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The Zarryiostrom Series #3
Marionette
Marionette
The Illymari civil war has ended, at great cost to both the people of Illymar and the Royal Family. Now, the task of rebuilding the country falls to King Ascham Illvanin, the Usurper, and his niece, the capable Princess Tais Illvanna. Between them, they somehow have to find a way to rebuild their military and their economy, and reunite the fractured country, if Illymar is to survive the coming of Dakkadia, their mortal enemies.
Their task has been made infinitely more difficult by the flight of Tais’ wayward sisters, Princess Lyrahe and Princess Chesare, who escaped from the island of Illymar in the dead of night. The headstrong Princess Lyrahe is rushing to her would-be lover, Prince Valeriad of Dakkadia, in the hope that the two of them will be married, but what price is she willing to pay to find happiness in the arms of her handsome Prince?
Princess Chesare Illvanna has her own reasons for seeking refuge in Dakkadia, for she has been cast out of the Mage Citadel of Ithram, and now seeks the guidance of the greatest Powerborn in the world: Morvandis Dhaerhan, the Mage-Lord of Dakkadia. At his side, she could potentially learn more than she ever would have in Ithram, but Morvandis’ loyalties lie solely with King Madari Dhaerhan. Can Princess Chesare survive the machinations of the two most powerful men in Dakkadia, or will she be nothing more than a pawn, caught up in their schemes?
For King Madari Dhaerhan, all of his plans are falling perfectly into place. But there is still one obstacle remaining between him and his ambition of conquering Illymar, a feat which has never before been accomplished: the Mage Citadel of Ithram. Unless he can find a way to neutralize the threat of the Mage-Guard of Ithram, he knows that any invasion he attempts will be destroyed by an army of Powerborn, standing in defense of their Illymari allies. He is not without allies of his own on the Mage High Council, but will they be enough to provide the opening he needs, or will a deeper sacrifice be required?
"Marionette" is the Third Book of "The Zarryiostrom", the epic fantasy series written by artist Nene Tina Thomas, and her husband, Steven C. Plagman
The Illymari civil war has ended, at great cost to both the people of Illymar and the Royal Family. Now, the task of rebuilding the country falls to King Ascham Illvanin, the Usurper, and his niece, the capable Princess Tais Illvanna. Between them, they somehow have to find a way to rebuild their military and their economy, and reunite the fractured country, if Illymar is to survive the coming of Dakkadia, their mortal enemies.
Their task has been made infinitely more difficult by the flight of Tais’ wayward sisters, Princess Lyrahe and Princess Chesare, who escaped from the island of Illymar in the dead of night. The headstrong Princess Lyrahe is rushing to her would-be lover, Prince Valeriad of Dakkadia, in the hope that the two of them will be married, but what price is she willing to pay to find happiness in the arms of her handsome Prince?
Princess Chesare Illvanna has her own reasons for seeking refuge in Dakkadia, for she has been cast out of the Mage Citadel of Ithram, and now seeks the guidance of the greatest Powerborn in the world: Morvandis Dhaerhan, the Mage-Lord of Dakkadia. At his side, she could potentially learn more than she ever would have in Ithram, but Morvandis’ loyalties lie solely with King Madari Dhaerhan. Can Princess Chesare survive the machinations of the two most powerful men in Dakkadia, or will she be nothing more than a pawn, caught up in their schemes?
For King Madari Dhaerhan, all of his plans are falling perfectly into place. But there is still one obstacle remaining between him and his ambition of conquering Illymar, a feat which has never before been accomplished: the Mage Citadel of Ithram. Unless he can find a way to neutralize the threat of the Mage-Guard of Ithram, he knows that any invasion he attempts will be destroyed by an army of Powerborn, standing in defense of their Illymari allies. He is not without allies of his own on the Mage High Council, but will they be enough to provide the opening he needs, or will a deeper sacrifice be required?
"Marionette" is the Third Book of "The Zarryiostrom", the epic fantasy series written by artist Nene Tina Thomas, and her husband, Steven C. Plagman
559 pages, Hardcover
First published May 6, 2014
3 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Nene Thomas
15 books39 followersNene hase been drawing and painting for most of her life. She began her professional career in 1994 when she was approached by a company called Wizards of the Coast to contribute work to the popular Collectible Card Game called “Magic: the Gathering.”
She worked with WotC for a few years, as well as several other CCG companies, but eventually grew tired of working for other people and decided to try doing her own thing. In particular, she wanted to paint the characters from a story that she'd been working on since high school, and felt she needed to hone her skills to be able to truly ‘capture’ them.
It is called “The Zarryiostrom”, and will be a multi-part fantasy novel featuring many of the characters that Nene has painted over the years. Last year her husband started writing the first novel, and she started painting images to go with it. The first book, is entitled Powerborn
She worked with WotC for a few years, as well as several other CCG companies, but eventually grew tired of working for other people and decided to try doing her own thing. In particular, she wanted to paint the characters from a story that she'd been working on since high school, and felt she needed to hone her skills to be able to truly ‘capture’ them.
It is called “The Zarryiostrom”, and will be a multi-part fantasy novel featuring many of the characters that Nene has painted over the years. Last year her husband started writing the first novel, and she started painting images to go with it. The first book, is entitled Powerborn
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 8, 2021
Wow!! The best book of the series so far. All the action scenes were incredible. I almost wept for Phaedron and for Valeriad. Madari is more reprehensible, and Dakkadia even more complex.
March 29, 2016
Oh My Goodness.
Marionette is the third book of the Zarryiostrom series by Nene Thomas and Steven Plagman and it is AWESOME!.
I just want to say that this is rapidly becoming my favorite fantasy series ever. Ok so that being said the story. I don’t want to give anything away but I will tell you there is war, murder, and a couple of fantastic fights between mages.
My favorite character in this volume of the series is actually Phaedron, his honor and integrity is second to none. And at the end he totally gets what he deserves. I was certainly surprised with his brother Valeriad, heh, and no I am not going to tell you what those changes are but wow are they big.
So I read a lot, some of it includes outright smut. So I am something of a connoisseur of romantic scenes. And I have to tell you to watch for the romantic scene between Valeriad and Lyrahe, it is one of the sweetest and well written romantic scenes I have ever read. No it isn’t graphic but it is beautifully written and so sweet. Not to mention the fact that a lot of men could take a few tips. ;)
Steven and Nene have once again created a fantastic story that is a true page turner thru to the very end.
Filled with awesome characters, a great pace to the story and vividly described scenes that leap off the page Marionette is one you definitely GOTTA Read.
February 21, 2015
I did the same thing I do with Game of Thrones. The first time I read through the book, I skipped to my favorite characters -- Chesare, Morvandis, Severeille, Madari, and Tais. Wow....I love the complications of them all! Just...wow! I have my OTP now...sadly the two most powerful people in the world -- Chesare x Morvandis are probably destined to be enemies....but I'm hoping there is a redemption quality to the series in the future. I hope that Chesare and Morvandis team up to fight whatever the greater evil is in the East. And that Severeille and Valerian team up to also fight this great evil. I hope the pettiness of their current struggles are making them stronger for the future threat to the world. And I really like Madari.....I was hoping he'd be the conqueror of their known world. I'm really curious for book four! Hopefully it comes out soon!
I didn't go to bed until 4am last night because I couldn't put this book down!
And a particular someone dies that made me cheer! Sadly, the consequences of the death made me sad. But...we need more conflict! There are at least seven more books! It can't go smoothly!
I didn't go to bed until 4am last night because I couldn't put this book down!
And a particular someone dies that made me cheer! Sadly, the consequences of the death made me sad. But...we need more conflict! There are at least seven more books! It can't go smoothly!
February 26, 2017
This book frustrated the hell out of me.
There are many, many moments of brilliance. Sheer fantasy awesomeness that I absolutely ate up with a spoon. Mr. Plagman mentions in the introduction that an actual editor worked on this one, and it shows. The writing is smooth and confident this time around, there are hardly any typos or grammatical errors. Even the requisite clunky prologue is nicely streamlined and interesting to read - it offers us a history of Dakkadian rulers that is actually relevant to the story. I really enjoyed the more professional writing style, especially the way it actually gets inside the characters' heads and shows their thoughts outright, rather than infodump style exposition. Nene Thomas's art, as always, is absolutely fantastic.
Obviously, don't start here if you're new to the series. These must be read in order, and I'm going to spoil some of the events from the first two books.
Marionette focuses on Lyrahe and Chesare arriving in Dakkadia, and the war with Illymar that follows (if you think that's a spoiler, then you haven't been paying attention ;) ). We discover far more information about the Dragon Witches, and those developments were my favorite parts of the story. Their history is even more complicated than you think by the end of Powerborn, and there was an excellent plot twist with the Queen of Havoc that I totally didn't see coming. We get to know Furionchires pretty well, as she accompanies Chesare as a bodyguard for the first half of the book or so, and I absolutely loved her! She is such a fun mixture of playfulness and power, especially with her inborn dragon fondness for "shiny gold pieces". When the Dragon Witches and their metaplot fade into the background, the book definitely loses some of its sparkle.
The rest of the story deals with battles, intrigues, and rapidly degenerating politics. It's really well done for the most part, and I liked watching some of the seeds sown in the first book finally come to fruition. We get to see how the various races play the game differently; the long-lived elves and fae are infinitely more patient than the mere humans, and it begins to make sense that Aveliad puts up with so much bullshit from Madari (though I still really wanted to see her put that damn dagger to good use). The battles are nicely described, believably chaotic and brutal without getting too bogged down in excessive adjectives. Characters that we came to know and care about die in this war, as it should be because that it exactly how battles are, and by the end I felt as weary and bedraggled as the survivors. Its a hell of an emotional ride, and on plot alone I would give this one five stars!
The major stumbling block for me, however, was the relationships. Far too many of these supposed grand, sweeping love affairs are based on absolutely nothing - at least from what we are shown in the story. Lyrahe loves Valeriad enough to betray her country, sell out her sister to a butchering rapist, and drag her other sister clear across the ocean...and she barely spent a week with the man?! As far as we know, they simply danced together a lot at the Convocation and Lyrahe snuck into the Mage Citadel to visit him a couple of times. Oh, and of course, they find each other irresistibly attractive. Lyrahe doesn't even know Valeriad, and yet she throws aside everything she has ever known to run off and marry him because "her uncle is a traitor". Her proof of this? The lies of a shady, bitter nobleman in prison. I get that Lyrahe is being presented as some sort of tragic heroine by the end of this tale, but I thought she just came off as a breathtakingly foolish idiot. She actually does come to some hard realizations near the end of the book, but for me it was too little too late. Similarly, Chesare's grand romance is just sort of hand-waved into existence in an infuriatingly "they had grown closer over the long winter" sort of way. Both of these relationships are far too important to the story to be glossed over so casually, their complete lack of foundation made them really hard for me to believe in. The most frustrating thing is that I know Mr. Plagman can write love affairs coming about in a natural, believable way - he did so beautifully with Phaedron and Prudence.
Similarly, some of the characters lost a bit of their dimension and life this time around, and that awkwardness with emotional transitions is still there. Enaria illustrates both of these problems perfectly....she has always been a cool, calculating manipulator, and here is reduced to the shrill, jealous ex-girlfriend. I was particularly disappointed with this because it's so rare to see a confident, powerful female antagonist with goals and motivations outside of a man....but, of course, it was really all about Morvandis all along. -_- On one page, Enaria is the very picture of elven patience, determined to wait out this minor setback and strike when the time is right...and a few scenes later she's an irrational, emotional mess jumping the gun because she's just so jealous . That kind of made me want to throw my nook across the room.
Valeriad is similarly contorted. He has always been torn between the philosophies of his father and half-brother, but we have come to know him as a thoughtful and fairly intelligent young soldier. He thinks before he acts, and rarely lets emotion get the better of him. When Lyrahe was determined to "run away together" back in the first book, Valeriad was horrified at the thought of provoking a war for the sake of their own happiness, and told her they would eventually find a way to be together without such dishonor. He also was not entirely comfortable with Madari's brutal treatment of his conquests. In this book, we find Valeriad blindly following orders and single mindedly idolizing his father all because Phaedron dared to speak the truth about his father. He comes off as a hotheaded fool that refuses to look beyond his own navel. He and Lyrahe deserve each other.
Anyway, I didn't mean to digress into a rant. This was an extremely frustrating read for me because I love the world, ideas, and most of the characters so much! The metaplot with the Dragon Witches is absolutely fantastic, and there were so many scenes in this story that came close to fantasy perfection. I think that made the clumsiness with the relationships and emotional transitions even more mind-boggling...it was so glaringly obvious beside the great plot.
In short, the good stuff in this story was very, very good, but the bad stuff made me want to bang my head against the wall. :p I'm definitely going to continue with the series, but I think I need a little break after this one.
There are many, many moments of brilliance. Sheer fantasy awesomeness that I absolutely ate up with a spoon. Mr. Plagman mentions in the introduction that an actual editor worked on this one, and it shows. The writing is smooth and confident this time around, there are hardly any typos or grammatical errors. Even the requisite clunky prologue is nicely streamlined and interesting to read - it offers us a history of Dakkadian rulers that is actually relevant to the story. I really enjoyed the more professional writing style, especially the way it actually gets inside the characters' heads and shows their thoughts outright, rather than infodump style exposition. Nene Thomas's art, as always, is absolutely fantastic.
Obviously, don't start here if you're new to the series. These must be read in order, and I'm going to spoil some of the events from the first two books.
Marionette focuses on Lyrahe and Chesare arriving in Dakkadia, and the war with Illymar that follows (if you think that's a spoiler, then you haven't been paying attention ;) ). We discover far more information about the Dragon Witches, and those developments were my favorite parts of the story. Their history is even more complicated than you think by the end of Powerborn, and there was an excellent plot twist with the Queen of Havoc that I totally didn't see coming. We get to know Furionchires pretty well, as she accompanies Chesare as a bodyguard for the first half of the book or so, and I absolutely loved her! She is such a fun mixture of playfulness and power, especially with her inborn dragon fondness for "shiny gold pieces". When the Dragon Witches and their metaplot fade into the background, the book definitely loses some of its sparkle.
The rest of the story deals with battles, intrigues, and rapidly degenerating politics. It's really well done for the most part, and I liked watching some of the seeds sown in the first book finally come to fruition. We get to see how the various races play the game differently; the long-lived elves and fae are infinitely more patient than the mere humans, and it begins to make sense that Aveliad puts up with so much bullshit from Madari (though I still really wanted to see her put that damn dagger to good use). The battles are nicely described, believably chaotic and brutal without getting too bogged down in excessive adjectives. Characters that we came to know and care about die in this war, as it should be because that it exactly how battles are, and by the end I felt as weary and bedraggled as the survivors. Its a hell of an emotional ride, and on plot alone I would give this one five stars!
The major stumbling block for me, however, was the relationships. Far too many of these supposed grand, sweeping love affairs are based on absolutely nothing - at least from what we are shown in the story. Lyrahe loves Valeriad enough to betray her country, sell out her sister to a butchering rapist, and drag her other sister clear across the ocean...and she barely spent a week with the man?! As far as we know, they simply danced together a lot at the Convocation and Lyrahe snuck into the Mage Citadel to visit him a couple of times. Oh, and of course, they find each other irresistibly attractive. Lyrahe doesn't even know Valeriad, and yet she throws aside everything she has ever known to run off and marry him because "her uncle is a traitor". Her proof of this? The lies of a shady, bitter nobleman in prison. I get that Lyrahe is being presented as some sort of tragic heroine by the end of this tale, but I thought she just came off as a breathtakingly foolish idiot. She actually does come to some hard realizations near the end of the book, but for me it was too little too late. Similarly, Chesare's grand romance is just sort of hand-waved into existence in an infuriatingly "they had grown closer over the long winter" sort of way. Both of these relationships are far too important to the story to be glossed over so casually, their complete lack of foundation made them really hard for me to believe in. The most frustrating thing is that I know Mr. Plagman can write love affairs coming about in a natural, believable way - he did so beautifully with Phaedron and Prudence.
Similarly, some of the characters lost a bit of their dimension and life this time around, and that awkwardness with emotional transitions is still there. Enaria illustrates both of these problems perfectly....she has always been a cool, calculating manipulator, and here is reduced to the shrill, jealous ex-girlfriend. I was particularly disappointed with this because it's so rare to see a confident, powerful female antagonist with goals and motivations outside of a man....but, of course, it was really all about Morvandis all along. -_- On one page, Enaria is the very picture of elven patience, determined to wait out this minor setback and strike when the time is right...and a few scenes later she's an irrational, emotional mess jumping the gun because she's just so jealous . That kind of made me want to throw my nook across the room.
