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Spice Traders
Tarnuz is a small country and King Stefano is threatened with war by greedy King Khalid whose kingdom is in famine unless he can complete his challenge. King Stefano enlists the help of Admiral Cilistinu, his alchemist adventurer daughter, Valentina, Vernu the mysterious royal chef, and royal weapons expert Alessandro. They sail the seas, Visit exotic islands, battle legendary beasts, and eat great food. They are assisted by the crew of the great ship, The Sibell, and colorful characters such as Galaxio and Bruno. Join the adventurers on their quest as they learn to trust each other, overcome ferocious beasts, solve puzzles whilst being pursued by evil potions expert Nadal. Will they be able to complete their quest and save the kingdom?
291 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 8, 2021
About the author
Dan Saunders
2 books26 followersMy name is Dan Saunders. I am 48 and I started writing in lockdown. I finished my first draft of Soul Capture a SciFi novella in august of 2020. I am currently editing this work.
My first novel, Spice Traders, out now! is a YA action-adventure. Tournament Of Tannur the follow-up to Spice Traders is also available. I am currently working on Dial Back, the sequel to Soul Capture. I am also working on Detective Nadal Spice Traders 3.
My first novel, Spice Traders, out now! is a YA action-adventure. Tournament Of Tannur the follow-up to Spice Traders is also available. I am currently working on Dial Back, the sequel to Soul Capture. I am also working on Detective Nadal Spice Traders 3.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 28, 2023
This is a great, engaging, action filled book. Full of imagination, stimulation and quirky characters, who embark on a mission to save their kingdom. Thrilling adventures lie in each chapter as characters develop and relationships are tested. With legendary beasts, battles of survival and of will, we follow the team of the chosen 4 spice traders as they attempt to conquer the greed of King Khalid. Along the way there are the dangers of powerful creatures and traps. With friendships, camaraderie tested, relationships and trust, it was great to find out about the characters as the story developed.
An energetic, highly recommended read!
An energetic, highly recommended read!
December 27, 2021
RATING:- 5 STARS
GENRE:- Children's Fiction
FORMAT:- EBOOK
AUTHOR:- Dan Saunders
This review may contain spoilers.
I was pleasantly surprise by this book. It is written well without visible grammatical or spelling errors. This book flows at a medium pace with a perfect satisfying delivery.
This is a multi-protagonist story.
Our four main heroes who happened to be also fearless warriors affront different and magical challenges on each of their missions where our heroes travel through different exotic places to acquire certain spices. As the title implies, they are spice traders. Each of these missions become more dangerous than the previous, as the story moves forward. But this is a story of trust, friendship, family, and faith.
The story brings us lovely life lessons. Good versus our antagonist theme plays well in this story.
The different fictional landscapes are something worthy of adventuring into. There are magical elements to the story, sea monsters and land mythical creatures, bringing a flair for Jules Verne adventures for kids. The main story thread is an almost impossible quest for our heroes who embark, to find a rare almost sacred tree, a Bay leave tree.
I would recommend this book to be read as a bed story for children. Each scene is an exciting and satisfying adventure to savor.
I highly recommend this children's epic story.
GENRE:- Children's Fiction
FORMAT:- EBOOK
AUTHOR:- Dan Saunders
This review may contain spoilers.
I was pleasantly surprise by this book. It is written well without visible grammatical or spelling errors. This book flows at a medium pace with a perfect satisfying delivery.
This is a multi-protagonist story.
Our four main heroes who happened to be also fearless warriors affront different and magical challenges on each of their missions where our heroes travel through different exotic places to acquire certain spices. As the title implies, they are spice traders. Each of these missions become more dangerous than the previous, as the story moves forward. But this is a story of trust, friendship, family, and faith.
The story brings us lovely life lessons. Good versus our antagonist theme plays well in this story.
The different fictional landscapes are something worthy of adventuring into. There are magical elements to the story, sea monsters and land mythical creatures, bringing a flair for Jules Verne adventures for kids. The main story thread is an almost impossible quest for our heroes who embark, to find a rare almost sacred tree, a Bay leave tree.
I would recommend this book to be read as a bed story for children. Each scene is an exciting and satisfying adventure to savor.
I highly recommend this children's epic story.
October 24, 2022
I found Spice Traders to be a good YA book, full of adventures and creative characters and creatures. I did at times get confused about who was who, but a few read overs and I got it. It was fast paced and a delightful story of friendship and trust. I would recommend to anyone
March 1, 2022
A fun and fantastic adventure!
This swashbuckling tale brings a lot of intrigue and puts you through a lot of cool battles, whether on sea or on land, doesn’t matter!
With so many different kinds of monsters and mythical beings, the story is a great read for the younger generation. It reminded me of RA Salvatore’s Drizzt series, which are favourites of mine.
If you like that style of young adult fantasy and even pirates, then you need to add this to your collection!
This swashbuckling tale brings a lot of intrigue and puts you through a lot of cool battles, whether on sea or on land, doesn’t matter!
With so many different kinds of monsters and mythical beings, the story is a great read for the younger generation. It reminded me of RA Salvatore’s Drizzt series, which are favourites of mine.
If you like that style of young adult fantasy and even pirates, then you need to add this to your collection!
July 15, 2022
Spice Traders by Dan Saunders
Kindle Edition
Before I start this review I must say that this book was not written with an adult audience in mind. It is for preteens to YA. This was what I struggled with the most, the fact that it was not written with an adult audience in mind. In itself not a bad thing at all and I applaud the author for writing such an action filled book with this audience in mind. I did my best to put on my preteen hat when reading this book. I admit I struggled with it as my preteen years are way, way behind me as are my children’s.
