Satchel & Sword I: The Search for the Saluka Stone

Satchel & Sword #1

by Claudette Marco

In the land of time and Queens, one young woman sought not greed, but justice! Satchel & Sword The Search for The Saluka Stone is part one of a Young Adult Epic Fantasy trilogy chronicling the struggles and perseverance of Nevaline Scarcliff, a 15-year-old foot soldier living in the militarist, matriarchal territory of Amazonia. The greedy Amazonian Queen forces her army to march north to fight against Amazonia’s rival Hychester. They must march through the bewitched Blackbern Forest in order to conceal their attack. There, Nevaline and her best friend Cairine wield their Claymores in perilous battles against mercenaries, thieving Harpies, giant, human-eating Pophagi, enemy soldiers, and a group of malevolent sorcerers called the Sables. Nevaline also discovers her true she must destroy Micdian, the God of Verahain (Purgatory), who descended to earth to enslave all in the continent of Kordalis and the northern islands of the Caátlach Ocean. She must retrieve the Saluka Stone and use it to awaken him and destroy him. Will she recover the Saluka Stone? Will she claim justice and destroy Micdian?

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 18, 2013

About the author

Claudette Marco loved to write short stories and poetry as a child. While in law school, she felt that something was missing in her life and career. After a long road towards rediscovery, she found writing again. She has been published in the Hummingbird Review Literary Journal, Summer 2013, as well as her YA fantasy Satchel & Sword trilogy. Her books highlight the brave, teenaged woman who must fight for justice and a better way of life.
www.claudettemarco.com

Reviews

[R J Royer]

First, let me say that this book was amazing. I loved every minute of it. The story is true to when and what it wants to be, a period piece. I love the language of the story and best of all the vocabulary of the characters. Nothing puts me off a period story than when characters in the thirteenth century say "Dude, where did my horse go?" , Or something to that effect. Here the poetry is pretty awesome and works well within the story. I can't wait to start book two.

[Jessica Buike]

I had the pleasure of running into this author at a comic con, and always like to support indie authors at those events so I grabbed a copy of the book! I love the overall theme of the book following Amazon warriors and involving trickery and magic and all things awesome.

That being said, sadly there was one thing that really made this book tedious - the horrible poetic writing! The phrasing was forced and unnatural, making reading difficult even for someone like myself who reads somewhere around 100+ books per year! If the language was re-written so that the story had a natural flow, it would be a much much better book.

Final thoughts - great underlying story, but it's hidden under unnecessary and annoying verbiage. I'm not sure I'd have the energy to devote to another book in this series despite how much I enjoy the characters!