Valeriad is similarly contorted. He has always been torn between the philosophies of his father and half-brother, but we have come to know him as a thoughtful and fairly intelligent young soldier. He thinks before he acts, and rarely lets emotion get the better of him. When Lyrahe was determined to "run away together" back in the first book, Valeriad was horrified at the thought of provoking a war for the sake of their own happiness, and told her they would eventually find a way to be together without such dishonor. He also was not entirely comfortable with Madari's brutal treatment of his conquests. In this book, we find Valeriad blindly following orders and single mindedly idolizing his father all because Phaedron dared to speak the truth about his father. He comes off as a hotheaded fool that refuses to look beyond his own navel. He and Lyrahe deserve each other.
Anyway, I didn't mean to digress into a rant. This was an extremely frustrating read for me because I love the world, ideas, and most of the characters so much! The metaplot with the Dragon Witches is absolutely fantastic, and there were so many scenes in this story that came close to fantasy perfection. I think that made the clumsiness with the relationships and emotional transitions even more mind-boggling...it was so glaringly obvious beside the great plot.
In short, the good stuff in this story was very, very good, but the bad stuff made me want to bang my head against the wall. :p I'm definitely going to continue with the series, but I think I need a little break after this one.
March 12, 2025
Plagman has crafted an exquisite masterpiece. Thomas' artwork is STUNNING. I was immediately immersed into the drama. Twists and turns kept me turning the pages. This novel is hard to put down. I look forward to reading the next installment in this series.
Recommend to readers who enjoy epic fantasy.
I borrowed a copy from a friend. I have expressed my honest view.
Recommend to readers who enjoy epic fantasy.
I borrowed a copy from a friend. I have expressed my honest view.
August 25, 2016
Oh My Goodness.
Marionette is the third book of the Zarryiostrom series by Nene Thomas and Steven Plagman and it is AWESOME!.
I just want to say that this is rapidly becoming my favorite fantasy series ever. Ok so that being said the story. I don’t want to give anything away but I will tell you there is war, murder, and a couple of fantastic fights between mages.
My favorite character in this volume of the series is actually Phaedron, his honor and integrity is second to none. And at the end he totally gets what he deserves. I was certainly surprised with his brother Valeriad, heh, and no I am not going to tell you what those changes are but wow are they big.
So I read a lot, some of it includes outright smut. So I am something of a connoisseur of romantic scenes. And I have to tell you to watch for the romantic scene between Valeriad and Lyrahe, it is one of the sweetest and well written romantic scenes I have ever read. No it isn’t graphic but it is beautifully written and so sweet. Not to mention the fact that a lot of men could take a few tips. ;)
Steven and Nene have once again created a fantastic story that is a true page turner thru to the very end.
Filled with awesome characters, a great pace to the story and vividly described scenes that leap off the page Marionette is one you definitely GOTTA Read.
Marionette is the third book of the Zarryiostrom series by Nene Thomas and Steven Plagman and it is AWESOME!.
I just want to say that this is rapidly becoming my favorite fantasy series ever. Ok so that being said the story. I don’t want to give anything away but I will tell you there is war, murder, and a couple of fantastic fights between mages.
My favorite character in this volume of the series is actually Phaedron, his honor and integrity is second to none. And at the end he totally gets what he deserves. I was certainly surprised with his brother Valeriad, heh, and no I am not going to tell you what those changes are but wow are they big.
So I read a lot, some of it includes outright smut. So I am something of a connoisseur of romantic scenes. And I have to tell you to watch for the romantic scene between Valeriad and Lyrahe, it is one of the sweetest and well written romantic scenes I have ever read. No it isn’t graphic but it is beautifully written and so sweet. Not to mention the fact that a lot of men could take a few tips. ;)
Steven and Nene have once again created a fantastic story that is a true page turner thru to the very end.
Filled with awesome characters, a great pace to the story and vividly described scenes that leap off the page Marionette is one you definitely GOTTA Read.
July 12, 2014
2.5
This was the weakest of the three.
I felt frustrated throughout as I really like the story but the writing style just didn't work for me.
I admire the ambition in a project like this and I really wanted to enjoy this.
This was the weakest of the three.
I felt frustrated throughout as I really like the story but the writing style just didn't work for me.
I admire the ambition in a project like this and I really wanted to enjoy this.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews