Kindle Edition Amazon Trafford publishing Category:  Fantasy Publisher: Trafford Publishing ISBN-10:  1412089301 Type: Fiction Pages: 410 Copyright: 2004-2006 ISBN-13: 9781412089302 Price: $9.99 (eBook) >>Chapter Download for Book #1 on other listing page. Can now Read up to Chapter 5!!<< World of Zaylyn - 2 - Quest For The Sword Fragments And The Hunt For Dranngore (World of Zaylyn #1(2nd edition) is INCLUDED in book #2 as a DOUBLE-VOLUME) (Download button to read Chapter 1 of Book #2, warning, spoilers from Book #1) Enter the World of Zaylyn. This is a world filled with strange creatures, magic, and mystery. This is the continued story, in the quest for the Sword of Anthrowst. Evil, malicious creatures called Killnarin have entered this world to do the bidding of an insane wizard named Dranngore. Can this horrible man control these beasts as he believes? Vordin has been told that the evil wizard had to be slain by the Sword of Anthrowst in order to send the creatures back to where they came from. Lorenta, the mysterious being who is spider by day and human at night, has taken on this quest with him. The two thieves, an elf named Candra and Dendrox her human companion, have also joined Vordin in this quest, as has the amateur wizard Weena, Nodwel the axe-wielding dwarf, and the berserk warrior woman Asdella. Discovering that the sword had been broken into three pieces and hidden away in three separate locations, the group continues on what seems like a hopeless quest. Through the help of the giant spiders, a message was relayed to Lorenta that Dranngore is seeking revenge on the wizard's guild for denying him membership and that it would be several days before the Killnarin made their next move. After Asdella brutally takes revenge on a man from her past, the group must flee Vackiindmire and have decided to make their way to the town of Shirkint. They desperately hope that they will be able to discover more information about the sword there. Vexcindor, the carriage driver, is to take them through the forest to Shirkint, but will they run into trouble? They were warned about the increasing raids by the bandits within the forest. Are the rumors true about a thieves guild being located at Shirkint? It seems that The Black Shadow has been guiding them along from the beginning. Does he have some sinister plan for the group? He eventually asks them to perform a task for him, but what are his true motives for helping them as he has? Will he eventually turn on them as Asdella fears? Does Asdella know more about The Black Shadow than she is letting on? His hold over the hunger is quickly diminishing the more he resists. Will he be able to keep himself from killing? Will The Black Shadow be able to stop himself from attacking and feeding from one of the group?         Excerpt (World of Zaylyn #1 is included with book #2 as a double-volume) (book #1: 66 chapters, book #2: 85 chapters) Chapters: 151 total 312,879 words total together page size 19cm by 26 cm. (2019 page size changed to 6x9 inches) ---------------------

Writer's Digest judge's commentary
(of book #1 only)

Category: Genre Fiction

(scale 1-5 poor=1 excellent=5)
Plot:4
Grammar:5
Character development:4
Cover design:5

= Writer's Digest judge's commentary:

== The cover is intriguing. I was particularly curious about the cloaked figure on the left-hand side of the picture. The author has clearly drawn a vivid word picture of the setting and characters in her book, Quest for the Sword of Anthrowst. This story of the forces of good and evil is strongly told, with sympathetic characters and obvious villians. The dialogue is interesting and for the most part natural. The narrative is written in a very clear, straightforward manner. The author's voice is strong and consistent, with intersting word choices and clever phrases.


Category: Mainstream/Literary Fiction

= Writer's Digest judge's commentary:

== The author has taken a great deal of care to create this unique world. It's obvious that the author is well-versed in fantasy literature and is approaching it from the perspective of creating a world like ones created by Tolkien and Robert Jordan and even George Lucas.

Writer's Digest judge's commentary
(of Book #1 + 2)

= Writer's Digest judge's commentary:

== The author has a talent for characterization, making clear the distinctions among various characters by their speech patterns, word choice and tone. For example, Vordin speaks/thinks in a halting, childlike manner at the beginning of the book, before his bildungsroman has commenced ("I'm a selfish coward. I was frightened. I panicked. I ran and hid...."). Shadow, on the other hand, speaks in complex sentences, with a much more sophisticated vocabulary ("He expects you to act in a similar manner to a certain degree. He will know instantly if you become attracted even in the slightest to another and will probably accept it, as long as you don't compare, or judge, or feel you must trade one love for another."). I'm impressed by the fact that once the reader becomes more familiar with the characters and the tone of each, it's often clear who's talking, even without dialogue tags. That's impressive, because effective dialogue can be a challenge.

Writer's Digest judge's commentary
( of Book #1 + 2)

Category: Middle-Grade/Young Adult Books

(scale 1-5 poor=1 excellent=5)
Plot:4
Grammar:4
Character development:4
Cover design:2

= Writer's Digest judge's commentary:

== If you like "Lord of the Rings" type fantasy, you will like this book. Actually, this was 2 volumes in one. The story was complicated. there are lots of characters, human, elf, creatures, etc. Ms. Mandrake-Johnston has put together a wide sweeping world and populated with many diverse characters. There is a quest and evil to outrun or defeat. For the genre, it was well done and well conceived.