The Castle

Suri #0.5

by Nikki Moyes

Risha is the first successful child to be born with her father's memories. To avoid an alliance with a brutal warlord, she enters the virtual-reality game to seek help from the first warlord who resides at Castle One.

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Short Stories

24 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 17, 2017

About the author

Nikki Moyes is a multi-genre writer. Her first book, 'If I Wake' was published in 2016. She was born in Victoria and has moved around Australia amassing an eclectic range of occupations including tallship watch leader, apiarist, rose farm hand, and sandwich artist. In her spare time she learns tissu, static trapeze, and aerial hoop (she couldn’t decide on one) in case she needs to run off and join the circus.

This is my author profile. I sometimes review books on writing but all other books I review under a different account.

Reviews

[Jessi Bone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful Beginning

The Suri series is a wonderful adaptation of sci-fi and medieval warfare. A twelve year old girl is faced with finding a way to defeat the man she is betroved to.
This is my first Nikki Moyes book and I was not disappointed by her classical writing style and her understanding of her character. Will be enjoying the reading of the rest of her Audi series.

[Bookish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly original short read.

‘The Castle’ is a fantasy/scifi short story about Risha, who finds herself vulnerable because of her age and place in society.

This is a story in which the author has created an empowering female lead character for a YA audience, something that we definitely need to see more of at this point in time. Rather than dwelling on her weaknesses, Risha focuses on her strengths and uses them to face the situation in which she finds herself.

The reader is quickly immersed in Risha’s world, becoming an observer and looking over Risha’s shoulder as she transforms from an observer into an actor in the story that unfolds, taking some surprising turns that keep the reader guessing.

Highly original and engaging, this is a great short read that can easily be enjoyed in a lunch break.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great beginning to what I hope is a full length novel or series of novels.

Great combination of sci-fi and medieval warfare with a main character wise well beyond her twelve years.

I don’t normally read anything with such young main characters but the premise made Risha much more than an average 12 year old.

[Nikki Moyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short story to give readers a taste of the series I'm currently working on.

Risha Suri's story will continue in The Destroyer (coming soon).

The rest on the series is set 1,000 years later in The Keeper and The Challenger (coming soon).

[Joyce Hertzoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novelette, or perhaps it would be better to call it a short story, combines a virtual reality game with an actual fantasy environment. A twelve-year-old girl, Risha Suri, who has her father’s memories, must reach Castle One before a warlord leading a battalion in a simulation destroys it. The twist at the end worked for me. This well-written story is the beginning of a series. I’m intrigued enough to read more.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started to read this story, I was admittedly skeptical. But by the end, I want to know and read more. Clearly this is a good sign.