Vaetra Unveiled

The Vaetra Chronicles #1

by Daniel R. Marvello

Bored with his life as an innkeeper, Jaylan Forester takes a promising mercenary contract. The adventure goes out of control when he discovers that his client is being pursued by Sulana Delano, an intriguing Sword Sorceress from an enclave of sorcerers known as The Archives. Taught from birth to shun sorcerers, Jaylan must overcome his distrust of magic when an unexpected turn of events embroils Jaylan in Sulana's mission to recover a stolen mysterious artifact. Along the way, Jaylan learns that he too has the capacity to become a sorcerer. He must decide if he wants to explore his newfound abilities or resume the comfortable life he has always known. Fate has its own ideas about the path he should take. Vaetra Unveiled is a swords & sorcery fantasy adventure. If you liked The Belgariad by David Eddings, The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, or Dragonlance by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, you'll enjoy the Vaetra Chronicles series.

Genres: Fantasy, Amazon, Magic, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 20, 2012

About the author

Daniel R. Marvello writes magical fantasy adventure stories. He lives in a log home deep in the forest of the North Idaho panhandle with his wife of twenty-plus years and a small support staff of Samoyeds. His professional background is in database and software development as well as technical writing.

Daniel's fiction writing was inspired by his love for reading magical fantasy and his years of enjoying fantasy role-playing games. His fiction works include The Vaetra Chronicles, a swords & sorcery adventure series, The Ternion Order, a contemporary paranormal fantasy series, and The Western Geomancer, a western fantasy adventure series.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent low magic fantasy, kind of slow paced. Nothing particularly stands out about it, good or bad, which sets it apart from most of the horrible crap out there that calls itself fantasy.

Closest analogy I can think of is series like Alanna: The First Adventure, The Ruins of Gorlan, or The Thief, in terms of magic level and overall feel, albeit with a adult male protagonist, rather than a coming of age story in a fantasy setting.

[Roger Eschbacher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite their mutual distrust, Jaylan Forester, a disgraced former member of the Imperial Guard turned mercenary, and Sulana Delano, a hard-edged Sword Sorceress from the enigmatic Archives, team up to fight a lurking evil and recover a mysterious artifact.

Along the way Jaylan learns his destiny is somehow tied to "vaetra," the power sorcerers use to alter nature, and that he’s going to have to seriously adjust his prejudice against those who practice this ancient art.

Author Daniel Marvello has successfully crafted a truly exciting story, transporting the reader to a gritty and fascinating world that feels about as real as it gets. There were no “road bumps” (typos, weak world building, uninteresting characters) to derail me as this satisfying adventure story played out like a movie in my head.

Every aspect of this book is fully developed and loving care has been taken to get everything just right. It’s not a short book and yet I easily finished it within two days – a testament to the fact that Vaetra Unveiled is a flat out page turner. Highly Recommended

[Volpot · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. Simplistic

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally bought this book as an "oh I'm traveling, might as well read" book. Little did i know i would become addicted to the series. I couldn't put it down. I've recommended it to several friends who have the same reading taste.

[Douglas Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really bonded with Jaylan, the protagonist, who is a private detective (of sorts). The book begins with a mystery/detective flavor before you realize that there is some magic (vaetra) involved.

First paragraphs -
The folded piece of parchment was sealed with a tiny dot of red wax. It had my name on it: Jaylan Forester. I peeled the note open and read the words scrawled inside. Need help. Meet at inn at dusk. Can pay. I looked up at Captain Borlan Koster. His deep brown eyes were watching my green ones as he leaned over his desk, bracing his sturdy dark frame with his fists on the stained surface. His stance would be intimidating to people who didn’t know him, but Borlan had been my friend and my boss for more than a year. We stood in the sparsely furnished entry area at the Northshore town chapter of Raven Company, next to the front desk where Borlan met with clients.

Marvello, Daniel R. (2013-11-25). Vaetra Unveiled (The Vaetra Chronicles) (p. 1). Magic Fur Press. Kindle Edition.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was, at the very least, entirely readable, which is an improvement over several of the books I have read recently.

The author could use a little polish (for one thing, he seems a bit over-reliant on blocks of description), but his prose was certainly readable, and didn't get in the way of the story. I didn't find the characters or plot particularly compelling, but they weren't bad, and that could easily be primarily a matter of personal taste. The magic system seemed reasonably well-thought-out, and there was an interesting race of nonhuman sapients.

In all, a... workmanlike book. If the author's description of the book sounds interesting to you, you'll likely enjoy the book.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I immensely enjoyed this first book by Daniel Marvello. I liked how the characters were introduced and developed in this vibrant, imaginary world, which quickly engages the reader's imagination. With a medieval feeling-tone to it and enough "hooks" embedded to further the plot for quite a while, I look forward to what happens in the next book in the series! Even is Mr. Marvello weren't my nephew, I would still give him five thumbs up!

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have to say I enjoyed this novel, but at the same time found it rather simple and stiff full of polite well spoken characters and for me at least, unrealistic somewhat wooden dialogue. This is a simple story of sorcery in a mostly peaceful empire which mostly hates sorcerers. As long as you don't expect too much you'll probably enjoy this novel.

[John Easom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Innkeeper turns adventurer. (With a little help from magic and fate)

This fantasy adventure is set in times akin to Robin Hood and has a touch of magic. It all feels pretty real with a solid plot and carries the reader into excitement and possibilities. The ending is both believable and satisfying and leads one on to another book in the series to extend the journey.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Torn on this. It was a tad generic but it's obviously just an initial novel to setup a world so who knows. Loved that it had an acknowledgement to Bethesda Softworks as Oblivion was my first game I worked on

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A somewhat new look at magic and the beginning of a new series. Slow in spots due to setting the scene for the series.

[Sonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story very much. The characters are people I would not mind meeting in real life. Good plot flow, and story line.
I recommend this book very much.

[bex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good.

[Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book

A good creative look at alternative worlds and magic the book will keep you interested and reading from page to page