Snow: Journey Through the Mystic Forest

by Josef Silvia

Helseba, the evil witch of Faerydale is stricken of all her power and forced to remove herself from her home country. Bent on revenge and the urge to rule the entire world, Helseba finds the power she needs to go after old foes, one of them being the most powerful creature in the land: The daughter of a wizard and witch. If Helseba has this woman's heart, she will have ultimate power. Who is the woman? A young girl named Snow. The wizards and fairies of Faerydale are anxious to help her, but there is a slight problem. Snow doesn't know who she is or why she is in danger. A retelling of Snow White as you've never read before that will take you to mystical lands, and you'll meet fascinating characters. And possibly, a few dwarves.

190 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 10, 2016

About the author

Josef Silvia was born into a military family turned ministerial when his father became a pastor back in 1993. While he was growing up between Missouri, Wyoming and New England, he had a hearty imagination that gravitated towards storytelling. At the young age of five, he wrote his first story called "Lylu and Henry," and by the time he was in 2nd grade, Josef was either rewriting classic stories until he created his own characters called Ernest and Casper (initially based off of Laurel & Hardy) who were children and always seemed to get into various adventures. By the age of fourteen, he had written his first novella and began writing plays for The Priscilla Beach Theater, mostly adaptations of fairytales, for their children's theater acting workshops--of which he had been a recent graduate.

After becoming a children's pastor in 2008, Josef continued to work for theater companies, writing his take on classic fairytales such as "Goldilocks," "Pinocchio," "Cinderella," "The Emperor's New Clothes," and even adapted "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" for the stage from L. Frank Baum's book. Wanting to develop more stories for the characters he created in "Pinocchio," Josef decided to take the story back 300 years to "see what would happen." Soon, the story of a young sixteen year old girl named Snow began.

Josef currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts. He teaches children's acting workshops, produces family shows, and will be coming out with a book based on Pinocchio by the end of the month to celebrate a new production of his play. He enjoys fishing, travelling and often finds time to read biographies on historical figures.

Reviews

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I just completed two days ago is called “Snow” and written by a bible college classmate of mine named Josef Silvia. It’s so hard to tell the story of “Snow” without ruining the whole book for you. First of all, I’ll admit that I read this book because Josef wrote it. Well it started out that way. I’m not much into fairytales and make believe stories. I’ve just never gotten in to them. However, Snow White is my favorite of them all. This book pulled me in from the third page on. It starts rather quickly which I liked because I feel like a lot of books take FOREVER to get into but not this one.

The book starts out a bit in the past. It gives you some back story. Interestingly enough you are introduced to some of the main characters but in the past. Then the book skips ahead 16 years where things are a lot different. You’re entered into a new land, some new people, and a great story. I feel like if I say anything more I’ll ruin the book for the prospective person but just know it’s solid.

The things I was skeptical about was how the story of snow white could change. How it could transform. The thing Josef does so well is provide all the details. I literally felt like I was walking into the story and experiencing all of this first hand. Even the cutting out of someone’s tongue was very detailed that I felt like I could see the blood dripping.

All around I think you should read this book because my friend wrote it. However, the real reason you should read this book is because your imagination hasn’t died and there is still an opportunity to experience the stories we grew up with in new ways for a new season. Josef hits the nail on the head with this one. I wish him all of the best and I can’t wait for book two to come out…but seriously can it be out already?

[Susan Molloy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nicely written book, filled with fantasy, good dialogue, and imaginative scenes. Though I am not a big fan of this genre, I liked the book.