The Crystal Chalice [Paperback]

Sandra Brandenburg (Author), Debora ElizaBeth Hill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 2006

Lily is happy in college, but not with Marshall. He is sleeping with everyone except his beloved. Evan wants Valaura to be ready to settle down. Valaura wants a little excitement. Back they go to the World of Lost Myths. They arrive in King Lucifer's equally troubled ice palace. It seems everyone has a little growing up to do, including Luci and his granddaughter, Silvera. And then there are those pesky female archers to be dealt with ...

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: FireMountain Press (December 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1929374445
• ISBN-13: 978-1929374441
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,997,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable light fantasy--with some nice twists on myth, January 30, 2007

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Crystal Chalice (Paperback)

After their return from the Land of the Wand, Marshall Storme, his girlfriend Lillian Curtis, Valaura Bennet, and Evan Stone try to create new lives on earth. But Evan can't seem to get Valaura to commit to him, to agree to marry and create a family. And Marshall's life as a rock star is just a little too tempting for him--when Lillian isn't around and beautiful Italian women camp out in his suite, it's just so easy to take what's being offered. Recognizing that the four need a push to move past the points where they've all become stuck, Evan comes up with the idea of returning to the magical land where they first fell in love--this time however, to the land of the Cup, the Chalice, rather than the land of the wand.

To Evan's dismay, the Land of the Cup provides new challenges to their love rather than resolving questions. The beautiful princess Silvera falls for Marshall and seduces him--with him unaware that by doing so, he's committing to be her mate. And King Lucifer, ruler of the land, sees Valaura's inability to commit to Evan as an open invitation for him to press his own suit. Things only get worse when Amazons kidnap both of the men--to turn them into sex slaves.

The four must wrestle with their own feelings while they attempt to ward off the threats from Amazons, lustful royalty, and the beautiful but dangerous Angele.

Authors Debora Hill and Sandra Brandenberg continue the story they begain in LAND OF THE WAND with a second tale of mixed up myth, all-too-human temptation, and magic. THE CRYSTAL CHALICE does have some 'middle book' awkwardness--romances we thought were resolved in the first book turn unresolved and the ending seems to demand a third book to wrap things up, but Hill and Brandenberg keep things moving along, bring back familiar friends from the earlier volume, and introduce new groups of characters, new facets of the magic of the land, and new romantic issues for our heroes to deal with.

If you enjoy light-hearted fantasy, there's a lot to like in this continuation of THE LOST MYTHS SAGA.

4.0 out of 5 stars Oh, the Difference a Year Can Make..., November 6, 2007

By 

Cory Anne Stickel (Muskegon, Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Crystal Chalice (Paperback)

The Lost Myths Saga is back with The Crystal Chalice, and things aren't all we'd hoped they'd be. Personal problems abound with Evan, Valaura, Marshall, and Lily. They return to The Land of Lost Myths through a clever scheme of Evan's in an attempt to solve their differences, but they find that much more than a year has passed in the kingdoms and that things aren't going too well there, either.

The major conflict of The Crystal Chalice is much more internal than external. The characters are faced with each other rather than a common enemy. Interpersonal relationships take centre-stage here, and the issues of trust, commitment, and self-sacrifice are the main themes of this installment. However, that doesn't mean that this volume isn't without a real-world myth turned on its head: the enemy of The Land of the Chalice is the formidable Amazzones, and they make for a nice secondary plot. An appearance by The Anjeles near the end of the book also nicely rounds out the need for action and external conflict; but mostly this a personal story.

Because this is the second story in the series, it has a distinct advantage over the first book: the pacing and flow of The Crystal Chalice is much better than The Land of the Wand. While much can be said for the authors perfecting their craft, the improvements are due almost entirely to the elimination of needing to familiarize the readers with a new world. With backstories out of the way, the plot can now be told without being dragged down and the the characters are free to grow without restraint. This makes the book even more engaging than the first.

As with The Land of the Wand, this installment of the series carries deeper themes:

-Thanks to The Amazzones, femanism abounds, giving Valaura and Lily a chance to shine while Evan and Marshall are entertainingly in need of a hero or two.

-A sub-plot involving creatures called Frost Monsters raises the question of society's comfort through the suffering of others.

There is very little that The Crystal Chalice can be faulted for. It's an excellent story that's told nearly flawlessly. Some might complain that not all issues are completely resolved by the book's end, but if they had been neatly wrapped up, we wouldn't be left with an exciting glimpse of the story to come. The Land of Lost Myths continues to reveal its secrets, and The Crystal Chalice will not disappoint.