Arise to Fall

The Varsian Kingdom #1

by Jason Hein

Eighteen year old Leila, who lives as a serf on King Goldwin's manor, finds her world turned upside down when she begins having visions of angels. The angel Shasia, known to mortals as the Queen of the Light Fairies, appears to the young woman with a simple message. "You are the Specter." Could this be? Against the advice of the village council and the will of the King himself, Leila sets out on a trek across the Varsian Kingdom with little more than her parents' blessing and the grace of an angel. Join this young heroine as she discovers just how much it costs to become the "Chosen Hero" of her generation!

Genres: Christian

246 pages, Paperback

First published June 19, 2015

About the author

Growing up on a secluded farm in the panhandle of
Oklahoma, Jason P. Hein developed a unique point of
view and literary sense as a young child. With few friends
and little to entertain him, his imagination ran wild!
With iconic names such as C.S Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien
as literary inspirations, epic tales began to unfold
inside the confines of his mind. These stories soon
became the backbone for a rich fantasy land, now
known as "The Varsian Kingdom."

As years and education expanded his mind, so they
expanded the Kingdom of Varsia. With the launch of
"The Varsian Kingdom Series" Jason is now offering
his world for the exploration of intrigued minds
and fantasy readers alike!

Reviews

[Angela Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed the way the metaphor of the title was played out throughout the adventures of Leila, there certainly were some nail biter moments at the end that set the stage nicely for the next book and raise all kinds of question. Looking forward to seeing how book 2 turns out!

[Jason Hein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arise to Fall is an epic medieval fantasy story where anything is possible! Everything from dwarves to fairies. Quests of destiny and battles that will decide the fate of nations.

[Stargazer R. L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well. This book has pretty much everything. Epic world building, adventure, action, battles, Christian themes, and so many fantasy creatures! Dwarves, elves, centaurs, fairies/angels, people with elemental super-powers, and a sturdy role-model type heroine Vs. minators, goblins, and gargoyles. A grumpy wyvern also makes an appearance, as did a pheonix.

The world building is epic and on a huge Middle-Earth kind of scale, and I want to see more of this land!

Basic plot: What if the chosen one was a girl, who's task was to go find the other chosen one, who is reluctant to accept his role as king because he knows his ancestors wrongfully took the throne in the first place? Lots of adventure and battles ensue. Pretty cool, huh? :)

It's a fun adventure, which I enjoyed very much.

Laila is a very likeable, sturdy farm girl teen, who I thought was a lot more like a teenager than most teen-aged protagonists I've ever read--something about the way she took life and said things, was just so teen-y. I enjoyed her story, and liked her very much.

All the other characters were very likeable as well. There's a fun dwarf, Rolden, a pretty cool human man, Cyril, and lots of other lovable people.

FYI, this book is not a romance. There are sequences of action and violence, and there's a lot of blood and described battle, but other than that it's fit for all ages, and quite sparkly. :)

I finished and immediately started on the sequel, though this book's main plot is over, and it didn't cliff hanger at all. I'm enjoying book two even more than this one, and I think the author is an even better writer now!

Now, if you're the type of person who needs to know who dies. . . you can open the spoiler tag.
MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR DEATH SPOILER:
At the end of the book, after completing her task, the heroine is martyred. With her last words almost word-for-word like Stephen from the Bible, she is burnt at the stake and goes to Heaven. Her parents get to leave this world behind and go with her.
The Wyvern also dies. *sniffs*
As does Braiden. *more sniffs*
The Rolden, however, does NOT die!! *happy dance*

Recommended to all fans of fantasy, clean fiction, likable heroines, and rich worlds with Christian themes. :) (That's me by the way, hence, me liking it.)

[Rashun Ramon · Rating 5 out of 5]

They say to not judge a book by its cover. Well, I took one look at this cover and HAD to delve deeper than what the synopsis presented.

Arise to Fall is a fantastic epic tale in which you embark on a remarkable journey with Leila. Leila is a peasant bestowed with a unique title, a title which I’d vaguely describe as a gift and a curse.

The amount of detail put into this novel was astounding. You’ll come across various characters, who for the most part have unique cultures, temperaments and languages. At times you could virtually catch a whiff of a goblin’s miasma.

As if the actual meaning of Arise to Fall wasn’t thought provoking enough (read to find out 😁), Mr. Hein furthered the boundaries of his novel with a soundtrack as well. Goblins, centaurs, dwarves, a badass wyvern, rangers and more than enough action make this a page turner. If you ask me, the only thing missing is an opportunity to hit the silver screen.

[W.A. Ashes · Rating 5 out of 5]

epic!

I immensely enjoyed this book. Arise to Fall was an epic fantasy for the ages. It had everything a fantasy lover could want. There were goblins, dwarfs, Minotaurs, magic, lost kings, and action packed battles. There wasn’t a dull moment as Leila created her army and prepared to go to battle to save the kingdom of Varsian.

This didn’t have your typical HEA but the ending was perfect. The story itself reminded me of Tolkien and Lewis.

[The Book Dragon's Hoard by A.V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful message woven into a great fun adventure. The execution may have fallen a little short for me, but I think the target audience will absolutely love this book. Arise to Fall is an excellent tale about courage, responsibility and sacrifice.

I rarely get goosebumps while reading, but Hein's offering provided them right in the final chapter. An indication of a good book if ever there was one.

[Barbara Strickland · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read

This had a lovely flow, great plot and some well thought out world building. Leila is a delightful leading characters and the reader looks forward to what comes next.

[Grace Morris · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars.... *sigh*

Is it bad that I want the main character to die several times? I'm sorry, SORRY!!! I try to keep the beginnings of my reviews positive....

WHAT DID I LIKE?

I tried really hard to think about this. I did come up with a few things....

I kinda liked the characters Roldin and Cyril.

The book had several really cool ideas that I wished it had more of.

There was a wyvern!!!!

The goblin scene was kinda okay, I guess...

Why I Wanted the Main Character to DIE and Other Things I Disliked:

First of all, the book is really boring.... A rip off from "The Lord of the Rings". Oh, and it also head-hops, to make things worse.

I mean, there were a lot of really cool ideas in this book. But it never acted on them, or even tried to act on them.

Like for instance; there was this thing in the beginning of the story that talks about how the characters in this world are named. There is a name for the parents and child to know, and a name for the world to know. If the world was ever to know the birth name then they would discovered the individual's greatest weakness.

Sounds like a pretty cool story, right? Well, I thought so too... Unfortunately, this is one of the only times you will ever really hear about this plotline. Instead the plot is more about.... Well, I will get back to that. But wouldn't you love to read a story about the birth name thing? I mean that would make the coolest story ever, if done right.... (And no, that one scene that tries to add this cool part is not all that great, alright?)

First of all, what makes Leila so special? Sure, some fairy of light comes to her and says, "You're the Specter!" And then without a doubt she starts running around saying, "I'm the Specter!" Really? Without a doubt? Sure, might be cool and all, but shouldn't this be a story of her becoming the Specter, finding herself? I mean, if someone were to come up to me and say, "You're the director of this movie!" I don't think I would run around doing director stuff at first, unless I really knew how or have done it before. I have some self-confidence about myself, but not so much that I would believe anything you told me. This kind of stuff should take a while to sink in.

The book skipped several opportunities to build up characters. There were several times they were given opportunities to share stories but the book just glances over them. I didn't want whole chapters of the characters just telling stories, but a few words here and there doesn't hurt anything.

Leila also knows Cyril's birth name (which is Valen, by the way) but she never uses it in the story. She always calls him Cyril. I don't really see her knowing Cyril's weaknesses. But wouldn't it make a pretty cool story if she used his birth name against him? Or maybe form a love story or something? I know, the possibilities were endless.

Leila was also able to do a whole lot of fighting when she was never trained...

The way Leila is with Cyril is unbelievable. I have no idea why she thinks she can just go up to someone and demand that they become king for a reason that isn't even all that great. Leila is also someone who will run into danger, is overconfident, I don't know... A dimwitted character.

Then there is this entire monologue to kill her, and for some reason I kept going, JUST DO IT ALREADY!!! I don't know what came over me, I mean the book wasn't horrible; I just really didn't like it for some reason, especially that character...

And when she did finally die, it should have ended there. But no, it didn't. It had to show her parents grief. And bring dead ghost Leila in the scene to tell them to throw away their lives so they can live with her forever in the afterlife. I hated the scene. Yes, I understand that having a love one die is horrible. But the afterlife, heaven, is a place where God is. Shouldn't that be our first concern? Is to honor God after we die?

Content in Book:

1. Violence. (Sword fighting. Hand-to-hand combat. Arrows. Axes. Other weapons. Eating people. Violence with mystical creatures. Trying to kill someone. Etc.)

2. Burning someone at the stake.

3. Blood, bones, ash. Lava.

4. Someone eating creatures flesh for survival.