Review by timd -- Zelspar and the Magicians

[Tim Terry]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Zelspar and the Magicians" by Cheryl Rush Cowperthwait.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Zelspar and the Magicians by Cheryl Rush Cowperthwait. This book is a fantasy set in an imaginary world populated by humans and dragons. It begins when The Teller of the Tales, Ms. Naomi Lenonne, is reading from an ancient book to a group of children outside her old house. Lots of children and young adults come to listen to her tales which are about dragons in a world which is now regarded as myth.

Forrest is a young teenager who also listens to her daily but is sceptical about the stories and also about dragons. Naomi senses an intelligence and wit in him that is keen to learn more, and she watches him with interest. The tale that she is busy reading to them is about an old Dragon called Zelspar and his battle to fight an evil magician called Flegmor, who wants to defeat Master Magician Perthorn and become the new Master Magician of Urthe. As we follow the story, we see how Zelspar and Perthorn defeat Flegmor and avoid catastrophe for the world of Urthe. But the story doesn’t end there, and Zelspar has to leave his beloved friends and travel with the magicians on a perilous journey through a secret portal in order to save their world from even greater evil. Before he leaves, Zelspar leaves cryptic messages and a map behind, in order to explain to his friends why they must leave them.

Running parallel to this story, we also read about how Forrest becomes increasingly captivated by the tales that he is listening to. He eventually also decides to learn the hidden language of the old books and study under Naomi. His quest, with his teacher and her modern day dragon, takes him on the trail to find out what happened to Zelspar and the magicians. We also discover that Urthe is possibly not so far removed from our own world.

The author writes in a brilliantly descriptive manner, painting beautiful landscapes within the story with her words. She also creates characters which are believable despite their fantastic origins. They are also fallible and have their own desires combined with strengths and weaknesses of their own. The magic that she describes is very realistic and almost appears to be a form of science. One gains the impression that the dragons and the magicians actually have a much more advanced knowledge than what one would expect.

This book is part of a series, but it may be read as a stand-alone. The ending does introduce some new elements to the story, and it is clear that their will be another book in the series. A new world of discovery is opened, and Forrest will certainly be a major character in the books to follow.

The world of Zelspar is obviously very ancient and medieval in development, but the world that Naomi and Forrest live in is not described in too much detail. The fact that the author uses movies to describe the affect that the stories read by Naomi have on the mind of Forrest appear to indicate that it is similar to our own world. If this is not the case then Forrest could not make the observation that this is what happens to him in his mind as he listens to her reading.

I enjoyed the descriptive and flowing prose, as well as, some of the poetry. The actual world and inhabitants of Zelspar's world was not clear to me. I gather that it is a mixture of dragons living in close communion with humans. Some of the creatures are also a combination of dragon and of human.

This is a book that is for young adults and children. Adults who enjoy fantasy will also like this. It should be read to younger children as they may not be able to follow some of the scenes and concepts on their own. Despite being a fantasy, there are some interesting and useful moral consequences described in the book. There are no traumatic scenes or eroticism at all. Religion is not mentioned other than to describe the ancient dragon ancestors watching over them and interacting with them from time to time.

This book would not be suitable for readers who prefer more realistic novels not set in fantasy worlds. The editing is highly professional and there were only a few minor errors in formatting, grammar, and typos. It is an ideal book for readers who may wish to sample fantasy for the first time, as well as for younger readers. I have confidently awarded it a rating of 4 stars out of 4.

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Zelspar and the Magicians
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Tim Terry]

A review of this book has also been posted by me on Amazon, as requested.