Official Review: The Blue Orb by Suzy Vivian

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Erin Dydek
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Official Review: The Blue Orb by Suzy Vivian

Post by Erin Dydek »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Blue Orb" by Suzy Vivian.]
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2 out of 4 stars
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Hundreds of years ago, the mighty wizard Xyrene sought to leave a legacy of his magic by creating a powerful blue orb. Despite his good intentions, the orb contained a fatal flaw: once drawn to use its power, incautious users were killed by the drain on their energy. After Xyrene died during its creation, the orb was used for greedy purposes until one final spell caused so much destruction that the orb was buried in the devastation.

In the present, a coven of evil witches has rediscovered the orb and desire to use its power to rule the world. A young woman named Jasmine has managed to steal the orb from the witches, but she cannot destroy the powerful relic on her own. She must journey to seek the help of Donavan, a reclusive wizard with a devastating past, and the only one who can stop the witches. The only problem is that he has vowed never to interfere with situations of war ever again. Will Donavan agree to help Jasmine on her quest, or will the witches succeed in regaining the orb?

The Blue Orb, by Suzy Vivian, was a straightforward fantasy quest that centered around a struggle between good and evil. Vivian uses clear and easy-to-understand writing to tell the tale of Jasmine’s journey to save the world from evil forces.

Vivian’s novel has a lot of potential but failed in several areas for me. The prologue presented a powerful orb with a mind of its own, but sadly that orb was kept in a bag and out of sight for the entirety of the book. With a cast that contained wizards, witches, and a magic-based item, I expected to see a lot more magic used throughout the journey. Instead, characters avoided using magic because it was easy to detect by the other party. The narrative was also quite repetitive, with stiff dialogue and seemingly pre-formatted encounters that followed the same pattern throughout the story. The author added an assassin to the mix, but his part in the plot was never fully developed and felt very forced, almost as if added as an afterthought.

My favorite part of the story was the savage mist beast. It was a terrifying creature that haunted the company of heroes and struck without warning. Even the faithful hound that traveled with the group could not warn them when the fearsome creature approached. As scary as the beast was, it didn’t present much of a threat as it targeted characters who received names only as they were buried and remembered as good men. I loved the suspense this character added to the story, but unfortunately, the heroes eventually dealt with the monster using a simple solution that felt anticlimactic at best.

The book seemed well-edited until I got about halfway through. Then I noticed several minor errors and a couple of inconsistencies with the names of two minor characters. These would be easy to correct and were not too distracting in the reading of the book. Still, the book’s slow pacing and the lack of fulfillment in the story’s potential leave The Blue Orb with a 2 out of 4.

I appreciated that the book had only mild suggestive content and minimal descriptions of torture and violence. Vivian’s narrative has many great ideas, but it requires additional development to reach its full potential. If you’re looking for a good vs. evil story without a lot of complex magic and hard-to-pronounce names, this may be a good fit for you. The light romance story woven into the plot may appeal to some readers as well. As for me, I prefer a less predictable tale that features more showing than telling, but The Blue Orb, as a standalone novel, made for a decent fantasy read.

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The Blue Orb
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NetMassimo
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Post by NetMassimo »

This seems a case where the author needs help from an editor who can help in developing plot and characters. Thank you for your honest review!
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_Lindsey_
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Post by _Lindsey_ »

It certainly sounds like this book had a lot of potential. I think fantasy stories are really dependent on the ability to show off their magical elements instead of hiding them away. Thank you for the review! It sounds like with a little work this could be a really fantastic story.
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Post by book_fanatic_ »

Sounds like an interesting story, but I think an editor's help would have made it more endurable. Also, I'm not a fan of slow-pacing plot. Thank you for the detailed review.
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Post by Claris L »

I'm not a fan of a slow-pacing plot, but this book did sound like it had a lot of potential. Given that this is a book titled "The Blue Orb," one would think that the orb wouldn't be hidden away most of the time. Thanks for the review!
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Post by Wuoketch »

This book doesn't seem to be perfect to me. I don't like fantasy novels. I hope other people enjoy reading it.
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Post by Ebby Brown »

The story doesn't sound that bad, but from the rating I guess it requires a bit of editing for it to be better.
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Post by sirbobthewise »

While I love a good fantasy novel, this one seems lacking in several areas. Hopefully, the author will be able to seek some professional help in editing, proof-reading, and character and plot building. It sounds like it just wasn’t quite ready yet. Anticlimactic endings, poor character development, and a magical story with little magic are not my favorite, so I think I will pass on it for now. Great job on your review!
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Post by Nonso Samuelson »

A classic tale of good vs evil. I'd like to see how Jasmine and Donovan fair against the three witches, that is if the wizard decides to help Jasmine destroy the orb.
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Post by khaulah »

The plot sounded so interesting though! I was wondering why you rated it two stars. It seems justified. The book needs improvements.
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Post by Chimdi_3 »

At times its good to take some time from real life to a world of fantasy.I believe if the corrections suggested by the reviewer are handled then the book will be interesting to read.Nice review.
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Post by Ksharmilla »

The book sounds like it could have been wonderful. The cover art is amazing so it must be disappointing that the book was not as expected.
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Post by Samgum50 »

Great review, it's very insightful. Based on reading your review, it seems like the author had wonderful ideas for this book that fell flat in the execution.
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Post by Mbrooks2518 »

This book has a lot of potential. Hopefully the author does a rewrite as I would love to read it then. Thanks for the great, thorough review!
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Post by Damis Seres Rodriguez »

The plot seemed so good that it is a shame it doesn't meet its full potential. Oh well. Great review, as always!
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