The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches Book 3 (Keeper Martin's Tales, Book 3) [Paperback]

Robert Stanek (Author)

Book Description

Series: Keeper Martin's Tales

All new deluxe edition for 2005! This edition replaces the standard edition and has the same price/ISBN. Features deluxe maps, 20 lavish illustrations, guide to the characters, and more. Readers everywhere are discovering the works of Robert Stanek. Robert's books are published in over 20 countries around the world and beginning in 2005 the first of many translations will be published. Best-selling author Robert Stanek delivers a story that is perfect for the young and the young at heart! The Kingdoms and The Elves of the Reaches is a refreshingly unique fantastic adventure where its only limits are the limits of your imagination. Inside you'll discover the breathtaking world of Ruin Mist where the mystical and the magical abound, and you'll fall in love with three heroes: a boy who would become a mage, a princess who is just now seeing the world around her, and a warrior elf who undertakes an epic journey.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Dramatic illustrations draw the reader into the Tolkienesque world of Ruin Mist, plunged into darkness after a Great War five hundred years past. Blaming magic for their demise, the Kings of Men have decreed that all things magical be destroyed. Yet despite their efforts, the magical Dark Lord is slowly returning to power. Another bloody battle is foreshadowed for Ruin Mist when Adrina, the spoiled and lonely princess of Imtal, is visited by a mysterious woman who predicts Adrina's ghastly future. Meanwhile in the kingdom of Elves, Seth, devoted First of the Red Order of the Queen Mother Elf, is sent on a journey across the Great Sea to prevent war. Stuck somewhere in the middle is Vilmos, a young magical boy-who-would-be-mage, abducted for his own safety by a Yoda-like guide named Xith. All three journey to an unknown fate against treacherous and sometimes supernatural foes. Stanek augments the beginning of this complex tale with illustrations that are sure to attract fans of graphic novels and classic Tolkien alike-the only weakness in the illustrations is their scarcity. Stanek will likely draw a cult following, but his work is not for the novice fantasy reader. A complicated glossary at the end includes twenty-two pages of "People, Places, and Things in Ruin Mist," complete with geographical references, family lineages, and extraordinary sketches. Despite the sophisticated plot, however, this cliffhanger guarantees fans, and those fans will be ready to wield their swords against the Dark Lord in Stanek's next installment. -- VOYA, February 1, 2007 review of The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

From the Publisher

Discover the word-of-mouth favorites! Readers around the world are discovering Robert Stanek and Ruin Mist. Now in this deluxe edition of the top-selling title, you can get the ultimate Ruin Mist experience. Distinctive cover art features the dark lord Sathar, deluxe maps help you explore the realms, lavish illustrations bring the author's words to life, a guide to the characters provides additional background and helps you unravel the secrets of Ruin Mist.

Age: 9 and up. A powerful story that is sure to delight! Readers everywhere are discovering the works of Robert Stanek, and overwhelmingly they agree on one thing: the books are some of the best they've ever read. Robert's blockbuster debut book sold over 150,000 copies and worldwide sales of his books are over 1 million.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Reagent Press (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575450631
• ISBN-13: 978-1575450636
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,034,562 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm Robert Stanek, and I've been writing stories for nearly 30 years. Though I've always been a writer at heart, I never set out to be a writer. What I wanted to be, I didn't know when I said goodbye to high school. What I wanted to do though, I knew that: I wanted to see the world--and so I did while serving my country in distant lands.

I wrote novels for more than ten years before I ever tried to get published. My big break came with a book about publishing--only a different sort of publishing than you may be thinking. The book was about web publishing and so my career in writing began. While I wrote those other books, I wrote many, many stories and books for my kids, and I collected them for a few decades, until at my children's urging I set out to get them published for others to enjoy.

I am the second youngest of five children, raised by a single mom. While stationed in Hawaii with the U.S. Air Force and working shift work, I went back to school and earned my bachelor's and master's degrees from Hawaii Pacific University. After an 11-year career in the military, I moved with my wife and children to Washington State. When I'm not writing, I can be found playing video games, reading books, or trekking the great outdoors in search of adventure with my wife and children.

It's been a fairly open secret I also write as William Stanek. You can learn more about me at http://www.robertstanek.com or at http://stanek.reagentpress.com. Find me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/RobertStanekAuthor.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is probably the best of it's series!, December 30, 2002

By 

M. Webb (Columbia, SC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches Book 3 (Keeper Martin's Tales, Book 3) (Paperback)

Adrina, Emel, Seth and Vilmos find themselves in another great and suspenseful adventure that will leave you wanting to read more and more. Just like in the previous excellent book in the series, Robert Stanek has successfully surprised his readers with a two-thumbs-up ending! Truly, this book will astound everyone who reads it. This book was of a medium reading difficulty level from the beginning to the end of the book. I had to visualize many of the scenes in order for me to understand the book even better and it came alive in my mind. If you have't read The Kingdoms and Elves of the Reaches 3, you should! This book is my favorite in the Keeper Martin Tales series.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enter the Kingdoms!, May 7, 2008

By 

P. Gunelson (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches III (Keeper Martin's Tales, Book 3) (Paperback)

My 14 yr. old son is a huge fan of the Kingdoms books and I must admit I am too. Robert Stanek is indeed America's Tolkien, a gifted story-teller with a knack for creating believable worlds and fully-realized characters. Many of the characters become like old friends and even the minor characters truly are interesting and real. The story itself is detailed and rich but Stanek doesn't allow the action to slow, keeping everything moving at a solid pace.

The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches #3 continues where the first two left off. The kingdomers begin to pick up the pieces of their lives after the battles at Quashan and Alderan broke the uneasy peace between the kingdoms. A new force continues to emerge from the shadows even as the evil king and the shapeshifting queen are being dealt with.

Very highly recommended and you'll want to have all four books on hand.

31 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than 5 stars..., July 22, 2002

By 

David Brubaker (Cupertino, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches Book 3 (Keeper Martin's Tales, Book 3) (Paperback)

The Kingdoms & The Elves of the Reaches Book 3 isn't your average fantasy. Fans of Tolkien, Rolwing, Brooks, and Pullman should take note. I've never been so deeply enthralled, so deeply moved by a book, and a book for 9-12 readers no less. I was amazed not only by the clarity and focus of Stanek's vision but by his ability to paint marvelous scenes as if on tapestry.

The entire book is a tour de force the likes of which fantasy fans have been craving ever since Tolkien introduced The Hobbit. If you've never read a book by Robert Stanek, start here, then go back and read all the others. In this book, Stanek comes into his own as a writer, a rare type of writer than can truly deliver. He accomplishes more in these 200+ pages than I've ever seen, where most fantasy writers take 800-1000 pages to accomplish 1/2 as much. Highly recommmended, you are going to like this.