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Forgotten Princess #3
Conspiracy
It was such a simple plan...
Princess Nyrielle has just agreed to follow the unknown lizan assassin Gavyn into a toxic world where ravenous monsters roam the streets.
Gavyn hopes to spark an uprising of the wicked Queen Kalysta's lizan slaves, lead them to depose her, and restore Nyrielle to her place as the rightful heir of the Aerelian empire.
When Nyrielle discovers that her tiny friend Emilia has shadowed her into Velek, she orders the young Karesh girl to return to Ress Janoa for her own safety. Not content to return home quietly, however, Emilia disappears into the dangerous streets.
Suspending their revolutionary strategy, Nyrielle and Gavyn, along with their allies, venture into the perilous city to recover Emilia before she falls prey to the monsters.
What could possibly go wrong?
Princess Nyrielle has just agreed to follow the unknown lizan assassin Gavyn into a toxic world where ravenous monsters roam the streets.
Gavyn hopes to spark an uprising of the wicked Queen Kalysta's lizan slaves, lead them to depose her, and restore Nyrielle to her place as the rightful heir of the Aerelian empire.
When Nyrielle discovers that her tiny friend Emilia has shadowed her into Velek, she orders the young Karesh girl to return to Ress Janoa for her own safety. Not content to return home quietly, however, Emilia disappears into the dangerous streets.
Suspending their revolutionary strategy, Nyrielle and Gavyn, along with their allies, venture into the perilous city to recover Emilia before she falls prey to the monsters.
What could possibly go wrong?
138 pages, Paperback
First published December 15, 2015
1 person is currently reading
2 people want to read
About the author
Iffix Y. Santaph
6 books22 followersGreetings readers,
Welcome to my author profile!
I have been writing stories since I was only seven, and finally, after 21 years, I have decided to share my craft with any who might enjoy it.
I took an interest in science-fiction and fantasy very early in my life. I love that there is a greater freedom of imagination in speculative fiction. In fact, I chose to write for tweens and teens for the very same reason. While I love the freedom to write to a slightly older audience, I love that young ones haven't lost their sense of wonder and their freedom to believe.
I have a profound respect for authors who write to share a concept and change the world, but for me, an adventurous plot and personable characters are the highlight of a good sci-fi story. I enjoy the research that goes into making a story realistic. For example, if you acquire a copy of Impulse, you will find that the characters have a degree of medical knowledge, and the procedures discussed are generally based on medical textbooks. But, I also value the opportunity to fill a world with aliens and monsters, where people can jump between worlds in an instant, things of a very different nature from Hard Sci-Fi. I love Brandon Sanderson's view of story-telling: awesome first, scientific whenever possible. (I took his classes via YouTube, something I recommend for anyone who wishes to cultivate better writing.) I love that I have the freedom to break Asimov's laws of robotics (and I generally prefer my robots to be more menacing and dangerous than Asimov's laws would allow), but I also value what Sanderson has said about magic / technology systems, and imposing laws of my own on my world to attain a sense of realism. (Boundaries within which I can work so that I have a story I can be satisfied with, one which doesn't rely on Deus Ex Machina for resolution.)
I have been a Free Writer for the past 21 years. Others might use the term "pantser", to mean someone who writes by the seat of his pants. While I have recently begun using outlines for my novels, I value free writing for a very good reason. I want to be as excited to tell the story as I hope my audience will be to read it.
I also have learned a lot from such authors as Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett about comedy in speculative fiction. Particularly that I do not need to write serious stories to be a serious author. I value a good sense of humor in a story. I prefer to make my situations serious and my characters humorous, as this strikes a nice balance. A story with a humorous plot deserts and disappoints the readers in a series like I am currently developing. But humorous characters can make anything funny without compromising awesomeness.
Regarding characterization, I find that the best stories, speculative or not, mimic real life. I have experienced the pain of profound loss at one point or another in my own life. (And in fact I count one particular loss as the catalyst that led me to become the writer I am today.) On the other hand, I truly value the opportunity to laugh myself to tears. Likewise, I want my characters to experience a full range of emotions throughout their stories. If I can make both a character's joy and pain believable, I will consider that my crowning achievement as an author.
I wanted to add here one quirk to my approach as a writer. I firmly believe that one of the keys to writing for a young audience is to help these ones to learn. In short, I feel very strongly that where there is a choice to be made between the small word and the right word, the right word should win out.
So if you're up for an adventure that may challenge you as a reader, with characters that have depth and worlds that will stretch your imagination, please check out my series.
Thank you again for visiting my author page. I hope to share a story with you soon that you will really enjoy.
Sincerely,
Iffix Y Santaph
Welcome to my author profile!
I have been writing stories since I was only seven, and finally, after 21 years, I have decided to share my craft with any who might enjoy it.
I took an interest in science-fiction and fantasy very early in my life. I love that there is a greater freedom of imagination in speculative fiction. In fact, I chose to write for tweens and teens for the very same reason. While I love the freedom to write to a slightly older audience, I love that young ones haven't lost their sense of wonder and their freedom to believe.
I have a profound respect for authors who write to share a concept and change the world, but for me, an adventurous plot and personable characters are the highlight of a good sci-fi story. I enjoy the research that goes into making a story realistic. For example, if you acquire a copy of Impulse, you will find that the characters have a degree of medical knowledge, and the procedures discussed are generally based on medical textbooks. But, I also value the opportunity to fill a world with aliens and monsters, where people can jump between worlds in an instant, things of a very different nature from Hard Sci-Fi. I love Brandon Sanderson's view of story-telling: awesome first, scientific whenever possible. (I took his classes via YouTube, something I recommend for anyone who wishes to cultivate better writing.) I love that I have the freedom to break Asimov's laws of robotics (and I generally prefer my robots to be more menacing and dangerous than Asimov's laws would allow), but I also value what Sanderson has said about magic / technology systems, and imposing laws of my own on my world to attain a sense of realism. (Boundaries within which I can work so that I have a story I can be satisfied with, one which doesn't rely on Deus Ex Machina for resolution.)
I have been a Free Writer for the past 21 years. Others might use the term "pantser", to mean someone who writes by the seat of his pants. While I have recently begun using outlines for my novels, I value free writing for a very good reason. I want to be as excited to tell the story as I hope my audience will be to read it.
I also have learned a lot from such authors as Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett about comedy in speculative fiction. Particularly that I do not need to write serious stories to be a serious author. I value a good sense of humor in a story. I prefer to make my situations serious and my characters humorous, as this strikes a nice balance. A story with a humorous plot deserts and disappoints the readers in a series like I am currently developing. But humorous characters can make anything funny without compromising awesomeness.
Regarding characterization, I find that the best stories, speculative or not, mimic real life. I have experienced the pain of profound loss at one point or another in my own life. (And in fact I count one particular loss as the catalyst that led me to become the writer I am today.) On the other hand, I truly value the opportunity to laugh myself to tears. Likewise, I want my characters to experience a full range of emotions throughout their stories. If I can make both a character's joy and pain believable, I will consider that my crowning achievement as an author.
I wanted to add here one quirk to my approach as a writer. I firmly believe that one of the keys to writing for a young audience is to help these ones to learn. In short, I feel very strongly that where there is a choice to be made between the small word and the right word, the right word should win out.
So if you're up for an adventure that may challenge you as a reader, with characters that have depth and worlds that will stretch your imagination, please check out my series.
Thank you again for visiting my author page. I hope to share a story with you soon that you will really enjoy.
Sincerely,
Iffix Y Santaph
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 12, 2016
The strong points of this book for me were the action scenes, the punchy style of writing and short, sharp, descriptive passages that depict a shadowy, alien world where all is far from what it seems. Santaph gives us a wicked Queen who is intent on overthrowing the rightful heir to the throne, two brothers who are seemingly on different sides of the conflict, a plucky young heiress who is in grave danger, her friend who uses an invisibility cloak, bands of lizans, monsters who turn out to be less monstrous than we thought, and a whole host of liaisons, allegiances, counter-allegiances and ploys. In fact, the plot is so thick with characters and their various vices and schemes that it is occasionally difficult to follow the path of the true story - which essentially revolves around ensuring the safety of the princess as she travels through a murky land full of dangers.
This story is a mix of sci-fi, fantasy and high octane adventure that would have wide appeal for its target, YA audience.
This story is a mix of sci-fi, fantasy and high octane adventure that would have wide appeal for its target, YA audience.
January 15, 2016
Revolutionaries plotting against an evil ruler get distracted when one of their friends disappears.
This book had good fundamental plot points (good against evil / friendship / betrayal), dynamic action scenes, an array of different / unusual / developed places and individuals, but I found there were too many different characters (in a few places I was confused about who was who – a list of characters as part of the prologue could help) and some of the writing could have been tighter.
Sci-Fi / fantasy / adventure fans will probably enjoy this book.
My rating is 3.5
This book had good fundamental plot points (good against evil / friendship / betrayal), dynamic action scenes, an array of different / unusual / developed places and individuals, but I found there were too many different characters (in a few places I was confused about who was who – a list of characters as part of the prologue could help) and some of the writing could have been tighter.
Sci-Fi / fantasy / adventure fans will probably enjoy this book.
My rating is 3.5
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews