October 2014
Helping Hands Press
Paperback at Amazon,
list 14.99; other editions
available in Kindle for .99
ISBN 978-1622085613
Buy the Book
From the publisher:
The Complete Series Book I
Prince Eghan Lhin is
terrified when he is abducted from his father’s castle but finds himself in a
safe place nestled in a hidden valley high in the mountains not far from his
father’s kingdom. He learns to trust the man who has brought him there and even
begins to trust Nara, the heir to the throne of his family’s sworn enemies. But
he cannot trust the God they follow. When they are led into the dangerous
territory on the other side of the mountains, to restore Nara to the throne,
Eghan must learn more than trust, more than courage. He must learn what faith
really means.
My review (Lisa Lickel):
The Ambassadors is a faith-based novel geared
toward Young Adult as the hero and heroine are teens. Set in historical era
with kings and castles and horses and swords, a young broody prince, Eghan,
learns through physical labor and philosophical instruction what it truly means
to be a leader. He has grown up in a household of angry grief with a king for a
parent who has held him at arm’s length and a guardian who doesn’t have the
authority to hold him to a higher standard. A mysterious legendary hermit saves
Eghan after he’s abducted by the kingdom’s enemies to show him the way to true
peace and a hopeful future reuniting enemy kingdoms to face a greater foe
threatening them both.
I enjoyed the story, though agree with another
review that found the intrusion of contemporary Scripture and citation inserted
in the text to be a somewhat clunky contrivance. Other than that, the story of
a princeling forced to grow up and charged with the restoration of the kingdom
or surrendering his people to an evil force was often thrilling and somewhat
romantic. The setting was nicely done, dialog good. Occasionally too convenient
events such as providing an enemy faith-based prisoner in the dungeon made me
read faster, but fiction is often built upon such behind-the-scenes workings.
The novel felt like it could have been an epic.
I rarely think this, but this is a story that could have been much longer and
richer, with more back story and detail; occasionally I felt it went too
quickly and jumped over particulars I wanted to know, but overall the pacing
was balanced as it moved between parallel events in the kingdom, Eghan’s
current life, and that of his guardian who set out to find his abducted charge but discovered much more besides.
Other volumes in the series are available.
About the Author:
For the past 20+ years I've been a pastor's wife,
mother of three girls, caretaker of two dogs, two cats and sundry fish, and oh,
yes, a freelance writer. The writing began in the attic of my parent's house
where I wrote stories for my dolls. None of them complained, so I kept it up.
The Lord has abundantly blessed, challenged, rebuked, healed and restored me
through the process of writing and being involved with writers.
Visit my website - www.marcialeelaycock.com
Facebook - www.facebook.com/marcialeelaycock
