Spirit rider by A Grace Martin

Blurb:

Nabrie lives in a farm and leads a simple life with Gregory’s, her adopted family. For her the world of magic and powerful creatures exists only in books, when one day a Wizard comes along and she realizes that such a world actually exists. But that world is threatened by a black witch Agrona who also happens to be her aunt. Now Nabrie is to travel across the strange world to cultivate her powers and prepare for a battle against Agrona and her minions.

 On this journey Nabrie will come across trolls, dragons, warriors….. a particularly arrogant Prince and a talking Falcon. Nabrie has to leave the world she knows for the one that is a stranger, to her to realize her true destiny….

Review:

Reading Spirit Rider by A Grace Martin was a great experience. It is a book that will be enjoyed by both children and adult. It takes us to a world where we all wish to escape to, a world of magic and powerful beings. A Grace Martin has managed to create a storyline full of interesting characters that are connected to one another forming an intricate web. Her writing is simple and she has great storytelling skill which will leave the reader completely invested into the tale. Her protagonists; Nabrie, Jerick and Dart are on a journey that will take the reader all over the land of Ralshur.

Nabrie who was initially a bit timid gains confidence, courage and wisdom needed to wage a war against a powerful black witch. She had powerful parents who were murdered when she was very young and she lives with a poor family in the Kingdom of Mar. At the end of the book she comes far away from the girl she was in the beginning. I really enjoyed how her character evolved though at time I did wonder about how some things came so easily to her. All such questions are answered as the reader progresses realizing the full extent of her power. I really look forward to finding out more about how Nabrie and Jerick will resolve the issues between them.

Jerick is obviously meant to be her soul mate but they know though they travel along with each other their destinations are different. Jerick is meant to be the ruler of Ralshur someday but he has spent his whole life in the city of Clearwater which has made him ignorant of the outside world. His grandfather seizes the opportunity to send him across country and to become a major player in the politics of the Kingdom when Nabrie comes in to their city. I liked Jerick but sometimes I wished to read more about him. I felt Jerick was not good for much at times. A hero needs to become at least an equal to the heroin to get her. May be in the next book we will get to see more development of his character.

Dart is amazing. I loved his attitude and he was just the right kind of teacher Nabrie needed. He was a bit helpless at time, the depth of his knowledge of all things magic made him a good companion.

I really liked the scene where Nabrie reached the Great Sea and it tries to drown her. She recovers when Dart pecks her and she removes some of the blood from the small wound with sea water. The sea water suddenly turns blood red and storms until it forms in to a hurricane.

I cannot wait to find out Master Peters secret agenda and whose side Myra will choose in the end. And what role will Iquedor play in the inevitable battle against Agrona?

                                                              Yours sincerely,

                                                                    Ashi.