Persephane Pendrake and the Cimaruta

The Persephane Pendrake Chronicles #1

by Lady Ellen

"Absolutely Wonderful - I couldn't put it down!!!
By MleJane on July 19, 2011
Format: Kindle Edition
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the first of the Persephane series - in fact, I couldn't put it down and have been waiting for book #2 since last summer.....
5 Stars - Amazon.com"

The Persephane Pendrake Chronicles...the new magical series to read after Harry Potter, has arrived with the first in the planned nine magic book series...The Persephane Pendrake Chronicles-One: The Cimaruta.
The leading cast includes: Persy (as she prefers to be called), her cheeky dragonfly familiar? Benson, Thaddeus, a thirteen-year-old wizard and his sidekick? P-C, a full-sized, but far from brave, dragon. Together, they embark on a myriad of escapades to check and counter-check Melanthios.
Also, on top of the spell-binding story, meet? The Truth Testers? in the Forest of Depravation, who pose brain teasers for our heroes to solve . Figure out the answers before they do!
Benson speaks in the fun and enigmatic? Cockney Rhyming Slang? or CRS. The reader is challenged to puzzle them out once they learn the rules. It?s a cool way to start your own secret language..kids love it! Contribute your own at Persy's web site: lady-ellen.com

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Magic

344 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2008

About the author

After more than thirty years as a Health Care Practitioner, Lady Ellen starts the series she's envisioned for decades.

While I've written for many years for my site(s) and various health journals...this is my first foray into fiction.

Come Join Us Here For 5 Free Chapters Of The First 3 Books: Get Your Chapters

The Persephane Pendrake Chronicles-One-The Cimaruta is the first book of a planned nine book magic/fantasy series for children from 9 to about 15 (actually many adults have read it and loved it). The series is called 'The Persephane Pendrake Chronicles'.

This first two books are available at Amazon.com

Plus Barnes and Noble and Borders.

Come join us at Persy's Facebook Page for a chance to win cash prizes and a signed copy ofThe Persephane Pendrake Chronicles-One-The Cimaruta!

Reviews

[Kevis Hendrickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever since J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books took the publishing world by storm in the late 1990’s, the literary market has been flooded with an endless parade of Harry Potter knock offs. A whole generation of authors have been inspired to create their own books featuring teenage wizards and witches all striving to save the world from the usual forces of evil. Though most of these books have been largely unsuccessful, there have been a few that have shined.

Enter Persephane Pendrake and the Cimaruta by Lady Ellen. Unlike Harry Potter who is a wizard, Persephane Pendrake and the Cimaruta features a teenage witch as its protagonist and thankfully steers clear of Harry Potterisms that would otherwise contaminate and dilute what is a quite original and engaging story. A chief element of this book is its peculiar use of time-travel, called Time-Linxing. Through Time-Linxing, Persephane is able to confront her enemies at various points throughout history making for a thrilling and utterly breathtaking tale.

Upon discovering that she is the chosen one destined to stop the evil “All Powerful One” from plunging the world into eternal darkness, Persephane Pendrake is thrust into the center of the timeless conflict between good and evil. When Persephane turns thirteen, the age in which her incredible magical powers start to mature, her evil aunt Melanthios, who seeks to become the prophesied All Powerful One, decides to destroy her. Through the aid of her loving family and friends, including her loyal sidekick a witty, but overenthusiastically snark dragonfly named Benson, Persephane takes up the challenge of facing Melanthios in a series of life and death battles in which to thwart her wicked plans.

But Melanthios has other ideas for Persephane. If she can steal the powerful amulet called the Cimaruta from Persephane, she will have the first of 9 powerful magical items which must be collected to bequeath her with the powers of the All Powerful One. It is a desperate race throughout the world and history itself as Melanthios and Persephane vie over the lost 9 magical objects. Will Melanthios claim the Cimaruta from Persephane and begin her transformation into the All Powerful One? Or will Persephane find the strength and wisdom she needs to prevent the approaching apocalypse? You’ll have to read this book to find out.

As I said before, readers will be glad to know that Persephane Pendrake and the Cimaruta is not some cheap imitation of Harry Potter. Rather it occupies its own unique space in a genre that clearly needs originality. What truly distinguishes this book from Harry Potter is its milieu which seems to be steeped in Wicca and folklore as opposed to Rowling's more romanticized version of witchcraft and wizardry. Unlike Harry who is an orphan, Persephane is surrounded by a coterie of loving and supportive folk, all who are necessary to prepare her for the trials she is going to endure over the course of this series as she takes on the challenge of saving the world from her malevolent aunt Melanthios and her minions.

I highly recommend this book to older children and young adults who are looking for the next great fantasy story. Persephane Pendrake and the Cimaruta is an excellent book that offers more magic within its pages than any reader can imagine. Without a doubt, this book is a success. I, for one, plan to read the entire series until the very end.

[Tiffany Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Persephane Pendrake Chronicles (Updated)
It’s the Day of Fire and Persy knows something will go wrong. Persy has kept a secret all of her 12 years. She’s a exceptionally talented witch. It’s something she can never tell anyone. But today, she lost her cool. It happened after soccer practice. She was about to take a shower and went to her locker to put some de-frizz (conditioner) into her hair and realized it was glue. She sees Kyle (Dunsmore)-a practical joker-laughing it up with his friends. As she storms toward him, he sees her and takes off running.

Persy asks Gruesome to stop him while she teaches him a lesson, but as she does sparks appear. He barely has time to question it before Gruesome takes a mouthful of his backside and Persy smashes a mixture of rotten egg and pine mixture over his head. Kyle takes off and she thanks Gruesome who says no problem. It’s the only excitement he gets.

It’s not long before she’s called in by her mother and given a lecture on the dangers of exposing who they really are. Persy suggests a “Memory Erase”. Angelica says that might work after they do a “Threading Charm” to find out who else they might have told. She sends Persy to get the ingredients. While in the forest, a bear named Osina (and its bear cub) tells Persephane about the Time Lux and that there will be situations in many era’s that need her help that will make themselves known when the time is right.

She says the time will be soon (as her birthday is 3 months away). She says her mother will prepare her and she’ll meet with her again there in a month. When she gets home, Angelica gives her the run down on the Time-Lux. Basically what she has to do is practice focusing. (It requires great focus to be taken to your destination). She tells Persephone to practice focusing on one thing for 10 minutes with a brown candle (to ground her).

On Monday, a fairy named Fawna asks Persephone to meet with her in her mother’s garden at 8:30 and that it’s very important. Fawna tells Benson and Persy it all started when they could no longer cross the astral realm to spend time in (Persy’s) world (because of a Binding Spell). It’s been going on for years and now the Munz (Magical Folk) aren’t leaving bread, butter or the last of their crops for us to eat. There isn’t enough food for them to survive.

Durim (a strong fairy) sent a fellow to Bellarya to the castle in which Melanthios lives, to hide in the trees nearby to try to see what she was up to. Durin didn’t see that fellow for days and so went to look for him. He found him in a terrible state, dead, laying there with an arched back, eyes wide open and a horrible grimace on his face (called the Death Smile). Melanthios is an evil sorceress that plans to take over the Magical Folk (starting with the fae). The make matters worse the evil fae are running wild.

We find out she was in love with a man named Evander but when he found out she was into the Dark Arts (he was into the White Arts) he banished her. Fawna says Persy is the only one that can help because 1 she’s a First Order Witch and 2 Melanthios is her aunt. Angelica confirms this and this her how it started out of just her being mischievous. Her mother tried to stay with her and enchant her wand to turn invisible when she wasn’t with her, but Melanthios eventually learned the spell and started to disappear for days. For a while, she worked under the influence of an old Black Witch named Willow.

Angelica then gives Persy a very powerful charm called the Cimaruta. It has the symbols of Rue, Vervain, a Rooster’s Head, a key, a dagger, and a Crescent Moon. Persy had a (dream? Vision?) that her aunt appears and tries to get the amulet. She strikes her mom down, but Benson makes her vanish. Then the dream replays and she cast the death curse and Benson dies. Angelica tells her she thinks she say a multi-verse. There was a protection spell on the amulet but it must have faded as soon as it was given to Persy. Her aunt must have put a tracer on its Angelica explains.

This Melanthios would be the Melanthios from Bellarya that we just saw and it would appear she’s even more aggressive. The one who killed Benson would be from another, closely aligned Multiverse (a darker one) After they Time Lux to Laurel’s meadow Benson and Persy are greeted by Orsina and the bear cub. They reveal themselves to be a boy (Thaddeus) and Laurel (Persy’s grandmother).

Laurel tells Persephone she’ll take over her teaching as she has Thaddeus’s. She brings Persy up to speed on their habits, customs, and language terms. Thaddeus introduces them to his pink and green dragon Prissy Cups (PC for short) and Benson has a field day with this. Laurel, Persy, Benson, Thad, and Fawna meet in the garden. Laurel says the best way to break the Binding Spell is there’s a weaker point secured by a Wyrd Lock. It responds to a particular key. Only the key is in Melanthios’s castle.

The castle is guarded by Norwegian trolls by they aren’t very bright and their fairly blind. She’ll teach them how to mask their energy but it will drain them, Then Persy will have to do the counter spell. From there the keys will leave clues to find them. They leave subtle traces of their existence. The forest also has “Truth Test” that have dire consequences if you get the question wrong. Tomorrow she will take them to the edge of the Forest of Deprivation.

