The Blue Orb

by Suzy Vivian

Hundreds of years ago, in the land of Uranallee, there was a very powerful wizard. He was the most powerful wizard the world had seen in many lifetimes. His name was Xyrene. He was tall and very thin. He was stooped over with age and from his lifetime of study and work in the magic arts. He had tufts of wispy white hair around his ears. He kept it short most of the time, but it had grown longer of late. He had neither the time nor the inclination to tend to his hair because he was concerned about something of greater importance. He wore a long robe of black velvet that was tied to his slender body with a gold cord. At the neck was a tall collar. Both the collar and the front of his robe were embroidered with special runes in gold thread, marking his position as the most powerful wizard of the realm. He also wore soft slippers of black velvet lined with lamb's wool. They kept his feet warm in the cold castle where he lived

280 pages, Paperback

Published October 29, 2021

Reviews

[Erin Dydek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of Potential, Needs Additional Development

The prologue presented a great premise for a fantastic fantasy tale, but the actual story felt like it needed more development. The Blue Orb is a fantasy quest that centers around a battle between good and evil. Despite the presence of witches and wizards, there is minimal magic use throughout the book. The content is overall clean with the exception of a brief scene of torture when the witches take out their anger on innocent victims. There are also a few mild battle scenes and a bit of romance—free of erotic content. I loved the mist beast that made an appearance along the journey and added some suspense to the novel. The ending is also conclusive and does not end with a cliffhanger. A standalone novel with clear writing and very few typos. The reason this book fell short, for me, was the stiff dialogue and repetitive scenes that used more telling than showing. Also, despite the title, the powerful blue orb that made a strong appearance in the prologue, played a minimal part in the main story. I would have loved to see its power in action, but instead of being active throughout the book, it spent most of the story tucked safely away out of sight and almost out of mind.

OnlineBookClub Review: https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/vie...

[Jeff Rice · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea for the book is amazing. I had such high hopes and expectations. Quickly I realized it read like it was written for children or teens, not by content but by style. I decided I would not let that bother me, I'm a fan of authors who do write for that audience so I'm fine with the style.
Two things I can't get over though are poor character development and filler. Again, the ideas of the characters are amazing and with great potential. I just felt like I never got to know any of them in a meaningful way like you do in a good read. And so many words and pages were spent on so little happening. They traveled, they stayed at an inn, they ate, they traveled again, they stayed at an inn... Then when something did happen only a few sentences were dedicated to it. The final confrontation that took 270+ pages to get to was literally a few paragraphs.
I wish some of the words given to the mundane things were spent on character development and action sequences. There were interesting characters and exciting developments but it seemed they were just barely mentioned and then it was back to they traveled...
I kept thinking this is a great first draft of a book. I am curious how it got through editing without revisions. This could have been a classic and left the reader salivating for sequels.
I feel like I should apologize to the author. I'm not trying to be insulting or overly critical. I honestly love the story and, as I mentioned, the ideas and characters have classic potential. I hope the author continues writing and has more amazing ideas.

[Tricia Quisenberry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good premise for a story, but fell a little flat for me. I couldn’t find anything that showed what target audience this was for, but feels like the writing style is written for middle schoolers even though some of the content isn’t necessarily “children’s”. More action and dialogue would have maybe made this more engaging for me.

[Amanda Ho · Rating 3 out of 5]

It sounded amazing in the prologue, but quickly you can tell it just needs more development. Great premise, just needed more.

[Nicole Cleaveland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This could be a very good book. Needs some additional work. Great premise and story