Reviewed
by: ?wazithinkin
Approximate
word count: 10-11,000 words
Availability
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Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store
Author:
“Melinda Brasher spends her time writing fiction,
traveling, and teaching English as a second language in places like Poland,
Mexico, the Czech Republic, and Arizona. Her talents include navigating by
old-fashioned map, combining up to three languages in a single incomprehensible
sentence, and dealing cards really, really fast. Her short fiction and travel
writing appear in Ellipsis Literature and
Art, Enchanted Conversation, Go Nomad, International Living, and others.”
Learn more about Ms. Brasher at her website or check out
her blog; Have Book, Will Travel.
Description:
“The day the hill tiger attacks young Hala realizes excitedly
that she may have the gift. As time passes, however, she wonders what good it
is: a power that manifests itself only in the ability to accidentally summon
animals at inconvenient times. The local mage hasn't been able to teach her to
control it, and she can't even reliably summon her own sheep. Then one day she
returns home to find a black-cloaked stranger holding her village under a
terrible spell. Alone, she must find a way to save her family, her friends, and
the boy who has finally begun to notice her.”
Appraisal:
This short story is a prequel to Far-Knowing:
A Young Adult Fantasy Novel. It gives us an introduction to the fantasy
world the author has created and the evil Chaos Mage that is terrorizing the
kingdom with insights from the victims’ point of view. Hala is a young girl who
has yet to figure out how to control her psychic gift, which seems rather
pointless to her at the time, and the local mage is having a difficult time
teaching her how to access and master her power.
The plot moves fast and gives readers a nice introduction to how magic
works in this world. The Chaos Mage seems larger than life and evil to the
core. It’s going to be interesting to see how this village rises from the ashes
and watch Hala come into her own as a magic-wielder as the story progresses.
Format/Typo
Issues:
No significant errors.
Rating:
**** Four stars
2 comments:
Wow..she should write about her own life! Traveling around the world is my dream!
Edge of Your Seat Stories
It looks like Ms. Brasher has some travel essays in her short story book Leaving Home. Thanks for stopping in and commenting Raquel.
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