Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.” —Groucho Marx

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Winter's Legacy by Andre Alan--A Review

Title: Winter's Legacy
Author: Andre Alan
Genre: YA, Sci-Fi, Epic Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery, Action & Adventure
ISBN-13: 978-0-9908999-0-7

Mini-Synopsis:

Thame Elliot is the Legacy of Winter and with the magically enchanted Tundra Sword at his side, he must stop his evil twin, Miles Xavier from covering the world in darkness. Thame lost his mother before he was born and lost his father to betrayal at the age of ten. Now, they get the chance to meet each other and become a family.
 
The Orcs and Dark Elves have formed an alliance and with the help of the other evil races on planet Threa like the Goblins, Trolls and Frost Giants plan to end the humans, Elves, Gnomes and Dwarves once and for all.
 
Despite all of these threats, Thame must also protect his new family on Threa where his wife and baby girl are under the constant threat of death because of their bloodline and status. Thame must not only try to keep his growing family safe but also try to save the world from the coming war. 

Author Bio:

Andre Alan is from Hartford, CT and attended college in New Haven, CT. After graduating with a degree in International Business and a brief career as an IT Data Analyst, Andre Alan decided to follow his lifelong passion of creating fiction entertainment. With a small amount of artistic talent, he has released a comic book which is available only at the EVapor ENT official website. He has published a moderately successful Epic Fantasy novel titled Winter's Legacy which is currently available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. In his free time, Andre Alan is an avid video gamer (when time permits) and an lover of ramen noodles. Andre Alan is a sports fanatic and a lifelong student of business and entertainment.

Excerpt:

Chapter Eight – The Prophetic Message
 
 
 
 
Storming away from the house, Thame climbed into the waiting hover car and slammed the door shut.  His customary frown was plastered on his face with renewed vigor.  It hurt Thame to keep secrets from his wife.  However, he felt as if there were no choice, what he was doing was entirely too dangerous to risk getting her involved.  Yet, Thame knew that he needed these people on his side if he wanted to be successful in striping power from the pope and the admiral. 
The hover-shuttle touched down in the Ardile suburbs where two and three story houses mirrored one another.  Once inside the home, he was escorted to a basement deep within the bowels of the one story house.  Entering the sand colored, sound proof room, sealing the five meter thick steel door behind him, Thame Elliot let a half smile creep across his deeply shaded face.  He looked around the dimly lit room at the assortment of brown, white, grey and black hooded cloaks pulled down low, obscuring faces in deep shadows.
Men and women stood clustered together shoulder to shoulder, eagerly murmuring to themselves in wonderment at the new arrival.  Even without the large hoods, Thame would not have been able to identify anyone underneath their masks.  He wanted it this way so that each participant in attendance identities’ could remain anonymous.  Whether his guests worked in the Tarrin Bastion, located on the small island in the Gulf of Saint Paul which was only a few hundred kilometers off the eastern shore of Ardile or spent the majority of their time worshipping in the Pope’s Palace which was in the nation to the east, Villus, he knew they would eventually come into contact with one another since they were all priest belonging to the Tarrin faith.
               “I’m glad that you all could make it here tonight,” said Thame.  Removing the hood from his head, he could hear audible gasps of shock and awe sweep across the room.  Clapping his hands together, fingers intertwined in intricate patterns to form ancient hand seals to channel his mana.  Thame cast a spell to amply his voice so everyone in the room could hear him clearly.  “I wanted everyone in this room to see me and know my face.  I want everyone here to know who I am and why I’m here.  I want each of you to understand who is bringing you this information.”  Double checking that the door was locked behind him, Thame jumped down the short flight of steps to stand on even footing with the people gathered at his request.  “It’s of upmost importance that what I say to you in this room remains secret.   Some of you may think that what I’m about to say is blasphemous but I implore you to hear me out.  I believe deep down in my soul that it’s necessary to get this information out to the people.  I’ll try to keep this as brief as possible.”  Thame walked through the crowd and gently touched a shoulder or arm in passing.  He paused in his speech and took a deep breath before continuing.  “The Pope, Ren Saint Paul is corrupt and must be removed from power.”
After hearing that, many people in the room gasped aloud and talked amongst themselves in hushed voices.  Some of them almost fainted and would have hit the floor if not for the room being packed like pickles in a jar.
Thame was unsure if he had made these initiate priests angry enough to harm him physically but either way, he could not stop.  Unperturbed, he continued his speech.  “Despite the rumors that many of you have heard or have been led to believe, my aunt, Empress Autumn Augustus is not at fault for the East Coast assault by the Orcs.  This predicament our nation currently finds itself in, who some may call war, is due to the acts of Pope Ren Saint Paul and his secret society, Epsilon Eridini.  I was on the classified mission to Heldefolan and present when several powerful paladins of your order were killed.  Inna, Joshua, and Liam were my brothers; we shed blood together and they gave their lives so that I could be here today.  This tragedy need not have happened.  All of the ill fortune that has befallen our great nation of Eioda could have been avoided if the Pope was not consumed by greed.”
Additional shocked gasps and rumbling murmurs swept across the room.
“Yes, that is correct.”  Thame continued with sweeping hand gestures to emphasize his points while walking through the crowded room.  “The holiest man on this planet is one of the greatest sinners in human history.  I implore each of you to search your heart for what you know to be right.  If you still don’t believe me then search the archives for the hidden facts.  Have none of you wondered about the spectacular gifts and powers that the Church has obtained in such a short period of time.  Well I can tell you, it’s due to the covert mission I went on with Inna, Joshua and Liam.  We traveled to the other side of Threa, to the eastern hemisphere and encroached onto the Orc homeland of Heldefolan.  While in the Orc capital city we broke into an ancient temple of Enigmone.  We located the ancient and long lost treasure: the Consummate of the Trust.”
The room exploded with groups breaking into shouting matches at the revelation Thame had brought to their awareness.  Thame waited for the people gathered to quiet down before continuing.
“That’s right, the Consummate of the Trust is not just a legend,” said Thame with a broad smile. “The ancient and powerful artifact spoken of in the holy book, The Tales of Arcadia which is the basis of the Tarrin faith has been found.  What they have told you is nothing more than malicious lies and cover-ups undertaken by a rogue faction of the government in conjunction with the Tarrin faith.  The Epsilon Eridini society has infiltrated every facet of our lives and if we let them, they will destroy this world.  Each of you must leave now and never speak of what has taken place here tonight.  Go your separate ways and return to your homes with the serious thought in mind that we must force the Pope to step down.”
At the completion of his speech and before Thame could reach the exit, an explosion rocked the basement and sent people flying across the room along with blood and body parts.  Two men emerged from the chaos of people running and screaming towards the exit.  They threw off their hoods and masks.  Two young men with clean shaven heads and golden eyes rushed towards Thame.
“The EES sends you a message Snow!” yelled an ebony skinned young man with tattoos covering his face and hands.  He pulled a dagger from his waist with a blade the size of his forearm.
“They say for you to die now traitor!” shouted the other pale skinned youth as he produced a curved dagger of his own.  “Just like your father!”
Converging on Thame simultaneously, they thrust their daggers at him but were stopped short by the instant cast spell of the Ice Shield by the Tundra Sword.  Rising slowly with a frown and death blazing in his brown eyes, Thame unsheathed the Tundra Sword and quickly dispatched the two would-be assassins.  Standing there in a daze, staring down at the two dead men, Thame knew they were sent by the pope due to their golden eyes which were only attainable by going through the Tarrin faith Paladin introduction ritual.  They were not full-fledged Paladins since they were not wearing the designated blonde top-not or else he might not have made it out of this room alive.  His thoughts instantly went to the words of his wife when he had left their home earlier that night.  Approaching sirens shook Thame from his pondering.  He sprinted out of the house and thrust himself into his awaiting hover shuttle which streaked away into the night sky traffic.



Twitter: @AndreAlanAuthor


FROM MY PERSPECTIVE:

Winter's Legacy is the second book in the newly named Heaven's Trilogy series.   I have not read the first in the series, Heaven's Fate.   But if the second book in the series is anything to go by, I would recommend the series to fans of fantasy and high adventure.   It is a combination of fantasy, sci-fi, mythology and after-life adventure.   

Although this is a genre not at the top of my reading preferences, I enjoyed reading the story and following the adventures of Thame and his pre-ordained life and death.   The character of Thame is probably the best developed character in the book but I enjoyed meeting his wife and newborn daughter as well as his wife's parents and brother, Cyrus.   I had a little trouble identifying who Thame's real enemies were, since he seemed to be friends with those who were not so loyal to him.   But again, Thame was considered Winter's Legacy and had been foretold of in prophecy.   He was a decent man and sought to do right for his society.  He was also a learned man and well suited to leadership, although he was also hot headed and lacking the wisdom of the mature.

His adventures after his death as he tried to return to the land of the living and protect his wife and his daughter, was heroic and full of wild adventure.   His journey meant traveling through the nine levels of hell and making conquest after conquest in order to succeed in his mission.   Many befriended Thame and many tried to stop him and send his soul to hell forever.

I rated this fantasy tale a 3.5 rating and will recommend that my grandsons consider reading it.    I would love to know their take on this writing by Andre Alan.


Disclaimer:  I read for my pleasure.   I may receive ARC copies for review purposes, but I am not compensated for my reviews .  I like to read and I like to share my reviews.   I post my thoughts without prejudice or bias.  The words are mine and I write reviews based on my humble opinion.  I will admit, I seldom meet a book I don't like. I received a complimentary copy from the author or the author’s representatives in exchange for an honest review.



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