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The Prophecy of Zephyrus
17-year-old Obie Griffin knew he was a jinx. He d proven that. So why was he chosen to fulfill an old prophecy and become the Protector of the Moonpath Riders, the beautiful Gabrielle and her windlord, Mara? Whisked back to an ancient kingdom at a time when black sorcery is destroying the world, he must decide whether to remain there, or return to the safety of his own time if it still exists. When an unexpected event occurs, Obie makes a decision that hurls him into an epic journey with his horse, Shadow, and two unlikely companions. Traveling through gloomy oak forests and deadly highland blizzards, they encounter Zelda the River Witch, enemy goblins, fierce warriors spawned by black magic, and others. But the worst is yet to come, for it dawns on Obie that he must soon defend Gabrielle against the King of Darkness in a battle to save the earth---and the soul be thinks he's lost.
- GenresFantasy
431 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 12, 2010
Had I read this book when I was in junior high, I probably would have loved it. Instead, I just kept noticing the stilted dialogue, the sudden and drastic mood swings of the characters, and the blatant, distracting over-describing of just about everything. The majority of the story was told rather than shown, which prevented any forward momentum from really getting off the ground.
Obie was an interesting, if not stereotypical, character. His mood swings were distracting and normally unnecessary. Every other character seemed to burst into tears at the drop of a hat and conflict between characters came out of nowhere rather than building organically.
There were some interesting qualities to the story, particularly in the black magic army made up on muks and raks. The magic shrinking Vale of Nepenthe was a trope well used. For a book that focused mostly on running after something, the pacing was pretty good after the major part of the plot began, though the ending was a little overlong, what with all of the "reveals" being quite obvious from early on in the story.
The dialogue really got to me at times that I had to stop reading before I got overly annoyed and gave up. It rarely sounds natural if spoken out loud and every character seemed to be the type of person that has no internal filter, saying anything and everything that comes to mind.
Despite having some interesting ideas, overall this book was not good. While I've definitely read worse and more stereotypical fantasy fiction, I won't be recommending this to anyone.
Obie was an interesting, if not stereotypical, character. His mood swings were distracting and normally unnecessary. Every other character seemed to burst into tears at the drop of a hat and conflict between characters came out of nowhere rather than building organically.
There were some interesting qualities to the story, particularly in the black magic army made up on muks and raks. The magic shrinking Vale of Nepenthe was a trope well used. For a book that focused mostly on running after something, the pacing was pretty good after the major part of the plot began, though the ending was a little overlong, what with all of the "reveals" being quite obvious from early on in the story.
The dialogue really got to me at times that I had to stop reading before I got overly annoyed and gave up. It rarely sounds natural if spoken out loud and every character seemed to be the type of person that has no internal filter, saying anything and everything that comes to mind.
Despite having some interesting ideas, overall this book was not good. While I've definitely read worse and more stereotypical fantasy fiction, I won't be recommending this to anyone.
May 17, 2010
"The Prophecy of Zephyrus", written by G.A. Hesse targets the young adult audience. I was excited to receive this book since it was my first free novel won through the LibraryThing review a book give-a-way program. Granted I am not a young adult, but I enjoy science fiction fantasy, so I figured why not give it a whirl. I didn't know anything about the author and had no preconceived notions on how good or bad the book might be. Nothing like opening a cover and taking a chance with something completely unknown.
I will say this; G. A. Hesse is an excellent writer. She can spin words in a way that transports you deep inside the story she so craftily tells. Her way with words, even the simplistic phrases targeting kids, helps you feel as if you were walking along with the characters. Sadly, at least in "The Prophecy of Zephyrus", her characters don't really go anywhere. I take that back. Travelling is about all they really do. Once they arrive at any said location nothing happens. The book was all about the travelling and very little about any adventure. Try taking the "Lord of the Rings" and throw in a bunch of ant/spider people, take out all of the action and intrigue, and you have the synopsis of what this book entails. It was such a disappointment since the quality if writing was actually enjoyable.
