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Book Cover |
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Excerpt |
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Training Begins for Beni . . .
"In the
first test, I'll give you a command. Listen for it and obey me. Go to
your practice spot and focus on me." The six Commanders stood several
yards behind and to the left of Mo Demz. A scene opened before them. Off
to Beni's right front, a demon came into view. Twenty feet before Beni
six small children played in the dirt. Beni's magic emerged instantly;
he drew his knife. "Beni, go around the children," Mo Demz commanded.
Beni plowed through the children as he charged the demon. The scene
ended. Beni looked confused. Mo Demz told Quin to remove his belt and
give Beni a single stroke. Afterwards, Mo Demz' expression remained
stern when he said, "Drai, step to me." When Drai complied, Mo Demz
whispered to him. To Beni he said, "This time you father will give you a
command. Listen and obey him." The scene
showed Beni in the dining hall as he stood and reached for his long
knife.
"Beni," Drai
commanded, "do not draw your knife." Beni's hand hesitated, and then he
emitted his war cry and drew his knife. The scene ended.
Mo Demz
said, "Moda, remove your belt and whip Beni with one stroke." Moda
whipped Beni, and placed him on his feet. When the same scene was
repeated, Drai once again commanded Beni not to draw his knife. Beni
stopped with a confused look, and then drew his knife. The scene ended.
Mo Demz commanded, "Raza, remove your belt and whip Beni with one
stroke." Raza whipped him and set him on his feet.
Beni lowered
his head as he fought the urge to cry. Mo Demz was unmoved as he waited
for Beni to look at him. Drai stood with his jaw set, his face hard and
his heart aching for his son.
"Beni," Mo
Demz commanded, "look at me." Beni blinked away tears as he looked up.
"Obey the command of your father." Once again, the scene took place in
the dining hall, and Drai commanded his son not to draw his knife. It
appeared Beni was going to obey when he hesitated even longer with his
hand on the hilt, but again he failed. The scene ended. Mo Demz looked
at Drai and flashed three fingers.
Drai removed
his belt and detached his knife. He doubled the belt as he approached
Beni. "You will obey me." He lifted and whipped Beni three strokes. Drai
put him on his feet. "Stand straight," he commanded, "and face Mo Demz."
Again the scene appeared. Drai commanded, "Beni, do not draw your
knife." |
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Synopsis |
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In Haven's Hold, Mo Demz and
his five Commanders (Drai, Raza, Moda, Quin and Cord), who he has made
into his sons, have lived for thousands of years. they worship Azar, the
god that created the land and the people.
Azar's evil brother, Condragon,
has assembled five evil warlocks and witches that have a lot of power.
Azar has chosen five teenagers to battle those chosen by Condragon, and
Drai and Raza are sent to fetch the chosen (Beni, Dane, Jenda, Vina and
Dell). Upon returning to Haven's Hold, the five chosen begin their
training. Beni has a lot of magic in him, but does not know how to
control it.
Drai, the commander that has been with Mo Demz the longest,
turns out to also be a powerful wizard. Then, it is revealed that his Mo
Demz' flesh and blood son. Mar, who has been accepted as the sixth
Commander, travels to the south and gathers a few more people to help
the cause.
The Chosen of Azar
is the first book in The Fifth Age Chronicles fantasy series by Carol
Kluz.
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Review |
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I love a great fantasy novel
with fantastic characters, magic, and swordfights. Although
The Chosen of Azar
has many of these things in them, it is not a great book. The idea is
sound, but the execution is lacking. In most books of fiction, the
reader needs to find the main character and enjoy reading about them.
I
never bonded with any of the characters and found that I didn't really
care what happened to them. I also had a problem with the main character
changing in the middle of the book to another character. First it was Beni then it became Drai.
And then there is the spanking and whipping.
If Beni or the other Chosen do something wrong, they are spanked. We are
talking about 16 and 17 year old teenagers. Spanked? There are all kinds
of punishment other than hitting that can be used to help correct
behavior, but spanking only instills a sense of fear in the abused. I
had a major problem with this.
The other major issue I had with
The Chosen of Azar
is the touchy-feely emotions of all of the men in this book. Everyone
seems to be crying telling each other that they love their new father or
new children, even though they are getting whipped and spanked by these
new fathers. Something seems very twisted, demented and perverted in
those relationships.
I struggled greatly to get through this fantasy
novel and found it to be quite substandard. I only hope that this book
gets rewritten and the series goes through some major changes before it
is actually published.
I rated this book a 4 out of
10.
NOTE: After
reading my review, and some others of her book, Carol Kluz has decided
to remove all of the "corporal punishment" scenes from the pages. In my
opinion, this will make it easier to like the Commanders and not be as
confused as I was with their relationship with the Chosen. |
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