The Golden Vial by Thomas Locke

When a hidden evil threatens to destroy the realm, a young orphan, untested and untrained, could mean the difference between victory and total defeat.
Vulnerable and weakened by grief after a terrible loss, Hyam has been struck by a mysterious illness that threatens to claim his life. Seeking to help Hyam and restore the realm, Queen Shona travels to Hyam's remote hometown to find answers and offer aid.

Dally has always had abilities far beyond those of a normal human--far-seeing and magic come naturally to her. Before the arrival of Shona and her army, Dally had always kept her abilities secret. But with an ancient evil bearing down on her village and the fate of the realm hanging in the balance, the orphaned servant girl steps forward to do what no one else can. Will the battle claim more than Dally is willing to give?

I am certain that I read the first book in this series, Emissary. But, I think I missed the second book. However, even with that gap in the series, this book was still fantastic. There was enough information given to help the book stand on its own. Locke does a great job building a world. And I like how this book focused on a new character. I appreciate how the women characters are the focus of the story and fill almost all of the leadership positions. This added depth to the series and gave more directions for following books to go. I also like how Locke has taken some of the standard elements in fantasy novels (dragons, magic, etc.) and taken them in a new and interesting directions. For example, the magic wands need to be "recharged" after being used for a certain amount of time. Those elements felt familiar and fresh at the same time. The end felt a bit rushed, but I really enjoyed my time in this world and with the characters. Highly recommended to those who love a good fantasy novel and I look forward to seeing what comes next.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

Comments

A Perspective

I have already mentioned my "Word of the Day" screen saver that I have on my laptop that is hooked up to the projector in my room. I am learning that the words go in cycles a bit, so the same word will pop up in several classes during the day. Today's popular word was "entitlement." A fantastic word to share with teenagers who often think they are entitled to a whole lot of stuff. In fact, we as humans often think we are entitled to a whole lot of stuff when really we are fallen people who deserve nothing but death. We so often miss how wonderful and blessed our life really is and we get caught up on the little things. This video sort of puts that in perspective in a rather humorous way. I am by no means promoting this comedian, but if you take what he says to heart, it is so true. We live in an amazing world, created by an amazing God. We really should be happy with the blessing we have been given.

Getting Big...And Strong

Mataya went back in to be weighed earlier this week. While she did not jump back on her growth curve, she did gain over a pound in the last month, so the doctor is not worried at all. She is just going to have a new curve, I guess. In other news, she is getting really strong and can move around. I am not really sure how she does it, but she is never where I leave her when she is laying on the floor. She uses a combination of rolling and scooting. In the picture below, she started out sort of by the red ring that is half under the blue chair. That is a pretty good distance to cover when you can't even crawl. Thankfully she is pretty slow, so she hasn't gotten into too much trouble yet.

The 49th Mystic by Ted Dekker

In the small town of Eden, Utah, a blind girl named Rachelle Matthews is about to find out just how wrong. When a procedure meant to restore Rachelle's sight goes awry, she begins to dream of another world so real that she wonders if Earth might only be a dream experienced when she falls asleep in that reality. She is the prophesied one who must find and recover five ancient seals--in both worlds--before powerful enemies destroy her. If Rachelle succeeds in her quest, peace will reign. If she fails, both worlds will forever be locked in darkness. I am a big Ted Dekker fan, and became a fan when I read the Circle Series. So when I heard Ted was writing more books in the Circle world, I could not wait to go back. And Dekker did not dissappoint. The only thing I don't like about this book is that I have to wait until October to get the second half of the story. Dekker is a master world builder and write interesting a complex characters. And Dekker masterfully weaves truth throu...

The Talens' Tales

Search This Blog