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Book Cover |
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Excerpt |
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Laris
Turns on Her Brother
Kòdobos, having finally
gotten up from the floor, said, "Maybe you are stronger somehow, Laris,
but if you have to give up all that's good in you to become stronger,
then Anyr is right. You are weak!"
"Shut up!" cried Laris.
Suddenly, a lightning bolt came forth from her outstretched hand and
struck Kòdobos, but his shield deflected the blast, causing beams of
fire to rain down upon the sundered stone floor beneath him.
"A power even greater than
that of the gods is upon you, little brother. Now you shall learn true
sorrow," said Laris, who was so overcome by her anger that she no longer
even remembered that Kòdobos was her brother. A dark shadow came upon
Kòdobos and broke the floor apart beneath him, hurling him afterward
into the air.
"Stop is, Laris. Please!"
cried Anyr. But Laris did not hear her sister's cries. Yet, for a
passing moment, it seemed that there was still some small mercy left in
her.
"My battle is not with you,
Anyr. You should leave now or you will share Kòdobos' fate."
"I cannot leave Kòdobos. He
needs me!" said Anyr.
"Then I will have to kill
you both!" said Laris. |
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Synopsis |
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In the kingdom of Kaldan,
the High Queen Rhiannon has demanded that King Krüge hand over ten young
girls every year. No one knows what happens to these girls, they only
know that the girls are never seen again. This payment keeps the kingdom
safe from any attack by Rhiannon. But when the kings oldest daughter,
Laris, is about to be selected, his youngest daughter, Anyr, fools the
guards with some magic and is taken instead.
When the king does nothing
to stop the abduction, the king's only son, Kòdobos, who is only ten
years old, steals his father's sword and pursues his sister and her
adductors. In the process of rescuing her, he loses his father's sword.
Unbeknownst to him, the sword is what has kept Kaldan safe from magical
attack. But with the sword missing, a mysterious, magical sleeping spell
falls upon the kingdom of Kaldan. Only the royal children are spared and
awaken one morning to find every person in Kaldan asleep.
Determined to
save their kingdom, they begin a journey to Rhiannon's castle with the
intent of defeating the evil High Queen and restoring their kingdom. But
along the way, they face many dangers that threaten to separate the
children and eventually turns one of them against the other two.
Will
these three children be able to overcome the very powerful Rhiannon and
save their kingdom? Or, will High Queen be able take over all the
kingdoms with her new-found powerful ally?
The Legend of Witch Bane is
a fantasy book written by Kevis Hendrickson. It is the story of three
children trying to save their kingdom from an evil queen. This book is intended for readers ages 10 and up.
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Review |
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Fantasy has been my favorite genre for
about 30 years. I love a good adventure story with a lot of fighting and
a pilgrimage to save a kingdom from an evil mage, or something. The
Legend of Witch Bane is this type of story and I enjoyed it
thoroughly.
The three children are wonderfully written and Rhiannon is
bad enough to be considered greedy for power, but not so evil that you
cannot stand her. The few illustrations in the book by Karen Petrasko
are wonderful. It makes me wonder why they picked Michael Graham to do
the cover. It is a horribly goofy picture and you can tell that he
didn't read the story because he got the picture so wrong. In my
opinion, Karen Petrasko should have done the cover, as her illustrations
were spot on.
As for the story, it needs a small amount of editing, but
that can be overlooked as the story is quite exciting and young readers
will eat it up. The heros move on from one adventure to another and have
to battle their way through a multitude of nasty creatures to achieve
their goal. And what could be worse that having your own sibling turn
against you? When Rhainnon corrupts Laris, who may be the most power
person alive because she is half fairy, Kòdobos and Anyr don't know what
to do. Would you? The pace of the book is fast the and the story is
highly interesting and will keep a young reader fully engrossed.
Overall, The Legend of Witch Bane is a great fantasy novel for
young readers and I highly recommend it. I look forward to seeing what
Kevis Hendrickson will do next.
I rated this book an 8½ out of
10. |
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