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The Sorcerer's Secret
Fire — dreams of Fire — visions of Fire. Where do they come from? Aryazate doesn’t know why, but he fears the power secretly growing in him.
Am I a demon, or a sorcerer?
Kavada, the blacksmith, seems to be the only one he can trust, but even he doesn’t know the extent of Aryazate’s secrets. What would he say if he found out that the beautiful maiden Aryazate, is really a young man forced by circumstances to conceal this truth, which day by day becomes more evident?
Just when he thinks Kavada is ready to hear the truth, Aryazate’s worst nightmares become reality. The Head-Mage Monushir accuses him of sorcery and has him imprisoned. What will this trial reveal? Is the truth so horrible that Aryazate will welcome torture and death by fire — by the same fire that haunts his dreams?
Am I a demon, or a sorcerer?
Kavada, the blacksmith, seems to be the only one he can trust, but even he doesn’t know the extent of Aryazate’s secrets. What would he say if he found out that the beautiful maiden Aryazate, is really a young man forced by circumstances to conceal this truth, which day by day becomes more evident?
Just when he thinks Kavada is ready to hear the truth, Aryazate’s worst nightmares become reality. The Head-Mage Monushir accuses him of sorcery and has him imprisoned. What will this trial reveal? Is the truth so horrible that Aryazate will welcome torture and death by fire — by the same fire that haunts his dreams?
256 pages, Paperback
First published February 14, 2008
About the author
K.B. Forrest
28 books13 followersKB Forrest has researched ancient Indo-European history and folklore for several years, and brings to this novel his story-telling flair and the accurate details today’s readers demand. He is skilled in animal husbandry, primitive survival skills, and horsemanship. These talents allow him to imbue his stories with realistic elements.
KB lives on a farm in Northern Mississippi with his faithful dogs. He raises Brahman cattle and a large variety of birds. When not writing, he paints in oils and watercolors.
KB lives on a farm in Northern Mississippi with his faithful dogs. He raises Brahman cattle and a large variety of birds. When not writing, he paints in oils and watercolors.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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April 17, 2009I want to be honest: I bought this one cause I like the cover! Oh, I read before K.B. Forrest, and I like his writing style (her? really I don't know if he is a man or if she is a woman), but fantasy setting mixed with demons and black magic is not my stuff.
So before reading I put the book under a test: I confess, I read some pages in the middle, to know how to expect from the book, and to decide if I wanted to read it all, cause it's also pretty long. I liked it and so I decided it would be my evening read. But when I arrived at home I found another book in my mailbox, one I was waiting from a bit, and so I read it first (it was a short novel, so I had still the time to read both). The other book was pretty strong, and sincerely as second read maybe it would be better to choose something light, and instead I read this one. And it's not light at all!
Aryazate is the abandoned child of a sorcerer in the Persia of 500 b.c.: his father has killed his mother and then he has abandoned him. He was lucky to be take in and raised by a wealthy and kindly woman, Nizami. Only there was a little problem: Nizami has disguided him as her little child, died of fever... but her child was a girl and so she has raised Aryazate like a girl. Obviously now there is another little problem: at eighteen years old Aryazate has long passed the age when usually girls married, but HE can't marry. Another problem is that, when Aryazate is angry, he unleashes some uncontrolled powers, that can make him accused of sorcery: and with the witch hunt that roars in the kingdom, it's better not to raise unwilling attention.
Kavada is a poor blacksmith that Aeyazate helps. He is enthralled by his beautiful lady, even if he sees that she is not a ordinary woman: she is too beautiful and kind, and she has powers he has witnessed with his eyes. And even if he is only a poor commoner, he wants her as a man wants his woman... but when Aryazate will unveal her secret, will Kavada still want her... him?
Aryazate is decipted like the classical cute uke, but he is not at all a submissive: he is a very dominant character, even if his strenght is not from his body but from his magic. And also from his behaviour, cause Aryazate is also a spoilt son: his mother has never forbidden nothing to him and when he sees something he wants, he takes it without asking. And this time he wants Kavada, and he "takes" him.
Kavada is a simple man. A man with the soul and the body of a warrior, but without the behaviour of a commander. He is glady to surrender without fight to Aryazate, and he never questions his lady. He worships her like a goddess and noone, or nothing, will change his mind.
The Sorcerer's Secret is a pretty complex novel, full of enemies who lurk in the shadows, and with some very unsettling twists. For someone who likes the fantasy genre, this is for sure an interesting read. And strange to say, I find that it has also a young adut feeling in it, like the classical adventure novels of the past.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1554871409/?...
So before reading I put the book under a test: I confess, I read some pages in the middle, to know how to expect from the book, and to decide if I wanted to read it all, cause it's also pretty long. I liked it and so I decided it would be my evening read. But when I arrived at home I found another book in my mailbox, one I was waiting from a bit, and so I read it first (it was a short novel, so I had still the time to read both). The other book was pretty strong, and sincerely as second read maybe it would be better to choose something light, and instead I read this one. And it's not light at all!
Aryazate is the abandoned child of a sorcerer in the Persia of 500 b.c.: his father has killed his mother and then he has abandoned him. He was lucky to be take in and raised by a wealthy and kindly woman, Nizami. Only there was a little problem: Nizami has disguided him as her little child, died of fever... but her child was a girl and so she has raised Aryazate like a girl. Obviously now there is another little problem: at eighteen years old Aryazate has long passed the age when usually girls married, but HE can't marry. Another problem is that, when Aryazate is angry, he unleashes some uncontrolled powers, that can make him accused of sorcery: and with the witch hunt that roars in the kingdom, it's better not to raise unwilling attention.
Kavada is a poor blacksmith that Aeyazate helps. He is enthralled by his beautiful lady, even if he sees that she is not a ordinary woman: she is too beautiful and kind, and she has powers he has witnessed with his eyes. And even if he is only a poor commoner, he wants her as a man wants his woman... but when Aryazate will unveal her secret, will Kavada still want her... him?
Aryazate is decipted like the classical cute uke, but he is not at all a submissive: he is a very dominant character, even if his strenght is not from his body but from his magic. And also from his behaviour, cause Aryazate is also a spoilt son: his mother has never forbidden nothing to him and when he sees something he wants, he takes it without asking. And this time he wants Kavada, and he "takes" him.
Kavada is a simple man. A man with the soul and the body of a warrior, but without the behaviour of a commander. He is glady to surrender without fight to Aryazate, and he never questions his lady. He worships her like a goddess and noone, or nothing, will change his mind.
The Sorcerer's Secret is a pretty complex novel, full of enemies who lurk in the shadows, and with some very unsettling twists. For someone who likes the fantasy genre, this is for sure an interesting read. And strange to say, I find that it has also a young adut feeling in it, like the classical adventure novels of the past.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1554871409/?...
June 5, 2011
I fairly enjoyed the first half of the book even though too much time was dedicated to what was going on around Aryazate and Kavada rather than focusing on them and their developing relationship. K.B. Forrest showed a great deal of imagination had been put into this story. How Aryazate who was in fact a man had been raised as a girl and how the man he loved would take that fact was intriguing. So were the dealings of the Court he was surrounded by as a “noblewoman” and their religion.
Then the story turned into people flinging accusations at each other and the world turning into chaos reminiscent of the Spanish Inquisition. Characters did a complete 180, murderers turned into saints, the henchman fell in love with his victim and turned into a blubbering mess, the cruel man who had burned his wife alive as his child witnessed it and was willing to burn said child at the stake suddenly became a proud and loving father, one second Aryazate’s suitors were madly in love with him, the next they were screaming bloody murder. Suffice it to say the characters didn’t make sense, the world building didn’t make sense and by the end, the story didn’t make any sense.
I did like the main characters though. Though Aryazate is the beautiful, delicate uke, that's only in appearence. He's also strong, dominant and very sure of himself. Kavada is more the shy one, though stronger physically, he's nowhere near as assertive as Aryazate. They made a good couple, even if they were sidelined in the face of what was going on around them.
Then the story turned into people flinging accusations at each other and the world turning into chaos reminiscent of the Spanish Inquisition. Characters did a complete 180, murderers turned into saints, the henchman fell in love with his victim and turned into a blubbering mess, the cruel man who had burned his wife alive as his child witnessed it and was willing to burn said child at the stake suddenly became a proud and loving father, one second Aryazate’s suitors were madly in love with him, the next they were screaming bloody murder. Suffice it to say the characters didn’t make sense, the world building didn’t make sense and by the end, the story didn’t make any sense.
I did like the main characters though. Though Aryazate is the beautiful, delicate uke, that's only in appearence. He's also strong, dominant and very sure of himself. Kavada is more the shy one, though stronger physically, he's nowhere near as assertive as Aryazate. They made a good couple, even if they were sidelined in the face of what was going on around them.
May 31, 2012
Mebus, S. Gods of Manhattan: The Sorcerer's Secret. New York: Dutton.
371 pages.
Appetizer: The third book in the Gods of Manhattan series picks up soon after the second book ends (which means there are spoilers for Sprits in the Park in the following description. You have been warned!). The trap that restricted the Munsee Indians to Central Park has fallen and while war has been avoided for the moment, tensions are high. The villainous and power-hungry god Kieft has stockpiled weapons that can kill other gods and he has begun building an army.
Rory has trouble focusing on the fate of Manahatta though, when his own mother has been poisoned by Typhoid Mary and when his sister is still stuck in her papier-mache body.
When he learns that the key to saving his family may rest in also stopping Kieft, he and his friend embark on a search for information that will take them among the NYC boroughs to understand the history of the city's gods and to know how to defeat Kieft now.
*Glances back at that description* Wow, that's probably pretty incomprehensible if you haven't read either of the first two books in the series.
While I admit, I felt a little meh about the second book, Spirits in the Park, I was once again focused in on the epicness of the story for the third installment. Bridget was back to her troublemaking ways and I was an entertained reader. I liked the way the characters were traveling all over the area trying to put the pieces together of why Mannahatta was the way it was. I also liked that Soka discovered hew own power.
(But having said that, the complaints I made about the first book still stand: the entire series switches point of view way more often than is typical for children's lit and both Rory and Bridget have the vocabularies and knowledge of well-versed twenty-year-olds as opposed to those of thirteen and nine-year-olds, which is how old their supposed to be. But they do have some relatable emotions to other children--wondering how much of a role they want their estranged father to have in their lives, wanting to save their mom, and in Rory's case, wanting to ask out a girl.)
Finishing the book, it felt like a strong close to the trilogy (assuming this is only a trilogy. Am I making an ass out of u and me by saying that?). The majority of the major conflicts were resolved. But, of course, there were also some lose ends (like the promise Rory made to a pirate to help him at some point in Sprits in the Park). It made me wonder if there would be a fourth book? Another series set in the same world? Something? Maybe? If so, give me a few weeks off before I have to read the next one. I think I'm Mannahatta-ed out.
Dinner Conversation:
"Cesar Prince had a bad feeling about this.
He'd been called into the bowels of City Hall, deep into the maze of hallways that zigzagged beneath the ancient seat of the gods' power. All the gods had their own rooms down here, and the older the god, the deeper the room. Prince's own room was not easy to find, which was just as he liked it. But even he'd never been this deep before. The rooms down here were old, so old that most of their owners had faded away, left behind and forgotten as the city above moved ahead without them. But Willem Kieft never forgot. (p. 3).
"Imagine it," Kieft whispered, the locket swinging from his hand hypnotically. "More power than you have any right to possess. That is what I offer you."
"Are we a band of murderers now?" Mrs. Astor asked in a huff, though her eyes tracked the locket's swing hungrily.
"Not murder," Kieft assured her. His black eyes glittered in the firelight of the dead god's room. "I will bring war. Righteous war against our ancient enemies. What is more natural than that?" (p. 7).
"The Fortune Teller rose to her full height. "Van der Donck's trail leads through the five boroughs: Bronck's Land, which is now the Bronx, Queens, Breuckelen, which you know as Brooklyn, Staaten Eylandt, which is Staten Island, and, of course, Mannahatta. In each borough you will find a legacy, left behind by your erstwhile God of Justice. You must gather together the pieces of this trust and it will lead you to the root of everything, where Kieft's treasure waits. And his treasure is the key to his downfall" (p. 56).
371 pages.
Appetizer: The third book in the Gods of Manhattan series picks up soon after the second book ends (which means there are spoilers for Sprits in the Park in the following description. You have been warned!). The trap that restricted the Munsee Indians to Central Park has fallen and while war has been avoided for the moment, tensions are high. The villainous and power-hungry god Kieft has stockpiled weapons that can kill other gods and he has begun building an army.
Rory has trouble focusing on the fate of Manahatta though, when his own mother has been poisoned by Typhoid Mary and when his sister is still stuck in her papier-mache body.
When he learns that the key to saving his family may rest in also stopping Kieft, he and his friend embark on a search for information that will take them among the NYC boroughs to understand the history of the city's gods and to know how to defeat Kieft now.
*Glances back at that description* Wow, that's probably pretty incomprehensible if you haven't read either of the first two books in the series.
While I admit, I felt a little meh about the second book, Spirits in the Park, I was once again focused in on the epicness of the story for the third installment. Bridget was back to her troublemaking ways and I was an entertained reader. I liked the way the characters were traveling all over the area trying to put the pieces together of why Mannahatta was the way it was. I also liked that Soka discovered hew own power.
(But having said that, the complaints I made about the first book still stand: the entire series switches point of view way more often than is typical for children's lit and both Rory and Bridget have the vocabularies and knowledge of well-versed twenty-year-olds as opposed to those of thirteen and nine-year-olds, which is how old their supposed to be. But they do have some relatable emotions to other children--wondering how much of a role they want their estranged father to have in their lives, wanting to save their mom, and in Rory's case, wanting to ask out a girl.)
Finishing the book, it felt like a strong close to the trilogy (assuming this is only a trilogy. Am I making an ass out of u and me by saying that?). The majority of the major conflicts were resolved. But, of course, there were also some lose ends (like the promise Rory made to a pirate to help him at some point in Sprits in the Park). It made me wonder if there would be a fourth book? Another series set in the same world? Something? Maybe? If so, give me a few weeks off before I have to read the next one. I think I'm Mannahatta-ed out.
Dinner Conversation:
"Cesar Prince had a bad feeling about this.
He'd been called into the bowels of City Hall, deep into the maze of hallways that zigzagged beneath the ancient seat of the gods' power. All the gods had their own rooms down here, and the older the god, the deeper the room. Prince's own room was not easy to find, which was just as he liked it. But even he'd never been this deep before. The rooms down here were old, so old that most of their owners had faded away, left behind and forgotten as the city above moved ahead without them. But Willem Kieft never forgot. (p. 3).
"Imagine it," Kieft whispered, the locket swinging from his hand hypnotically. "More power than you have any right to possess. That is what I offer you."
"Are we a band of murderers now?" Mrs. Astor asked in a huff, though her eyes tracked the locket's swing hungrily.
"Not murder," Kieft assured her. His black eyes glittered in the firelight of the dead god's room. "I will bring war. Righteous war against our ancient enemies. What is more natural than that?" (p. 7).
"The Fortune Teller rose to her full height. "Van der Donck's trail leads through the five boroughs: Bronck's Land, which is now the Bronx, Queens, Breuckelen, which you know as Brooklyn, Staaten Eylandt, which is Staten Island, and, of course, Mannahatta. In each borough you will find a legacy, left behind by your erstwhile God of Justice. You must gather together the pieces of this trust and it will lead you to the root of everything, where Kieft's treasure waits. And his treasure is the key to his downfall" (p. 56).
April 18, 2014
I actually really wanted to like this book but there was one huge factor that just makes me really dislike it. I guess I could sum this book up as a Mary Sue novel. That is to say that most of the characters, on the 'good side' or even destined for the 'good side' are all Mary Sues. (Mary Sue is a type of character that is "wish-fulfillment" implication: the "Mary Sue" is judged as a poorly developed character, too perfect and lacking in realism to be interesting.) There was just no real conflict because the characters were able to miraculously fix everything themselves without getting caught or undergoing any real character development. It was like reading along the lines of "Aryazate was great and lusted after, Aryazate is hated because he is so beautiful and strong, Aryazate fixes the problem but this problem arises. Psych he magically fixes this problem and guess what? Now he has love too! Now the bad characters see his way of thinking and are good now and turned against the other smaller characters. Now he has no more problems, the now good-guys-but-use-to-be-bad-guys have wonderful lives too. THE END."
October 6, 2016
Lots of interesting elements and details. I don't doubt that the story is well written, but I have to say it's a little...flat. I just didn't connect with the characters. I thought they were a little too, "perfect." Everything falls into place for them in life. I just don't think that some of the characters felt, real. The MC is especially "false" to me.
Still the story is good. I also felt that the overall details were interesting so I did up my stars for that.
Still the story is good. I also felt that the overall details were interesting so I did up my stars for that.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews