Legends of Marithia: Book 2 - Darkness Rising [Kindle Edition]

Peter Koevari (Author), Claudia Bartoli-McKinney (Illustrator), Holly J. Fox (Illustrator)

Book Description

(Legends of Marithia 2 can be read in its own right or in sequence in the Legends of Marithia series)

In the aftermath of the Battle of the Elven Woods, the two legends of Marithian prophecy are both dangerously close to the dark grip of death as Marithia suffers under the powers of the Blood Red Moon.

Vartan, prophesised to save Marithia, lays spellbound under the protection of the mythical dragons.

The vampire sorceress Kassina, prophesised to bring about their Armageddon has been moved to the underworld by the demon lord himself, Shindar.

A seed of the gods has grown and their greatest gift to Marithians, Anakari, makes her fated journey to discover her purpose.
A former shining jewel of Marithian peace, castle Greenhaven, remains in ruins after its defeat under Kassina’s forces and the elves rebuild their war torn city of Veldrenn.

Talonsphere must be found before Marithia merges with the Underworld and Shindar brings about the world’s end.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Peter Koevari is a writer that holds fantasy dearly close to his heart. From an early age, he was immersed in all media of fantasy that he could get his hands on. Memories of movies such as The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Star Wars, Conan, The Last Starfighter, The Princess Bride, and many more are cherished memories of fantasy nostalgia.Peter's hunger for storytelling was growing from a young age. Feeding off movies, video games, and books, the hunger had never been quenched. There was a yearning for something, as if he was enchanted by a spell and did not know how to release it.
The worlds held inside his imagination had to be shared with readers of the world.
It took over 10 long years to unlock the doors to worlds such as Marithia, and to pen them into books to share with anyone willing to travel to his worlds, but once he found the key and began to write... everything made sense.
Peter's writing will surprise you, may shock you and take your emotions by its talons, but will transport your mind into a world of fantasy like you have never read before.

Product Details

• File Size: 747 KB
• Print Length: 260 pages
• Publisher: Peter Koevari; 1 edition (November 15, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0068INX66
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151,544 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What a journey... November 17, 2011

By David Greenlees

Format:Kindle Edition

Enjoyed this read immensely!

Peter did receive some feedback regarding character depth in book 1. Book 2 eats this feedback for breakfast. It's as though book 1 was a 'teaser'... a fast paced fantasy thriller to get you hooked. Book 2 goes on to explain many beginnings for many characters. Not to give anything away, but we now know why Shindar is Shindar (and I don't really blame him)!

There are some extreme twists throughout, but especially toward the end. You are left guessing at many points, with answers being thrown at you when you least expect them. There were chapters that had me at the edge of my reading seat (literally!). There were chapters that provided some other types of thrills (will leave that to the imagination).

This is a book for the adults amongst us... having said that, Peter details these parts very well without the feeling of 'trashy' reading. It's all class.

I am thoroughly enjoying this saga, and look foward to book 3 and beyond. Peter has a way of writing that drags you in and allows you to create wonderful visuals of the story. You can become part of Marithia very easily.

Thank you Peter. Now hurry up and write book 3! ;0)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Cracking story and an improvement on its predecessor May 26, 2012

By The Riddermark

Format:Paperback

"Legends of Marithia: Darkness Rising" is the second novel in the Legends of Marithia series from up-and-coming Australian fantasy author Peter Koevari, and while it might not be fair to compare it to its precursor, I'm going to do that anyway, because I think if you draw a line representing Peter's learning curve between Legends 1 and Legends 2, it reveals that the future of this series is very bright.

Even though "Prophecies Awakening" deals with what the reader at first thinks is going to be the end of the war between Shindar's army and that of the peaceful Marithian peoples, it's only the beginning of an arc that "Darkness Rising" continues. "Darkness" delves further into the clashes between the vampire armies and the human-dragon-elf alliance, and adds a number of nuances to what in the "Prophecies" seemed at first to be a fairly straightforward good-versus-evil clash. Kassina finds herself reborn in the underworld as a result of the powers of the demon lord Shindar, and she returns with the aim of continuing to wreak her revenge on the people of the overworld; yet again it is the alliance of the overworld peoples, focusing largely on the warrior Vartan (who was introduced in "Prophecies") and the sorceress Anakari (a new character to this book), who have to thwart Shindar and Kassina and their ever-growing vampire army.

In terms of plot, Peter spins a strong story and "Darkness" continues just as powerfully as its precursor. The storytelling is rich, the descriptions vivid; the Weeping Falls in particular were visually really well constructed and I enjoyed the scenes set in that site. Some of the intricacies of "Prophecies" only reach their full revelation in "Darkness" and so it was very satisfying in that regard, though "Darkness" has plenty of twists and turns all its own. I thought the characterisation of "Darkness" was a solid improvement on "Prophecies" (with a single exception in an action in a single section, but I won't spoil it); in particular the characters on the side of good are more multidimensional, more fully formed, and that allowed me to empathise with them a little better than I could in book 1 (though the revelation of Shindar's backstory also makes him a much more complex and interesting character). "Darkness" ends in a somewhat open-ended fashion, which frustrates the bejaysus out of me as a reader; but it's not a great problem, because the "Legends" story really is a saga, an epic story rather than a series of standalone novels, and even so the story of "Darkness" does stand reasonably well on its own.

It's in the fine details, however, where "Darkness" is a real improvement over "Prophecies"; although this is only Peter's second novel, already his style is substantially improved and it's obvious he takes the honing of his craft seriously. Punctuation and grammar are fairly well (though not yet perfectly) handled in "Darkness", and as a result the reading of the text was much easier for me; it flowed better. The vocabulary issues that occasionally marred the first book are also vastly improved in "Darkness", and as a result of that Peter's clear talent in imagining and conjuring a fantasy world is allowed to shine through.

"Darkness" is, in short, a good read. A story well told, and what it lacks in the fine-tuning of the writing, it makes up for in its plot and pace. If you've only read Legends 1 and are wondering whether to go on to 2, it's well worth your time - go and do it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Torch Under the Blanket Books November 17, 2011

By Torch Under The Blanket Books

Format:Kindle Edition

The elves, humans, dragons and fairies have won the first battle but Marithia is still ravaged by the forces of darkness and our allies have been left bleeding. Their only hope, Varten, the boy of prophecy, lays dying and his death would herald the end of everything good. Marithia needs to win back its greatest trophy, the city of Greenhaven and find the hidden weapon, talonsphere, that lies somewhere within its walls. To achieve this, the war beaten friends must have more help, heavenly help.

In this 2nd instalment of the Legends of Marithia series, we get glimpses of the past and a better understanding of where the vengeance that fuels the fight came from. `Villain or victim' or is it `victim and villain'? Villains can be made when bad people do bad things to others and do a bad thing to someone with the power of a god and you can create a monster.

In Book 2 Peter Koevari again displays his passion for this genre as we venture through his fantasy filled imagination. Darkness Rising doesn't rocket along as much as Book 1 but I don't think this is any bad thing. I enjoyed not feeling as rushed as I did with Book 1. He has taken time to explore the characters and takes us on a much more emotional journey. Magic, deceit, betrayal, vengeance, violence, love and a healthy dose of lust are all good ingredients that make for an exciting M-rated adventure.

Darkness Rising ends as book 1 did with a tantalising twist that you leaves you demanding an explanation but as I know Book 3 is already in the planning I trust we won't have to wait long.

More About the Author

Peter Koevari is a writer that holds fantasy dearly close to his heart. From an early age, he was immersed in all media of fantasy that he could get his hands on. Memories of movies such as The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Star Wars, Conan, The Last Starfighter, The Princess Bride, and many more are cherished memories of fantasy nostalgia.

Peter's hunger for storytelling was growing from a young age. Feeding off movies, video games, and books, the hunger had never been quenched. There was a yearning for something, as if he was enchanted by a spell and did not know how to release it.

The worlds held inside his imagination had to be shared with readers of the world.

It took over 10 long years to unlock the doors to worlds such as Marithia, and to pen them into books to share with anyone willing to travel to his worlds, but once he found the key and began to write... everything made sense.

Peter's writing will surprise you, may shock you and take your emotions by its talons, but will transport your mind into a world of fantasy like you have never read before.