Shortly on their journey they run into a gnome who gives them a “Truth Test”. They get the right answer and He lets them pass. When they’ve made it past the trolls and Persy takes the energy mask off, they look around for something. They find an upside-down pentagram when turned there’s a door and inside the door is a scroll.

They find a red lever and when pulled reveals a door to a library. The door shuts locking them in. They look around the room but can’t find anything. Benson discovers that the three mirrors have hinges. When the light hits the mirrors a certain way books are illuminated. They notice a certain stone in the archway on the back wall. In the stone is a key. Persy find a switch on one of the bookshelves that opens the doors. As they leave, Melanthios watches them thinking they have the first of her 9 magical objects but they’ll meet again very soon.

On the way back, four ghost make them take another “Truth Test”. They guess the *riddle* and hurry to meet Laurel. Tomorrow they’ll find Fawna. The next day, Thad and Persy come across a boy named Wolfgang that helps Melanthios digging at something in a hole. He’s about to curse Thad but Persy’s amulet kicks in. It turns out the something is a toad. That’s really a shape-shifting unicorn. It spits out a pure stone made of orange calcite. Melanthios uses it all the time for enhancing and strenghting magic. He was told that if he took the stone, it would weaken her magic. As he leaves, Persy sees his tail turn scaly and a red-black color. Then he vanishes.

Persy, Thad, PC, and Benson tell Fawna about their adventure in Bodesnoir bringing back the key. With the key, Fawna and Durin free the fairies. Some go back to their trees. Others return to Munzes and the Magicals. There’s a parade with horses called a “Rade”. They’re introduced to Queen Bree and the Nymphs invite them to “Rose Arbor” and give them the honor of them showing them around their city. Persy notices a black spider jump into PC’s tail. Persy thinks she sees a red and black scaly tail vanish over the edge of the field.

All the resides of Rose Arbor are happy and content. They meet Zemeld (their key healer) and Delecta and Randy show them their Council House. They find out tho that there’s been a protective energy breach in the city. One of the guards by the Cave of Magical Crystal Seeds picked up a Black vibration. It seems to be coming from the Cave.

Delecta and Randy say when examining the Cave, they can detect something but its hiding incredibly well and keeps moving around. It’s small but definitely dark. They say they’ll come back at night. Randy and Delecta let Thad and Persy enter the Cave and select Crystal Seeds of their own. Persy chooses a green crystal and Thad chooses red. Persy’s crystal seems to have a black shadow attached and on the way back they all sense a black, cold, vibration.

Meanwhile, Melanthios has Time-Linxed to the early 1700’s to get the instructions how to use the Hand Candle so when the time comes, she’ll have no trouble getting the Cimaruta from Persephane. Laurel tells them what she knows. After 6 months working with Willow, Melanthios came home and she found a list. It listed the number one through nine. The first was the Cimaruta. At the top were the initials A. P.O. She knows that it was time for the opening of one of the major Dark Portals and if a First Order Black Witch ca accumulate the Nine Magical Objects outlined in the Book of Black Dominance they can be given the status of All Powerful. If Melanthois succeeds the Dark will rule over everything. The next object won’t be reveled until the previous is attained.

But it can go either way if the White Magic gets all the objects. Only Willow probably didn’t tell Melanthios this. Laurel tells Persy not only is she a First Order Witch btut she’s the High White Witch and will go up against Melanthios for the planets destiny. Melanthios uses a tunneling spell and graveyard dirt to get into Laurel’s house and knock them all out. Using the Hand of Glory to deepen the sleep, she and Tash (her spider) able to get the Cimaruta from Persy. Persy tries to think of a plan later that night to get the Cimaruta back but can’t come up with anything. Benson sneaks into Melanthio’s castle to try to see what her next move is but ends up not finding anything and getting caught by a shape shifter and given to Tash.

Tash tho takes him back home where Laurel and Persy heal him with the green crystal. Persephane, Thad, and Benson are sent back to Persy’s home and given the warning that Melanthios will notice their lack of energy. When they return, Robert prepares a BBQ for them. He feels a cold sensation behind him but when he turns there’s nothing there but a chipmunk. Persy sees this chipmunk with goat hooves. When she walks toward it the air becomes frigid. Then it takes off. So, Angelicia puts a protection spell on the house.

Because of the help of the feather, Persy and Thad are sent to get Vandoma-a gypsy-. Through her crystal ball she can sense the presence of the Cimaruta but its location is hidden by a masking spell. To get a clearer picture she needs a hagstone from the wizard Master Krack Ling who stole it from her and he’s in Beijing. Persy has a dream that she hears (sees) the words YOU ARE MINE! They follow Krang Ling into one of the buildings but he catches them, ties them up, and attempts to feed them to his creature with several heads that’s guarding the hagstone.

There’s a disturbance and when he goes to check on it, he sends in Gei’s because he doesn’t think his son can handle the task of guarding them. Persy is able to get them to free their binds with offerings of burnt food to the other side. They come up with a plan to knock Krang out with a gas and make him believe the stone is in one of the jars. They’re knock the stone off the pedestal. The plan works and they also get Krag’s ring (which controls manipulations and illustions) but once they Time-Lux, Persy drops the ring getting to the portal and a guard steps on it. When they get to Vandoma’s she’s not there.

Vandoma can now see that the Cimaruta is in the filagree of one of the mirror’s frames. They also see that Melanthios keeps something that’s a cross between goblins and zombies. (Goviskins?) Merv (a friend of Vadoma) says don’t let them attack from the rear and the key to defeat them is salf. There on the wall to the right is a message P YOU ARE MINE TO KILL. Before leaving, Vandoma gives her the hag stone. Persy is alerted to go back to Laurel’s. There will be a meeting of the magicals the next day. At the meeting, the Council present Persy with gifts to help her on her journey. When they get back to Laurel’s, Witch Hunters have surrounded her home and with them is Wolfgang.

When sneaking into Melanthios’s home, Benson sneezes and their appearance is revelad. Melanthios questions them for hours but when she can’t get anything from them, she throws them into a cave with her energy draining vampires. Thad finds a spot in the wall to escape and then disappears behind it. No one else can figure out what made the wall open. The Energy drain vampires start to approach but are scared off by Murph (who’s also a vampire). With the Sapphire of Truth they find the catch rescue Thad (who a vampire is holding with a knife to his throat), get Persy’s wand and the Cimaruta, and then get out of the castle. Outside Melanthios freezes them and kills Thad. Persy returns the favor and they run to Thad.

But it turns out Laurel just made it look like Thad was dead so Persy could be more accurate and focused on her spells because of the intense hatred. Angelica, Robert, Murphy, Bran, Benson, Persy and Thad all have dinner. Thad suggests they go find their parents. Persy says maybe. He comments how cool it is that they have the Cimaruta back but Persy says she still knows where they are.

My Thoughts:
*Saw that coming. (That the evil witch was the aunt).

*Hmm. Now being extremely visual I kinda have a problem with telling a person who's never experienced a magical portal for the first time to focus on a year you've not visited and a place you've never been. Shouldn't her mother (a more experienced witch) have gone with her the 1st time? Focusing on a candle and focusing on a place are entirely different things. I think she (the mother)should have at least opened a window and shown her where she was going looked like.

*Getting that key just felt too easy. If Melanthios is the evilest dark witch then unless she's got a plan in mind why didn't she do something to stop them? Are we supposed to believe already Persy's such a strong capable witch at 13 that she is able to get away with stealing the key at her first attempt? Unless it's the Cimatura charm that gave her protection. I have a feeling it was her behind the door's closing, but when she's looking out the window she seems to be anxious for their paths to cross again.

*I have always thought having a dragon would be fun. I guess I'm weird like that. When I played the Sims (the magic add-on) I raised one. Yeah, it was bad and burnt stuff up. But even now I have a stuffed one. But I'd never name it Prissy Cups.


*I especially loved (again as weird as this may sound) the chapter about how Willow takes Melanthios in and introduces her to the Black Book Of Dominance. I guess it's just the thought of being taken in and being guided toward your greatest potential. Even if it is dark. I thought it was a great background to show how she starts down that path.

*I hated that the ring got crushed. It really could have come in handy.

*I like how all the Magical Community's strengths tied in accurately with their heritage and how they all aided Persephone on her journey.

*The end battle felt very quick. I know it was necessary to evoke Persy's anger to deal the final blow, but it just doesn't feel quite right to me to play with someone's emotions in that extreme a way. Death is a hard enough thing to deal with. What if after that she has nightmares about what took place?

Rated 7. This book had everything a fantasy lover would want in a book. It had fairies. It had witches. It had unicorns and dragons. It had magic and magical objects. It had goblins and all kinds of fantasy creatures. Some hideous. The plot was REALLY GOOD! It was adventurous and colorful. The action went quickly and didn't drag. It was suspenseful and keeps your attention from page to page. The end leaves you anxious to engage yourself in the next journey. And quite frankly I'm surprised that there are only two books in this series. I eagerly look forward to the next because I just have to know if all the nine objects are found? Does Melanthios keep trying to get the Cimaruta and come to Percy's realm? And who becomes "All Powerful One". Although I kinda know the answer to that.

[Michael Bierbaum · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a good story. I personally have a problem with present tense narrative. I liked the characters and the plot otherwise.

[Apricity · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for honest review.
It started out promising but I couldn't even read till 10th chapter.