Erich's Plea (The Witchcraft Wars, #1)

Dec 21, 2010 Ben Babcock rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, 2010-read, fantasy, own, 2010-worst10

Disclaimer: I won this in a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway. Loves me the free books.

In her biography, Tracey Alley confesses her love of Dungeons & Dragons—and it shows. From beginning to end, Erich's Plea reads like a D&D adventure. And that's not a good thing.

I'm going to start by nitpicking the editing here. This book could have benefited from an editor (or if it had one, a better editor), both a copy-editor and a story editor. I am sure there is an adequate story somewhere inside thi...more

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Mark Inasmuch as Alley's "egregious grammar and poor editing wound [you] to [your] core," may I venture to observe that the phrase, "centred around," is an...more
updated Apr 30, 2013 12:38am

Ben Babcock Thank you for your corrections!

As for my choosing to review a novel in this genre, I'm not sure what you're suggesting. If we never read outside of th...more
Apr 30, 2013 02:38am

Oct 18, 2010 Sam rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, first-reads

Won this through the Goodreads Giveaways.

The first book in the Witchcraft Wars Trilogy, this is a fantastic fantasy novel that combines the mythology of different cultures (including Ancient Egypt, my favourite) with the fantasy world of the Kingdoms of Kaynos. This book follows the story of Slade, a young druid prisoner and prince of Vestland, as he escapes the infamous Zeaburg prison with the help of an unlikely band of allies, including a necromancer, a wizard and a half-ling. During this epi...more

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Apr 23, 2011 Martha Cheves rated it 5 of 5 stars

Erich’s Plea: Book One of the Witchcraft Wars – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

‘Two months ago he had arrived at Ostland’s Zeaburg prison complex and been taken to this subterranean dungeon with its smooth stone walls, mazes of corridors, little or no lighting and the constant smell of death, blood, waste and decay in his nostrils. He had been alternately beaten and tortured for hours on a daily basis. His own screams blending with the cries, screams and moans of the ot...more Erich’s Plea: Book One of the Witchcraft Wars – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

‘Two months ago he had arrived at Ostland’s Zeaburg prison complex and been taken to this subterranean dungeon with its smooth stone walls, mazes of corridors, little or no lighting and the constant smell of death, blood, waste and decay in his nostrils. He had been alternately beaten and tortured for hours on a daily basis. His own screams blending with the cries, screams and moans of the other, unseen, sufferers in Zeaburg’s nightmarish torture chambers. The horrors here were so great that even the rats eschewed Zeaburg, although the fleas showed no similar scruples and were an additional constant torment. His body was covered head to toe with tiny bites from the multitudes of the awful creatures. Slade would not have believed it was possible for a place like Zeaburg prison to exist if he had not seen it with his own eyes. It well deserved its evil reputation. Zeaburg also had a reputation for being inescapable; no one, in all its long history had ever escaped from its confines, except in death. Slade had never believed half the rumors that had surrounded Zeaburg before, now he saw clearly they were all true and worse. He also knew why so many of those imprisoned here died and, it was said, were glad to, death being preferable to daily life in Zeaburg.’

Einreich Gudmundson is the second son of the High King Erich. Much to the disappointment of his father, he has renounced his life as the Crown Prince of Vestland and now calls himself Slade. He will now be a member of the druids of the Sacred Grove, dedicating his life to serve Freyita. That was all before he was captured and taken to Ostland’s Zeaburg Prison. His committed crimes are still a mystery to Slade but the punishment is completely real. Only when he sleeps is he able to find peace from the pain of the beatings he has endured in his two months of imprisonment but even sleep becomes disturbed by the dreams of his father begging for his help.

How can Slade possibly help his father the king while stuck in this hole of hell? He can only try to keep his mind as clear as possible and practice the training taught to him by the warrior-monks of the Black Lotus and pray for some form of help along the way. And help does come in the form of a being that calls himself ‘Trunk.’ In his dreams his father told him to follow the trunk and Slade is sure this is who he was referring to. So with the help of this larger than life ‘trunk’ as well as help from a few other unlikely allies, Slade finds himself attempting the impossible…an escape from the inescapable prison of Zeaburg.

This book is full of mystery, suspense, witchcraft, magic, dishonesty, espionage…I could go on and on. The characters are colorful not only in appearance but also in character. Author Tracey Alley has written a very enjoyable book and I really hope that Erich’s Plea: Book Two is just around the corner for me to read. I’ve gotten into the story and characters and can’t wait to see what will happen to them next.

315 pages
2010

Review Stir, Laugh, Repeat at Amazon.com Stir, Laugh, Repeat (less)

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Feb 26, 2011 Jaidis Shaw rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Erich's Plea is book one of The Witchcraft Wars by Tracey Alley. This fantasy novel introduces us to Slade, who has given up his right as the prince of Vestland to become a Druid. After learning of Slade, we realize that he is in prison and endures hours of torture on a daily basis. With all hope of escaping quickly slipping from Slade's grasp, he is startled when he starts receiving a plea for help by his father, Erich. Knowing that he must somehow help his father, Slade finds himself blindly f...more

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Dec 01, 2010 Robert Duperre rated it 2 of 5 stars

Rating: 2.2 out of 5

Reviewing can be a frustrating game.

You dive into a book. You want to love it. You get to know the author, and they’re a super-nice person. And yet sometimes the reading experience lags behind your expectations. You don’t want to be mean, but you owe it to everyone – yourself, your readers, hell even the writer themselves – to be honest.

That’s where I found myself with Erich’s Plea by Tracey Alley.

In its premise, the book is hopeful. Slade, the son of a king, has abdicated h...more

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Nov 28, 2010 Celia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: celia-can-read

Storyline:
It seems that Ms. Tracey Alley has written a fantasy series that is right up my Alley, so to speak!
Erich’s Plea is the first in a fantasy series that takes place in a whole new realm of Ms. Alley’s imaginings with all manner of creatures and is the first (that I’ve read) that has a Minotaur as one of the main characters. I’m so excited by this character alone that I could sit and read the remaining books just based solely on this character’s existence.
Ms. Alley introduces an interest...more Storyline:
It seems that Ms. Tracey Alley has written a fantasy series that is right up my Alley, so to speak!
Erich’s Plea is the first in a fantasy series that takes place in a whole new realm of Ms. Alley’s imaginings with all manner of creatures and is the first (that I’ve read) that has a Minotaur as one of the main characters. I’m so excited by this character alone that I could sit and read the remaining books just based solely on this character’s existence.
Ms. Alley introduces an interesting concept with a main element of her story being the differentiation between “magic” and “witchcraft”. With the former a skill that is taught, trained and used with the blessing of a particular deity and the latter being something that is more innate and can work independently of the gods (be they “good” or bad” gods). I am definitely interested to see how these differences will be used in the future novels.
Grammar/Spelling:
I’m definitely a comma kind of gal and I might even go so far as to say that I LOVE commas. One thing that I noticed was a distinct shortage of commas throughout the story and this was somewhat distracting to me. At several points, I needed to read back over the sentence more than once to figure out what the character was actually saying.
Character Development:
Ms. Alley does a great job in developing the characters and showing the prejudices between those who practice magic and those who do not. I liked that this is not just a human trait, but that everyone and everything seemed to have this sort of distrust of one another. (Well, I don’t like it when people don’t trust one another because they’re different, but I could relate to the distrust based on nothing more than fear of the unknown.)
Slade, the main character, is very believable as a former prince turned Druid. He has his doubts and his moments of weakness, but he is a strong leader and should prove to be a formidable foe to The Dark One and all who would wish to do his father’s kingdom ill will.
Though, he is not the main character, the Minotaur named Tares, is the most intriguing. As I stated before, I have not read any other book, other than a certain story by a certain author who is the certainly one of the most well-known horror authors who lives in Maine and who shall remain nameless, that has ever featured a Minotaur. That alone is unique and wonderful. Tares is also a warrior priest, a healer and honorable even to the point of fault.
Writing Style:
The story itself is very easy to follow and read. I felt that there could be some more in-depth descriptions regarding the various areas of The Kingdoms, but I assume that with time, the rest of the series will give us more detail regarding those areas. Ms. Alley easily incorporates multiple pantheons of gods that the reader will have no trouble keeping straight.
Continuance:
The story seems to have conflicting timelines. The main group of characters’ adventures and movements seem to encompass a single day; while a secondary set of characters’ (seemingly) concurrent adventures occur over a much longer period of time. It doesn’t muddle the story; but, rather, it’s more like an odd quirk. But, given the quick pace of the main character’s escape and exploits, the story definitely moved along rather quickly and the timeline differences are barely noticeable.
Overall Rating: 4
Overall, the story is wonderful and the reader can easily and quickly become quite involved with the characters. It is evident that Ms. Alley put a lot of thought into the story, the realm and the characters. One of the aspects I really liked the apparent ease of the story; it does have a strong plot line and many different characters, but I feel like this will be easy to follow through to the end of the series.
I would recommend Erich’s Plea to anyone who enjoys fantasy, though if your preferences lie in the darker realms, this may not be the book for you. I’d also suggest this to anyone as a “beginner” fantasy novel as the different creatures are mainly ones that are commonly recognized from mythology.
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Aug 21, 2010 Christa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Erich`s Plea, the first part of Tracey Alley's trilogy of The Witchcraft Wars is a real treat for readers who love fantasy/adventure stories which are not only entertaining but also carry a deeper meaning. I was immediately pulled into the intriguing world and the characters the author created. The story deals with such ancient and archetypical themes as love in its many forms (romantic love, spiritual love, love of one's family and country, love between friends) as well as greed, jealousy, and...more