Obie Griffin is a normal boy. He has a limp, his brother is a star football player and he is just wandering through life waiting for something to happen. As luck would have it he comes across a rock on a mysterious camping trip, and is suddenly transported into a world of flying horses, elves and goblins. It would have read so much nicer if we could have come up some different species, besides ant and spider people in my opinion. The world is ending and Obie, according to the prophecy, is the one dude who has a chance at saving it.
He befriends a gorgeous girl, who then very quickly gets captured by the former prince charming turned evil sorcery, and he then travels to the dark tower in the hopes of rescuing her. Along the way he is befriended by a lion man and a talking mole, and the three of them set off on their quest. Sadly, that is the story. Nothing really happens on the quest. He doesn't turn into a hero as much as luckily escapes harm on several occasions. If I remember correctly he only actually uses his sword one time throughout the entire journey. On most occasions he avoids danger or somehow narrowly escapes it.
When they get to the dark tower they have one quick encounter with a guard and that is over in less than a page. Even the climactic battle is passed over as the details in the journey seem to be more important than any sort of epic confrontation. There was one entire paragraph devoted to a listing of food prepared for a banquet and not even a few words of any description surrounding the raging war between good versus evil. I realize this was geared toward young adults but it reads more like it was written for small children below the age of 10.
I will state for the record that I read the entire book. All 420 pages. It was very descriptive and intriguingly woven. It would have made for a very nice read had we managed to throw a few words around about some of the more interesting actions scenes. An epic adventure with no action is nothing more than a stroll through the woods avoiding the bad guys. So it would be hard for me to recommend reading this one. I now realize that I might even prefer mediocre writing with a heaping of adventure versus very nice descriptive writing where nothing really seems to occur.
The bottom line is the story feel far short of being interesting. I would rate it three stars for its technical excellence but I would highly suggest any sequel having a little more meat to the story, or I doubt I would be able to get through the entire thing. I do hope that A. G. Hess continues to write. If you tweaked this story you would have an absolutely excellent book. I am even afraid my review might be a little too negative. The book is so elequently written. I truly wish there would have been more to this story to enjoy.
I will say this; G. A. Hesse is an excellent writer. She can spin words in a way that transports you deep inside the story she so craftily tells. Her way with words, even the simplistic phrases targeting kids, helps you feel as if you were walking along with the characters. Sadly, at least in "The Prophecy of Zephyrus", her characters don't really go anywhere. I take that back. Travelling is about all they really do. Once they arrive at any said location nothing happens. The book was all about the travelling and very little about any adventure. Try taking the "Lord of the Rings" and throw in a bunch of ant/spider people, take out all of the action and intrigue, and you have the synopsis of what this book entails. It was such a disappointment since the quality if writing was actually enjoyable.
Obie Griffin is a normal boy. He has a limp, his brother is a star football player and he is just wandering through life waiting for something to happen. As luck would have it he comes across a rock on a mysterious camping trip, and is suddenly transported into a world of flying horses, elves and goblins. It would have read so much nicer if we could have come up some different species, besides ant and spider people in my opinion. The world is ending and Obie, according to the prophecy, is the one dude who has a chance at saving it.
He befriends a gorgeous girl, who then very quickly gets captured by the former prince charming turned evil sorcery, and he then travels to the dark tower in the hopes of rescuing her. Along the way he is befriended by a lion man and a talking mole, and the three of them set off on their quest. Sadly, that is the story. Nothing really happens on the quest. He doesn't turn into a hero as much as luckily escapes harm on several occasions. If I remember correctly he only actually uses his sword one time throughout the entire journey. On most occasions he avoids danger or somehow narrowly escapes it.
When they get to the dark tower they have one quick encounter with a guard and that is over in less than a page. Even the climactic battle is passed over as the details in the journey seem to be more important than any sort of epic confrontation. There was one entire paragraph devoted to a listing of food prepared for a banquet and not even a few words of any description surrounding the raging war between good versus evil. I realize this was geared toward young adults but it reads more like it was written for small children below the age of 10.
I will state for the record that I read the entire book. All 420 pages. It was very descriptive and intriguingly woven. It would have made for a very nice read had we managed to throw a few words around about some of the more interesting actions scenes. An epic adventure with no action is nothing more than a stroll through the woods avoiding the bad guys. So it would be hard for me to recommend reading this one. I now realize that I might even prefer mediocre writing with a heaping of adventure versus very nice descriptive writing where nothing really seems to occur.
The bottom line is the story feel far short of being interesting. I would rate it three stars for its technical excellence but I would highly suggest any sequel having a little more meat to the story, or I doubt I would be able to get through the entire thing. I do hope that A. G. Hess continues to write. If you tweaked this story you would have an absolutely excellent book. I am even afraid my review might be a little too negative. The book is so elequently written. I truly wish there would have been more to this story to enjoy.
July 1, 2010
I'm torn on whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. On the 4 star side, I found the book to be a pretty great page turner, and I was wrapped up in discovering more about the world the author had created. For those reasons, I really enjoyed the book.
However, there were a few things about the writing the pulled me out of the story enough to prevent me from rating it higher. There are some editing mistakes in the edition I read -- simple punctuation errors that forced me to read through the sentence a little slower to make sure I was parsing it correctly. Some of the dialog was also stilted and unnatural. The ending, while quite satisfying, seemed to try too hard to tie everything up in a nice little bow. The ending could have still been satisfying if a few questions were left unanswered.
The story and plot is fairly classic High Fantasy, taking place in a world like Tolkien's Middle Earth - same earth as our own, but a time period lost and forgotten when talking animals, elves, dragons and magicians roamed the earth. I had to suspend disbelief to make sense of how that worked (some sort of medieval Europe in Wyoming?), but I tried my best. I also wondered if Tolkien and CS Lewis and other great High Fantasy greats have ruined my ability to enjoy newer High Fantasy novels since so much seems borrowed from them.
The main character is a teen boy from modern times with some sort of mysterious past. His mother died when he was very young and he has a mysterious limp. He feels forgotten by his father. He is swept up in a mystery in a strange valley near his house and then is literally swept away into this other magical land. While there, he discovers he is the hero that has been foretold, and he ends up on a quest to stop an evil king from destroying the world. Flying horses, talking animals and local people help him on his way, while the evil king and his minions try to stop him.
All in all, an enjoyable book and certainly worth the time it took to read it, though not an outstanding piece of literature.
However, there were a few things about the writing the pulled me out of the story enough to prevent me from rating it higher. There are some editing mistakes in the edition I read -- simple punctuation errors that forced me to read through the sentence a little slower to make sure I was parsing it correctly. Some of the dialog was also stilted and unnatural. The ending, while quite satisfying, seemed to try too hard to tie everything up in a nice little bow. The ending could have still been satisfying if a few questions were left unanswered.
The story and plot is fairly classic High Fantasy, taking place in a world like Tolkien's Middle Earth - same earth as our own, but a time period lost and forgotten when talking animals, elves, dragons and magicians roamed the earth. I had to suspend disbelief to make sense of how that worked (some sort of medieval Europe in Wyoming?), but I tried my best. I also wondered if Tolkien and CS Lewis and other great High Fantasy greats have ruined my ability to enjoy newer High Fantasy novels since so much seems borrowed from them.
The main character is a teen boy from modern times with some sort of mysterious past. His mother died when he was very young and he has a mysterious limp. He feels forgotten by his father. He is swept up in a mystery in a strange valley near his house and then is literally swept away into this other magical land. While there, he discovers he is the hero that has been foretold, and he ends up on a quest to stop an evil king from destroying the world. Flying horses, talking animals and local people help him on his way, while the evil king and his minions try to stop him.
All in all, an enjoyable book and certainly worth the time it took to read it, though not an outstanding piece of literature.
April 20, 2010
Review from Badelynge
An American teenager is whisked off to a fantasy world. To get back home he has to set out on a quest to confront an all powerful sorcerer. On the way he befriends a lion man, encounters a witch and battles odd creatures in the woods. Add a few fantasy staples like goblins and elves and that is about it. This book is about as undemanding as books get. It's a shame because the first two chapters showed promise. Obie and his friend Josh seemed like real characters. Unfortunately things go awry as soon as he ends up in the fantasy world leaving Josh behind. From here on in Obie is surrounded by awfully nice people who are in conflict with some awfully bad people. G.A.Hesse's clean and flawless prose just seems to compound the lack of any rough edges to her world building. And you do need some rough edges in this genre. The dialogue is very odd indeed with characters interacting with pretty much the same voice and standpoint throughout. Things take an even more dire turn for the worse when Hesse introduces a cutesy character who seems to have taken a wrong turn on the way to Toad Hall. If I hadn't committed to doing the review I would have put the book down at about page 40. I think even in my younger, fantasy devouring days I'd have come to the same conclusion. By page 320 I had to admit defeat. Another 100 pages of The Prophecy of Zephyrus was just a bridge too far. I believe I'd read enough to justify still penning this review though. I think this was a case of an author who has fully mastered the technical side of the written word but has not even begun to learn how to become a storyteller.
An American teenager is whisked off to a fantasy world. To get back home he has to set out on a quest to confront an all powerful sorcerer. On the way he befriends a lion man, encounters a witch and battles odd creatures in the woods. Add a few fantasy staples like goblins and elves and that is about it. This book is about as undemanding as books get. It's a shame because the first two chapters showed promise. Obie and his friend Josh seemed like real characters. Unfortunately things go awry as soon as he ends up in the fantasy world leaving Josh behind. From here on in Obie is surrounded by awfully nice people who are in conflict with some awfully bad people. G.A.Hesse's clean and flawless prose just seems to compound the lack of any rough edges to her world building. And you do need some rough edges in this genre. The dialogue is very odd indeed with characters interacting with pretty much the same voice and standpoint throughout. Things take an even more dire turn for the worse when Hesse introduces a cutesy character who seems to have taken a wrong turn on the way to Toad Hall. If I hadn't committed to doing the review I would have put the book down at about page 40. I think even in my younger, fantasy devouring days I'd have come to the same conclusion. By page 320 I had to admit defeat. Another 100 pages of The Prophecy of Zephyrus was just a bridge too far. I believe I'd read enough to justify still penning this review though. I think this was a case of an author who has fully mastered the technical side of the written word but has not even begun to learn how to become a storyteller.
March 15, 2010
I won this from LibraryThing.
After reading this tale, I must admit that this is quite a story. The beginning was slow for me but after the second chapter, I could not put this book down. I really enjoyed reading it.
There is a down side unfortunately, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention it, the author needs to get a new proofreader, for this one missed many mistakes, although minor. It wasn't enough to deter me from reading this fascinating story, but for some readers it might.
I recommend this book to whomever enjoys the genre of fantasy; I think you will embrace it as I did.
After reading this tale, I must admit that this is quite a story. The beginning was slow for me but after the second chapter, I could not put this book down. I really enjoyed reading it.
There is a down side unfortunately, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention it, the author needs to get a new proofreader, for this one missed many mistakes, although minor. It wasn't enough to deter me from reading this fascinating story, but for some readers it might.
I recommend this book to whomever enjoys the genre of fantasy; I think you will embrace it as I did.
December 15, 2010
I received a free copy of this book through LibraryThing member giveaway. The Prophecy of Zephyrus was a good young adult fantasy. It kept me interested from the first chapter. Once I got into it I wanted to know how it would end. Hesse did a good job at worldshaping, her descriptions were detailed and added dimension and depth to the world. The hero, Obie, started out as a typical American teen but grew both physically and mentally throughout the story. It was definitely a plot with a focused mission/quest for Obie. The friends he made were unexpected, and the device Hesse used for the time/space travel was unique. I would recommend this book to other fantasy enthusiasts.
May 8, 2010
I liked this book a lot and was so impressed when I found out the author is a woman! I won my copy thru LT and I so thrilled that I got an autographed copy! I love the characters in the book and thought the banter between the two brothers was awesome. If you are a fan of Young Adult/Fantasy, this is the book for you. I cannot believe all the people who did not give it at least a four rating.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews