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Showing posts with label Marsha A. Moore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marsha A. Moore. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Book Review: Seeking a Scribe by Marsha A. Moore

This is an 'enchanted' world and a fun, action-packed adventure.
Seeking a Scribe: Enchanted Bookstore Legend One (Enchanted Bookstore Legends)
by Marcia A. Moore
  • File Size: 494 KB
  • Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B007JVYSSI
Genre: Fantasy Romance
My Rating:  4.25 of 5.0


Book Description
Publication Date: March 12, 2012
Lyra McCauley is a writer and loves fantasy novels, but until she opens a selection from bookstore owner Cullen Drake, she has no idea he’s a wizard character who lives a double life inside that volume…or the story’s magic will compel her from the edge of depression to adventure, danger, and love.
His gift to Lyra, the Book of Dragonspeir, was actually her copy, misplaced years ago. Lost in her pain following divorce and death, she fails to recognize him as her childhood playmate from the fantasyland. Friendship builds anew. Attraction sparks. But Lyra doubts whether a wizard is capable of love. She’s torn—should she protect her fragile heart or risk new love?
Opening the book’s cover, she confronts a quest: save Dragonspeir from destruction by the Black Dragon before he utilizes power of August’s red moon to expand his strength and overthrow the opposing Imperial Dragon. Lyra accepts the challenge, fearing Cullen will perish if evil wins. Along with magical animal guides, Cullen helps her through many perils, but ultimately Lyra must use her own power…and time is running out.

Review:
Lyra returns to her home town for the summer to help take care of her last living relative, Aunt Jean, who is going through cancer treatments. Lyra has been saddened and depressed in the past year by the death of her parents and her unhappy divorce. She hopes to find peace and quiet but soon finds adventure, danger and romance instead. Lyra plans to write a book during the summer... and has no idea how true that will be. I liked how Ms. Moore used Lyra’s efforts to write a book to merge into her adventure as a scribe for the magical world of Dragonspeir.

Lyra walks into a ‘new’ bookstore in town and meets Cullen Drake who seems familiar to her. Cullen claims to have a special book for her and it turns out to be her own childhood journal of magical, enchanted visits made 25 years before. Now Cullen asks her to open the book again and step through to Dragonspeir where she has a special quest to save the realm from the evil Black Dragon. She must journey to meet the Black Dragon, write her experiences and have one person read the story before the deadline of the Red Moon.

There are wonderful friends with magical abilities: owls, deer, squirrels, fairy sprites, talking tree guardians and many more. There are also some strange friends and associates who Lyra isn’t sure can be trusted. Of course there are fearsome enemies too including sea monsters, poisonous dragons and other creatures with glowing eyes in the dark.

I loved the band that helps Lyra on her quest and I especially like the pseudodragon, Noba, and the dragon hatchling, Yasqu. They are sweet and playful. I want my own pet dragon!!  I’d love to read more of Noba and Yasqu. And I liked Sheridan too, the cicada in Drake’s bookstore who put Lyra off by his rather brash and leering introduction.

The story moves along at a good pace for the most part. There is a slower section near the end where Lyra deals with a death, funeral and grief. I at first wondered what this added but then thought it has a two-fold purpose. It shows that life in the “real world” goes on and must be dealt with. Also, it gave reason for grief that could distract Lyra and cause her to struggle to get the story written within the deadline.

Throughout the adventure Lyra and Cullen grow together in caring and sensual attraction. I liked that both the wizard and Lyra were shown with frailties that they had to overcome. There is a bit of repetition of Lyra’s longings to have a life with Cullen and wondering if it is possible. I thought the kissing scenes to be a bit amateurish, or perhaps I just found them awkward in what would otherwise be a wonderful story for young folks. In my thinking the sexual intimacy could have been left to the imagination and the reading base for the story would have been expanded.

Ms. Moore has created a marvelous, lush, magical, visual feast. I have to admit that the story of evil threatening to overtake the good in the magical land reminded me a bit of The Neverending Story due to its rich descriptions and fantastical creatures. But this is a wonderful, imaginative story of its own merit. Although this story had closure, there are several mysteries remaining for more adventure including secrets of Lyra’s heritage and more threats by the Black Dragon.   I recommend this story to those who love magical worlds of adventure but caution that not all scenes are appropriate for younger readers.

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An example of the fine descriptions:
The light wind twirled the foliage around and caused it to whistle softly. The shade and breeze refreshed the exposed skin of Lyra’s face and shoulders, overly warm from the hike.
“That’s a lovely chorus with each leaf playing a different note,” she said.  Location 550.

Finding the dragon baby in her computer document:
Closer inspection revealed the beast to be a dragon, covered in small, translucent, glodenbrown scales with a row of now white spines along its neck, back and tail. It shimmered with a haze of gold. Location 988.

Thank you to the author and Bewitching Blog Tour for the book to read and review. Don't miss the author's guest post and the Giveaway link at the bottom of that post.
Read the author guest post with a link to Giveaway at the end. 
Find the full blog tour list here or at Bewitching Book Tours post HERE.

Magical Creatures - Guest Post by Marsha A. Moore, Author of Seeking a Scribe; Tour Giveaway

Four Chinese Animals/Elements of Creation—Four Guardians of the Enchanted Bookstore Legends
by Marsha A. Moore
My series, Enchanted Bookstore Legends, has two worlds, reality and a parallel fantasy world called Dragonspeir. The organization of magical power and leadership in that land is based upon the balanced system of the four Chinese elements of creation: earth, fire, water, air. Chinese mythology ties those elements to sacred animals that foretell future events. The unicorn is supposed to spring from the center of the earth as the phoenix represents fire, the tortoise water, and the dragon air.

For my legends, I selected those four animals as the four Guardians who collectively govern the Alliance. That is the realm of Dragonspeir which is good and fair, opposing the Dark Realm led by the Black Dragon. My heroine, Lyra McCauley, confronts a quest: save Dragonspeir from destruction by the Black Dragon before he utilizes power of August’s red moon to expand his strength and overthrow the opposing Imperial Dragon. Lyra accepts the challenge. She fears that the wizard she loves, Cullen Drake, will perish if evil wins since his immortality is dependent upon Alliance magic.

The unicorn represents the earth element. From times of the Ming dynasty, the unicorn was specially praised its ability to discriminate between good and evil. It would gore only the wicked with its single horn. Emperor Shun, the first law-giver, employed a minister who had such a beast in his court to do just that. My Guardian Unicorn is very powerful and a tough character, a sort of bad-ass, but fair to a fault. He judges whether Lyra is ready to begin her quest.

The phoenix, a legendary bird with brilliant colors, lived more than one life. It consumed itself by fire periodically, and a new young phoenix sprang from the ashes. In Chinese mythology, the phoenix symbolizes fire. Within its spirit, the Feng Hwang bird contains the balance of the solar Yang and the lunar Yin powers. The phoenix is called the Empress because it represents qualities of beauty and peace. I titled my Phoenix Guardian as the Lady of Peace, appearing only during happy times. She presides over the Meadow of Peace, a quiet collection of villages in the Alliance territory.

The third animal, the tortoise or turtle, represents water and was thought to be a model of the world. Its upper shell curved like the vault of the heavens, its lower shell flat like the Chinese envisioned the Earth at that time. They read the future in the pattern on the tortoise’s shell. The animal is perceived as a symbol of longevity and wisdom. My Tortoise Guardian is in charge of keeping the history of Dragonspeir for the Alliance. He commands a vast library of records and magical documents. Lyra and the higher magical depend on his resources to fight evil.

The dragon, the fourth prophetic animal, was a divine creature that signified wisdom and represented air. For centuries, it was the imperial emblem. The emperor’s throne was called the Dragon Throne and his face was called the Dragon Face. It was said that when an emperor died, he ascended to heaven riding on the back of a dragon. The celestial dragon, T’ien Lung, is sometimes represented as holding up the sky. For these reasons, in the Enchanted Bookstore Legends, I gave my Imperial Dragon the title of Head Guardian. He serves as a wise leader, coordinating the actions of the other three Guardians. In charge of the air element, he is expert in the magic craft of mystic astronomy, reading and gaining power from the stars by using an array of unusual instruments.

Additionally, astrological signs are grouped in a similar manner, according to their dominant elements of earth, fire, water, and air. In my books, residents of Dragonspeir who inherit magical tendencies must learn to utilize their dominant element in order to control and develop their abilities. Lyra, like all Scribes, is born under a fire sign and must learn to communicate with the main star of the Aries constellation—her birthmate star—in order to utilize her vast powers. This is awkward and she must work hard to master the techniques.

These four animals and the elements they represent were believed by the Chinese to make up all of creation. The realm of the fantasy world in the Enchanted Bookstore Legends that is good and fair embraces this balance. From this foundation, I utilized many more ties to Chinese mythology. 
Read more about those in Seeking a Scribe: Enchanted Bookstore Legend One. 
Purchase Now at Amazon for only 99 cents 
Author Bio:

Marsha A. Moore is a writer of fantasy romance. The magic of art and nature spark life into her writing. Her creativity also spills into watercolor painting and drawing. After a move from Toledo to Tampa in 2008, she’s happily transforming into a Floridian, in love with the outdoors. Crazy about cycling, she usually passes the 1,000 mile mark yearly. She is learning kayaking and already addicted. She’s been a yoga enthusiast for over a decade and that spiritual quest helps her explore the mystical side of fantasy. She never has enough days spent at the beach, usually scribbling away at new stories with toes wiggling in the sand. Every day at the beach is magical!

Website: http://MarshaAMoore.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/MarshaAMoore
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marshaamooreauthorpage
Fantasy Faction staff page: http://fantasy-faction.com/staff-members?uid=38
Goodreads author page http://www.goodreads.com/marshaamoore
Google + https://plus.google.com/u/0/100564214132835514192/posts

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