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Oct 30, 2010 Maggie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I won this book on a giveaway from Goodreads and I really enjoyed it. I had never read Tracey Alley's work before, but I very much enjoyed her writing style. The character development along with the story were both great. I believe that Erich's Plea is the first of a trilogy and I think that Alley did a fantastic job of writing a story that stands alone while still enticing readers to seek out the second story. Too often series of books do not offer enough of an individual story line to be enter...more

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Apr 09, 2011 Tracy Riva rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, intrigue, kindle, mythological, thriller, witchcraft, first-in-series

Erich’s Plea
by Tracey Alley, copyright 2010 by Tracey Alley
ASIN B003HS4V4S (Kindle version), ISBN 2940000886342 (B&N NOOKbook), ISBN10 1453600973 (paperback), ISBN13 978-1453600979 (paperback) eBook $0.99, paperback $14.99 Available from Smashwords, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble or from your independent bookseller by special order.

Erich’s Plea by Tracey Alley is a trip into a meticulously designed fantasy world teetering on the brink of worldwide war. “Erich” is High King Erich and his plea i...more Erich’s Plea
by Tracey Alley, copyright 2010 by Tracey Alley
ASIN B003HS4V4S (Kindle version), ISBN 2940000886342 (B&N NOOKbook), ISBN10 1453600973 (paperback), ISBN13 978-1453600979 (paperback) eBook $0.99, paperback $14.99 Available from Smashwords, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble or from your independent bookseller by special order.

Erich’s Plea by Tracey Alley is a trip into a meticulously designed fantasy world teetering on the brink of worldwide war. “Erich” is High King Erich and his plea is directed, by way of a dream to his imprisoned son, Prince Einreich, better known as Slade. Slade is being held captive in the worst prison in the known lands, one where escape is impossible, but escape is what he must do if he is to assist his father, the king.

Circumstances make for strange alliances and Slade finds himself being told in the dream to “follow the Trunk,” a strange half-ogre, half-troll. Imagine his surprise when the very creature foreseen in his dream materializes as a prisoner in the courtyard one day. A daring jailbreak ensues, bringing together followers of the different gods, as well as some non-magical people. The followers of any one sect almost all automatically distrust the followers of another sect and those who practice no magic have no fondness for those who do. It is a situation ripe with tension, both within the little group and outside of them as they hope to free themselves and take on the elven witch Shallendara, the Dark One and their group of cohorts. But worse yet is the fact a traitor is among them and no one can know for certain who should be trusted.

Alley does an admirable job of telling a story that is fraught with tension while laying the groundwork for future installments of the Witchcraft Wars. The tale kept me interested throughout its entirety and turning pages eagerly clear till the end. The story rarely lagged; I felt that each piece of information contained in the pages of the book was integral to the developing story. Finally, I enjoyed the book enough that I have the next installment sitting on my computer waiting for me to review in about a month or so.

What follows is an excerpt from the book, the necromancer Nickolai is speaking:

"I was captured in the north, in the Freeholds to be precise. I was traveling there, under orders, with Lord Michael Strong," Nickolai said slowly.

"You lie necromancer," Tares began.

"It's true, Tares,"surprisingly the interruption came from Lara. "I was there," she looked at Nickolai suspiciously, "but that was months ago."

"True," Nickolai continued smoothly even though he was quite taken aback. He had been unaware of this little halfling and wondered just how much she knew.
"But what I learned in the freeholds then remains relevant now. Lord Michael and I discovered evidence that suggests a secret army is being formed. Who is behind this or why we were unable to discover. However, I did find out two interesting pieces of information, both of which involved what I believe to be assassination plots. The first," he paused and looked at Slade, "involved your father, High King Erich. Unfortunately I was unable to find out much more than the fact someone had ordered Erich killed."

Slade could feel the blood drain from his face, his heart was pounding and a cold sweat broke out on his brow. This then was what the dream had been about, his father, his king and liege lord was being stalked by an unknown assassin. Slowly Slade turned to face Wulfstan. For the first time since Slade recognized the warrior it occurred to him to wonder exactly what one of his father's royal bodyguards was doing behind bars in Ostland's most vicious prison.

"You," Slade spoke slowly, his fear for his father pounding heavily through his blood, "You should have been with him. You're his bodyguard, one of them anyway," Slade's innate sense of fairness forced him to make that qualification. His love of his father however, drove him to his feet without his even being aware of it. Like a man in a dream or a nightmare, Slade walked over to the big warrior. Grabbing hold of the front of Wulfstan's shirt in his fist he pulled his one time friend to his feet."

"What happened Wulfstan?" Slade was shouting into Wulfstan's face, all thoughts of where he was or the need for silence completely forgotten in his fear and anger. "Where's my father?"

I recommend Tracey Alley’s Erich’s Plea. It was interesting and enjoyable reading, and is set in a world so intricately developed that it is guaranteed to hold you enthralled till the final pages.

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Nov 10, 2010 Megnjane rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I won this book as a first read, so I was quite excited to read a new fantasy author. Overall I really enjoyed the story. It reads very well, the story flowed, characters are interesting, it contains betrayal ambition and magic. It did leave the ending open for the next book, however it was stated that this is the first in the trilogy.
What I did not like was the actual layout of the story, it jumped from different characters points of view, I also did not like the maps and pictures throughout th...more

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Nov 10, 2010 Sheila rated it 3 of 5 stars

I want to say first off that this is a very good set-up book....The author does say that this is a new Fantasy Saga. You really begin to know the characters some you like .....and some you don't. LOL Like all first books in a saga you get just a taste of what is to come. It leaves you with more questions then answers but so well written that you are waiting for the next book to find out more. I think any one who enjoys a series set of books will enjoy this book. I want to thank the author for t...more

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Sep 13, 2011 kimyunalesca rated it 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars.The story’s not too shabby than I thought it would be, quite catchy,interesting and you’ll jump right off into the fantasy, family, betrayal, witchcraft and so on. I don’t like the layout of the map it needs more work ,polishing, finishing touches and clear off some lines so it would look more nice and neat plus there’s quite a bit of typos/errors. Though I like how the story progress and that it got a mini portrait for you to exactly imagine what the characters look like, weaponries e...more

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Nov 29, 2010 Eden rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, books-i-own

Slade, who was once a prince, was captured and sent to prison. He is not exactly sure why, what his crime was. But, he finds out more about the strange situation when there is a prison riot and he meets up with some unusual people. He's unsure whether he can trust these people. But he knows he must follow his dream and help his father, the king.

Won this from a Goodreads giveaway. It kept my interest right from the beginning and right from the start I was enjoying the story. But, the further it g...more

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Jan 25, 2013 Brenda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: aussie-authors, fantasy, brenda-literary-group-challenge, own-read, read-on-kindle, paranormal

When we first met Einreich Gudmundson, he was in the infamous Zeaburg prison, where he had been incarcerated for two months. He had renounced his life as Crown Prince of Vestland, much to the disappointment of his father, High King Erich, and changed his name to Slade. During the day, Slade was tortured mercilessly and during the night he was haunted by dreams of his father, asking him to save him, and to ‘follow the trunk’. Slade couldn’t work out what it all meant, and with his mind becoming f...more

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Dec 20, 2010 Ciaran rated it 4 of 5 stars

I got an ARC of this book as part of the Goodreads Firstreads program!

Where to start with this book...Overall impressions? I Loved it. Once i started reading it, I was back into the story every chance I got.

Characters?
All the fantasy tropes are here: Necromancer, Mages, Paladins, Druids, Thieves, Warriors, Mysterious Evil, Other Races - elves, trolls, orcs and a mention of dragons! That said, these are not the usual 2D just deep enough to fit the role lot. Yes, actions are for the most part dete...more

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Nov 29, 2010 Krista rated it 3 of 5 stars

Erich's Plea was a very different read for me. Even though I am a huge Harry Potter fan and really enjoyed the Hunger Games, Fantasy/Science Fiction is generally not my gig. But I saw this new series called the Witchcraft Wars and thought I would give it a try. For the most part, I did enjoy this book, although I think it does not stand on its own too well. I think that one would definitely need to read the whole series in order to feel really satisfied because it just kind of leaves you hanging...more

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May 05, 2011 Linda Nelson rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Slade is captured and he with the help of some unlikely allies escapes the clutches of the Dark One.
The book is pretty good, but the story line is kind of drawn out. This fantasy book could become a favorite of World of Warcraft players after the author gives it a couple more edit sessions. It has many grammar errors. The biggest flaw is all the missing commas.
There was one chapter in the middle of the book; I almost had to skip because the words seemed jumbled. This chapter was very difficult...more

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Jan 12, 2011 Hillary rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I received this book as part of Goodreads First Reads. I really wanted to like this book. The premise was promising, but the book just didn't grab me no matter how hard I tried. I couldn't connect with the characters. It just wasn't there more me, that "it" factor. I am sure there are plenty of people who will enjoy this book. This just wasn't my cup of tea.

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Aug 17, 2011 Jessica Buike rated it 5 of 5 stars

An incredible story that follows a royal family and their friends through a difficult journey. I loved the realm that was developed, and that the characters had depth. I couldn't put this down! There were a few formatting/editing errors, but nothing I couldn't figure out.

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Nov 10, 2010 Hollie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Erich's Plea was a "good read." There were some syntactical/grammatical errors that were distracting at first, but I did not notice them as much as I become more absorbed in the book. I enjoyed reading it, and will probably continue on in reading the series.

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Feb 11, 2013 Merissa Sheppard rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle-freebie

This is a fantasy tale, set in a different world, that includes religions from around our world like Ancient Egypt for example. This first book is mainly an introduction to the world and to the characters as, apart from breaking out of an unbreakable prison, you learn about the differing factions and who does what. The lines are blurred in this book though as you are never quite sure what the next big reveal will bring. It makes you question your first opinion whilst still questioning the opinio...more

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Nov 28, 2010 AH rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, dragons, druid, fantasy, zzread-nov-2010, spies, witches, first-in-series

I won this book on Goodreads FirstReads giveaway.

Erich’s Plea is the first book of Tracey Alley’s The Witchcraft Wars series. It was a fun book to read and reminded me of a cross between a Dungeons and Dragons game and a fantasy world like that of Lord of the Rings. There is a large cast of characters and creatures in this book. There are humans, Halflings, orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, ogres, trolls, necromancers, even a minotaur. I liked that each chapter had a small hand drawn picture of a char...more

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Apr 27, 2013 Linda Hilton marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: desperately-needs-editing, fantasy, formatting-difficulties, kindle-free

Disclaimer: Not really a review since I didn't really read it. Obtained the book as a free Kindle download.

When the map of the invented world is lodged sideways and the print on it is hard to read anyway, that's not encouraging.

Opening is a lot of backstory; writing style is less than stellar. Could have used a lot of editing, critiquing before publication.

Can't evaluate story; didn't get that far into it. Not high on the TBR list.

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Nov 07, 2010 Liza Lankford rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was the first fantasy book I've read in a very long time, and I must say, I enjoyed it! A few parts were a little difficult to read, mainly due to some poor editing, but the characters were diverse and the plot was intense. I think the scene with the tunnel spiders was my favorite.

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Nov 27, 2010 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Won this book via the First Reads giveaway. It was unexpected, and the read was quite unexpected to. It is apparent that this book sets the foundations for the rest of the series, and in that matter it served its purpose very well. My only complaint was the jumping around between characters became a little much. But all in all I enjoyed the read, and look forward to the next. Note: this was a fairly easy read, and I enjoy books like that :)

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Jan 18, 2011 Isabelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I just won this book with Goodreads! Will review it as soon as I read it.

I liked Elrich Plea however I found that the story took a really long time to get started. When it got started though, the intrigue was really good. I'm reading right now the second part (Ursula Quest) and the story has lots of potential!

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Dec 10, 2010 Autumn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I got this as a goodreads first read. It was really hard for me to get through. It really needs a copy editor-there were so many typos, misspellings and grammatical errors that it drew my attention away from the story. The story is interesting, the characters mostly so so but I'd read the second in the series.

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Sep 04, 2012 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars

Alley has a preternatural knack for crafting an engaging story that compels page-turning... not second to that of Stephen King, and I thought Erich's Plea was just immensely entertaining from the moment of Karel's transmogrification onward. The illustrations are lovely, and the book is guilty fun.

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Jun 17, 2013 Timothy Brannan rated it 1 of 5 stars

Jun 17, 2013 Lynnette rated it 5 of 5 stars

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Erich's Plea (The Witchcraft Wars #1)

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