First Magyc

by Nicole DragonBeck

Welcome to Demona, a land where music is the most powerful form of magyc.

Ria Westerfield had never heard of Demona or the Path, but when she helps a mysterious Guardian who is trapped between worlds, she is embroiled in his struggle to protect his home and the very force of life itself.

At first glance, this may look like Ria's story, but this tale belongs to everyone who fights to save magyc - Witches, assassins, princesses, and even Death Himself.

Will the Guardians and their allies triumph or will Demons and sorcerers send Demona into the throes of Chaos and the End of Times?

Genres: Fantasy

321 pages, Paperback

First published April 18, 2015

About the author

Nicole DragonBeck was born in California one snowy summer long ago, the illegitimate offspring of an elf and a troll. At a young age her powers exploded and she was banished to the wilderness of South Africa because her spells kept going inexplicably awry. There she was raised by a tribe of pygmy Dragons and had tremendous adventures, including defeating a terrible Fire-Demon that had been tormenting a sect of Dwarf priests. In gratitude they taught her the arcane magic of writing and the rest is horribly misinterpreted history. She reads as much as she writes, is obsessed with dragons and Italians, enjoys cooking, listening to music and can often be heard fiddling on a keyboard or guitar.

Reviews

[Taylor Levesque · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as the description says: this story may truly look like one about the little Ria at first. As the book goes on, you begin to understand that it's not just about this young girl winding up in a different world. This story is truly about a fight to save magyc.

From the very beginning this book grabbed my attention. There was immediate progression, but nothing happened too quickly. I found it was paced very nicely, and I rarely (if at all) ever found myself in one of those "ho-hum" moments. I even got a few chuckles out of the well-placed comic relief bits.

I absolutely loved the characters as well, and how different each of them were in terms of personality or quirks. Characters you're sort of expecting to not like that much might even turn into one of your favourites! I'M LOOKING AT YOU, LUCA. But in all seriousness it was refreshing, honestly. I find a lot of today's newer fantasy books have a lot more of the cardboard cut-outs, or all the characters are too much alike.

All in all, a very good read. I would recommend this, and I personally look forward to reading the next book in the series.

[Billy Buttons · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: First Magyc
Author: Nicole Dragonbeck

Star Rating: 5 Stars
Number of Readers: 16
Stats
Editing: 10/10
Writing Style: 9/10
Content: 8/10
Cover: 4/5

Of the 16 readers:
15 would read another book by this author.
14 thought the cover was good or excellent.
16 felt it was easy to follow.
16 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 10 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 3 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
Of all the readers, 3 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
16 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
16 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.

Readers’ Comments
“What a very enjoyable fantasy story. I loved the characters and the fantasy world the author created. There´s plenty of pace, and the ending´s excellent – although if you don´t like cliffhangers, this book is not for you. I hope they´ll be another book soon.” Female reader, aged 54
“A compelling start to a set of fantasy novels. I´d recommend this book to young adults and adults. The writing is crisp, it´s not overly descriptive, and the author´s competent with dialogue. Admittedly, the ending lacks the pow factor as it´s the first book, and I suspect the author wants to keep the reader hooked. I´m hooked! When´s the next book out?” Female reader, aged 22
“Although this book wasn´t for me, I still thought the author was a strong writer who knows how to plot a compelling fantasy story.” Male reader, aged 71
“Plenty of evil on the horizon. This is going to get better and better. Keep going!” Male reader, aged 33

To Sum It Up:
‘A skilfully plotted, fantasy adventure with a strong cast of characters. A FINALIST and highly recommended!’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards

[A. Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

In kindle speak, this is a real screen swiper.

I chose this book in day four of a 12 days of Christmas event hosted by Rose Montague for Indy authors and lost a lot of sleep once I started reading it last evening. Reading in bed late at night, I dropped my Kindle and woke up to it timed out and asleep twice before I finally gave up and waited till (late) morning when I woke up to finish (after backtracking several pages to make sure I didn't lose anything from falling asleep). I liked it so much I'm going to get the second episode as soon as I finish this review. If episode two is as good I'll buy three and four as soon as I finish.

The story is broken up into short stories from the POV between the main character and four Guardians in a way that is seamlessly crafted. Each POV short overlaps just enough to blend the timing so they meet in the final few chapters.

I love the the world the author has built and the characters are individuals easily pictured in my mind. I can't wait to get to the second book.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Man slashes the throat of a 12-year-old girl so he can be transported back to his own world to save it from daemons.
My biggest problem with the story was the structure. It doesn't really have chapters. It has sections and they are long. There are breaks but I don't know whether they were intentional or not because most had no literary reason for being. It made this book physically difficult to read and lengthened out the monotony, especially in the first section which was boring. The second section becomes more interesting, as does the remaining sections, except that each is a new character's point of view. Each new section is so long that the thread of the other characters gets lost. It also doesn't help that these new characters get introduced clear up to the end.
Can't help but think this was a good premise--guardians who try to help their world by following the Path (think the Force) who use instruments that can turn into weapons to perform magic. It just needed to be presented differently.

[Lia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not a big fan of fantasy books and I cannot really explain what made me choose to read this book. I was rather wary as to what this would bring to me, but it was a very enjoyable read! The story is easy to follow, the characters are well described, so you can read easily without having to go back to check for some name or detail.

What I really liked about the book is that the author did not go for some sex or kinky topics, which is a cheap trick many new writers use in an attempt to make their writing/books more popular. This is a solid, nice fantasy story, which makes sure you're engrossed in it until the very last paragraph.

You can tell throughout the book how important music is not only to the main characters but also to the author - I could fully relate to the feelings since music plays a big role in my life as well.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who's interested in fantasy.

[Sharon Strickland · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book needs to be taken out of the eye of the public edited and revised then republished if this author wants to get anywhere. It was as poorly written as you can get. I've never read anything this poor. I couldn't get through the first chapter let a lone the first few pages were hard enough. I wanted to finish it before writing this honest review, but it couldn't be done. I even showed some people this book to see if I was being too picky...no, it's just that bad. This saddens me because the author published her book before it was finished. Now I will never pick up a book written by her again and what if she writes something amazing later on? So author I suggest taking this book off the market before others read this as it is. Finish the book edit it make it a clean copy then get it out there. I want to see you thrive. I know you could if you tried.

[Jacque · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good book and I’d recommend it. I only gave three stars because it does serve as a bit of a set up book so the story itself wasn’t all that great. I mean, the parts that are here are good, but there’s a lot of explanation, unknowing and confusion that always come with a first book in a series. I had a hard time putting it down though because I wanted answered, sadly which aren’t really given in this book. When I got to the titled Epilogue I think I actually said “What?!” Out loud! Then thought for sure my kindle glitched and there was something I missed.

I’ll definitely read the next ones to see where Ria’s path goes.

[Kimberly Newman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads' Giveaway. My true rating would be 3.5 stars, but 3.5 rounds up. First Magyc is enjoyable to read and kept my interest throughout. The love of music is evident from the beginning, and I related to that aspect. The characters are individuals--not deep--but I never got confused as to which character is which. This might not even be noticeable to younger readers. There are scattered errors, but nothing that stops the flow of the story. The end didn't feel so much like anything was truly wrapped up, but it just stopped. One of the things I appreciated was that there was no sex and no foul language.

[Eva Lazar · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, I have to say that I am very cross with the author of this book. How DARE she leave me with a cliffhanger, just when I was in the middle of binge-reading chapter after chapter!?

The descriptions, metaphors, and characters in this book are so vividly written that I had a dream involving the world of Demona. I could see this book series turn into a series of movies. But until that is a reality, I hope to get my hands on the second book in this series to satisfy my craving of knowing how the story continues!

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good Epic Tale! The character building is first rate and though I didn’t have a lot of answers by the end of this book, I’m none the less HOOKED! I really hope that the other books to this series is put on digital. I’m very surprised to feel this as I Love books and a book case has been a necessity for me since I was 6 years old! I guess book lover in my likes the many stories I can have at the touch of my finger😆. But if they’re not put in digital form, I will buy the books in this series.

[Omayra · Rating 4 out of 5]

My rate was actually a 3.5 however, I gave it a 4 star. In my opinion, this is a good ya story. It did have a few errors but nothing that got in the way of me enjoying the read. There is not much to say about the character arcs, but the plot was worth the read. I will look for the next in the series to know what happens to Ria.

[michael fultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twilight zone meets the fae

This is an outstanding adventure you have dwarves,elves and every other kind of race you can think of oh yeah an a little girl who is very special this is a really great story

[Courtney! · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this epic fantasy. It was reminiscent of Magic the Gathering and Mercedes Lackey. Each chapter follows a different Guardian while their tales intersected. The writing was very well done and I'm looking forward to the next ones in the series.

[BloomJieun · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love love loved this book! The timelines interwove beautifully and I can’t wait to carry on the series.

[Dani Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an awesome book! It's very fun and adventurous, with a nice array of characters. It's very intriguing, and the characters and story build nicely. I'm excited that it's a series :)

[Tammie Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a little slow getting started, but once it did, it was an incredible tale. I can't wait to read the next one.

[Beverly Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

The story of Its and her journey to Demona is quite interesting. The concept of The Path and the Guardians intrigues me.

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a little hard for me to get into at first, but as more things came to light and the plot progressed I was thoroughly happy with how it turned out. Very enjoyable.

[Roy Sampson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story. A good mixture of action and character development.

[Daniel R Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. A fantastic idea well executed. Demons, Magyc and Musical Instruments that are also weapons, what more could you want?

[Lisa Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four years ago, something happened to the Guardians who protected the magyc and kept Demona safe, making them go into hiding, scattered across the world. Now the magyc is fading. The Guardians must come back together and find out what is causing it and fix it before Demona becomes just another world without magyc. A girl from another land finds herself involved and without her, Demona may not have a chance.

This YA fantasy story introduces you to the Guardians and they are wonderful, fascinating characters who I really enjoyed following and learning about. Their journey through Demona is difficult and only going to get more so as they follow the twists and turns of evil lurking about.

Great read - looking forward to Book Two!

[Anne Cargile · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always love new fantasy, and this one promises to be epic!

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a Kindle copy from Goodreads and am so glad I did. I loved it and am actively searching for the next episode. I need to know.....

[Clipinchick]

I received this book for free from the author/publisher in response for an honest review of the book. I have not had the opportunity to read this book at this time. I will add my
review of this book once I have read the book. Thank k you for allowing me the optometrist review your work. I look forward to reading this book.