Emissary

Emissary
By Thomas Locke
Published at Revell

About the book

With his twenty-first birthday, Hyam begins a journey that will lead him to his destiny--or his doom.

Hyam has always shown a remarkable ability to master languages, even those left unspoken for a thousand years. But now the shadow of suspicion that was cast upon him as a child prodigy at Long Hall is lengthening, and he must keep his identity hidden--or face annihilation.

As Hyam's mother slips toward death, she implores him to return to Long Hall before he settles down to farm his land. This journey born from duty becomes an impassioned quest for the truth. War is coming swiftly, and Hyam must rely upon his newfound powers and the friends he meets along the way in order to unravel the puzzling past and ensure that he--and the realm--will have a future.

In a world where magic has been outlawed for centuries, one young man discovers that he possesses powers beyond his wildest dreams.

But he does not realize how pivotal this gift will be in the days to come.

Except for the healing arts, magicking is a punishable offense in the realm. The only places it is still practiced are the Long Halls scattered throughout the land--isolated haunts of wizards called mages and their long-suffering students.

But hidden rivers of power course deep beneath the earth, and not everyone has obeyed the edict banning magic. Vixens lie in wait on the Galwyn road. A mysterious race of telepaths comes and goes invisibly. It is even rumored that Elves still hide among the wizened trees. And somewhere beyond the badlands, a growing menace threatens the hard-won peace of the realm.

This young man could stem the ominous tide . . . but only by turning away from everyone and everything he has ever known. And facing dangers he cannot fathom.

Who is Thomas Locke?

Thomas Locke is a pseudonym for Davis Bunn, the award-winning novelist with total worldwide sales of seven million copies. His work has been published in twenty languages, and critical acclaim includes four Christy Awards for excellence in fiction. He divides his time between Oxford and Florida and holds a lifelong passion for speculative stories. Davis's screenplay adaptation ofEmissary is currently under development as a feature film with a British production company. Learn more at www.tlocke.com.

My Thoughts

Here’s a fantasy novel that I think your kids will enjoy as much as you would if this is a genre that you like to read.    The story will grab your attention as you advance in the book and will keep your attention throughout the pages.   Suspense and adventure awaits you at the turn of each chapter in this book.   At the beginning of the book, you will go back and forth between two main characters up to the point where their lives converge.  

I am usually picky with the books I review and I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised with this one.   I enjoyed reading it and discover one book from Thomas Locke aka Davis Bunn that I liked.    I have tried other titles from him in the past and just didn’t click with them.  The fantasy genre that he explored with this novel is definitively something that I expect he will write more of in the future.  However,  I question the fact that he is using a pseudonym as his writing pen name.   Why now use his real name?   Is it because of the different kind of genre he wrote in the past and he doesn’t want to mix the two genres under one pen name?  

If you like fantasy novels and want to find a novel that will be a delight to read, I think Emissary would allow you to travel to a different world from the comfort of your own home.   It could also be a wonderful book to include in your child reading list as well.   

See a map of the realm which can be found in the book. 

This book is the first one in a series titled Legends of the Realm.  The second installment is schedule to be published in spring 2016.   Apparently, the screenplay adaption of Emissary is under development as a feature film with a British production company.

Emissary is available at your favourite bookstore, even amazon.ca and amazon.com.

  

Disclaimer: The book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.