ISA Development Slate, Felicity Wren, are working diligently on the production and development side of the business, shopping a slate of projects through their shingle, Creative Screenwriter Prods.
Max is a screenwriter and author as well and recently released his debut book on screenwriting titled, (Not Just) Another Book on The Craft of Screenwriting. His debut young adult fantasy novel titled The WishKeeper, about a teenage fairy with broken wings, won the young adult category of the 2015 Los Angeles Book Festival and released nationwide in the Summer of 2016 (book two is currently in editing, with book three well under-way). He is currently shopping it as an animated series.
His personal coaching and development service, The Story Farm, develops writers and their material much like a studio executive or literary manager would, walking a writer through the drafting and rewriting process. He also created online classes for the ISA titled, The Craft Course in Screenwriting and the 30-Day Screenwriting Challenge. Most recently, he and the head of the ISA Development Slate, Felicity Wren, are working diligently on the production and development side of the business, shopping a slate of projects through their shingle, Creative Screenwriter Prods.
Max is a screenwriter and author as well and recently released his debut book on screenwriting titled, (Not Just) Another Book on The Craft of Screenwriting. His debut young adult fantasy novel titled The WishKeeper, about a teenage fairy with broken wings, won the young adult category of the 2015 Los Angeles Book Festival and released nationwide in the Summer of 2016 (book two is currently in editing, with book three well under-way). He is currently shopping it as an animated series.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 27, 2018
My cousin Max's debut! Can't wait to read it!!!
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February 5, 2014Official Kirkus Review:
Timm masterminds a fantastical setting, rife with inventive terminology: the Fairy Intelligence Agency; Exclamation Point, the cliff where every wish goes to rest until its fulfillment; and the WishKeepers (fairies) and WishMakers (humans), simply referred to as Keepers and Makers. Due to all the unfamiliar language in the foreign land of Paragonia, the first 15 of 48 chapters paint a curious world with numerous questions that are answered later in the relatively lengthy book.
The action follows Shea, a stubborn fairy with a tumultuous past whose present reality includes a lot of disappointment and bullying. She evolves into a classic YA heroine: broken but brave, angry but hopeful. A relatable protagonist, she begins taking risks to make her own wishes come true: “All she ever asked or wished for was a chance. But she might just need to create that chance on her own and she was done feeling sorry for herself.”
Timm takes some risks, too, by navigating the relatively uncharted territory of lesbian love in YA fiction via Avery, who has deep feelings of love for Elanor. Timm takes on the fantasy gamut with finesse, including everything from high jinks to romance. There are cry-worthy scenes, as with the drama of a daughter grieving for her dead mother, and amusing moments, particularly with Shea’s snappy assessments of various wishes. In many ways, the conflict is resolved by book’s end, though a two-page epilogue will whet readers’ appetites for Book 2. Parents will appreciate the book’s inspiring message and the courage it might stir in young readers.
An action-packed, dramatic tale with a nonstandard relationship and a winning message.
—Kirkus Reviews
Timm masterminds a fantastical setting, rife with inventive terminology: the Fairy Intelligence Agency; Exclamation Point, the cliff where every wish goes to rest until its fulfillment; and the WishKeepers (fairies) and WishMakers (humans), simply referred to as Keepers and Makers. Due to all the unfamiliar language in the foreign land of Paragonia, the first 15 of 48 chapters paint a curious world with numerous questions that are answered later in the relatively lengthy book.
The action follows Shea, a stubborn fairy with a tumultuous past whose present reality includes a lot of disappointment and bullying. She evolves into a classic YA heroine: broken but brave, angry but hopeful. A relatable protagonist, she begins taking risks to make her own wishes come true: “All she ever asked or wished for was a chance. But she might just need to create that chance on her own and she was done feeling sorry for herself.”
Timm takes some risks, too, by navigating the relatively uncharted territory of lesbian love in YA fiction via Avery, who has deep feelings of love for Elanor. Timm takes on the fantasy gamut with finesse, including everything from high jinks to romance. There are cry-worthy scenes, as with the drama of a daughter grieving for her dead mother, and amusing moments, particularly with Shea’s snappy assessments of various wishes. In many ways, the conflict is resolved by book’s end, though a two-page epilogue will whet readers’ appetites for Book 2. Parents will appreciate the book’s inspiring message and the courage it might stir in young readers.
An action-packed, dramatic tale with a nonstandard relationship and a winning message.
—Kirkus Reviews
July 21, 2015
I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review
This review was originally posted on my blog Little Miss Reader
The WishKeeper was my first book with fairies ever and I really enjoyed it. There was love, friendship and a little twist in the form of a "coming-of-age" element. I loved getting to know Shea and see her evolve and turn into this girl who believes in herself instead of being sad and angry.
Some general information: In this book we stumble upon WishMakers and WishKeepers. We, and I mean us humans, are the WishMakers, we make the wishes and certain fairies have the job of "catching" those wishes - which means that they are the WishKeepers. Each Keeper is assigned to a Maker.
We also have different kinds of wishes, we have Purity Wishes, Athletic Wishes, Money Wishes and Ladder Wishes - aside from those we have Death Wishes and True Love Wishes.
The fairies also have a king, this king is called the WishingKing. This king is actually from our world and in this case called Eurebus - and he is evil. The world the fairies live in is called Paragonia, it's a place in the woods - but still out of our world. Paragonia is not the happy place it once was and I hope we see Paragonia thriving when this series is over.
Let's talk about Shea; she lost her wings because a true love wish was destroyed - and with that she also lost her mother. Shea and her father doesn't really talk to each other anymore because of her mother's death. She wants to be a WishKeeper but because of her broken wings she obviously can't fly into our world and collect the wishes and therefore she cannot be a WishKeeper. I absolutely love Shea Evenstar, she made me laugh, she made me get all emotional and she taught me various things. I think it took 50 pages before I was convinced I would absolutely love her and wished I knew someone like her in real life.
All the things she goes through toughens her up and in the end Shea is a different person than the one she was after the death of her mother - the Shea we met in the end is a wonderful person and I think she's the sort of friend everyone should have.
I could relate to Shea in every possible way - about being alone, being different, that feeling of wanting to fit in but liking to stand out as well.
Thane! Thane is about the same age as Shea and Beren (Shea's father) has "assigned" him to keep an eye on Shea...I adore him, he is so kind and he really cares about Shea once he got to know her - I kept smiling every time he was in the picture. He is so thoughtful and when things started to go wrong he showed his true colours and we got to see this amazing person.
I loved the story! I loved getting to know Shea and the other characters, I loved learning about Paragonia and reading about the history of everything. You know that feeling you had when you first read Harry Potter and started to get obsessed with the world? That is the exact feeling I got when reading about Paragonia. Max has created a wonderful world and story that I want everyone to read and experience for themselves!
One thing I absolutely love and adore Max for is adding another kind of relationship - we have the relationships between parents and children, between friends and between coworkers. Avery (a friend of Elanor (Shea's mother)
And then on the other hand he practically killed me with that ending! So.. be aware!
To summarize quickly: This story is magnificent, it almost brought tears to my eyes and sometimes I catched myself holding my breath. The characters are wonderful and some of them will stay with you forever. I don't think I need to tell you, but I gave this book 5 hearts because no less could be justified.
This review was originally posted on my blog Little Miss Reader
The WishKeeper was my first book with fairies ever and I really enjoyed it. There was love, friendship and a little twist in the form of a "coming-of-age" element. I loved getting to know Shea and see her evolve and turn into this girl who believes in herself instead of being sad and angry.
Some general information: In this book we stumble upon WishMakers and WishKeepers. We, and I mean us humans, are the WishMakers, we make the wishes and certain fairies have the job of "catching" those wishes - which means that they are the WishKeepers. Each Keeper is assigned to a Maker.
We also have different kinds of wishes, we have Purity Wishes, Athletic Wishes, Money Wishes and Ladder Wishes - aside from those we have Death Wishes and True Love Wishes.
The fairies also have a king, this king is called the WishingKing. This king is actually from our world and in this case called Eurebus - and he is evil. The world the fairies live in is called Paragonia, it's a place in the woods - but still out of our world. Paragonia is not the happy place it once was and I hope we see Paragonia thriving when this series is over.
Let's talk about Shea; she lost her wings because a true love wish was destroyed - and with that she also lost her mother. Shea and her father doesn't really talk to each other anymore because of her mother's death. She wants to be a WishKeeper but because of her broken wings she obviously can't fly into our world and collect the wishes and therefore she cannot be a WishKeeper. I absolutely love Shea Evenstar, she made me laugh, she made me get all emotional and she taught me various things. I think it took 50 pages before I was convinced I would absolutely love her and wished I knew someone like her in real life.
All the things she goes through toughens her up and in the end Shea is a different person than the one she was after the death of her mother - the Shea we met in the end is a wonderful person and I think she's the sort of friend everyone should have.
