What do you think?
Rate this book
Caila: Evil Unbound
Silverbrook City is renowned for its mystery and intrigue. Quiet days are few and far between and everyone has a tale to tell!
Caila is apprentice to the renowned mage Zarlam. Home alone, she comes across a strange book and inadvertently sets free a creature who offers her unlimited power. Furious with Zarlam, she accepts and is promptly whisked away, but is her new companion all he seems to be?
‘Caila: Evil Unbound’ is one of ten tales from Silverbrook City.
Caila is apprentice to the renowned mage Zarlam. Home alone, she comes across a strange book and inadvertently sets free a creature who offers her unlimited power. Furious with Zarlam, she accepts and is promptly whisked away, but is her new companion all he seems to be?
‘Caila: Evil Unbound’ is one of ten tales from Silverbrook City.
Kindle Edition
Published March 28, 2017
1 person want to read
About the author
Bobby Fisher
3 books20 followersOriginally from England, Bobby Fisher currently lives in Australia with his wife and family of eleven birds and sixteen guinea pigs.
He has been an avid reader of a variety of genres since childhood, including Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy. He enjoys the works of authors such as Philip K. Dick, William Gibson, Stephen King and more recently Colin F. Barnes and Rosa Montero.
Upon graduating from University with a degree in Archaeology and Ancient History, he worked as an Assistant Language Teacher in Japan before moving to Australia. After deciding to make use of his personal passion for tech and computers, he went back to University part-time and graduated with a degree in I.T., leading to his current job as an I.T. Technician.
He took the leap from reader to storyteller in 2016, with his first published story 'Ewyn: A Thief's Fortune'.
He has been an avid reader of a variety of genres since childhood, including Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy. He enjoys the works of authors such as Philip K. Dick, William Gibson, Stephen King and more recently Colin F. Barnes and Rosa Montero.
Upon graduating from University with a degree in Archaeology and Ancient History, he worked as an Assistant Language Teacher in Japan before moving to Australia. After deciding to make use of his personal passion for tech and computers, he went back to University part-time and graduated with a degree in I.T., leading to his current job as an I.T. Technician.
He took the leap from reader to storyteller in 2016, with his first published story 'Ewyn: A Thief's Fortune'.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 21, 2017
Actual Rating: 2.5 Stars
Part of a collection of stories set in the fictional location of Silverbrook City, Caila: Evil Unbound is a short but fun romp that explores the importance of patience. Caila is a young mage that serves as an apprentice to the esteemed Zarlam. Like most young individuals, she is impatient to learn the weightier sides of magic (which I guess could be likened to job skills since magic doesn't exist in our world). When her mentor leaves on a brief trip, she chooses to disobey his wishes and before you know it, all Hell has broken loose - literally! Soon Caila finds herself in a fight against time, where failure could spell the end of for Silverbrook City.
Initially, the copy I received of this book was unedited, so I won't be taking into account grammatical or mechanical errors - I received the right ARC earlier this morning. Because I had already completed reading this novelette, I chose to forego my thoughts on editing rather than re-read the book. As a result, my review is focused largely around the story itself.
Given that Caila: Evil Unbound is a novelette, there isn't much time spent on character history. As a reader, you are made vaguely aware of the fact that Caila was a slave whose freedom was purchased by the great mage Zarlam. The setting, beyond a tower in Silverbrook City and a few other locales, is fairly small. Because this novelette is one of ten in a collection, I could be missing out on details from the first story so beyond that, I cannot really express my thoughts on this town.
Caila: Evil Unbound reads more like a children's bed time story, complete with vital morals for navigating daily life. Whether or not this was intentional, it makes for a quick and easy read. There are some continuity issues, such as how quickly time seems to pass, how often Caila excels at magic that should be beyond her level, and what drives the antagonist of this tale. It's also unclear at to whether the feline familiar belongs to Caila or Zarlam.
My main gripe, overall, is its system of magic. In this world, the term "mage" is used loosely to describe users of magic as a whole. There is no true distinguishment between nature, holy, unholy, or arcane magic. As a gamer, writer, and avid reader of the fantasy genre, this bothers me because various schools of magic often have differing elements that are sometimes contradictory. Other than this, I feel that the story could easily have been expanded to encompass an entire novel with a lot more detail.
Despite my issues with this book, I did find it to be a fun and refreshing read. While I would like to see it expanded into something more full-length, it fit rather perfectly into my busy schedule. I would like to thank the author, Bobby Fisher, for providing me with a free copy for the purpose of review.
Part of a collection of stories set in the fictional location of Silverbrook City, Caila: Evil Unbound is a short but fun romp that explores the importance of patience. Caila is a young mage that serves as an apprentice to the esteemed Zarlam. Like most young individuals, she is impatient to learn the weightier sides of magic (which I guess could be likened to job skills since magic doesn't exist in our world). When her mentor leaves on a brief trip, she chooses to disobey his wishes and before you know it, all Hell has broken loose - literally! Soon Caila finds herself in a fight against time, where failure could spell the end of for Silverbrook City.
Initially, the copy I received of this book was unedited, so I won't be taking into account grammatical or mechanical errors - I received the right ARC earlier this morning. Because I had already completed reading this novelette, I chose to forego my thoughts on editing rather than re-read the book. As a result, my review is focused largely around the story itself.
Given that Caila: Evil Unbound is a novelette, there isn't much time spent on character history. As a reader, you are made vaguely aware of the fact that Caila was a slave whose freedom was purchased by the great mage Zarlam. The setting, beyond a tower in Silverbrook City and a few other locales, is fairly small. Because this novelette is one of ten in a collection, I could be missing out on details from the first story so beyond that, I cannot really express my thoughts on this town.
Caila: Evil Unbound reads more like a children's bed time story, complete with vital morals for navigating daily life. Whether or not this was intentional, it makes for a quick and easy read. There are some continuity issues, such as how quickly time seems to pass, how often Caila excels at magic that should be beyond her level, and what drives the antagonist of this tale. It's also unclear at to whether the feline familiar belongs to Caila or Zarlam.
My main gripe, overall, is its system of magic. In this world, the term "mage" is used loosely to describe users of magic as a whole. There is no true distinguishment between nature, holy, unholy, or arcane magic. As a gamer, writer, and avid reader of the fantasy genre, this bothers me because various schools of magic often have differing elements that are sometimes contradictory. Other than this, I feel that the story could easily have been expanded to encompass an entire novel with a lot more detail.
Despite my issues with this book, I did find it to be a fun and refreshing read. While I would like to see it expanded into something more full-length, it fit rather perfectly into my busy schedule. I would like to thank the author, Bobby Fisher, for providing me with a free copy for the purpose of review.
Displaying 1 of 1 review