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Harmony of the Othar Saga #1
Heart of Hauden
Heart of Hauden - Book One in the Harmony of the Othar Saga
Desperate and dying, with their society plunged into chaos at the hands of the Plague Bringers, Laedian Fayersae has led her people to Hauden on the winds of a misunderstood foretelling. Silent and fading, with their ancient fires extinguished at the hands of the Dasyu, whispers by the Ganien Mothers on Hauden keep the memory of a forgotten prophecy from going dark. Thus, the accidental convergence of foretelling and prophecy begins the Harmony of the Othar Saga.
Excerpt
Another longship slid out of the cold sea and crashed onto the sandy beach. Laedian jumped from the prow and bent to scoop a handful of sand before she raised her eyes to a veil of shadow at the forest’s edge.
“She is Khe’kenha Othar!” a female voice said.
“Yes, Sister, but like the others, she speaks with a discordant inner voice. They carry the power, but they are alone, forgetting fellowship and service.”
“Not all of them,” a third voice said. “At least one, a woman calling herself Avanian Triumon, now walks our land with consonance of thought. I will make myself known to her, and begin her indoctrination.”
“White joining red,” the second said aloud. “How long will it be before black returns to silence the Khe’kenha Othar again, extinguishing the ancient fires?”
Desperate and dying, with their society plunged into chaos at the hands of the Plague Bringers, Laedian Fayersae has led her people to Hauden on the winds of a misunderstood foretelling. Silent and fading, with their ancient fires extinguished at the hands of the Dasyu, whispers by the Ganien Mothers on Hauden keep the memory of a forgotten prophecy from going dark. Thus, the accidental convergence of foretelling and prophecy begins the Harmony of the Othar Saga.
Excerpt
Another longship slid out of the cold sea and crashed onto the sandy beach. Laedian jumped from the prow and bent to scoop a handful of sand before she raised her eyes to a veil of shadow at the forest’s edge.
“She is Khe’kenha Othar!” a female voice said.
“Yes, Sister, but like the others, she speaks with a discordant inner voice. They carry the power, but they are alone, forgetting fellowship and service.”
“Not all of them,” a third voice said. “At least one, a woman calling herself Avanian Triumon, now walks our land with consonance of thought. I will make myself known to her, and begin her indoctrination.”
“White joining red,” the second said aloud. “How long will it be before black returns to silence the Khe’kenha Othar again, extinguishing the ancient fires?”
- GenresFantasy
292 pages, Paperback
First published October 28, 2009
About the author
P.A. Seasholtz
17 books13 followersLiving quietly in a Minneapolis suburb,
I continue to write with the support of
friends and family.
I continue to write with the support of
friends and family.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 23, 2010
In compliance with FTC guidelines, I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads. This is not the type of book you can pick up and read for a few minutes in a busy schedule. It took some time to get to know the individuals since you had to learn of their new country as well as what they left behind in their previous country. The quick character biographies in the back of the book helped a great deal. Once I had time to really sit and read for a few hours, the story was very entertaining and well developed. About 1/3 of the way thru the story I was pretty hooked. Disappointed that it was written as a series because now I have to wait for the next book to find out what happens to my favorite character.
March 13, 2010
Although I found the writing good, the punctuation wonderful, and the grammar impeccable, this book was in a word - boring. The cast of characters and hard to understand names were overwhelming, and the pace was incredibly slow.
It is usually a bad sign when a book needs a glossary for all the characters. And not only that, but the names of people and places were so close to each other in sound and spelling, I kept having to refer to the glossary to keep things straight. All of this made it difficult to understand what was going on until about halfway through. And even if this story is part of a larger series, an ending with more closure is needed.
But what struck me from the get-go was the lack of originality. Instead of creating something new or mixing things up, this author chose to take various elements of human history and combine them in a story. The result was the classic “white man” who is technologically superior, lives in castles, has stopped listening to the land, and regards the native population with distain as they declare Hauden their new home; pitted against the “red man” who lives simply, rides horses bareback, is in tune with nature, and are the native people of Hauden. Sound familiar? Oh, and is the map of Hauden just Ireland with a few changes?
All of this aside, the author does write well with colorful descriptions and nice conversation that didn’t get too wordy. And that alone kept me from abandoning the book altogether. But it really felt as if the author lost sight of the forest through the trees here. As much as I wanted to like this book, it was a chore to read.
It is usually a bad sign when a book needs a glossary for all the characters. And not only that, but the names of people and places were so close to each other in sound and spelling, I kept having to refer to the glossary to keep things straight. All of this made it difficult to understand what was going on until about halfway through. And even if this story is part of a larger series, an ending with more closure is needed.
But what struck me from the get-go was the lack of originality. Instead of creating something new or mixing things up, this author chose to take various elements of human history and combine them in a story. The result was the classic “white man” who is technologically superior, lives in castles, has stopped listening to the land, and regards the native population with distain as they declare Hauden their new home; pitted against the “red man” who lives simply, rides horses bareback, is in tune with nature, and are the native people of Hauden. Sound familiar? Oh, and is the map of Hauden just Ireland with a few changes?
All of this aside, the author does write well with colorful descriptions and nice conversation that didn’t get too wordy. And that alone kept me from abandoning the book altogether. But it really felt as if the author lost sight of the forest through the trees here. As much as I wanted to like this book, it was a chore to read.
March 13, 2010
I wanted so much to like this book. I think it was just over my head. Most of the time I found myself thinking, huh? The names of the locations and characters were totally foreign and very difficult to keep track of. I was continually referring to the appendix to try and keep things straight but after awhile I felt like I was reading a textbook without benefit of an instructor and it became too much effort. I am so sorry I understand it better.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews