Children of The Ancient Heroes- HOPE AND DESPAIR: An Enthusiastic Book Review by Kate Lundeen
Get ready for more epic adventures with Eli and Tirza Nesbit, also known as the Children of the Ancient Heroes. They’re the heroes of Book 2 of Russell Fellows‘ Lighted Lands series, entitled Hope and Despair. I gave rave reviews to the first novel in Fellow’s series, Children of the Ancient Heroes: Dreams and Nightmares, and this book has even more escapades than the first.
REVIEWAs the novel opens, Eli and Tirza must combine efforts to save the life of a beloved Lighted Lands monarch. The monarch’s demise could spell the end of both the fantasy world and their own. Time is of the essence. Both children must gather ingredients from opposite ends of the kingdom to make a healing potion and save the ruler’s life. Both children have special companions to assist them. Eli has a huge tiger named Tati, while Tirza has a giant Labrador named Choco. Eli’s ingredient path takes him through perilous mountains filled with child bandits and dusty dry deserts with t creepy cave dwelling wizards. Tirza faces perilous river rapids and dangerous sea monsters. In a cruel twist of fate, the children must decide if their mission is worth all the trouble. Eli and Tirza’s battle with physical death and dangerous mind games puts the fate of both the fantasy world and their own perilously in the balance!
In Fellow’s first novel, Children of the Ancient Heroes, mythical creatures helped Tirza and Eli discover their identity as Children of the Ancient Heroes who are sworn to protect and defend the good forces in a fantasy realm. In Hope and Despair mythical creatures aid in the preservation of that identity as the children’s guardians. Throughout the novel, evil seeks to twist or completely choke out the children’s positive perception of their role. Once the children lose sight of their purpose as kingdom preservers, evil can infiltrate and destroy the Lighted Lands through the gullible innocence of Tirza and Eli. Fellows’ storytelling art truly comes into play when he depicts scenarios where characters come to the aid of our heroes. The action is show stopping and the characters’ interaction is touching.
Choco and Tiger Tati bravely battle all manner of enemies that dare to cross Eli and Tirza’s path. The battles are so epic, that the reader will need to read about them to discover the attraction. Some mythical help comes from the most unlikely sources right when evil seems to triumph. For example, Eli befriends an outlaw dwarf named Glondel whose shady reputation makes him untrustworthy. Glondel’s knowhow of dangerous poppies and his wheeling and dealing with creepy desert wizards keeps Eli on the right path. Cal, a water nymph who used to be on the side of the enemy, becomes a friend after Tirza rescues her.
At risk of giving the exciting plot away, I’ll hand the reins over to Master Storyteller Russell Fellows for your reading pleasure. A word of fair warning: The cliffhanger in this novel makes the one in the first book seem like child’s play.
GIVEAWAYRussell is giving away an autographed copy of his latest middle-grade fantasy to one of you! Leave a comment by April 28 and I’ll enter your name. U.S. addresses only. For the fun of it–if your birthday is this month, I’ll enter your name twice!
PREORDER NOW!
As I’ve mentioned before, preorders are very important to authors. HOPE AND DESPAIR is coming out from Monarch Press on May 6. You can preorder it here:
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