C. M. Lance - Wizard Dawning

Wizard Dawning
Battle Wizards Saga



By C. M. Lance


Kindle Edition Available



Product Description (from Amazon)


Publication Date: December 9, 2011 | Series: Battle Wizard Saga

Ten years ago the world was shaken with the discovery that White and Black magic existed. Despite the headlines, like most people, nothing magical has happened in Sig’s life.


As he prepares to leave for college, mysterious Great-Grampa Thor shows up with injuries sustained in a battle with a Dark Wizard. He bestows upon Sig, his only male heir, a magical family heirloom.


He’s to lead in the fight against Dark Magic. Unfortunately, Sig can only access a small portion of the talisman’s power. His only magic is the ability to change into a 9 foot tall, 700 pound warrior. It’s small benefit in the age of machinery, rockets, and computers.


The Dark Wizard comes after Sig. He escapes, but Great-Grampa falls victim to a demon induced coma before he can teach Sig what he needs to know.


Sig joins with a group of fellow supernaturals. His new friends help him fight off more attacks while he searches desperately for his greater magic. If he can’t stand on his own against a Dark Wizard, how can he take his place at the front of the world’s fight against black magic?



About the Author (from Amazon)


An Aerospace Engineer, Accountant, Product Manager, Operations Director, Sales Executive, and Writer in that approximate chronological order.

He's always enjoyed writing, even though early writings were mostly Product Specifications, Sales Proposals, and Departmental Budgets. Most readers assumed those were fictional.

Is currently traveling the USA with his Interior Designer wife in an RV.

Three grown children span the United States from New York to Austin, TX to San Diego.

To find out about other book projects and more about the Battle Wizard visit:
http://cm-lance.com


O.Scarlett! REVIEW by Rachel

I think I picked up this book on one of those “too much to do, and more asleep than awake” type days – because it is so totally outside of the genre of book that I normally read.   As I stumbled across the zombies, I nearly set the book aside for good, but the storyline was good enough that I wanted to see how Thor (of Norse Mythology) fit into the picture.  Ok, I was hooked on the main storyline.

The story is futuristic – but not extreme future – maybe 20 years – and perhaps an alternate earth.  Magic has been intensified by a climate and gravitational change, and those who had magic found themselves stronger, wild magic was manifesting, and many were beginning to show magic.

Sid was a not so average kid, living out on a farm, with his mom.  His dad and grandfather were both dead – but his great Grandfather was still alive and just as chipper as an average 50-year-old man.  Grandpa Thor paid for Sid to have a horse (Bjorn was 6 feet at the withers) and a variety of gymnastics, martial arts, and riding lessons.  Grandpa had magic ... unlike his son, or his grand daughter.  Sid wasn’t showing any signs of magic either, although he was quite enthralled with it.

But things didn’t seem right anymore – something was watching him ... but he could never quite get his eye on who it was, the figure or figures would just melt away whenever he looked at them.

Grandpa arrived, but instead of the young and active appearance that he normally had, Grandpa was old ... his age seemed to finally be catching up to him.  Suddenly, zombies attack ... and the three of them manage to defend themselves and drive off or destroy them all.  Then Grandpa lets Sid in on his HUGE SECRET.  Grandpa is dying, and Sid has to take over his duties – and maybe there is more to magic than the aptitude tests can detect.  Grandpa is a Battle Wizard, and with the help of his magic token, Sid discovers that he can also do magic.  Powerful magic – except it doesn’t work much, and not at all what he needs to be a proper battle wizard.

Usually, a battle wizard will take years to train his replacement, but Grandpa doesn’t have years.  He might not even have months.  Training must start immediately ... and everything goes well, until one day they are attacked again, and Grandpa ends up in a coma, the house across the street is become even more mysterious and dangerous.

A friend of Grandpa’s arrived soon after, he was to take over Grandpa’s medical needs, and Sid’s training.  At the school, Sid meets Ogre’s, Amazon Women, Werewolves, and many other mythical beings, yet to most people, they appear quite human.

Sid and his new friends are in a race for time, first they must find out who is killing Grandpa, release the power the demon has over him, and the Dark Wizard’s power.  Will Sid be up to the task?

This is a fairly long book, but the rapid fire action will keep most readers well enthralled.  There is enough foreshadowing that you will not be completely surprised when the ending comes, but yet, there are also enough twists and turns to keep most young teens quite happy.

While boys will probably enjoy this more than girls, I found the action and plot engaging enough to read through to the end just to find out whether or not Grandpa lives, and whether Sid learns to use his magic.  It is a clever mix of old mythology with the modern world, sometimes scary, and sometimes funny.  Actually, there were many funny parts mixed in with the serious and often grim or gross stuff.

I doubt I would ever read more of this series, now that I know that it is mostly zombies and martial arts.  Still, the story was fairly well written, a few minor areas that were confusing or awkward, but for the most part – it made for an entertaining story.

This book wasn’t my cup of tea, but I have to give it credit for being an entertaining storyline, interesting characters, and a fun twist of mythology and magic in our modern world.



Note:  Fairly violent – but not overly descriptive.  I skimmed huge chunks of the descriptions of martial arts, fights, and zombie destructiveness – so it may be more violent or sexually suggestive than I think it was.

Genre/Theme:  Zombies, Future, Mythology, Martial Arts, Fantasy, Coming of Age, Demons, Magic

Reading Level: TEEN -  middle school and up  (12 +)
Profanity: MODERATE - mild words & a few stronger expletives
Sexuality: MILD - descriptions of affection/desire , much of the sexuality is vague ... however, it is frequent and if you understand the innuendo – it’s more than mild, but not quite obvious.
Other: Lots of fighting and destruction – martial arts and zombies.  All kinds of mythical type persona are in this book.  There are also demons and other creatures.