It's Book Review Wednesday! Today, we're going to look at a simplistic book of magic, portals, and heroes…

The Dream Walker

Once upon Mystica, there were six wizards, there light and three dark. One day, one o the dark wizards Midnight says a spell to trap the fellow wizards. His spell goes astray, and he is trapped also. Now, all of the wizards are trapped in stones. One curious boy finds one of these stones and releases Midnight on Mystica. Midnight now has his chance to have Mystica all to himself. He gathers an army and prepares for war. Miranda dreams of Mystica. She travels there to find the one wizard that can stop Midnight. Lightning. Follow Miranda as she discovers her powers. Travel through Mystica, the Plains, the Ice Caves, The Forest of the Lost, and the Dragon's Lair. Can Miranda find and release Lightning and save Mystica?

My Review: 3 Stars

I wanted to like this book, but I have to say that it was a bit too simplistic for my tastes. The writing is average-quality at best, with a lot of typos, spelling and grammar mistakes, and no real flow. There is no tension, no suspense, and hardly any real depth to the book. It's the kind of story that you'd expect to find in a VERY SMALL children's book. It is written for children, but I've come to expect more from children's books--look at the Redwall series, the Harry Potter novels, the Percy Jackson books, etc. Kids are smart enough to read writing of good quality, and this just didn't meet the standard. This story lacked any real depth. Kids need to be more than just entertained, but they need to be brought along on the journey of someone who is sharing the life they are leading. All of the best children's books teach lessons subtly, but this book is little more than an interesting story.

Here's a Taste:

Midnight wanted more power. He wanted to defeat the wizards of the white robes for once and all, and claim Mystica for himself. He was deterred from outright killing the other wizards for if the wizards died, so did the land of Mystica. Mystic and the magic of the wizards were connected in an odd way Mortimer could not figure out. It was no use ruling a dying land. He had to find another way to defeat the other meddling wizards. Midnight searched and searched the entire land of Mystica for a way to defeat the other wizards. He searched far and wide. At last, he search paid off. In an abandoned city, in an abandoned temple he found what he was looking for. Ironically, the temple once worshipped the Goddess of the Sun. Hidden in the darkest corner of this temple, he found a faded spell book. The spell book was worn and tore out at places. It was musty and full of mildew. Yet, Midnight could make out one spell. This spell was all he needed. The spell trapped people’s souls in stones. Midnight quickly went to work. He gathered all the ingredients. He studied the spell over and over again. Finally, he was ready. Mystica would be his! Midnight traveled to the top of the highest mountain in Mystica to recite the spell. As he recited his carefully studied spell, something went wrong. Some say he angered the Goddess of the Sun by using a spell book from her temple. Some say, he had read the faded spell book wrong. Whatever the cause, the spell went array. The whole sky went dark. All of Mystica shook. Tremors could be felt throughout the land. When the sky cleared, and the tremors stopped, six stones lay atop of a pile were Mortimer had been standing. Instead of trapping the other wizard’s souls, the spell trapped them all, including Midnight, into stones.

About the Author:

Michelle is a married working mother of two fine young men (her children). She lives in Wisconsin. When not writing, she enjoys reading especially science fiction/fantasy and classics. Her favorite authors include Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Margaret Weiss, and Colleen Houck. She also enjoys doing painting and crafts, and spending time with her family. She enjoys going for walks, and swimming. She has been known to jump in Lake Michigan with no life jacket! She has been writing since high school. Michelle took a break from writing to concentrate on raising her children. She has an app on her IPad that gives her a word of the day and poem of the day. Find the book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Walker-Land-Mystica-ebook/dp/B00MU828DW/ Connect with her via Facebook: www.facebook.com/dreamwalkerseries Tweet at her: twitter @murray_mlmurray