What do you think?
Rate this book
The Story of Evil #2
Escape from Celestial
Tyrus Canard and Kari Quinn managed to save Stephen Brightflame from being hanged in the castle courtyard. Unfortunately, while making their getaway, the three find themselves trapped and surrounded by the Shadow Prince and hundreds of the monsters that helped attack Celestial. Escape from Celestial picks up right where Heroes of the Siege left off as Steve and Prince Silas engage in a violent swordfight. After the duel, the heroes embark on an adventure to distant lands. They battle against vicious new monsters, but also make powerful new friends. Steve, Ty, and Kari will also begin to learn surprising details about the mysterious person who led the assault on Celestial – the Hooded Phantom.
276 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 15, 2017
7 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Tony Johnson
9 books38 followersTony Johnson is the author of the The Story of Evil, an epic fantasy saga. Tony is an avid reader. He enjoys fantasy, classics, and Christian literature. He is a fan of movies, television, music, videogames, and sports. From Batavia, NY.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 19, 2024
Love a good hike through a forest where you don’t know what’s coming next - along with a solid banter between friends. And that’s just the start.
Because just when you think you know where the story is going and you get comfortable and settled in…. The whole story flips …. Then flips again.. and one more time for good measure.. leaving you to where you can’t even put the book down..the plot twists just keep going. I finally just stopped trying to figure out where the author was taking the story and just enjoyed the book as it unfolded.
This book is where I feel like I really got to know the characters more, their personalities and who they are. They really grew on me and I really enjoyed that! I hope to see more of this as the books continue on.
With that being said - I could really and truly feel for some of the hurts and strong emotions throughout the book. And not all books get me like that.
If you love a good story, plot twist and your heart strings being pulled - this one is for you.
5⭐️
Because just when you think you know where the story is going and you get comfortable and settled in…. The whole story flips …. Then flips again.. and one more time for good measure.. leaving you to where you can’t even put the book down..the plot twists just keep going. I finally just stopped trying to figure out where the author was taking the story and just enjoyed the book as it unfolded.
This book is where I feel like I really got to know the characters more, their personalities and who they are. They really grew on me and I really enjoyed that! I hope to see more of this as the books continue on.
With that being said - I could really and truly feel for some of the hurts and strong emotions throughout the book. And not all books get me like that.
If you love a good story, plot twist and your heart strings being pulled - this one is for you.
5⭐️
December 1, 2020
Can anyone live through all the monster attacks?
This book continues the fight for survival from the destruction of Celestial. Steve, Ty, and Kari continue to fight their way free from Celestial in the hopes that they can warn other cities before they too are overrun by monsters. As they fight their way out, they start to feel helpless. They manage to come up with escape plans on the fly, only to have to keep changing them as they go. There is an endless number of monsters after them. They finally escape Celestial only to be chased by more monsters and the dragon Nightatrike. Even though the monsters are more organized then they have ever been they still fight over everything, which gives Ty, Steve, and Kari a better chance to escape. Ty knows that Steve is severely hurt but can't make him stop long enough to check the injuries. Steve is detrimed to make it to Serendale to get help to get the word out about what happened in Celestial. Is he pushing himself past his limits? Can they avoid even more attacks? Is there a safe place to go?
This book is not for those who expect happy ending, it is the story of evil after all.
This book continues the fight for survival from the destruction of Celestial. Steve, Ty, and Kari continue to fight their way free from Celestial in the hopes that they can warn other cities before they too are overrun by monsters. As they fight their way out, they start to feel helpless. They manage to come up with escape plans on the fly, only to have to keep changing them as they go. There is an endless number of monsters after them. They finally escape Celestial only to be chased by more monsters and the dragon Nightatrike. Even though the monsters are more organized then they have ever been they still fight over everything, which gives Ty, Steve, and Kari a better chance to escape. Ty knows that Steve is severely hurt but can't make him stop long enough to check the injuries. Steve is detrimed to make it to Serendale to get help to get the word out about what happened in Celestial. Is he pushing himself past his limits? Can they avoid even more attacks? Is there a safe place to go?
This book is not for those who expect happy ending, it is the story of evil after all.
March 7, 2018
Lets see.... what to say? Like the first book, I feel this is greater than a 3 but maybe not quite a 4. Although since most of the books I "LOVE" are a 4 and few get a 5, somewhere between a 3 and 4 isn't bad at all.
The author is newer, no question, and so there are some simplicities, some plot holes, some development that needs to be filled for reasoning behind actions to make sense. But there is also a solid storyline, a well built world, and engaging characters. There are people who seem almost too good to be true, and some reviews have complained about these "one-dimensional" characters, but quite frankly I know people like that in real life. It isn't one-dimensional to actually be a super good person. There are those who are doing like most of us probably feel we're doing, just trying to be good and do good but not very perfectly, but still trying each day. And there are of course those who are not evil but not good and will easily sacrifice another to save themselves, and the just plain bad guys.
I go back and forth on what to think of the monsters. Years and years of reading good/evil, fantasy, cultural, philosophical, etc. stories has my brain filling in aspects that are not there as I wait to see what unfolds and I have to remind myself to stop-it, these are not the monsters from 123 series or xyz series, these are new and I need to see how they develop. The monsters are fairly one-dimensional, they want to eat and to hurt others. But dang, there have been many creepy people on our planet like that throughout the history of time, not to mention today, people who could easily be considered monsters in their total lack of consideration for human life, people who have so easily and horribly killed so many others. So one dimensional monsters can be a very reasonable plot element as a representative of evil that exists. But then there are the monsters who have joined the side for good. What? Ok, that's where it starts getting confusing because the motivation isn't there, and yet the story hasn't unfolded so I'm sure there will be more. In order for a monster to join the side for good there has to be more to their reasoning ability than just basic eat/kill/power desires. It will be interesting to see where that goes.
The additional information added to the background between book one and two was pretty significant to the plotline and character development. Book one was almost like a giant prologue, book two starts to get into more background and why and wherefore. One thing that is odd to me is the god of good and the god of evil creating something together - there's no way they couldn't have guessed that wouldn't work out - but then that is the foundation behind Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series and it's worked out pretty gosh darn well. I will be interested to see how much of the God's power and intersession is in the story. So many series (Mistborn, Dragonlance, etc.) seem to have both good and evil gods but for some reason the evil gods meddle endlessly and the good goods tend to stand back and watch and wait, or are in some manner stripped of power (like in Mistborn) which to me makes them non-god. The essence of a good god is a supreme being (can't be stripped of power) who is actively and lovingly involved in the lives of their followers. That doesn't mean their followers will never suffer/die, have trials, etc., but that there will be help and comfort along the way vs a god that is theoretically there but pretty much absent.
Ok, wrap-up. Good series, good plot, good characters. A little in younger category but still interesting enough to keep you reading. CLEAN! I love that, I really do. Gruesome, people die, good and innocent people die - just like would happen if it was real life - it's like watching Lord of the Rings sometimes - accurately nasty without going over the top in the way writers with no talent do. They can't write so they rely on flash and drama. This is not that author.
The author is newer, no question, and so there are some simplicities, some plot holes, some development that needs to be filled for reasoning behind actions to make sense. But there is also a solid storyline, a well built world, and engaging characters. There are people who seem almost too good to be true, and some reviews have complained about these "one-dimensional" characters, but quite frankly I know people like that in real life. It isn't one-dimensional to actually be a super good person. There are those who are doing like most of us probably feel we're doing, just trying to be good and do good but not very perfectly, but still trying each day. And there are of course those who are not evil but not good and will easily sacrifice another to save themselves, and the just plain bad guys.
I go back and forth on what to think of the monsters. Years and years of reading good/evil, fantasy, cultural, philosophical, etc. stories has my brain filling in aspects that are not there as I wait to see what unfolds and I have to remind myself to stop-it, these are not the monsters from 123 series or xyz series, these are new and I need to see how they develop. The monsters are fairly one-dimensional, they want to eat and to hurt others. But dang, there have been many creepy people on our planet like that throughout the history of time, not to mention today, people who could easily be considered monsters in their total lack of consideration for human life, people who have so easily and horribly killed so many others. So one dimensional monsters can be a very reasonable plot element as a representative of evil that exists. But then there are the monsters who have joined the side for good. What? Ok, that's where it starts getting confusing because the motivation isn't there, and yet the story hasn't unfolded so I'm sure there will be more. In order for a monster to join the side for good there has to be more to their reasoning ability than just basic eat/kill/power desires. It will be interesting to see where that goes.
The additional information added to the background between book one and two was pretty significant to the plotline and character development. Book one was almost like a giant prologue, book two starts to get into more background and why and wherefore. One thing that is odd to me is the god of good and the god of evil creating something together - there's no way they couldn't have guessed that wouldn't work out - but then that is the foundation behind Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series and it's worked out pretty gosh darn well. I will be interested to see how much of the God's power and intersession is in the story. So many series (Mistborn, Dragonlance, etc.) seem to have both good and evil gods but for some reason the evil gods meddle endlessly and the good goods tend to stand back and watch and wait, or are in some manner stripped of power (like in Mistborn) which to me makes them non-god. The essence of a good god is a supreme being (can't be stripped of power) who is actively and lovingly involved in the lives of their followers. That doesn't mean their followers will never suffer/die, have trials, etc., but that there will be help and comfort along the way vs a god that is theoretically there but pretty much absent.
Ok, wrap-up. Good series, good plot, good characters. A little in younger category but still interesting enough to keep you reading. CLEAN! I love that, I really do. Gruesome, people die, good and innocent people die - just like would happen if it was real life - it's like watching Lord of the Rings sometimes - accurately nasty without going over the top in the way writers with no talent do. They can't write so they rely on flash and drama. This is not that author.
March 3, 2018
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Like the first volume, Heroes of the Siege, Johnson has captured my interest with an engaging story in a well-developed fantasy setting. This book continues the story of the heroes as they escape the city of Celestial and attempt to inform the populace that the capitol city has been captured by evil forces. In addition to the harrowing events of the tale, their is a romantic interest between two of the three primary characters. These two are Kari, the half-elven and the human Stephen Brightflame. In the previous novel, Kari seemed to be in love with Brightflame's adopted brother, Tyrus Canard, an elf. I thought perhaps I had misremembered that, but I did not. I am not sure if this will cause a problem between the brothers, but I will be interested in finding out.
The second book adds some additional characters to the story as the heroes travel across the countryside warning others of the fall of Celestial. One of these is the dwarf, Grizz Grindstone, whom I like because I have a thing for dwarves. Gimli from LOTR and Flint Fireforge from Dragonlance were always my favourites, so it is not surprising that Grizz is the most interesting character to me.
The primary cast of characters learns more about the forces of evil and their plans for taking over the world. In addition, they have a collective vision and it is implied that they all will learn to use the elements for magical abilities in the future, though only the dwarf is blatantly imbued with a power (of earth). Both Ty and Grizz appear to die toward the end, but I don't think this will actually be the case because high fantasy novels are pretty renowned for keeping the main protagonists alive. In fact, Ty does live through his supposed death as his survival appears in the teaser chapter for the third installment; I assume the dwarf will survive, too.
I do have a couple of quibbles about the book. There is too much repetition in places. I believe Johnson is using this to share backstory the reader may have missed if he did not read the first novel or read it some time ago. Secondly, the book has too much telling and showing. Characters think something then do it a lot, which gets tedious at times. Still, I like the book. The high fantasy vibe is strong, the characters are memorable, and the story is not profane, which I appreciate greatly. I recommend this book highly. Get the first one if you haven't read it. I look forward to the third installment. Johnson is providing good material for fantasy quest tale lovers, and you don't want to miss out on the action.
Like the first volume, Heroes of the Siege, Johnson has captured my interest with an engaging story in a well-developed fantasy setting. This book continues the story of the heroes as they escape the city of Celestial and attempt to inform the populace that the capitol city has been captured by evil forces. In addition to the harrowing events of the tale, their is a romantic interest between two of the three primary characters. These two are Kari, the half-elven and the human Stephen Brightflame. In the previous novel, Kari seemed to be in love with Brightflame's adopted brother, Tyrus Canard, an elf. I thought perhaps I had misremembered that, but I did not. I am not sure if this will cause a problem between the brothers, but I will be interested in finding out.
The second book adds some additional characters to the story as the heroes travel across the countryside warning others of the fall of Celestial. One of these is the dwarf, Grizz Grindstone, whom I like because I have a thing for dwarves. Gimli from LOTR and Flint Fireforge from Dragonlance were always my favourites, so it is not surprising that Grizz is the most interesting character to me.
The primary cast of characters learns more about the forces of evil and their plans for taking over the world. In addition, they have a collective vision and it is implied that they all will learn to use the elements for magical abilities in the future, though only the dwarf is blatantly imbued with a power (of earth). Both Ty and Grizz appear to die toward the end, but I don't think this will actually be the case because high fantasy novels are pretty renowned for keeping the main protagonists alive. In fact, Ty does live through his supposed death as his survival appears in the teaser chapter for the third installment; I assume the dwarf will survive, too.
I do have a couple of quibbles about the book. There is too much repetition in places. I believe Johnson is using this to share backstory the reader may have missed if he did not read the first novel or read it some time ago. Secondly, the book has too much telling and showing. Characters think something then do it a lot, which gets tedious at times. Still, I like the book. The high fantasy vibe is strong, the characters are memorable, and the story is not profane, which I appreciate greatly. I recommend this book highly. Get the first one if you haven't read it. I look forward to the third installment. Johnson is providing good material for fantasy quest tale lovers, and you don't want to miss out on the action.
March 3, 2019
Although life appears to be about to end, quick action and thought saves the heroes.
This isn't a warm and fuzzy story, but one where evil has the upper hand. Our heroes are constantly fighting to stay alive, as all those that they have known, are taken from them.
As a human race, we have seen similar scenarios play out in war. That the human nature of optimism and hope, in face of evil, has taken humans to fight such injustice, never giving up.
Although a book of fiction, these works show what evil can do, and what good people have to always support those weaker than themselves.
A box of tissues, recommended for this one!
This isn't a warm and fuzzy story, but one where evil has the upper hand. Our heroes are constantly fighting to stay alive, as all those that they have known, are taken from them.
As a human race, we have seen similar scenarios play out in war. That the human nature of optimism and hope, in face of evil, has taken humans to fight such injustice, never giving up.
Although a book of fiction, these works show what evil can do, and what good people have to always support those weaker than themselves.
A box of tissues, recommended for this one!
May 14, 2019
Escape from Celestial picks up right where Heroes of the Siege left off—after making a daring escape, the trio: Steve, Ty, and Kari, found themselves trapped once again as powerful enemy forces have no intention to let the heroes escape easily.
The sequel also focuses on a new character, Grizz, a mighty dwarf, who meets the trio along the way on their dangerous journey—together they fight vicious monsters and learn hidden secrets about the formidable Hooded Phantom. Johnson's action-packed, suspenseful adventure will keep the reader guessing until the end with shocking new revelations, which paves the way for the next installment in the series.
Highly entertaining.
The sequel also focuses on a new character, Grizz, a mighty dwarf, who meets the trio along the way on their dangerous journey—together they fight vicious monsters and learn hidden secrets about the formidable Hooded Phantom. Johnson's action-packed, suspenseful adventure will keep the reader guessing until the end with shocking new revelations, which paves the way for the next installment in the series.
Highly entertaining.
August 19, 2020
The first book was excellent for a debut novel by a young author. This second book of the series is even better. The action is so well paced and the descriptions are vivid. The story pulls you and and carries you along from one exciting event to another. I am looking forward to the next volume.
January 26, 2019
I have eagerly awaited this second book in the series and was anxious to have many of my questions from the first book answered, only to have many new questions raised in this book! Developing a deeper understanding and relationship to the characters and the world was an enjoyable aspect of this book. The story moved well and the many challenges and hardships that the characters faced made the book hard to put down. I’m looking forward to more of my questions being answered in following books.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews