A Prince's Errand (Tales of the Amulet Book 1)

Authors: Dan & Robert Zangari
eBook Publisher: LOK Publishing
eBook Date: December 2019
First Published: 2019
Pages: 961

Cover Artist: Kerem Beyit

This time it's the turn of the main story in the Legends of Kalda series, Tales of the Amulet. The first book in this series is called A Prince's Errand, also written by father and son writing partnership of Dan and Robert Zangari.

As I said in my previous post, although this novel was published bfore the prequel The Prisoner of Tardalim, I had already decided to read it after that book. The story is set in exactly the same world as it's prequel, the world of Kalda, with only a few decades (I assume as its never actually defined) having past. The main character in the prequel, Amendal Aramien, is present in A Prince's Errand but only in the peripheral sense, being a wizened old mage that others refer to occasionally. 

Due to the span of time that has elapsed, the number of magic weilders and the number of magical items, called 'tevisrals' is not as prevalent in this time period. The world of Kalda is starting to slowly forget about mythical creatures and historical facts are becoming myths told by parents to their children. The world is still at war, with many nations engaging in espionage and trickery to gain an advantage over thier enemies. The land of Soroth is still on friendly terms with the vastly wealthier nation of Mindolarn, but that alliance is strained as a number of Mindolarnian Emporers are being assassinated at a rather alarming rate.

The death of the latest Emporer is witnessed by Prince Kaescis Midivar and his sister. The Prince swears to avenge his family and maintain his empire's standing by searching the world for information and secrets of the Keepers of Truth and Might, a long forgetton order of beings who protected the world from harm.

The Prisoner of Tardalim (A Tale of the Amulet Prequel)

Authors: Dan & Robert Zangari
eBook Publisher: LOK Publishing

eBook Date: June 2021
First Published: 2021
Pages: 817

Cover Artist: Kerem Beyit

It's been a long time since I posted a review. Maybe the books I've been reading just haven't been as inspiring as I need them to be in order to be in the 'right' mood for a review? Maybe I got a bit burned out, (all of my own making), from feeling the pressure to update the blog? Or just possibly, the types of genres of the books I've been reading finally got to me and I needed a rest? Whatever it was, I'm glad that I seem to have my mojo back, and more reviews will be following (both on this blog as well as in print if various editors like my submissions).

I'm going to start of with a couple of High/Epic Fantasy novels that I completed whilst on holiday in the last few weeks. Both come from the pen(s) of father and son writing partnership - Dan and Robert Zangari, and take place within their fantasy realm of Kalda. To start off, we are going to look at The Prisoner of Tardalim.

The Zangaris have been self-publishing for a few years now, and have created their own publishing house, Legend of Kalda (LOK for short). So far they have published a few novels and a handful of short stories based in their world. In some ways I consider them in the same arena as Michael J. Sullivan, who has flirted with self-publishing recently to great success (in my opinion) with his Legends of the First Empire sequence and its' follow up, The Rise and Fall. 

In addition, the Zangaris (like Sullivan) have used Kickstarter to initiate some of their products. I'm a big fan of Kickstarter as you'll notice from Digital Bibliophilia's twitter account, where I occassionally post tweets highlighting my support of various fiction products - admittedly most of which are heavily linked with Sherlock Holmes. There are a lot of writers and would-be authors who use this platform to try and get their work out into the 'real' world and I have to say that based upon my experience with this product (and Sullivan's, albeit after having been published), it's one that you shouldn't ignore - there are some really good pieces work out there.

Plum Island (John Corey #1)

Author: Nelson Demille
eBook Publisher: Sphere
eBook Date: September 2008

First Published: 1997
Pages: 574

I've read two books by Nelson DeMille, and both of them have been superb reads. A few years ago I read Up Country, about a former Army Criminal Investigator by the name of Paul Brenner, who is asked to visit Vietnam in order to look into a 30 year old murder. The main character is revisiting his former posting and a lot of the book covered him retracing his steps. It didn't sound like something I would like as the Vietname War is not a conflict I'm very familair with or particularly intersted in, but the sheer power of the writing drew me in and kept me enthralled throughout.

With that pleasant reading experience in mind, I decided to finally take a chance on another novel by Demille. I was in the mood for a good book by an American modern adventure author along the lines of a Clive Cussler, or a Tom Clancy, and I was really surpised and dissapointed that neither of these two were in stock on the shelves of a number of my local Charity shops here in the UK - but I did finally spot a pristine copy of Plum Island for a very reasonable £1, so nabbed it quickly and abandoned the boring book I'd been wading through to immediately start it. 

Nelson Demille was born in 1943 in the city of New York and soon moved out to Long Island. After a stint in the US Army during the late sixties in the aforementioned Vietnam War - where he was awarded the Air Medal, Bronze Star, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and Combat Infantryman Badge - he returned to education in order to earn a degree in Political Science and History. He had a string of jobs, but freely admits they "were so boring, I missed Vietnam." His first major novel under his real name was called By the Rivers of Babylon, published in 1978. Before this he had written under a few pen names, particularly as the author of the Ryker series from Leisure Books.