Review: Wind and Fire

Wind and Fire by Cheryl Landmark

Publication Date: May 2010
Publisher: Asylett Press
Format: Paperback, 232 pp
Genre: Fantasy
ISBN-13: 9781934337707
ISBN: 1934337706

(Received for review from the author)

Purchase: Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Books-A-Million, IndieBound

Author's Website: www.3.sympatico.ca/cheryl.landmark

Excerpt: Click HERE!

Other books by the author: Shadows in the Brook

Synopsis (Author's Website):

Zardonne, Master of the Dark Rift, has ripped a hole in the fabric of Tellaron and invaded with an army of hideous demons.

Oblivious to dangers and evil brewing beyond the borders of the quiet Ardis Valley where she lives, nineteen year old Tenya toils through a life of dreary loneliness and drudgery, plagued by strange, disturbing visions, yearning desperately for the beautiful mother she had not seen since she was three. Her life is abruptly turned upside down when she is abducted in the middle of the night and sent on a perilous journey that will test her courage and the fledgling powers buried deep within her. For not only does she discover that her missing mother, Elea, is a powerful sorceress able to control the forces of the wind, Tenya also learns that she herself possesses a singing power that manifests itself as white fire throughout her body. Can she find her mother, and the strength to use her own powers, in time to save Tellaron from the evil Demon Master? Her world depends upon it.

Thoughts:

Wind and Fire by author, Cheryl Landmark is what might be referred to as a quest story. Quest stories generally involve a central protagonist with an all important task or goal to complete, along the journey the hero will face obstacles that will try to stop or hinder him in the pursuit of the goal. Some examples you might be familiar with include: Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings, the Star Wars movies, and the Harry Potter books.

Our protagonist in Wind and Fire is Tenya, a young girl who has no idea of the potential she possesses. Her days are filled with loneliness and her nights are filled with terrible visions she can't control. She misses a mother she believes has abandoned her and has no idea of the war that is brewing around her.

Zardonne the Demon Master has returned from the Dark Rift and imprisoned the Mistress of the Wind in an attempt to take over Tenya's home of Tellaron. The Mistress of the Wind, Elea, is Tenya's missing mother. Tenya learns of the power within herself after she is abducted and sent on a mission or quest to find her mother and save her world. Her own powers transform her body with white hot fire and she must learn to harness it if she is to succeed.

Landmark has done an excellent job of world building in her first novel. Readers are quickly introduced to Tellaron and what the people of Tellaron are like, what they are facing and what Tenya is essentially fighting for. The character development in Wind in Fire seemed a little rushed for me since the book is only just over 200 pages. That being said, I still liked Tenya very much. She was smart and determined and I think both YA and adult readers will be able to identify with her and find something about her that interests them.

The idea of finding a lost parent isn't something new in novels, but when you add the aspect of magical powers, such as harnessing the wind and fire to the mix, it becomes something new and refreshing. I did find the book a little "wordy" in places, the writer could have easily said the same thing without a lot of flowery words, but description in most novels is everything and I know that was probably where Landmark was coming from. As a first effort, I think the book is well done, barring a few editorial mishaps and I think readers will really enjoy it. Quest stories are always well received and this is a good one. I want to know more. I want to see these characters again. A book 2 perhaps??

I recommend this one to both YA and adult readers who enjoy quest stories and books with new and interesting worlds.

Please join me later this evening for an interview with Cheryl Landmark!

Wind and Fire is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!




Cheryl Landmark lives in a quiet, picturesque hamlet just west of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, with her husband Mike and canine kid, Misty. She loves dogs, reading, jigsaw puzzles and of course, writing fantasy novels in her spare time. Wind and Fire is her first published novel With Asylett Press. She is also the author of a self-published book called Shadows in the Brook, which is available through her website.