What do you think?
Rate this book
Forgotten Princess #4
Retrospect
In a moment of pure dread, Jendra Blake returns to the airship Cloud Catcher, to discover that her friend Nyrielle has been kidnapped. Jendra has come too far to lose her friend now.
Without a moment to lose, she dashes to the cockpit, hoping to find the princess before it's too late. Alas, the airship is in no condition to fly. And her hasty decision tears the ship apart.
As Jendra, Leon, and Toby continue their pursuit, they face ever greater dangers. The winds of chaos will toss them about, threatening to shipwreck their lives.
In retrospect, a single misstep can destroy worlds.
Without a moment to lose, she dashes to the cockpit, hoping to find the princess before it's too late. Alas, the airship is in no condition to fly. And her hasty decision tears the ship apart.
As Jendra, Leon, and Toby continue their pursuit, they face ever greater dangers. The winds of chaos will toss them about, threatening to shipwreck their lives.
In retrospect, a single misstep can destroy worlds.
146 pages, Paperback
First published June 20, 2016
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
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
Read
June 20, 2016I will not rate this book. I leave the ratings to you kind folks. However, as I release a book, I like to say a few words about it. And I would suppose this is my golden opportunity.
Arriving on schedule in the last day of Spring. (Sorry I cut it so close.) This is my 4th book in the Forgotten Princess series. I love where I'm at with this book. I did some major experimenting. This book may be a game changer. And hopefully that will be a good thing. But this is the exact opposite of what Sci-Fi usually entails. This book was such an emotional roller coaster for me as a writer that I really can't wait to share it with you all. Hopefully it hits the right notes for you.
I was told by a friend and writer that I had to bring the relationship between Jendra and Leon to fruition. And I think some will be pleased with the results here. I also wanted to apologize to the loyal readers who wanted Jendra, Leon, and Toby in Book 3. This was a story I wasn't yet ready to tell at that time. I'm glad to have waited.
I think you will find that this story will send the entire series in a completely new and unexpected direction. As a storyteller, I feel like the first audience to enjoy the book should be the writer himself. (After all, if you can't enjoy what you do, you're probably in the wrong field of work.) So I wanted to write something that I felt I would enjoy as a reader. And after several read-through's, tweaks, trying to get it right, I still enjoy reading this book. I hope you will too.
Now on to Stratagem. (It should be complete sometime in the next 18 months. Sorry for the wait.)
Arriving on schedule in the last day of Spring. (Sorry I cut it so close.) This is my 4th book in the Forgotten Princess series. I love where I'm at with this book. I did some major experimenting. This book may be a game changer. And hopefully that will be a good thing. But this is the exact opposite of what Sci-Fi usually entails. This book was such an emotional roller coaster for me as a writer that I really can't wait to share it with you all. Hopefully it hits the right notes for you.
I was told by a friend and writer that I had to bring the relationship between Jendra and Leon to fruition. And I think some will be pleased with the results here. I also wanted to apologize to the loyal readers who wanted Jendra, Leon, and Toby in Book 3. This was a story I wasn't yet ready to tell at that time. I'm glad to have waited.
I think you will find that this story will send the entire series in a completely new and unexpected direction. As a storyteller, I feel like the first audience to enjoy the book should be the writer himself. (After all, if you can't enjoy what you do, you're probably in the wrong field of work.) So I wanted to write something that I felt I would enjoy as a reader. And after several read-through's, tweaks, trying to get it right, I still enjoy reading this book. I hope you will too.
Now on to Stratagem. (It should be complete sometime in the next 18 months. Sorry for the wait.)
Displaying 1 of 1 review