The Laws of Magic

Ruzniel #1

by Daniel Benshana, Jennika Bastian (Illustrator)

Crilodach’s selfishness is legendary. Its desire to rule all life has been the cause of every war and every fight for freedom ever known. Now, in the last three days of the universe, the struggles of the great magicians against It, join forces with a spellmaker, the brilliance of the bears, a cloned human child, the mutated Arvernat, the three dragon brothers and a poet to ensure life in the new universe after the Big Bang will have the chance to be free. But will the laws of magic enable them to outmanoeuvre Crilodach, the first and unconquerable sentient being?

Genres: Fantasy

442 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Poetry Readings

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

https://youtu.be/FyUWFHsi8XM
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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;
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https://www.amazon.co.uk/Daniel-Bensh...
http://footstepsbooks.com/authors/dan...
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https://www.pinterest.com/books4every...

Reviews

[Reading Corner · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story follows many, different characters who intertwine later as they are all fighting the greatest foe there has even been, Crilodach. With help from the Sangyma, the characters unveil secrets about themselves and the world and come together to destroy a great evil plaguing their universe.

The novel opens with a gripping start, as immediately you are introduced to the main elements of the story including magic and their laws. The laws of magic, constructed by Filvani and written in the beautiful language of Ebiric appear throughout the book and I loved the fact they were defined or similar to science definitions like energy. Illustrations appear from time to time as well,which are beautifully drawn and really aid in visual understanding.

I liked most of the characters especially Lilah, Demeter and Chloe. Demeter and Chloe are introduced later but have some witty banter during their chapters. Most of the characters, such as Lilah have strong backstories and the book provideds an abundant of information on the world. Although sometimes, I do think the amount of info was overwhelming and there was just too much there at the one time. Generally, I liked the plot and it kept me entertained but at times I think scenes dragged out for far too long like the Lazab chapter. I just found myself quickly losing interest and zoning out.

The switch between many characters definitely was engrossing and when they began to intertwine, the story was wonderfully woven together. Also, the insight into the antagonist was intriguing to read.

I'm incredibly grateful I received this from the author as I did enjoy reading it minus a few chapters. The overall plot is fantastic along with the characters and you'll never find yourself lacking on information in the world. Anyone who even has a vague interest in fantasy should read this.

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruzniel is brilliantly woven together, and although in the end I decided that it's not "my cup of tea," I have to recognize that it reflects great talent. It is very dark, of course, but also incredibly poetic and even hopeful. When I started the book I felt as if I was listening to a bard.

The book is hugely long and so packed with information and characters that it threatens to be overwhelming, and yet somehow it's not too bad. If something doesn't quite make sense, further along it will fall neatly into place, and you might feel the need to stop reading for a moment to revel in it's brilliance.

While all of the characters are developed to some extent, only a few really have some depth to them. These, of course, were my favorites: Rimfelder the poet and Tobia the Ruzniel, two characters who each shone a light in the violence.

I was not a fan of the violence. The characters did often address and question it, though I was not always happy with their conclusions. I was very uncomfortable with many of the "good" characters' willingness to sacrifice others for the sake of the fight (noble as their cause may be).*

The ending was perfect. I don't really have much else to say about it other than after reading the last sentence, I felt satisfied.

*Thanks to Daniel Nanavati for sending me a free copy of Ruzniel: The Laws of Magic and Ruzniel: The End of the Universe to beta read!

**This review originally posted to poetree.

[Valenttina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Winte "Zaqui is coming." I think this statement perfectly describes the main idea, the "root" of all the events that build the storyline of this novel, the event towards all the events and characters converge to. The atmosphere in this novel from the first until the last page is tense; you can feel the fear of the characters and the imminent approach of the danger, death...of the Zanqui, which means the End of the planets, life and the Universe. With only three days remained until all disappears, until life seize to exist the characters are making great preparations and gather their forces for the ultimate battle between the Good and the Evil, a battle which has been awaited since time immemorial. The Good forces, Sangyma and other powerful magicians, united their powers to defeat, when the time comes, the evil army, led by the most evil mischievous malevolent powerful omnipotent villain of all the almighty Crilo...Chrio...Crilodach. (As you can see I have a problem with getting Its name right, well actually I had a hard time figuring out how to read and remember the majority of the names from this novel, because most of the names of the characters and places are really tangled, but hey that's not really a minus for the book itself but it's just a little detail that bothered me… so just keep in mind not to ask me which is the name of the character I like or hate, because I will most likely pronounced it wrong or won't remember...

What are my feelings after reading Ruzniel? One word: confused. I neither love nor hate it. There are some parts I liked and others that, sadly, I didn’t enjoy so much. So here are the minuses and pluses of this novel, from my point of view:

What I didn’t like:

1.Too much information:

The beginning was really confusing, there is a HUGE amount of information pouring like a waterfall over the reader and drowning him. Pages and pages full of details about the universe's history, its future, many different planets, civilizations, philosophies, specific characters, like Sangyma and magic and its laws, so I had the impression that I was reading a history textbook, but don't get me wrong, I didn't say that what I found out wasn't interesting, there were some good ideas and the author created a very complex and magical world, but the way it was presented, all at once was too much for me to accumulate the amount of information was overwhelming and there was just too much there at the one time. Generally, I liked the plot and it kept me entertained, but at times I think scenes dragged out for far too long and I just found myself quickly losing interest and zoning out, sometimes I couldn't focus on the story… so it lost me several times. And sadly, there were times I got bored and just wanted to finish the book already…

2.The characters’ construction:

I usually like a story more when it has characters with whom I can empathize, to grow fond of, to identify with. I expected to “meet” complex characters but instead I came across flat characters which seemed to have just one personality trait: good or evil, nothing in between. All the characters were either perfectly good or perfectly bad, all were extremely powerful and wise, all were so perfect, so unrealistic, so because of that it was impossible to become attached to them, and I mean: ”come on!” nobody is perfectly good or perfectly evil, I hated it.

What I liked:

1.The cover is really nice, I admit that it is what attracted me at first to find out more about this book and there are also some beautiful illustrations of the characters, scattered through the book, which aid in visual understanding.

2.The world building:

It’s visible that the author put a lot of work in creating the world, there are lots of detailed descriptions of the characters, places, phenomena, and everything is so vivid.

3.Unique writing style:

I think the authors writing style is really unique, it seems different, in a good way. I don’t know why but sometimes I had the impression that I was listening to an old wiseman telling a long forgotten tale. The narrator makes this book to have a mysterious aura.

The book has a sequel, so the ending of this volume is a cliffhanger. I’m still curious which will be the outcome of the great battle between Good and Evil and how will be depicted the End of the Universe and what characters will survive until the end, so if I have the chance I would totally like to read the second book.

Overall, it is a good book, but it depends on who reads it, if one enjoys it or not. It has a great plot, philosophical ideas scattered here and there, a lot of magic, a great number of unique characters, a complex and fantastic world building. So if you have the patience to get through the first 50 pages, which are full with tones of information which can make you a little bored and if you are interested in magic and fantasy books, then I think that you can give it a chance.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of this book by the author in return for an honest review.

After the author was kind enough to send me a copy for review I really wanted to read both this book and its second part (it's apparently a book in two halves, as opposed to one book and a separate sequel), but unfortunately after getting about a fifth of the way through the first one it's just not for me.

The first and biggest problem is that it's almost all tell and very little show. There is endless exposition from the third person narration and from the characters, via which a huge amount of information is plonked on the reader about the universe's history, its future, many different planets, civilisations, philosophies and specific characters. Without being exposed to these through actual experiences, it's just like reading a history text book with no emotional connection and therefore very little of it is absorbed. I found I couldn't keep any of it straight. It didn't help that the first chapter or two did a huge fast-forward on the timeline so all the characters you'd just met and the information you'd just not really absorbed properly was suddenly all past events and you had to start over.

Secondly, almost all the characters so far are perfectly good or perfectly bad. The antagonist (not yet met a fifth of the way through book 1, only spoken of in hushed tones) is an omnipotent It with all-encompassing power, complete supernatural evil, hell-bent on Armageddon/world domination/not quite sure, because... well... just because. I need me some shades of grey in my characters, because nobody is perfectly good or perfectly evil. We're all flawed and different and shaped by our experiences. To empathise with the characters I'm reading about I need to be able to recognise them in myself or my experiences of the world, which I never get with Perfect Heroes and Pure Evil Villains like these.

The point where I had to give up was after a second glaringly pointless example of tell instead of show. The first was where Dude A is on his way to meet a bunch of friends. He arrives at the designated meeting place to find Dude B is there. The narration tells us that Dude B has been there for 2 weeks already. OK, maybe that's important? Just a couple of pages later, they are sat talking and Dude B actually tells Dude A that he's been there for 2 weeks already. So why did the narrator tell us this when the character interaction was later going to show it anyway?

In the last chapter I read, the narrator tells us that Girl A hadn't yet realised something-or-other and she wouldn't realise that until later in the day when some-other-thing occurred. Guess what? 10 pages later some-other-thing occurs and Girl A realises something-or-other. We experience it along with her which is what the reader needs to get that emotional connection, so again why all the narration exposition?

So yeah, I'm afraid this is going on the Did Not Finish pile.

[Kristina Aziz]

I got this book for free by winning it in a firstreads giveaway.

So, you might have noticed I didn't put a star rating. I DNF this book. Don't get me wrong--it wasn't bad. It just didn't hold my attention. I was really excited at first because I like Artemis Fowl and seeing the pictographic alphabet that opened itself to interpretation by the reader. It would be really awesome to have a separate book in this language for readers to decode.

But I couldn't focus on the story. It lost me several times, and didn't seem to progress quick enough for me.
If you're thinking about getting this book, don't give my review too much weight--especially if you are a Lord of the Rings fan. I've got a feeling that fans of the Hobbit and other like books will enjoy this book.

[Mariana Farcas · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the longest books I ever read, 428 pages. Daniel Nanavati spare no expense, effort, detail...and I am starting reading the second volume.
A dark story about dragons, magicians and end of Earth. Sometimes I had to go back and read a passage.
I'll be back with more comments soon.