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Tor's Quest #1
The Guide
“Dying is becoming rather inconvenient” – Lord Patrick de Cowen. Prince Tor of Remeny never wanted to take part in the quest to claim the throne after his father’s death and now he has no choice but to continue. What started off as an adventure, a chance to make new friends and catch-up with old acquaintances, has turned into a deadly nightmare. Tor is only part way through the quest, but already he has lost companions and witnessed the death of one of his brothers, making him realise how serious the quest really is. Follow the journey of Tor and his band of men, women, wizards, elves, dwarfs and sprites as they use all of their wits, skills and magical ability to find and solve the remaining clues before any more of them are killed. The latest clue requires them to seek "a guide from another world". Finding the person is the easy part; persuading them to risk their life for a group of strangers will be a bigger challenge. And what will Tor do if the ‘guide’ refuses to help? This is not the usual type of fantasy novel where Good versus Evil and it all ends in a big battle. It is the journey that is important, not the final destination. As you get to know the characters, and they get to know each other, you will grow to love or hate them and will find yourself eager to know what happens next. Tor’s Quest is a 5 part series, starting with The Guide. The Maze, The Bard, The Pendant and The Assassin are also available.
- GenresFantasy
372 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 13, 2011
3 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 30, 2019
An interesting cast of characters leads this epic fantasy quest which involves a modern day girl being sucked into another world to help save the day. That ending is something - wow - I am dying to know how things turn out in the next instalment. A definite continue the series from me.
November 9, 2016
Sam's life seemed perfectly normal, when she finds herself transported to another world; a world with dragons, where magic rules. She is summoned to guide Tor (one of the many princes competing for their late father's throne) on his epic quest. Unknown to Sam, her new allies are withholding dark secrets.
The story is told from two main points of view, that of Prince Tor, and Sam. Each character that we meet has an elaborate back-story, though we are only given brief glimpses of these at a time. Each of them possess a unique personality, forming a close-knit family of sorts despite their race.
The author shows off their great sense of humour through their characters, endearing us to them even more. The story is imaginative, with evidence of great world building skills throughout. The reader's interest is held, whilst we are provided with the history of various lands and their individual cultures.
One of the key themes appears to be that perception is everything. Even when something may seem wrong to one person, it may be due to a stunted point of view, with little regard to actual facts. The warring kingdoms within this book are guilty of such, as their rival Prince and Princess soon discover.
Tor's Quest: The Guide is an intriguing tale, with quick-witted characters and many interesting plot twists that I never saw coming. Forbidden love plays a large role, with multiple persons having first hand experience of this.
My favourite of the characters, besides from Sam, would be Brin; an Elf with an extraordinarily complex character. The history of his family, to say nothing of his race, is fascinating, and I cannot wait to see more of him.
All in all, this was an inspiring piece of Fiction that doesn't let up on action or drama. A gripping read that will reach your heart. My rating? 5 stars.
The story is told from two main points of view, that of Prince Tor, and Sam. Each character that we meet has an elaborate back-story, though we are only given brief glimpses of these at a time. Each of them possess a unique personality, forming a close-knit family of sorts despite their race.
The author shows off their great sense of humour through their characters, endearing us to them even more. The story is imaginative, with evidence of great world building skills throughout. The reader's interest is held, whilst we are provided with the history of various lands and their individual cultures.
One of the key themes appears to be that perception is everything. Even when something may seem wrong to one person, it may be due to a stunted point of view, with little regard to actual facts. The warring kingdoms within this book are guilty of such, as their rival Prince and Princess soon discover.
Tor's Quest: The Guide is an intriguing tale, with quick-witted characters and many interesting plot twists that I never saw coming. Forbidden love plays a large role, with multiple persons having first hand experience of this.
My favourite of the characters, besides from Sam, would be Brin; an Elf with an extraordinarily complex character. The history of his family, to say nothing of his race, is fascinating, and I cannot wait to see more of him.
All in all, this was an inspiring piece of Fiction that doesn't let up on action or drama. A gripping read that will reach your heart. My rating? 5 stars.
August 11, 2019
A quest for the throne. A group of individuals all qualified to take it in their own way. Tor, however, doesn’t want the throne. He is on the quest to better himself, realizing how deadly serious the quest really is after he must fight to survive against a number of beasts. Not every person who enters the quest survives and as this realization dawns on Tor, he starts to realize that he might be the best person to follow in his father’s footsteps.
The book is told in an interesting way with little “mini episodes” in which the author introduces other characters or takes time away from the main plot to give the readers updates on things that are going on in other parts of the world. This writing style made me think of a video game, and that in itself was interesting.
The writing itself was beautiful with vivid descriptions and fully formed characters. An awesome beginning to an epic series.
The book is told in an interesting way with little “mini episodes” in which the author introduces other characters or takes time away from the main plot to give the readers updates on things that are going on in other parts of the world. This writing style made me think of a video game, and that in itself was interesting.
The writing itself was beautiful with vivid descriptions and fully formed characters. An awesome beginning to an epic series.
July 24, 2017
I give The Guide by Trudie Collins 3.68 stars. For those who don’t know me. I hardly ever give a book five stars even many are an even four. At times though I give a fraction instead of a solid number.
This one is a good adventure story: a twist on an old plot. It is fantasy with dragons, vampires, castles and such.
A certain group of people are on a multi part Quest to help one of them become king. At this part of their quest they need special guide to help them find one of the goals. They use magic to pull that guide to them. They are surprised by who the get and where she is from. She is just as surprised, shocked even. Without knowing that she knows she is needs to guide them to a certain fountain. Throughout the story I wondered if it was an actual fountain or symbolic which is why they got who they got.
That is all I will say about the plot because I do not like to give major spoilers. At the same time the Guide copes very fast, part of the reason she was chosen maybe?
The action scenes, even though not a lot of them, are well done. The same with the scenes where there are conflict of societies and cultures show up between the guide and her hosts.
I got a picture of the land they traveled through and what the different characters looked like, even though I must say that could have been written better, even though it wasn’t bad.
Most of the time the conversations and dialogue sounded real. And the various characters stayed in character. The ending was good for the type of story it is, even though I won’t say if it’s happy or sad or both.
I enjoyed it and fully recommend it.
This one is a good adventure story: a twist on an old plot. It is fantasy with dragons, vampires, castles and such.
A certain group of people are on a multi part Quest to help one of them become king. At this part of their quest they need special guide to help them find one of the goals. They use magic to pull that guide to them. They are surprised by who the get and where she is from. She is just as surprised, shocked even. Without knowing that she knows she is needs to guide them to a certain fountain. Throughout the story I wondered if it was an actual fountain or symbolic which is why they got who they got.
That is all I will say about the plot because I do not like to give major spoilers. At the same time the Guide copes very fast, part of the reason she was chosen maybe?
The action scenes, even though not a lot of them, are well done. The same with the scenes where there are conflict of societies and cultures show up between the guide and her hosts.
I got a picture of the land they traveled through and what the different characters looked like, even though I must say that could have been written better, even though it wasn’t bad.
Most of the time the conversations and dialogue sounded real. And the various characters stayed in character. The ending was good for the type of story it is, even though I won’t say if it’s happy or sad or both.
I enjoyed it and fully recommend it.
May 20, 2018
Rival princes, all seeking the clues that, in order, will lead to the declaration of the heir to their father’s kingdom. Each time a clue is found, there is one less copy and the last prince to reach it is out of luck. At least one killed himself when he lost out. There are still more clues to go. What could possibly go wrong with that?
There are various requirements for each clue-seeking group. In addition to the prince, among others, they need someone from another world. In this particular group, they get ... Sam. Sam is recently widowed and lost not only her husband but their child as well. She’s a good candidate for a new start in life. This was more of a new start than she was really looking for, but it certainly seemed interesting.
Until her participation appeared to lead into something far more dangerous than anything she’d been through before - and she’d been through a lot.
Tor’s Quest #1, The Guide, is an engaging story, to say the least, and the only thing I can say I didn’t like about the book is I’ll have to wait until the next book to find out what happens!
There are various requirements for each clue-seeking group. In addition to the prince, among others, they need someone from another world. In this particular group, they get ... Sam. Sam is recently widowed and lost not only her husband but their child as well. She’s a good candidate for a new start in life. This was more of a new start than she was really looking for, but it certainly seemed interesting.
Until her participation appeared to lead into something far more dangerous than anything she’d been through before - and she’d been through a lot.
Tor’s Quest #1, The Guide, is an engaging story, to say the least, and the only thing I can say I didn’t like about the book is I’ll have to wait until the next book to find out what happens!
August 17, 2018
Love it! A proper quest with a brilliant cast of characters.
Experimenting with an ouija board should never be taken lightly, but this game has far more seroius consequences. Sam has been whipped away into the future to be part of this epic adventure to help crown a king, but it's not going to be as easy as just popping a crown on the man's head. Leaving aside having to get over the shock of discovering elves, sprites, vampires and all manner of other unlikely characters, having to solve the clues isn't quite as easy as it sounds.
Great writing and a fabulous story. There's never a dull moment. I have usually found this type of book aimed at teens/young adult readers but this one is definitely an adult read, which is actually great and a real change for this fantasy genre.
Experimenting with an ouija board should never be taken lightly, but this game has far more seroius consequences. Sam has been whipped away into the future to be part of this epic adventure to help crown a king, but it's not going to be as easy as just popping a crown on the man's head. Leaving aside having to get over the shock of discovering elves, sprites, vampires and all manner of other unlikely characters, having to solve the clues isn't quite as easy as it sounds.
Great writing and a fabulous story. There's never a dull moment. I have usually found this type of book aimed at teens/young adult readers but this one is definitely an adult read, which is actually great and a real change for this fantasy genre.
July 27, 2020
An intriguing world and cast of characters.
I became immediately engaged in and as fully immersed in this world as the lead protagonist, Sam. Short for Samantha. She was pulled from her world, where she was enjoying an evening with her girlfriends, a bottle of wine and a ouija board, to join an interesting group of humans, elves, sprites, witches, and even a vampire on a quest whose success means that Prince Tor will earn the right to ascend the throne. However the quest is not a simple one as members of competing groups have lost their lives.
Sam has become an integral part of Tor’s quest and without her they can’t proceed. The stakes are high. Could even mean her life. Is she prepared? I can’t wait to find out in the next book in the series!
I became immediately engaged in and as fully immersed in this world as the lead protagonist, Sam. Short for Samantha. She was pulled from her world, where she was enjoying an evening with her girlfriends, a bottle of wine and a ouija board, to join an interesting group of humans, elves, sprites, witches, and even a vampire on a quest whose success means that Prince Tor will earn the right to ascend the throne. However the quest is not a simple one as members of competing groups have lost their lives.
Sam has become an integral part of Tor’s quest and without her they can’t proceed. The stakes are high. Could even mean her life. Is she prepared? I can’t wait to find out in the next book in the series!
March 23, 2023
I love this series. We start with Sam in today’s times. Heartbroken after the death of her partner and unborn babe, she agrees to go out with a group of friends. But, when the girls hold a séance, Sam’s life is turned upside down and transported hundreds of years into the future where magic and strange creatures roam the earth. Prince Tor is on a family quest. A quest to determine who will be the next ruler and king of his family’s land and kingdom. With his bunch of misfits by his side, they summon Sam and travel the lands together to discover clues to win the right to become the next king.
This is a story of time travel. Heartbreak. Friendship. Enemies. Fantastic world-building and characters. I cannot wait to read the next book. Well recommended.
This is a story of time travel. Heartbreak. Friendship. Enemies. Fantastic world-building and characters. I cannot wait to read the next book. Well recommended.
April 13, 2019
I thoroughly enjoyed this epic fantasy adventure where Sam is thrust into an important quest for a crown from her world to one of witches, vampires, elves, dwarves and other magnificent creatures.
This is a well-written tale that is character-led, set in a land of wondrous things - dangerous, too. Each character has distinct traits and developing personalities - brilliantly portrayed.
It's realistic and believable, and the inclusion of Sam opens the dialogue into interesting contrasts between worlds. And the dialogue within relationships is insightful and sometimes humorous.
An excellent beginning to what promises to be a fantastic series...I loved it.
Highly recommended.
This is a well-written tale that is character-led, set in a land of wondrous things - dangerous, too. Each character has distinct traits and developing personalities - brilliantly portrayed.
It's realistic and believable, and the inclusion of Sam opens the dialogue into interesting contrasts between worlds. And the dialogue within relationships is insightful and sometimes humorous.
An excellent beginning to what promises to be a fantastic series...I loved it.
Highly recommended.
June 1, 2020
I loved how Sam nailed the feel of this early on, saying it was like Amazing Race, a guilty pleasure of mine. I also do a lot of gaming and the quest aspect as well as the world on the whole had that sort of feel, which was awesome. There were a lot of characters of fantastic species all with unique personalities and who we got to know on deeper levels as things progressed. Each of them had a reason to be there and something to contribute. I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite aside from Sam, who was my hero from the start. The end was soooo good. I can't wait to see where this series goes from here.
March 15, 2023
Ripped from her reality
The book took me on a pleasant and exciting trip through an ever expanding world. I was pulled in quickly as I developed an emotional attachment to the main character. Sam’s struggles and adventures played across my heart as the story developed. I was quickly introduced to many endearing characters. Witches who wield world changing powers and witches who heal you with a song, a benevolent vampire and a grumpy wizard. All the characters provided me with a string or more to hold onto making me feel invested in how their story turns out. I really enjoyed this book and hope that Sam finds her way,
The book took me on a pleasant and exciting trip through an ever expanding world. I was pulled in quickly as I developed an emotional attachment to the main character. Sam’s struggles and adventures played across my heart as the story developed. I was quickly introduced to many endearing characters. Witches who wield world changing powers and witches who heal you with a song, a benevolent vampire and a grumpy wizard. All the characters provided me with a string or more to hold onto making me feel invested in how their story turns out. I really enjoyed this book and hope that Sam finds her way,
June 30, 2018
I like videogames, and this reminded me of one in a good way. You have a group of characters, each with their unique quirks, grouping to complete a quest. Some tasks can only be performed by a small number of characters, although they move as a group. The interesting thing is that their progress doesn't follow a straight line, there are episodes that are unrelated to the main plot but are scattered in to provide details on the world, or the characters. The novel is a breezy read, but be prepared to be left wanting for more after this first book of the series.
October 6, 2019
This one us for everyone who loves worldbuilding, an engaging quest and diverse characters. Oh and dragons. I loved the idea of bringing Sam 'across' or 'forward' - I always love it when worlds collide and of all the characters I loved her story the most. This is definitely a great story but it gets dark and descriptive in places but it's a refreshing change to YA! I am looking forward to the next in the series!
February 8, 2023
I loved the epic feel of this story, and how the author transitioned the reader into a new world so flawlessly. The characters were all relatable, even if they were supernatural or paranormal. I also enjoyed the nature of the plot, the quest. It was not a formulaic problem, solution, hea. I enjoyed it so much I bought the next in the series as soon as I finished it!
November 23, 2015
All in all, it was an enjoyable book. It did employ one of my least favorite tropes in a high fantasy setting, which is dragging someone from modern times and ‘yanking’ them to another world. For some unknown reason, that drives me up the wall. Which is odd, because my husband pointed out that it doesn’t happen all that often. Maybe it just seems that way to me. Anyway! I felt like some of the book itself could have been cut out, but as this is a high fantasy series, it’s too early to tell what’s important and what isn’t.
I was amazed at how quick Sam adjusted to her situation, but she was told she couldn’t go back. We do read about her history before her life is tossed on its head, so to speak, so maybe she just felt like it wasn’t worth going back to anyway. I don’t know.
The cast of characters was a little big and near the end I lost track of several of them. I essentially forgot who they were. It almost reminded me of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. In the end, an entire book was released to help you keep track of his characters. It’s becoming normal in a high fantasy series to have a lot of characters, and in the upcoming quests, some of the characters that were quiet in this book may very well become important. It’s too early to tell.
I do know that when the book ended, I immediately wanted to continue reading the next in the series. I am quite interested to see where Trudie Collins goes from here.
I was amazed at how quick Sam adjusted to her situation, but she was told she couldn’t go back. We do read about her history before her life is tossed on its head, so to speak, so maybe she just felt like it wasn’t worth going back to anyway. I don’t know.
The cast of characters was a little big and near the end I lost track of several of them. I essentially forgot who they were. It almost reminded me of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. In the end, an entire book was released to help you keep track of his characters. It’s becoming normal in a high fantasy series to have a lot of characters, and in the upcoming quests, some of the characters that were quiet in this book may very well become important. It’s too early to tell.
I do know that when the book ended, I immediately wanted to continue reading the next in the series. I am quite interested to see where Trudie Collins goes from here.
January 14, 2015
The Guide by Trudie Collins
Prince Tor and his brothers must complete a quest to see who will be the next King. There are clues on this quest, like a fantastic treasure hunt. What they don't know is that some will die and the strongest will survive, until one becomes the king. Along the way they encounter many mythical beings, some good, some bad, and a very unlikely guide from another world. The guide is Sam, and she is not sure what is going on, or if she wants to be part of this quest. She is not even sure how she got to this "new world".
An action filled fantasy adventure. There are many likable characters, then there are mythical beings, dragons, elves, witches, wizards to name a few. There are secrets revealed, those who can and can't be trusted, each must figure out for themselves. The story is original, the action is tense, I really enjoyed this read. I feel those who like action/adventure/fantasy will enjoy The Guide.
Prince Tor and his brothers must complete a quest to see who will be the next King. There are clues on this quest, like a fantastic treasure hunt. What they don't know is that some will die and the strongest will survive, until one becomes the king. Along the way they encounter many mythical beings, some good, some bad, and a very unlikely guide from another world. The guide is Sam, and she is not sure what is going on, or if she wants to be part of this quest. She is not even sure how she got to this "new world".
An action filled fantasy adventure. There are many likable characters, then there are mythical beings, dragons, elves, witches, wizards to name a few. There are secrets revealed, those who can and can't be trusted, each must figure out for themselves. The story is original, the action is tense, I really enjoyed this read. I feel those who like action/adventure/fantasy will enjoy The Guide.
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