There is action a plenty as our intrepid heroes are almost constantly up against the machinations of the antagonist. The names were rather difficult and I often found myself having to look back to remember who was who and why. I would imagine this would be a problem for younger children as well as myself. The author's use of nicknames helped but the use was infrequent and I had to look back to make sure that the character I was reading about was the character I thought it was, when the author was being informal and then more formal. Perhaps easier names may have helped as well as a few less protagonists.
The book is filled with action and far off, beautiful destinations which unfortunately I struggled with due to the lack of description during these scenes. Just as the scene was being painted or the action was being described, it ended, without fully immersing me into anything. I guess I’m just not used to this type of book anymore. I did read the Harry Potter series and I had the same problem; but I had younger children back then which helped me get around that. I tried to enact the same reasoning (unsuccessfully) with Dan Saunders’ book.
I did find that the book had a few grammatical errors and a couple of formatting problems which once again broke the depth of my attention within the book. Thankfully there weren't many and I respect that this was the author’s first work and first time publishing. However I have read similar errors from so-called “professional publishing houses” therefore this didn’t affect my score in any way.
This is a good book and would do well with most children, I imagine. However I must score it as I read it. A good, decent book that deserves 3.5 stars. Unfortunately Goodreads don’t give you the ability to give half stars.
Kindle Edition
Before I start this review I must say that this book was not written with an adult audience in mind. It is for preteens to YA. This was what I struggled with the most, the fact that it was not written with an adult audience in mind. In itself not a bad thing at all and I applaud the author for writing such an action filled book with this audience in mind. I did my best to put on my preteen hat when reading this book. I admit I struggled with it as my preteen years are way, way behind me as are my children’s.
There is action a plenty as our intrepid heroes are almost constantly up against the machinations of the antagonist. The names were rather difficult and I often found myself having to look back to remember who was who and why. I would imagine this would be a problem for younger children as well as myself. The author's use of nicknames helped but the use was infrequent and I had to look back to make sure that the character I was reading about was the character I thought it was, when the author was being informal and then more formal. Perhaps easier names may have helped as well as a few less protagonists.
The book is filled with action and far off, beautiful destinations which unfortunately I struggled with due to the lack of description during these scenes. Just as the scene was being painted or the action was being described, it ended, without fully immersing me into anything. I guess I’m just not used to this type of book anymore. I did read the Harry Potter series and I had the same problem; but I had younger children back then which helped me get around that. I tried to enact the same reasoning (unsuccessfully) with Dan Saunders’ book.
I did find that the book had a few grammatical errors and a couple of formatting problems which once again broke the depth of my attention within the book. Thankfully there weren't many and I respect that this was the author’s first work and first time publishing. However I have read similar errors from so-called “professional publishing houses” therefore this didn’t affect my score in any way.
This is a good book and would do well with most children, I imagine. However I must score it as I read it. A good, decent book that deserves 3.5 stars. Unfortunately Goodreads don’t give you the ability to give half stars.
February 27, 2022
This is a self-published book by first time author Dan Saunders (@dansaundersauthor). It's clear from the start that the author has poured a lot of imagination into writing this seafaring adventure book. There's a whole host of fantastical creatures - both mythical and newly created - that the protaganists have to battle against in order to achieve their mission.
Along the way the four heroes and their supporting cast must learn to work together in order to achieve their shared outcome: to gather special ingredients for a royal feast in order to prevent a war. Themes of trust, friendship and faith are explored in a magical way.
I enjoyed reading this book as it took me back to when I was in my early teens and enjoyed reading for hours on end getting lost I imaginatively detailed fantasy worlds.
Along the way the four heroes and their supporting cast must learn to work together in order to achieve their shared outcome: to gather special ingredients for a royal feast in order to prevent a war. Themes of trust, friendship and faith are explored in a magical way.
I enjoyed reading this book as it took me back to when I was in my early teens and enjoyed reading for hours on end getting lost I imaginatively detailed fantasy worlds.
September 14, 2022
There is a kingdom in Tarnuz and King Stefano has been threatened by Kind Khalid. Unless the king Stefano prepare special meal for them because their country is experiencing a famine. So Valentina, king’s daughter, Verny, the royal chef and Alessandro ventures on a quest to find the missing ingredients to prepare a royal meal for the rival king.
While to get access to ingredients, on each step there is a puzzle waiting to be solved and legendary beasts waiting to fight along with an evil potion.
Their odyssey is filled with dangers, adventure, battle, beasts, finding ingredients and unleashing the secrets to save the kingdom. Will they able to save the kingdom? As they are moving forward, the secrets are also hauling off along with the royal secrets.
While to get access to ingredients, on each step there is a puzzle waiting to be solved and legendary beasts waiting to fight along with an evil potion.
Their odyssey is filled with dangers, adventure, battle, beasts, finding ingredients and unleashing the secrets to save the kingdom. Will they able to save the kingdom? As they are moving forward, the secrets are also hauling off along with the royal secrets.
May 2, 2022
This book has great characterization! It follows 4 main protagonists, all of whom are memorable and diverse. I really liked the author’s world building and lush descriptions. It’s full of magic, sea monsters, and an epic quest. As a parent, this is the type of book I was proud to share with both of my children aged 12 and 9 (who also wholeheartedly enjoyed it).
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews