Customer Reviews

The Legacy of Ogma

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Halia is a young thief. She is quite good at her profession. However, even thieves can be caught and Halia barely escaped with a meal from the village of Hillside. Just as luck can work against a thief, it can work for a thief, and Halia discovers a ruined castle protecting a mysterious crystal sphere. The sphere will lead Halia on a quest that could mean her life and the end of the world.

Halia must understand what she has. She is sure the crystal is valuable, but not how valuable. She seeks advice from jewelers, but they are unable to help her. Eventually, she finds Minaras, a powerful wizard with two apprentices, Oswynn and Thulin. Minaras realizes that Halia has a treasure, though it may be the wrong kind of treasure. Minaras takes Oswynn on a quest to learn more about the sphere and its importance.

Halia and Thulin take their own path to knowledge and soon encounter Arwold, a warrior, Ahriman, a powerful sorcerer, and Xarun, another warrior. Arwold and Ahriman have their own spheres, brothers to Halia's, along with another sphere they stole from the Arboreals. Everyone sets off to find the fifth sphere and then the mysterious treasure the spheres guard. Unfortunately, many of the people participating in the quest have their own, secret goals and those individuals will stop at nothing, including betraying or killing the other members of the quest, to get what they want.

E.A. Rappaport wrote a fascinating story about an assorted group of characters with various backgrounds and motivations. Rappaport provides depth for each of his characters that permit his readers to understand the purpose and behavior of each character, which I believe is quite a feat for a book only 260 pages long. Though this fantasy novel is at heart a quest, which is common among fantasy novels, an array of issues complicate the quest, issues that are interesting and frequently unique. Readers who like role-playing games may find that this book is much like stepping into a game.

This book was edited well and I found the quality of editing to be impressive. One of the things I find distracting with self-published books is poor editing. I found a few minor grammatical errors in this book, but no more than those in a book by a best-selling author.

This book, which is labeled as Book One of The Weapons Trilogy, will likely appeal to readers of fantasies whom like quests with a mixture of fighting and puzzles. There are a few slower spots, but those places serve to explain backgrounds or strategize. I enjoyed this book enough to look forward to Book Two in The Weapons Trilogy.

Enjoy!

I based my review on a copy of the book that the author provided to me.

Halia, a beautiful young thief, finds a small crystal orb. This is the beginning of a grand adventure. While searching for the key to the sphere, she encounters Ahriman a sorcerer and Xarun a warrior, both of whom has his own sphere. The three set off on an adventure around the globe to find out the secrets of the orbs. This book has it all - wizards, thieves, warriors, battles between good and evil. It contains travel, or we should say journey or quest, and the great unknown.

This book has it all for a fantasy fan! There is epic scenery across the continent and under the sea. Add to that adventure, weapons, magic and battles. A reader could not ask for more in a book from this genre than we have in this volume.

Rappaport writes in a smooth and pleasing style. The reader gets drawn into the story and the world is so well-crafted it becomes believable. While reading this book you are transported into a world in your imagination and it is as if you are there participating in the events. Rappaport creates believable characters that stay true to themselves. Some new authors have characters who become wishy-washy or who seem to change personality part way through a book, sometimes even a number of times. Rappaport has not fallen into that error. He obviously spent a lot of time planning the characters and the plot to create this novel. He also does a great job at describing stunning scenery and believable fight scenes. His battles are neither too gory nor too glossed over. He writes with the balanced approach of a pro. The dialogue is great - neither stunted nor verbose. Rappaport has written an excellent book.

This book is the first in a series by E.A. Rappaport, and if the other two books in the weapons trilogy are as good as this one, fantasy fans are in for a treat, not only in this series but in future writings from Rappaport. If you are a fantasy fun give this new author a try.

Halia, a beautiful young thief, finds a small crystal orb. This is the beginning of a grand adventure. While searching for the key to the sphere, she encounters Ahriman a sorcerer and Xarun a warrior, both of whom has his own sphere. The three set off on an adventure around the globe to find out the secrets of the orbs. This book has it all - wizards, thieves, warriors, battles between good and evil. It contains travel, or we should say journey or quest, and the great unknown.

This book has it all for a fantasy fan! There is epic scenery across the continent and under the sea. Add to that adventure, weapons, magic and battles. A reader could not ask for more in a book from this genre than we have in this volume.

Rappaport writes in a smooth and pleasing style. The reader gets drawn into the story and the world is so well-crafted it becomes believable. While reading this book you are transported into a world in your imagination and it is as if you are there participating in the events. Rappaport creates believable characters that stay true to themselves. Some new authors have characters who become wishy-washy or who seem to change personality part way through a book, sometimes even a number of times. Rappaport has not fallen into that error. He obviously spent a lot of time planning the characters and the plot to create this novel. He also does a great job at describing stunning scenery and believable fight scenes. His battles are neither too gory nor too glossed over. He writes with the balanced approach of a pro. The dialogue is great - neither stunted nor verbose. Rappaport has written an excellent book.

This book is the first in a series by E.A. Rappaport, and if the other two books in the weapons trilogy are as good as this one, fantasy fans are in for a treat, not only in this series but in future writings from Rappaport. If you are a fantasy fun give this new author a try.

I'm a bit above the age range of this novel from first time author E.A. Rappaport, so after I finished reading it, I gave it to my 10 year old nephew who is on a fantasy kick as of late with Narnia, Potter, and Spiderwick books. The age range of the novel is 6th-8th grade. I read the novel in a single night. At 251 pages it was a quick read for me. For me this book reads like a novelization of a role playing game. The author is very direct and moves along at a lightning pace. So if you are a Robert Jordan fan or anyone who likes very descriptive writing, then this one won't be for you. This is very tradition fantasy with your atypical wizards, thieves and warriors. The action comes fast and furious. My nephew enjoyed the book, though it took him a bit longer to read than myself. He found it easy to follow and enjoyed the fairly simple tale. I think the author shows great promise, and I would be interested to see his next work. I know he is at work on both a sequel and prequel to this novel. So if you enjoy the book, then there is more to come.

Written by E. A. Rappaport, The Legacy of Ogma: Book One in the Weapons Trilogy is a fantasy novel about a band of adventurers in a magical world, pursuing a hidden secret. Halia, a skilled young woman forced into a life of thievery; Ahriman, a skilled and powerful sorcerer; and Xarun, a hulking, fierce and at best tactless warrior, must combine their strengths to brave magical worlds and ruthless threats that none of them could hope to confront alone. A potent sword and sorcery adventure with a multi-layered plot, brimming with action from cover to cover.

"The Legacy of Ogma," by E.A. Rappaport, is the first book in a series known as the Weapons Trilogy. It's the story of a group of strangers who are literally brought together by five spheres. These spheres, once united, will lead the group to an even more amazing discovery. As the book opens, we are introduced to the lovely and opportunistic adventurer, Halia. After she finds one of the spheres, she sets out to see exactly what it's worth, hoping to cash in on it. This leads her to an old wizard, Minaras, who lets her stay at his home so long as she helps him and his two apprentices, Oswynn and Thulin, research the sphere's history. Eventually, Minaras and Halia split up as they chase the mystery of the five spheres. From there we meet characters like Arwold, a brutish warrior of Krof, Xarun, the Farset warrior, Ahriman, a wizard, and Kuril, an Arboreal guardian.

Each character comes to the table for different reasons. Some seek glory. Others seek revenge. One has selfish motives. Who is that? You'll have to read to find out.

Rappaport fleshes out his characters very well. The reader will quickly identify themselves with one or two members of the group. I personally attached myself to Kuril, who instantly became my favorite character in the story.

The reader will vividly live out the adventure with the group thanks to Rappaport's easily readable but very descriptive writing style. He perfectly describes not only the primary characters, but a wonderful array of creatures ranging from giants to blaeculfs (my personal favorite creature). It is also very easy to visualize the scenery.

Once the action begins, you will find it hard to put this book down. It's a wonderful fantasy for anybody who enjoys an adventure with a small caravan of heroes on a quest. I personally can't wait to check out the second book in the Weapons Trilogy in order to find out what happens to a few of the heroes.

Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Ian McCurley (age 13) for Reader Views (1/07)

Halia, a young woman forced to steal for a living, finds a mysterious crystal orb inside an old decaying castle. To find out what the orb is worth, she travels to Minaras, and old elementalist mage, who, after recognizing that the orb is magical, journeys to the Arboreal forest to check the Arboreals' records for information on the orb. He brings along his apprentice, Oswynn, a lazy but talented wizard who has an undying will to learn powerful magic. Simultaneously, Halia, along with Minaras'other apprentice, Thulin, journeys with the orb to the city of Zairn, to look for information on the orb.

Xarun is a burly warrior who both protects and bullies the townspeople of his small town. He meets up with Ahriman, a wizard who specializes in conjuration and knows more about the orbs than he is letting on. Ahriman, though he already has an orb, is trying to find the other four. Together they go into the Arboreal forest to steal the orb that is safeguarded by the elf-like Arboreals. Once they have retrieved the orb they head towards the town of Krof.

Halia and Thulin, when finding no information in Zairn, head to Krof using their orb as a guide. Once they arrive in Krof, they find Arwold, a young warrior who carries his family's prized claymore, a large weapon with another orb imbedded in the hilt. Following this discovery, Halia, Thulin and Arwold join Xarun and Ahriman to begin a quest for the fifth orb and they magical treasure of five all-powerful weapons it leads to.

After finding little information on the orbs in the Arboreal Forest, Minaras and Oswynn, traveling with an Arboreal named Kuril, head towards the ocean to find the magic weapons before the others and destroy them.

If you read fantasy, or like RPGs (role-playing games), this book would most probably fascinate you. Targeted for ages 10 and up, "The Legacy of Ogma" makes for a quick and easy read, though I have no idea why it is so titled since it is only mentioned about three times in the book! Though the book is only 199 pages in length, there is much more story than there is paper.

E.A. Rappaport writes excellently in "The Legacy of Ogma: Book One in the Weapons Trilogy." Look out for Book Two in the Weapons Trilogy.

Book received free of charge

Story is simplistic in the extreme. Writing style is even simpler, felt like elementary school level at best. All this would be bearable for an afternoon of escapism if it were not so poorly formatted. Incomplete sentances, paragraphs missing individual or groups of words, partial words, broken sentance format throughout. Made it very frustrating to read. This is the Kindle version, I do not know what the print version was like.