The Gifting (Mariard, Bk 1) [Paperback]

Christine Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 19, 2008

Born of their seeds, Kingdom will rise against kingdom. One will hold great mysteries. One will turn the tide. One will not be bound. War is fought, not only on the field, but also in the mind. Nothing is what it seems, take nothing for granted. The gifted are fighting for you. Do you have the right to become an entity? Take the challenge and go with them, as they tap into the unfolding universal truths. Nothing is what it seems, take nothing for granted. Christine Jones has created a masterpiece, a journey beyond the imagination. The mind is a locked door; she opens it to a greater knowledge and awareness. Are the Mariard Volumes fantasy, science fiction or reality? Nothing is what it seems, take nothing for granted. This manuscript was written over 20 years ago.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

From illiterate to author, a thirty year journey. Australian author, Christine Jones writes for the love of storytelling and self-growth. I grew up with a creative father, who amazed, amused and intrigued me with stories from his past. My love of writing came from wanting to escape my problems and silently express my feelings and thoughts in what I thought a less painful way. Through family and many other writers helping and encouraging me, I finally was able to move from illiterate to author and get my works published. Gone are the 500 word sentences and I can now tell the difference between their and there, I owe that one and many other similar words to my daughter, who persisted. Considering what I have experienced during my life, either personally or through others, I found myself going on a journey of enlightenment with the characters in the books. Seeing different perspectives also enabled me to grow as a person with each volume being more challenging to my own self-worth issues. I have written 7 of the 10 volumes and plan in the future to write the Mariard diaries, personal accounts from the characters, revealing times not mentioned in the volumes. Readers and writers ask me how I come up with such unique stories and realistic characters when I don't plan anything, I tell them divine intervention and I'm sticking with it.

Product Details

• Paperback: 266 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (February 19, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 143484014X
• ISBN-13: 978-1434840141
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,804,712 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Opens the Doors to Your Imagination, May 14, 2005

By 

Cloaked Writer "author of Helldom-coming soon" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mariard Volume 1 The Gifting (Paperback)

Christine Jones, an Australian author, brings you her first novel: Mariard Volume 1 The Gifting-a fast-paced and action-loaded read full of unexpected twists.

Never have I come across such a strong-willed woman as Artemis, the old priestess who is driven to hold on to her power, and even after her physical death she continues to play an important role by asserting herself and determining events in the story!

The unchaste "Don Juan" Marcale who is supposed to become king, in the hour of truth, is seen as unfit because of his sexual impurity, and must meet his demise in a repentant frame of mind.

When Artemis feels her own death approaching, she almost begs Vieanne, the beautiful daughter of a king, to assume her position, and in agonizing conflict and reluctance, she takes on this huge responsibility which alters her life, drastically. She has little choice but to forsake her love, the dashing Simon, and devote her life on training and preparing her two gifted children-whom she mysteriously conceives without a physical man-for their kingdom's survival which will heavily depend on her children's highly developed supernatural gifts.

Young Malcom one day in his carefree wanderings discovers Tegan, Vieanne's young daughter, in a hidden room in a cave where she, her brother and mother live in isolation. From that day on, the two become friends, nurturing their friendship by meeting without Vieanne ever knowing since she's so preoccupied.

I love the romance that emerges between Malcom and Tegan, the secret wedding that Nathanial(Tegan's brother) helps to materalize, the "mind games" that transpire suddenly among the rivaling gifted characters from the two kingdoms, Cathmore who's supposed to be wickedly depraved but yet demonstrates his true hidden colors of tender kindness, and betraying his evil kingdom when he finally joins forces with Mariard.

Vieanne soon realizes that between her two gifted children, Tegan is the weaker one, and thus, she is vexed by the continuous confirmation of this fact, while her son Nathanial exceeds her expectations.

During an atomic-like explosion that rocks both kingdoms and forces the war to a temporary standstill, Vieanne is knocked unconscious, suffers a fever, and which somehow sparks an inner battle of herself against the spirit of Artemis who has all this time been dominating her soul and personality with hers. Eventually Vieanne wins and expels Artemis' ghost.

As the story further progresses, it grows increasingly explosive, intense, faster-paced, and events occur more unexpectedly. The final showdown between the two rivaling kingdoms is clearly approaching when the fate of the world will be determined.

Christine Jones portrays her characters as real people with passions, ambitions, hatred, and thinking and reacting to the horrors of war and how it drains them. She further builds credibility and concreteness in her story by describing realistic details of military weapons such as guns, tanks, and aircrafts, the smoking and battered battlefield, the slain, and the vast destruction claiming its toll on both warring kingdoms.

In addition, Jones constantly energizes her narration and resuscitates her characters through very believable and well-crafted dialogue. I kept asking myself after the end of each chapter: "what happens next?" You have to read it to fully understand what I mean!

Reviewed/summarized by CloakedWriter, Inc., author of Helldom(coming in the future)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mariard Vol. 1, October 16, 2008

By 

Crystal Adkins "Crystal's book reviews" (Ashland, KY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gifting (Mariard, Bk 1) (Paperback)

From the moment Sestina, the Queen gave birth to twins, it seemed the whole world was about to change. Artemis, the priestess had foreseen everything, the good twin-the evil twin, and the way the future was to be. Tayo Maroda was to take the daughter, the twin of light away with him to lands of ice and raise her to be a warrior for the coming battle some years later. Marcale, the evil twin was left behind... his fate already decided. He must face the purity test, and when he fails the real evil will be thrust upon the Mariard.

Necropolin has waged a war, and the new priestess Vieanne, the twin of light has become cold and unfeeling. So many secrets are being withheld, even that of Vieanne's children that were conceived without the help of any man. When Necropolin breaks the rules killing Tayo, Vieanne is out for vengeance... it's about time for her gifted children to be known. She must continue to watch them, fore they need no interference...especially that of Malcom who is infatuated by Tegan. Now the war has only just begun.

Mariard Volume 1 The Gifting by Christine Jones is magically charged and just phenomenal. The characters are so lifelike and the plot is so easy to follow and be pulled into. There are quite a few characters in this book, but that for once didn't bother me, I felt like I could remember each one, their purpose, and picture them clearly. All in all I can't find any reason why Christine shouldn't get a full 5 Hearts for her book!

Contact Christine: www.cjbooks.net

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Movie Material, July 27, 2008

By 

Ann B. Keller "Ann B. Keller" (Cleveland, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Gifting (Mariard, Bk 1) (Paperback)

"Nothing is what it seems, take nothing for granted." With these words still haunting me from the back of the book, I dove into Mariard, Volume I, The Gifting and couldn't put it down! Ms. Jones leads the reader through an engaging tale, a story of good versus evil, treachery, honor and love that spans a generation.

The gift of the Mariard holds unspeakable power. In this novel, opposing factions clash again and again as they seek to win the day, battling not only with their bodies, but with their minds, as well. The "game" rages on multiple levels and the reader is swept along in a torrent of magical confrontations until the true natures of Tegan, Cathmore and Vieanne are revealed.

What a great movie this would make! The visual imagery contained in the book would yield some stunning sets and the story would capture the audience's attention from the opening to closing credits. I'm really looking forward to reading the additional volumes in this series.