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Ambril's Tale #1
Ambril's Tale The Return of the Dullaith
A three headed dog, a vicious flower bud and a walking house. They swirl around the top of fourteen year old Ambril's old puzzle box and bedevil her in life.
Just what do they have to do with the mystery of her father’s death? Ambril struggles to answer this question when she moves back to the mysterious town where she was born and accidentally uncovers secrets about her father which threaten to destroy her entire family.
In this, the first book of Ambril's Tale, Ambril makes friends with some of the locals as she tangles with ornery garden gnomes, angry bicycles and a magical garden that she comes around to calling home. Along the way, she also manages to learn about the magic that will become her destiny.
Ambril’s life changes forever when during their move to Trelawnyd, she gets whacked on the head by a decorated stick. She soon finds out that it is one heck of a monster magnet. It seems to want to help her make sense of the strange, magical things that go on in her surroundings...that is most of the time.
She thought she’d seen everything. But she soon learns that her new home isn’t the sweet little country town she was expecting. Monsters overrun the surrounding forests and bullies rule Main Street as well as the playground. Magic is a dirty word, despite the fact that most of the villagers are chock full of it. Fortunately she finds a few people who are not afraid of magic or the truth. Together they begin to unlock the mysteries of the ancient village they live in including the mystery surrounding her father’s death.
Just what do they have to do with the mystery of her father’s death? Ambril struggles to answer this question when she moves back to the mysterious town where she was born and accidentally uncovers secrets about her father which threaten to destroy her entire family.
In this, the first book of Ambril's Tale, Ambril makes friends with some of the locals as she tangles with ornery garden gnomes, angry bicycles and a magical garden that she comes around to calling home. Along the way, she also manages to learn about the magic that will become her destiny.
Ambril’s life changes forever when during their move to Trelawnyd, she gets whacked on the head by a decorated stick. She soon finds out that it is one heck of a monster magnet. It seems to want to help her make sense of the strange, magical things that go on in her surroundings...that is most of the time.
She thought she’d seen everything. But she soon learns that her new home isn’t the sweet little country town she was expecting. Monsters overrun the surrounding forests and bullies rule Main Street as well as the playground. Magic is a dirty word, despite the fact that most of the villagers are chock full of it. Fortunately she finds a few people who are not afraid of magic or the truth. Together they begin to unlock the mysteries of the ancient village they live in including the mystery surrounding her father’s death.
- GenresFantasy
315 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2012
1 person is currently reading
190 people want to read
About the author
Wendy D. Walter
2 books19 followersWendy writes and illustrates. When she set out to tell Ambril’s Tale, she decided to write a world, not a story. She considers The Return of the Dullaith as just the curly tip of the fairy boot. Wendy lives near San Francisco with her family, dog and cat.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 6, 2012
Ambril’s Tale, The Return of the Dullaith by Wendy D. Walter is an imaginative middle-grade fantasy about a fourteen-year-old girl named Ambril who moves to a new town called Trelawnyd where her family once lived before, but moved away from after the mysterious death of her father. While packing, she discovers a mysterious old box with a hidden amulet inside. Once she and her family arrive in Trelawnyd, everything changes for Ambrill as she battles Dullaiths, makes new friends, hangs out in enchanted gardens, and learns that magic is real. Along the way, she begins to uncover the truth about her father, a truth that could endanger everyone.
Even as an adult, I enjoyed this whimsical book. It’s full of magical creatures from myth such as fairies and Baba Yaga and her chicken-legged house. There is fast-paced fun and adventure in every chapter. Just to warn you, the book ends on a cliffhanger so you will need to read the next book for a resolution.
The book is beautifully formatted for kindle and is full of artwork by the author. A lot of love and time went into the layout. There are a few areas with typos, mostly missing words or missing quotation marks, but not so many that it’s distracting. The story is also professionally written and not full of back story dumps or pages and pages of boring summary.
The character, Ambril, is fun, light-hearted, and brave, but she seems younger than fourteen. She seems more about ten to twelve, and that’s the reader age range I think will most enjoy reading this book. There is no bad language, sex, or drugs and alcohol in the story so parents who like to monitor what their kids read will be satisfied. So far, this tale is very innocent.
If you like adventure and magic such as Harry Potter or Alice in Wonderland, then I think you’ll enjoy Ambril’s Tale.
Even as an adult, I enjoyed this whimsical book. It’s full of magical creatures from myth such as fairies and Baba Yaga and her chicken-legged house. There is fast-paced fun and adventure in every chapter. Just to warn you, the book ends on a cliffhanger so you will need to read the next book for a resolution.
The book is beautifully formatted for kindle and is full of artwork by the author. A lot of love and time went into the layout. There are a few areas with typos, mostly missing words or missing quotation marks, but not so many that it’s distracting. The story is also professionally written and not full of back story dumps or pages and pages of boring summary.
The character, Ambril, is fun, light-hearted, and brave, but she seems younger than fourteen. She seems more about ten to twelve, and that’s the reader age range I think will most enjoy reading this book. There is no bad language, sex, or drugs and alcohol in the story so parents who like to monitor what their kids read will be satisfied. So far, this tale is very innocent.
If you like adventure and magic such as Harry Potter or Alice in Wonderland, then I think you’ll enjoy Ambril’s Tale.
August 26, 2012
Ambril’s Tale is a wonderfully inventive fantasy that is accessible to adults, particularly if they have opinions on angry bicycles and bad-tempered garden gnomes. The story revolves around a mysteriously gifted teen by the name of Ambril who must come to terms with her father’s death while she learns how to use her newly-found magic. In the town of Trelawnyd, where Ambril has moved to, such skills are not highly thought of. But Ambril and her friends will find a way. The wonderful illustrations throughout only add to the charm. It’s impossible not to be drawn into a story that has this much creativity and imagination.
December 8, 2012
Wonderful and engaging world. Author Wendy Walter has done a remarkable job creating a world full of rich, unique and endearing characters. The story was enjoyable and is perfect for a late summer afternoon read. Ambril finds herself in the most peculiar town, with no real expectations and quickly makes friends with two of the town outcasts. In my opinion, in some instances Ambril's friends Sully and Ygg are even more interesting than Ambril, and together they venture into unknown knowledge and territory. With a whole town in denial about the existence of magic, it proves to be pretty difficult for Ambril to find anyone who will help or even teach her. To top it all off, her creepy soon to be step-dad seems to be at the heart of all the cover ups, to make magic disappear from the town. There were some really minor grammar and formatting mistakes, but they are easily over looked.
Although the author did an excellent job with the world creation and character development, I found the story to drag at times. There is no real overall threat or problem to be solved in this first book. I felt that none of the questions of the book were resolved by the end, and felt let down that not even one pay-off occurred. It seemed to me that Ambril kept on stumbling into one awkward situation after the other, with no real purpose. This makes Ambril a rather weak heroin. In my opinion, it was simply to easy to put the book down and walk away, and I had to do so several times out of boredom. However, to some people it will be a delightful read and refreshing, and so I've rated it a 4 out of 5 overall.
As for family friendliness, it scores a 5 out of 5. I think many younger kids will find the characters funny, and endearing and would be able to associate with them. This is one of those few and rare books that I would allow young children to read by themselves.
For more reviews, visit www.rosebuz.com
Although the author did an excellent job with the world creation and character development, I found the story to drag at times. There is no real overall threat or problem to be solved in this first book. I felt that none of the questions of the book were resolved by the end, and felt let down that not even one pay-off occurred. It seemed to me that Ambril kept on stumbling into one awkward situation after the other, with no real purpose. This makes Ambril a rather weak heroin. In my opinion, it was simply to easy to put the book down and walk away, and I had to do so several times out of boredom. However, to some people it will be a delightful read and refreshing, and so I've rated it a 4 out of 5 overall.
As for family friendliness, it scores a 5 out of 5. I think many younger kids will find the characters funny, and endearing and would be able to associate with them. This is one of those few and rare books that I would allow young children to read by themselves.
For more reviews, visit www.rosebuz.com
August 19, 2012
Great new fantasy series! As I'm the writer, I'm a bit partial. Here's what the Sand Hill Review Press said about it:
A Harry Potter type fantasy, its outlandish characters and humorous take on dealing with a broken family, adolescence and the occasional attack of monsters is a sure-fire cure for whatever the evening news dishes up.
Ambril is fourteen when her family moves from San Francisco to the place where she was born but doesn’t remember. Trouble pounces just after they make it through the Wall, a twenty foot high, five foot thick stone barrier which encircles the town of Trelawnyd. Is it there to keep the monsters out...or to pen them in?
Ambril soon realizes it’s a little of both as she is forced to not only battle real life monsters but also the paranoid behavior of the people around her who are desperate to keep their true heritage hidden. They bully and threaten, but the truth about her father’s death is not a secret that Ambril will let them keep. Against all odds, she continues her quest to clear her father’s name and heal the rifts in her family.
Ambril makes friends with some of the locals as she tangles with ornery garden gnomes, angry bicycles and a magical garden that she comes around to calling home. All this while she struggles to learn how to use the magic that will become her destiny.
The Return of the Dullaith is the first in the Ambril’s Tale series. Book Two, Riding the Cursed Chutes, is expected out in October 2012.
A Harry Potter type fantasy, its outlandish characters and humorous take on dealing with a broken family, adolescence and the occasional attack of monsters is a sure-fire cure for whatever the evening news dishes up.
Ambril is fourteen when her family moves from San Francisco to the place where she was born but doesn’t remember. Trouble pounces just after they make it through the Wall, a twenty foot high, five foot thick stone barrier which encircles the town of Trelawnyd. Is it there to keep the monsters out...or to pen them in?
Ambril soon realizes it’s a little of both as she is forced to not only battle real life monsters but also the paranoid behavior of the people around her who are desperate to keep their true heritage hidden. They bully and threaten, but the truth about her father’s death is not a secret that Ambril will let them keep. Against all odds, she continues her quest to clear her father’s name and heal the rifts in her family.
Ambril makes friends with some of the locals as she tangles with ornery garden gnomes, angry bicycles and a magical garden that she comes around to calling home. All this while she struggles to learn how to use the magic that will become her destiny.
The Return of the Dullaith is the first in the Ambril’s Tale series. Book Two, Riding the Cursed Chutes, is expected out in October 2012.
January 13, 2014
A cleaver, enchanting, mysterious tale that will keep you on your toes and unable to put this book down! Fall in love with Ambril and her friends as they try to save the town and still get to class on time. I absolutely loved this book, excited for the next installment and would recommend this as the "next big thing" for the kids and adults alike!
February 24, 2013
Good read, I recommend it!
not-for-me
April 9, 2019Didn't finish. Not my thing.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews