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Higher Ground #1
Wind Over Troubled Waters
Corn World. Britland. After the great flood, only memories, debris and derelict buildings speak of a past civilization. Visions of these disturbing times haunt Cerridwen's dreams. When her dying mother sends Cerridwen to find a mural in Saint Eyes and lead Britland into a better future, the young healer has little choice but to set out on a life-changing quest. Her ability to perceive auras convinces her to accept nature-attuned Trevly's offer of protection. Bent on adventure and enthralled by the promise of treasure, beautiful Sasha, cunning Aron and uncut Boris join forces to get the most out of life. Their selfish plans collide with Cerridwen's when they learn about a powerful ring and a mural pointing the way to its location.
224 pages, Paperback
First published April 24, 2012
About the author
Edith Parzefall
73 books5 followersEdith Parzefall studied literature and linguistics in Germany and the United States. She worked as a technical writer, documentation manager and engineer tamer. Now a full-time writer, she strives to combine her two passions: writing and travelling.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 1, 2012
From a landslide beginning ‘Wind Over Troubled Waters’ sweeps us along with the perfect mix of misadventure and challenge on Cerridwen and Sasha’s parallel quests.
Batten down the hatches! Wind Over Troubled Waters sweeps readers into a future world devastated by flood. Surviving a landslide, grief and desolation, Cerridwen’s quest is to fulfill her mother’s dying wish. Sasha’s quest is for freedom, adventure and meaning for her life.
The world Stanley and Parzefall create is familiar in a frightening way. The journey through a future flood-ravaged world reveals the value of the storyteller, the healer, the quick witted and the strong. Through Cerridwen and Sasha’s parallel quests we rediscover the value of old skills, loyalty, compassion, freedom and the deeper emotion of love.
A maelstrom of adventures and challenges contrast with the beautiful crafting of characters and settings and sweep Wind Over Troubled Waters straight onto the ‘favourites’ shelf.
Batten down the hatches! Wind Over Troubled Waters sweeps readers into a future world devastated by flood. Surviving a landslide, grief and desolation, Cerridwen’s quest is to fulfill her mother’s dying wish. Sasha’s quest is for freedom, adventure and meaning for her life.
The world Stanley and Parzefall create is familiar in a frightening way. The journey through a future flood-ravaged world reveals the value of the storyteller, the healer, the quick witted and the strong. Through Cerridwen and Sasha’s parallel quests we rediscover the value of old skills, loyalty, compassion, freedom and the deeper emotion of love.
A maelstrom of adventures and challenges contrast with the beautiful crafting of characters and settings and sweep Wind Over Troubled Waters straight onto the ‘favourites’ shelf.
April 27, 2012
‘This dark, edgy novel forces us to confront human nature in the raw…with eyes wide open.’
Wind Over Troubled Waters, the first book in a futuristic fantasy series, is a dark, edgy novel, driven by flawed and tortured people struggling to survive in their battered and ruined communities. At its heart, seventeen-year old Cerridwen casts a shining light. She is the hope for humanity.
The story hooks us in the opening scene when Cerridwen flees with her mother from a devastating mudslide in the dead of night. She draws us into her primitive future - a future where derelict buildings and abandoned cars planted with wild herbs are the only evidence of an advanced civilization before the great flood destroyed it.
Cerridwen, named after the goddess of healing, sets out from Red Roof on a quest to find the wise old woman of Hailing who will guide her towards fulfilling her destiny. It is her mother’s dying wish that Cerridwen (Wen) make her country, Britland, a better place for everyone through the power of a moonstone ring.
Even at this young age, it is clear Wen is a gifted healer. She sees and interprets auras of those around her and has visions of the Britland of a bygone era. She comes to rely on a mysterious traveller, named Trevly, who has exceptionally well-developed senses and the ability to calm the wildest beast. Together they make the dangerous trek through Corn World to Hailing. Along the way, Wen brings hope and healing to the needy, in spite of the abuses they subject her to.
Cerridwen’s story runs parallel to Sasha’s, a manipulative, materialistic woman whose nature and purpose are in stark contrast to Wen’s. Sasha travels from the opposite direction, with her two ‘knights’, Boris, a rough brute, and Aron, the man who rescued her from a cruel ‘husk band’ in Pens Dance. Sasha delights in pitting the two men against each other while they travel through Corn World in search of a better future for her, but she becomes separated from them with dire consequences.
The contrast in the lives and nature of the two women is a striking reminder that most people seek a better life for themselves and their friends, but very few of us seek to improve the life of strangers.
In this violent age, where misconceptions lead men to torture the innocent, people still attempt to create order out of chaos. When men put aside rivalries for the love of a woman and communities overcome bias and anger to show mercy, we see the signs of human decency and dignity.
Wind Over Troubled Waters is the powerful creation of co-authors Edith Parzefall and Francene Stanley. They place before us an honest portrait of human nature at its best and worst. Every character and incident moves the story forward, forcing us to confront humanity in the raw…with eyes wide open. #
Wendy Laharnar, author of The Unhewn Stone.
Wind Over Troubled Waters, the first book in a futuristic fantasy series, is a dark, edgy novel, driven by flawed and tortured people struggling to survive in their battered and ruined communities. At its heart, seventeen-year old Cerridwen casts a shining light. She is the hope for humanity.
The story hooks us in the opening scene when Cerridwen flees with her mother from a devastating mudslide in the dead of night. She draws us into her primitive future - a future where derelict buildings and abandoned cars planted with wild herbs are the only evidence of an advanced civilization before the great flood destroyed it.
Cerridwen, named after the goddess of healing, sets out from Red Roof on a quest to find the wise old woman of Hailing who will guide her towards fulfilling her destiny. It is her mother’s dying wish that Cerridwen (Wen) make her country, Britland, a better place for everyone through the power of a moonstone ring.
Even at this young age, it is clear Wen is a gifted healer. She sees and interprets auras of those around her and has visions of the Britland of a bygone era. She comes to rely on a mysterious traveller, named Trevly, who has exceptionally well-developed senses and the ability to calm the wildest beast. Together they make the dangerous trek through Corn World to Hailing. Along the way, Wen brings hope and healing to the needy, in spite of the abuses they subject her to.
Cerridwen’s story runs parallel to Sasha’s, a manipulative, materialistic woman whose nature and purpose are in stark contrast to Wen’s. Sasha travels from the opposite direction, with her two ‘knights’, Boris, a rough brute, and Aron, the man who rescued her from a cruel ‘husk band’ in Pens Dance. Sasha delights in pitting the two men against each other while they travel through Corn World in search of a better future for her, but she becomes separated from them with dire consequences.
The contrast in the lives and nature of the two women is a striking reminder that most people seek a better life for themselves and their friends, but very few of us seek to improve the life of strangers.
In this violent age, where misconceptions lead men to torture the innocent, people still attempt to create order out of chaos. When men put aside rivalries for the love of a woman and communities overcome bias and anger to show mercy, we see the signs of human decency and dignity.
Wind Over Troubled Waters is the powerful creation of co-authors Edith Parzefall and Francene Stanley. They place before us an honest portrait of human nature at its best and worst. Every character and incident moves the story forward, forcing us to confront humanity in the raw…with eyes wide open. #
Wendy Laharnar, author of The Unhewn Stone.
September 25, 2012
Wind Over Troubled Waters, is located at Corn World, Britland after a deluge. All that is left is Cerridwen’s dreams. From her dying mother she learns of the mural in Saint Eyes and sets out change Britland’s future. It is a dystopia story with an ending that uplifts the reader. It is structured like a Bildungsroman. The book even reads like a dream, both alluring and disturbing in parts. The drama is clear in the first chapter itself. The story moves on, sometimes at breathtaking pace.
It is a fascinating world the writers explore, shorn of knowledge and traditional security systems. Though the location of the story is scary, it is the text that holds up the reader’s confidence. The quality of the language is such that when tense moments come, the reader feels at sea but not adrift. This is where I feel it shows how the writers have assimilated the different registers of English by going to a deeper level – language as a sense of assurance. The language of WOTW takes the reader closer into the grip that the sure penned writers have on emotions and language.
I also liked it that though the story is set in a strange space, the drama is so human. WOTW is based on the kind of characters who shine through our classic texts. Its emotions play out in grand heroic ways. To me the quality of a good book, whether it be science fantasy or utopian/dystopian or even historical or literary fiction is that it is a big story, a universal story, a story in which the reader is awed by the happens and yet it appeals in an intimate manner.
Another aspect is how the writers explore what does it mean to be human. This is the ultimate quest of any art, to reflect us upon ourselves with the art being a medium of insight. Kudos!
It is a fascinating world the writers explore, shorn of knowledge and traditional security systems. Though the location of the story is scary, it is the text that holds up the reader’s confidence. The quality of the language is such that when tense moments come, the reader feels at sea but not adrift. This is where I feel it shows how the writers have assimilated the different registers of English by going to a deeper level – language as a sense of assurance. The language of WOTW takes the reader closer into the grip that the sure penned writers have on emotions and language.
I also liked it that though the story is set in a strange space, the drama is so human. WOTW is based on the kind of characters who shine through our classic texts. Its emotions play out in grand heroic ways. To me the quality of a good book, whether it be science fantasy or utopian/dystopian or even historical or literary fiction is that it is a big story, a universal story, a story in which the reader is awed by the happens and yet it appeals in an intimate manner.
Another aspect is how the writers explore what does it mean to be human. This is the ultimate quest of any art, to reflect us upon ourselves with the art being a medium of insight. Kudos!
June 12, 2012
Francene and Edith introduce the reader to a cast of characters that will live with you for a long time after you finish this story. Following a tragic almost world ending event long before this story takes place, Cerridwen, Aron, Sasha and others take on a quest for a ring that will hopefully bring peace to the people still alive in Britland. Both these authors create a unique experience in seeing true human nature under duress and don't let up in the excitement throughout the book.
August 8, 2012
Two heads can be better than one, especially when writing about a dystopic future that just might have some promise, that is, if the engaging cast of characters can reach their ultimate goal. The tag team of Parzefall and Stanley gives us a story, Wind Over Troubled Waters, framed by current events (global warming) and one possible future arising from the devastating flood it triggers. Mankind is back to the beginning...well...a medevial setting in the future, at least, where the remnants of mankind are but legends, curiosities, and a fair number of twisted sayings for the current players to use, abuse, and ponder. Cerridwen, a 17-year-old healer with special powers and wisdom beyond her age, makes a death bed promise to her mother and kicks off the first book in a promising series.
As Cerridwen begins her journey through a wondrous and sometimes dark and brutal world, the expected and unexpected happens. She meets others (what would a journey be without others) and some choose to follow her on her journey: Trevly, highly tuned into nature; Sasha, the materialistic sex kitten; and two "knights" of dubious honor and conflicting temperament. They champion Cerridwen's promise and, more or less, suppress their own wishes. Despite obstacles in their path and philosophical differences, the group clings to each other for their own purposes and find hidden strengths and human frailties along the way. Who lives, who dies, and what lies ahead is well set up in this story with the individual situations supporting the overall thrust of the story.
The writing is strong and precise. I could quibble over some of the science, but it is a dystopian fantasy, science sometimes bleeds away to allow the human side of stories to take over. If you're a fantasy lover with a bent for speculative fiction tinged with a hint of romance to come, this is a book you should take on vacation with you to Cornworld or elsewhere. It earns a high 4 rating from me.
As Cerridwen begins her journey through a wondrous and sometimes dark and brutal world, the expected and unexpected happens. She meets others (what would a journey be without others) and some choose to follow her on her journey: Trevly, highly tuned into nature; Sasha, the materialistic sex kitten; and two "knights" of dubious honor and conflicting temperament. They champion Cerridwen's promise and, more or less, suppress their own wishes. Despite obstacles in their path and philosophical differences, the group clings to each other for their own purposes and find hidden strengths and human frailties along the way. Who lives, who dies, and what lies ahead is well set up in this story with the individual situations supporting the overall thrust of the story.
The writing is strong and precise. I could quibble over some of the science, but it is a dystopian fantasy, science sometimes bleeds away to allow the human side of stories to take over. If you're a fantasy lover with a bent for speculative fiction tinged with a hint of romance to come, this is a book you should take on vacation with you to Cornworld or elsewhere. It earns a high 4 rating from me.
May 7, 2012
It is not unusual for me to read a book in one sitting, but usually I take time for bathroom breaks and even snacks and water. But this book never let me put it down, not even for a second. I was totally absorbed into the authors' world and could see it and the characters as the story unfolded. I am eager for the sequel to come out and will shamelessly beg for a sneak preview.
I am also impressed by the authors' combined voice. Even with previous knowledge of other manuscripts by each, I am unable to recognize their individual voices. I can point to no word or scene with any conviction of who wrote or devised it.
Even more amazing, especially to those who know me and my past work, I felt no urges to get out a red pen. And those urges tend to be common even when reading books from more acclaimed publishers.
So someone take pity on me please and get me more to read from this duo!!
I am also impressed by the authors' combined voice. Even with previous knowledge of other manuscripts by each, I am unable to recognize their individual voices. I can point to no word or scene with any conviction of who wrote or devised it.
Even more amazing, especially to those who know me and my past work, I felt no urges to get out a red pen. And those urges tend to be common even when reading books from more acclaimed publishers.
So someone take pity on me please and get me more to read from this duo!!
September 24, 2014
The world we know has changed in a great flood. Well, that’s different from nuclear war or zombies, so I’ll go with it. Within a few generations, the world of today has been swept away and the descendants of the survivors have been thrown back into the Dark Ages. This is Corn World, the last known place on Earth. And Britland lies in its westernmost peninsula.
Here we follow Cerridwen, the heroine, as she embarks on a journey across a land unknown to both her and the reader. Cerridwen is a sweet girl, good-hearted, wise in herb lore, and a gifted aura reader. Oh, and she’s the Chosen One. Of course she’s the Chosen One—she has no character flaws or any kind of imperfections that might make her human.
There are others in this curiously beatific post-Apocalyptic world: Trevly the pig-whisperer, who speaks with animals, brave and clever Aron, and the tempestuous Sasha. Much of the time, the action bounces back and forth between the two couples, Cerridwen & Trevly and Aron & Sasha. That forces readers to keep track of who's who, which is difficult, since Aron and Trevly are pretty much the same character except that Trevly does the pig-talking thing. Amusingly, the first time Trevly and Aron meet, it's when they're both searching for their lost women.
Except for one truly psychopathic rapist, none of the characters in this post-Apocalyptic world seem all that bad. Even the thugs mostly come off as big dumb scoundrels. Sasha finds Boris the Brute as appealing as the clever and handsome Aron. Most of the characters tend to have good reasons to do bad things.
When I saw the word “husk band” in place of “husband”, I thought it was a typo. But since civilization has collapsed and education is nonexistent, a strange new language has appeared for things from the old times. Like “Britland” for Britain, and “Corn World” for Cornwall. So it's a bit jarring when someone uses the word “scientist” instead of, I don't know, “sign twitch”.
Another annoyance is a scene where Boris and Sasha are standing and talking and suddenly a snare trap is sprung. Such a trap is walked into; it does not wait and spring after two people reach a dramatic moment in their conversation. Also, it would probably catch both of them together since they were hugging.
Some of the treasures of this Corn World are bottles and jars containing two hundred year old food. Just a tad past the expiration date.
I think the story could just as easily have been set in the Dark Ages, given the culture and technology of Corn World, and the references to an earlier, but lost era of a great civilization.
Ultimately, “Wind Over Troubled Waters”--a horrible title—is a romance. Make that two romances. Well, three if you count the ménage a trois. As such, I'd chauvinistically give it four stars for women readers and three for men. Men would like a little more action and less of characters wondering if their prospective mate will truly love them. And I think all readers would like the book more if things moved a tad faster.
Nonetheless, it's a well written book with likeable characters set in an interesting world. It's also a nice set-up for the sequel, which I suspect will be more adventurous and more epic.
Here we follow Cerridwen, the heroine, as she embarks on a journey across a land unknown to both her and the reader. Cerridwen is a sweet girl, good-hearted, wise in herb lore, and a gifted aura reader. Oh, and she’s the Chosen One. Of course she’s the Chosen One—she has no character flaws or any kind of imperfections that might make her human.
There are others in this curiously beatific post-Apocalyptic world: Trevly the pig-whisperer, who speaks with animals, brave and clever Aron, and the tempestuous Sasha. Much of the time, the action bounces back and forth between the two couples, Cerridwen & Trevly and Aron & Sasha. That forces readers to keep track of who's who, which is difficult, since Aron and Trevly are pretty much the same character except that Trevly does the pig-talking thing. Amusingly, the first time Trevly and Aron meet, it's when they're both searching for their lost women.
Except for one truly psychopathic rapist, none of the characters in this post-Apocalyptic world seem all that bad. Even the thugs mostly come off as big dumb scoundrels. Sasha finds Boris the Brute as appealing as the clever and handsome Aron. Most of the characters tend to have good reasons to do bad things.
When I saw the word “husk band” in place of “husband”, I thought it was a typo. But since civilization has collapsed and education is nonexistent, a strange new language has appeared for things from the old times. Like “Britland” for Britain, and “Corn World” for Cornwall. So it's a bit jarring when someone uses the word “scientist” instead of, I don't know, “sign twitch”.
Another annoyance is a scene where Boris and Sasha are standing and talking and suddenly a snare trap is sprung. Such a trap is walked into; it does not wait and spring after two people reach a dramatic moment in their conversation. Also, it would probably catch both of them together since they were hugging.
Some of the treasures of this Corn World are bottles and jars containing two hundred year old food. Just a tad past the expiration date.
I think the story could just as easily have been set in the Dark Ages, given the culture and technology of Corn World, and the references to an earlier, but lost era of a great civilization.
Ultimately, “Wind Over Troubled Waters”--a horrible title—is a romance. Make that two romances. Well, three if you count the ménage a trois. As such, I'd chauvinistically give it four stars for women readers and three for men. Men would like a little more action and less of characters wondering if their prospective mate will truly love them. And I think all readers would like the book more if things moved a tad faster.
Nonetheless, it's a well written book with likeable characters set in an interesting world. It's also a nice set-up for the sequel, which I suspect will be more adventurous and more epic.
May 25, 2013
Good writing and well-drawn characters, but I just didn't like any of the main characters. The women are too reliant on men. Sasha, who is a bitch, but is at least strong willed, crumples when she loses her two "knights." Found again, she went from pewling mess back to strong and confident just because she had her two simpering and manipulated boyfriends.
See how much I dislike Sasha?
Cerridwen is a much nicer person (and the focus of the story), but she also can't get along without a man.
I know this is a post-apocalyptic future world with elements right out of Mad Max, but I really do need my female characters able to stand up for themselves. For crissakes, ladies! Get a big old machete and tell your boyfriends to teach you self-defense!
That's the only problem I have with the book (series). MANY of you will find the book romantic, action-filled, etc. It is. Really. Just not my cuppa.
Note that 3-stars means I finished the book. Trust me. There are many books I can't finish. This one I could, but I'm just not compelled to continue the series. Sorry.
See how much I dislike Sasha?
Cerridwen is a much nicer person (and the focus of the story), but she also can't get along without a man.
I know this is a post-apocalyptic future world with elements right out of Mad Max, but I really do need my female characters able to stand up for themselves. For crissakes, ladies! Get a big old machete and tell your boyfriends to teach you self-defense!
That's the only problem I have with the book (series). MANY of you will find the book romantic, action-filled, etc. It is. Really. Just not my cuppa.
Note that 3-stars means I finished the book. Trust me. There are many books I can't finish. This one I could, but I'm just not compelled to continue the series. Sorry.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews