Guardian

Sanyare Chronicles

by Megan Haskell

The Sanyare Chronicles Companion Novella
An angel’s purpose is to serve and protect the souls under her care.
Souls crave new life, and the wicked will kill to claim it.

Judith is an angel, a guardian called to watch over the souls of the deserving in paradise. But when a rift between realms is opened in the wastelands of the wicked, every sword is needed. While the archangels work to seal the breach, Judith and the guardians fight to block the souls’ escape. The dead cannot be allowed to possess the living.

A single mistake disrupts the closure, crippling the guardians and threatening the safety of the nine realms. Can Judith prevent the next breach before the wicked march on the living and destroy the order of life?

If you like action-packed fantasy with angels, daemons, and wandering hordes of wicked souls, you’ll love this companion novella to The Sanyare Chronicles.

Find out what happens on the other side of the veil. Buy Guardian today!

151 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 19, 2018

About the author

Legend has it, I was born with a book in my hands. When I was a kid, my mom would ground me from reading in order to get me to do my chores. To this day, I can readily ignore the real world in favor of the imaginary one lurking between the pages of my current addiction. My dad — also an avid reader — introduced me to Tolkien in my late elementary years, and I never looked back. I love escaping to worlds where magic and monsters are real, especially stories with kick-butt heroines and dangerously attractive heroes.

Despite my voracious book appetite, I didn’t start creative writing until I was working as a number cruncher in a big accounting firm. With an hour plus commute by train every day, and a demanding left-brain occupation, I needed a mobile creative outlet. A pen and paper are about as mobile as it gets! As the pages began to fill, I quickly moved onto a tiny laptop, and a writer was born. Now I get to create my own fantasies!

I currently live in Southern California with my wonderfully supportive husband, two daughters, and a ridiculously energetic dog.

Reviews

[kartik narayanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

* I had the opportunity to read the ARC and provide a honest review*

Guardian is an excellent addition to the 'Sanyare' universe. It takes all the trademarks of the series - complex world building, great characters, excellent writing - and builds on them. So, if you liked the other books, you should definitely not miss this one.

Judith is the focus of the story and we see some of the events that unfolded in The Sanyare Chronicles, from her perspective. As always, her characterization is good and we can empathize with the various conflicts in her mind - compassion vs duty, friendship vs morality etc.

Overall, it is a great little novella. Go for it.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this as a e book from the author. It was a good book. I enjoyed reading it. It is my first book by this author. It was so good that I read it in one day. I hope to read more books by this author.

[Mark Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella is thoroughly recommended to all as an exciting tale on its own. Yet, for those familiar with Rie and Judith it is a must read. Five stars is a high rating thoroughly deserved by Megan who has managed to give us thirsty souls waiting for the fourth book something to sink our teeth into and also leave us waiting with anticipation to see how all unfolds.
Megan has managed to fill my belly and still have me hungry with unanswered intrigue on what happens with our heroine as Sanyare Apprentice. A young woman with power yet still to mature.
Thanks Megan for a great read.
Mark

[Judi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe I forgot to write a review for this! I truly liked reading about Judith, finding out what made her tick, what caused her to be like she is, and enjoyed her strength and her determination.

She wasn't Rie's biggest fan. But she believed wholeheartedly in the sanctity of life and souls. And she knew her job was to collect souls before they got loose in the other realms. There are so many dangers facing them right now that it was hard to know what to do and where to begin. But, despite her ambiguity towards Rie, she knew her duty and would always carry it out. And the dangers all the realms are facing from the war and the elves is enough to throw Judith into complete turmoil.

I like Judith. She's a tough one to understand, and even tougher to like, but she's got strength of character and lots of attitude, if not quite the same attitude as Rie. Protect the humans, maintain order, those are the things that make up her duty, and those are the things she's pledged her life to. The way she clashed with Rie was almost fun to watch, even when it was at the direst of times.

I won't do spoilers, so I won't tell you any of the things that actually happen, but I will tell you that you will find out more about the Moirai, about the elves, about the Guardians. and about the way souls are dealt with after death. It gives us a lot of information that ties things together for the other books. And it's full of action.

I didn't particularly like Judith before this book, but Guardian gave me a different perspective into the way Judith behaves. And just because I happen to really love Rie, it doesn't mean I can't like the people who just love giving her a hard time. So I'm glad Megan wrote this. I'm glad I got to know Judith. And I'm so sorry I forgot to review it!

As always, Very Well Done, Megan Haskell! Very Well Done indeed!

I received this as an ARC edition from the author and am giving her an honest, unbiased review in my own words and of my own volition.

[Joy Pixley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella starts with two of the same events from book 2 of the Sanyare series, but from Judith's point of view instead of Rie's. We go on to learn a ton more about Judith's life (er... as it were) as an angel in the Daemon Realm, caring for the souls of the dead. Turns out it's a lot more stressful to be an angel than I might have thought! Judith is struggling to prove herself so that she can advance to the next level of guardian and help more people, but her mistakes keep holding her back. Plus she runs up against a fellow angel who has very different views from her on redemption, and they have heated arguments about the nature of good and evil and who gets to decide who's redeemable and who isn't. Without giving away spoilers, I'll just say that Judith is faced with some serious challenges, that require her to find new levels of not just physical but also moral and emotional strength.

I'm no angel (ha ha), but I could definitely relate to Judith and her very real-world problems. I thought this was an interesting off-shoot from the Sanyare series, and allowed me to see parts of that universe that I wouldn't have seen from Rie's perspective. I hope we'll get to see more of Judith and the Daemon world in later books. (Update: having read ahead, we do--hooray!) I also liked the interesting modern take on the computer-using Moirai (the Fates). The religious morality thing gets a little heavy and might not be for everyone, so keep that in mind. I would definitely recommend this to anyone reading the Sanyare series. I'd think it would work equally well reading it either before or after book 2, but best to read it before book 3.

[Emmabain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic story. Solid. This is what sword and sorcery is all about. I especially liked the Moirai. The Sanyare story line appears in this novella, but the book can be read alone. And it reads fast! Finished it in a morning. Lots of action and lots of intrigue. I recommend it for anyone who loves fantasy with characters you’ll be thinking about long after you finish the book.

[Veselina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back to the Demon Realm

This is a short story of the point of view of Judith- guardian of the Demon Realm. It give us different point of view and perspective to what happened so far in the Sanyare Chronicles. It is lovely read and make you want more. I can't wait now for the forth book.

[Frank Geimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great short story in the Sanyare Chronicles! It has all the action and adventure you could want and the world building is fantastic. I enjoyed it so much, I couldn't put it down.