I could relate to Shea in every possible way - about being alone, being different, that feeling of wanting to fit in but liking to stand out as well.
Thane! Thane is about the same age as Shea and Beren (Shea's father) has "assigned" him to keep an eye on Shea...I adore him, he is so kind and he really cares about Shea once he got to know her - I kept smiling every time he was in the picture. He is so thoughtful and when things started to go wrong he showed his true colours and we got to see this amazing person.
I loved the story! I loved getting to know Shea and the other characters, I loved learning about Paragonia and reading about the history of everything. You know that feeling you had when you first read Harry Potter and started to get obsessed with the world? That is the exact feeling I got when reading about Paragonia. Max has created a wonderful world and story that I want everyone to read and experience for themselves!
One thing I absolutely love and adore Max for is adding another kind of relationship - we have the relationships between parents and children, between friends and between coworkers. Avery (a friend of Elanor (Shea's mother)
And then on the other hand he practically killed me with that ending! So.. be aware!
To summarize quickly: This story is magnificent, it almost brought tears to my eyes and sometimes I catched myself holding my breath. The characters are wonderful and some of them will stay with you forever. I don't think I need to tell you, but I gave this book 5 hearts because no less could be justified.
December 5, 2013
This is a Young Adult fantasy novel, The WishKeeper tells the tale of a fairy named Shea, how her broken wings and inability to fly have kept her from being what she always wanted to be - a WishKeeper. WishMakers, all have a WishKeeper assigned to them that protects and guides thier wishes to fulfillment. Teenage, red headed, tattooed and broken-winged Shea is determined to become one. Shea is a rebellious, punk rock dressed, tattooed teenage fairy with two mangled wings that draw ugly stares more often than sympathy. She is not looking for sympathy though, and would rather break a WishKeeper's pointed nose than accept an understanding pat on her handicapped back. Living with her disability for most of her angry life has kept Shea out of the Keeper force and therefore a loner (which she is perfectly fine with...or so she says). Until the day her family WishMakers, Grayson and Miranda, made a second True Love Wish, she was barely a blip on a WishRadar. The last time a True Love Wish was made, her mother destroyed it and the explosion ripped the wings from Shea's back. All Shea wants is to prove herself - despite her disability, despite her anger, resentment and the all-too obvious chips on her shoulders - that she can be better than any WishKeeper. She sneaks off to the human world with the naive intent to wrangle a type of wish even the most skilled Keeper barely can. She's entitled, selfish, and has only one intention: wrangle a True Love Wish no matter the consequence. Further annoying her, is a WishKeeper recruit named Thane who is tasked by her General father to babysit her, or at least that's how Shea sees it. Through their impossible adventure in a land Shea had only ever dreamed about, she battles the difficult discovery of painful family secrets, a wish-mongering ex-king and his cursed zombie-like fairies, and the acceptance of her parents' imperfections as well as her own.
November 26, 2013
As Shea would tell you: "I'm no pixie!" These fairies are not your cute little Disney fairies. They have strong humanoid emotions, strengths and weaknesses.
Shea, the fairy heroine, has injured her wings during a horrible incident that has also left her without a mother. Unable to fly, she uses her magic to swing from place to place. Her biggest handicap however, she has created herself. Unable to deal with her limitations and grief, she has grown into a rebel 'teenager', who cannot bond to her father because grief and strong emotions are two things they both find it difficult to deal with.
Paragonia, the land of the Wishkeepers, is dying. Without fulfilling wishes from us, the Wishmakers, the magic is disappearing. The number of wishes that are taken back to be fulfilled is diminishing and the once vast legion of Wishkeepers has dwindled into a small number of fairies. Shea, however, is determined to become one, with or without wings. But for Paragonia to survive, the fairies have to deal with an evil that threatens both their land and ours.
This wonderful YA 'fairy' tale has everything one could wish for: a courageous heroine, an evil villain, magic, action and love.
I've discovered The Wishkeeper during its crowdfunding campaign and I've followed its progress with great anticipation. The final book does not disappoint. I've enjoyed reading about Shea and her struggle. It's a heart-warming tale told at a fast pace. It entertains and delights, even though the occasional flashback confused at times.
I especially loved Thane, the poor fairy who is ordered to keep Shea safe. Never was anyone given a more impossible task. He has to deal with her quirks and frustrations. He could either hate his task or fall in love. I challenge you to read this wonderful book and find out.
Oh, and it's book one of The Paragonia Chronicles so there's more to come!
Shea, the fairy heroine, has injured her wings during a horrible incident that has also left her without a mother. Unable to fly, she uses her magic to swing from place to place. Her biggest handicap however, she has created herself. Unable to deal with her limitations and grief, she has grown into a rebel 'teenager', who cannot bond to her father because grief and strong emotions are two things they both find it difficult to deal with.
Paragonia, the land of the Wishkeepers, is dying. Without fulfilling wishes from us, the Wishmakers, the magic is disappearing. The number of wishes that are taken back to be fulfilled is diminishing and the once vast legion of Wishkeepers has dwindled into a small number of fairies. Shea, however, is determined to become one, with or without wings. But for Paragonia to survive, the fairies have to deal with an evil that threatens both their land and ours.
This wonderful YA 'fairy' tale has everything one could wish for: a courageous heroine, an evil villain, magic, action and love.
I've discovered The Wishkeeper during its crowdfunding campaign and I've followed its progress with great anticipation. The final book does not disappoint. I've enjoyed reading about Shea and her struggle. It's a heart-warming tale told at a fast pace. It entertains and delights, even though the occasional flashback confused at times.
I especially loved Thane, the poor fairy who is ordered to keep Shea safe. Never was anyone given a more impossible task. He has to deal with her quirks and frustrations. He could either hate his task or fall in love. I challenge you to read this wonderful book and find out.
Oh, and it's book one of The Paragonia Chronicles so there's more to come!
October 29, 2014
The Wishkeeper is a fantastical story of a young fairy, Shea, who comes from the secret fairyland of Paragonia. Shea was injured as a young girl and as a result of her injuries, she lacks confidence in herself and her ability to ever be a successful WishKeeper like her parents. Her only desire as a young girl was to make her parents proud. Now as a teenager, the world of Paragonia is slowly disappearing due to the greed and evil of the former Paragonian WishingKing, Erebus. Although he was banished to the human world of WishMakers (aka The Other Side), he was plotting his revenge on Paragonia and destroying the human world in the process. As Shea crosses over to the Other Side to grant a True Love Wish in an attempt at redemption and to prove herself as a WishKeeper, she sees a world that needs to be saved as much as her own. Shea knows that the future of all the unclaimed wishes from The Other Side is resting on her shoulders. With great determination, this courageous little fairy sets out on an action-packed adventure to save the world and herself. This story had all of the elements of a great epic fantasy and I really enjoyed it.
Originally posted at the Author Alliance
Originally posted at the Author Alliance
December 9, 2013
The Wishkeeper by Maximilian Till is a book about fairies. Here the fairies are called wishkeepers. The exit portals from their world and travel the world gathering wishes for safekeeping until they're granted. Shea is a young fairy whose wings were ripped from her during a terrible wrong 7 years previous. A wishmaker's true love wish was destroyed. The wish king wanted the wishes for himself to gain power. The explosion closed many of the gates, leaving Shea's mother for dead and a pall over the fairy world. Now very few wishes survive and they must be retrieved before Erebus the former king can claim them for himself. His power is growing. Hes aided by his captive captain who is Elane, Shea's mother and the black fairies. The fairies who follow Erebus. General Berens, Shea's father is in charge of the wishkeepers. He never told Shea the true story of her mother. Watch the epic battle of good versus evil take place in this tale.
September 29, 2014
The Wishkeeper by Maximilian Timm is an inspiring fantasy story for anyone over the age of 13, particularly those who have been made fun of for their physical appearance (check) or who have been told that they can't achieve their dreams (double check).
Shea is a fiery heroine with a strong sense of determination. She knows what she wants and will stop at nothing to achieve her dreams and help her family's WishMakers' wish come true.
Rarely will you find a story about fairies that doesn't seem like typical Disney fodder. Mr. Timm took Tinkerbell, gave her tattoos and a badass attitude and sent her on an amazing and treacherous journey.
She's an inspiring female character who will make readers flock to this series. One of the best female leads in fiction today!
With danger, evil fairies, and a great cast of supporting characters (you have to both love and want to give Thane a smack sometimes), not to mention the imaginative imagery and plot, you can't go wrong with The WishKeeper!
Shea is a fiery heroine with a strong sense of determination. She knows what she wants and will stop at nothing to achieve her dreams and help her family's WishMakers' wish come true.
Rarely will you find a story about fairies that doesn't seem like typical Disney fodder. Mr. Timm took Tinkerbell, gave her tattoos and a badass attitude and sent her on an amazing and treacherous journey.
She's an inspiring female character who will make readers flock to this series. One of the best female leads in fiction today!
With danger, evil fairies, and a great cast of supporting characters (you have to both love and want to give Thane a smack sometimes), not to mention the imaginative imagery and plot, you can't go wrong with The WishKeeper!
March 22, 2015
Our class Skyped with this author, thanks to a parent of one of our students! The kids came up with great questions, and he didn't dodge any! I love that he talked about the time it took - the struggles he had, and the amount of hours he puts in to writing screenplays and novels. He loved legendary fantasies, and this is one that follows that mold. I had a difficult time figuring out what was happening at the start, and I had a hard time keeping track, but I know some students that would eat this one up.
June 15, 2014
This is not your typical story about cute fairies this a story about strong, kick your teeth in, faeries. I love the different take on them that this story follows. It has everything you could hope for in a young adult fantasy, action, love, an evil villain, twist and turns you don't see coming. I think the best part of the story is that it has a great message to be learned and that it only book one of the series.
May 25, 2016
This is a To-Be-Continued book, and I wish it was to be continued NOW! I don't want to give anything away so I will simply say that I am left really wanting to know what happens next...and I won't even say to WHOM, or in whose world, cuz that'd be a Spoiler! Maximilian Timm, you are a great storyteller! Can't wait for more adventures in Paragonia....
June 24, 2014
4 & 1/2 stars
The most original story that I've read in a long time. Excellent world-building by Timm.
The most original story that I've read in a long time. Excellent world-building by Timm.
July 26, 2014
Review to come.
November 24, 2017
Wow. Really liked it. So simple and so nice. It was actually a good break from the books with very complicated plots. I am quite surprised it hadn't earned more reviews and ratings.
June 11, 2019
I am sorry to say I did not finish this book. I really wanted to like it, but I found I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
At first it was hard to put my finger on the thing that was wrong, the main charakter seemed likable and complex enough, the setup of the story seemed promising and the looks and behaviours of the different wishes made them seem pretty cute. Nevertheless I constantly needed to check back and try to look up a detail I seemed to have missed only to find it wasn't there at all. Or I thought that this must have been the moment in which a relationship took a turn, but I just couldn't feel it.
Bit by bit I finally noticed that my problem was the writing style. The whole story seems hectic to me, with quick snippets of action hastily stitched together. There are barely any transition between scenes or pauses and almost no information on the characters' feelings. The whole story seems distant, as if someone was observing from afar, describing what he sees and inserting the occasional comment on peoples thoughts or the society. And while this writing style in itself is not wrong and may even be what the author was aiming for, it simply does not work out for me, as it prevented me from connecting with the characters and the story.
At first it was hard to put my finger on the thing that was wrong, the main charakter seemed likable and complex enough, the setup of the story seemed promising and the looks and behaviours of the different wishes made them seem pretty cute. Nevertheless I constantly needed to check back and try to look up a detail I seemed to have missed only to find it wasn't there at all. Or I thought that this must have been the moment in which a relationship took a turn, but I just couldn't feel it.
Bit by bit I finally noticed that my problem was the writing style. The whole story seems hectic to me, with quick snippets of action hastily stitched together. There are barely any transition between scenes or pauses and almost no information on the characters' feelings. The whole story seems distant, as if someone was observing from afar, describing what he sees and inserting the occasional comment on peoples thoughts or the society. And while this writing style in itself is not wrong and may even be what the author was aiming for, it simply does not work out for me, as it prevented me from connecting with the characters and the story.
dnf
August 22, 2022Aug 21, 2022. Couldn't get into it.
July 6, 2020
Fly away into an exciting world of Fairies and wishes in The WishKeeper.
This action-packed adventure will keep you at the edge of your seat as Shea struggles to overcome her handicap of broken wings and the legacy of her mother destroying a true love wish. Before she knows it, the fairy world of Paragonia is falling apart and everyone is scrambling to grant the next true love wish before the evil WishingKing finds it.
This fun book is perfect for children 10 to 15 who are looking for an epic tale to digest.
Check out my full review on my blog: https://benjaminellefson.com/blog/wis...
This action-packed adventure will keep you at the edge of your seat as Shea struggles to overcome her handicap of broken wings and the legacy of her mother destroying a true love wish. Before she knows it, the fairy world of Paragonia is falling apart and everyone is scrambling to grant the next true love wish before the evil WishingKing finds it.
This fun book is perfect for children 10 to 15 who are looking for an epic tale to digest.
Check out my full review on my blog: https://benjaminellefson.com/blog/wis...
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews