Midrak Earthshaker

by Daniel Benshana

Wipple, companion to the magician Midrak Earthshaker, unexpectedly falls to Earth just after the guardians of the Tree of Life have been attacked by Girval, a creature of immense age and power. So begins their adventure to save The Tree of Life which has remained hidden at the centre of the Earth since the planet’s creation. They are joined in their struggle by four elves, two children and the rock people – but
Girval has never been defeated!

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens

130 pages, Paperback

First published December 5, 2013

About the author

Poetry Readings

http://benshana.podbean.com
Book Trailers 1 minute each

https://youtu.be/FyUWFHsi8XM
https://youtu.be/rLSzQnt7fnY


I am the son of the poet and author Shänne Sands.
I started writing when I was 22, got my first agent when I was 27.
I have written for children, epic fantasy, plays for radio and essays as well as a few poems. I genuinely don't like cities very much and live in a village in Cornwall, UK.

I am always open to being asked questions.

Goodreads Group on digital publishing;
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Daniel-Bensh...
http://footstepsbooks.com/authors/dan...
https://www.facebook.com/FootStepsPress
https://www.pinterest.com/books4every...

Reviews

[Anna Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, my middle school granddaughter saw "Midrak Earthshaker" on my desk and has clamored for it ever since. A very good sign.
Next, we got sick, my neighbor grandchildren and me. I live right next door so this happens fairly often. And everyone works so it falls to me to watch over them. Cable TV was taken out a while ago and that proved to be an excellent choice. But when they get sick, someone needs to entertain. So amid rumpled flannel sheets spread on a lumpy couch and with the soft slant of an afternoon light, I read "Midrak Earthshaker" aloud to my grandchildren. As much as I could fit in before they finally fell asleep. They gave a good fight and they got an introduction to another world. And, just like that, we added the story to be a part of our family literature.
I found this story to be a refreshment on a book-weary palate. It lends itself to being read again and again as all good literature should. A mix of magic, elves, humans,rock people, and evil monsters do battle under the earth to get to the valiantly guarded Tree-of-Life and the power to rule or protect worlds. Yet still a small enough cast to get to know personalities. With art in the margins! I loved it, absolutely!
We had a family tragedy not long ago and within this year. I found this:
"You know more about magic than I but I would say as long as you remember someone they live. The worse death of all is to die in another's memory."
So we are okay; we won't leave anybody behind.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the book it was great all the way to the end. I do wish I could know what happen to the characters in the end and if they defeated him. I recommend this book to others. I won this book for free on goodreads first reads giveaways.

[Inês Montenegro · Rating 3 out of 5]

To organize myself better, I wrote this review in sections. So here it is:

Plot
This is a children’s Fantasy book, where a quest makes the story line. Although the actions are in our world, creatures like elves live in it, and the majority of the plot is inside Earth. The group of main characters has to find the Tree-of-Life and keep it safe. Obviously, there are dangers during the way.
It’s not an original story, however, it’s still a nice and pleasurable read, and the author has success with the messages he wants to pass through. Both the main one and the “little” ones we find on the details.

Characters
Every character seems to be representing something, and is nothing new in terms of Fantasy: you have the elves, the magician, the magician’s helper, the human kids… Usually, I wouldn’t like it, but in this book it makes sense. Attending the key-public’s age, this kind of traditional image associated with the characters makes them more understandable for the reader, who is drowned in the Fantasy world. And they are still likeable characters for readers of all ages: especially their relationship. I cannot help but compare Ranjit and July’s relationship to the one I had with my brother and sister when we had that age.
There is, however, one thing that I didn’t like completely: there are too many characters, and I am not sure if all of them actually need to exist. For example, I liked Zariel and her concept, but her only two main actions on the book could be easily done by someone else, and the rest of the time she just seems to tag along.

Narrative
This was my favorite part. I didn’t get used to the Present Tense until the end – neither did I understood why the author choose it – but besides that, I really liked the writing. It was understandable for kids, but didn’t treat them like idiots. It was the perfect balance between childhood and adulthood. And it was beautiful.

I would like to thank the author for sending me the book. In the whole, I think it is a good reading, and expect to see the rest of it on the market.

[Andrea Salayová · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Like any book, you never quite know where it is going to lead you once you fallen into it."

Sweet book not only for children. I particularly enjoyed the beginning part, it reminded me of Roald Dahl's works for children, which I love very much. Then the story got little bit too busy with too many characters.

"People rarely know much about other people's worlds" I also liked chapter beginnings, written often very poetically. Some ideas made me stop reading and think about it: "The worst death of all is to die in another's memory" or "Darkness is never quite so dark when you aren't afraid of it" and many more...

I would suggest using less exclamation marks, the speech sounds kind of needy when there is too many of them.

At the end let me point out the artwork, which was very beautiful. :-)

[Laura Elgie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVED THIS BOOK.

[Cherity · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
It is a very nice fairy-tale about saving the world. It reminded me of "Wrinkle in time" but without the religious stuff (I was very afraid it'd be all about Christianity, since the story tells about Tree of Life, but it wasn't, and I liked it).
The story is simple (but not in a bad way) and there aren't a lot of details, which makes it more tale-like than classic fantasy, so I would say it fits younger children, perhaps, till the age of 10.
It is written in a beautiful and clever language with lots of humor. At first I didn't like that it's all written in present time only, but along the way I got used to it and it does create some sort of the participation effect. The punctuation was very weird, thou, and I don't know whether it was an author's choice or lack of proofing.
I liked the characters, but I would like to have more background on them - I hope it will be provided in the next books in this series.
The illustrations are very pretty. However, I think that they are a bit too sophisticated for a children's book, and the something more simple (and preferable in color) would fit better.

[Iben · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book as a Goodreads giveaway.

Midrak Earthshaker is a children's book about a monster that wants to claim the Tree of Life. A mixmatched group of people goes to stop this.

I do enjoy the occasional children's book, however this one was writen in a clear children's book language, which contrbuted to te book not seeming that good to me and my current age. Right now I would probably give it two stars.

But I will say that I know that my 13-year-old self would have loved this book. The plot moves quickly, there are two normal young kids for the reader identfy him og herself with and then there is an asortment of elves and magicians.
I believe my 13-year-old self would have given it four stars, so I made a compromse.

I would recomend Mdrak Earthshaker to young teens who have found their way into the wonderful world of fantasy books.

[John Naylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book for free via Goodreads First Reads.

I would describe it as a children's fairy tale in the tradition sense. The traditional sense in that it has torture, deaths and is a battle of good versus evil.

The writing is good. poetic and certain phrases in it are instantly quotable. The story is solid if not original and there are genuine laugh out loud moments. I just feel that the book is a bit confusing at times (especially at the beginning) which could put children off finishing it. It feels like paragraphs which would have explained the progression in the story have been omitted.

I would recommend this as a book that could be read by the 10-14 age group or read to slightly younger children with certain passages omitted. It is a good read but, in my opinion, not a great one.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is an absolutely cracking book! It's a fantastic story that shows our children the benefits of team work, loyalty and how doing the right thing in everything can help overcome the bad things that often seem to block our way.

While reading the story the reader can identify with the characters and every scenario that enfolds them throughout the book. It is told in easy language to follow so even younger audiences are held rapt and continually urging the characters forward so that more of the story unfolds. Throughout the book there are amazing pictures drawn in black and white that illustrate parts of the adventure and from these we can visualise each character on the journey even more readily.

I heartily recommend Midrak Earthshaker to children of any age be they 9 or 90!

[Caroline · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book for free from the author.

Read it in one sitting, and my first impression was that the drawings were pretty nicely done. The book wasn't really I expected though, as I was expecting something more ''real''. I'm not really a fantasy fan, but I like reading children's books.
The story itself is okay, but I feel that the many characters can get very confusing. So I would say the story is more suitable for young adults and maybe older. But I guess it is a nice and quick read for fantasy lovers of all ages.

[Cathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Midrak Earthshaker by Daniel Nanavati is a unique little fantasy about a group of unlikely companions on a quest to the center of the earth to save the world. I particularly liked Nanvati's voice--he uses second person point of view in multiple places, pulling the reader into the setting. The cast of characters includes some unique rock people and a few orphans who are unwittingly recruited to help a band of elves, a Wipple and a fledgling wizard defeat a powerful force of evil.

[MaRia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was ok. It has a potential to be much better and more interesting but it lacks one important thing - cohesion. It is really hard to read into the book and image the story while reading due to the lack of description of characters and places aтв basically everything.
The edition also has a few misprints.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice children's book with some interesting and varied characters and an interesting story line. There were a couple of typos and at times I thought the story felt a little rushed, but overall a good read!

[WhyNN ~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

sent to the author directly :D

nice book to read, to spent with youre children in the night

[Mariana Farcas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was excellent and I couldn't stop reading it...I went to sleep at 2 AM in the morning.
Minor misspellings and needs a better cover!