The Black Orb [Kindle Edition]

Sabine A. Reed (Author)

Book Description

Aria helps support her older brother, who is one of nature's innocents, by running cons and picking pockets. When he disappears, she fears he has been taken by the minions of the Queen of Azmeer, to be enslaved in her army of conquest. While seeking word of his fate, she narrowly escapes capture herself, aided by a sharp-spoken old man who appears to have strange and magical powers. Bikkar claims to know how she can free her brother and at the same time defeat the Queen's potent weapon, the Black Orb, which sucks power from magicians.
Only after Aria and Bikkar find Marcus an enthralled bed slave of the Queen, does the old wizard reveal that just one device can defeat the Black Orb and only Aria can wield it. But first they must escape the stone warriors who pursue Bikkar. And then Aria must die, for no living hand can wield the powerful Dragon Claw.

Product Details

• File Size: 233 KB
• Print Length: 123 pages
• Publisher: Uncial Press (October 13, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005VSIAD0
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #827,378 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent traditional fantasy April 27, 2012

By Tahlia Newland

Format:Kindle Edition

The Black Orb is an excellent traditional fantasy, a quest with all the elements enjoyed by fans of the genre. Essentially, a plucky heroine and her guide search for the object of power that will overcome an evil queen, and free the heroine's brother and the people of their kingdom from the queen's compulsion.

The blurb
Aria is a young conniving thief and a con artist, living in the city of Kalaba. When her brother Marcus is taken prisoner by the Queen of Azmeer, Aria embarks on a desperate quest to free him. To save her brother, she has to enlist the help of an old wizard, Bikkar, who is critical of her thieving habits. The way to sever the power of the Queen is to break her magical weapon, the Black Orb, with which she plans to enslave not only her own subjects but other kingdoms also. In order to gain access to the Dragon Claw, the only weapon that can destroy the Black Orb, Aria has to travel with Bikkar to the end of the kingdom and enter the mythical Forest of the Drayds, fight with the stone warriors and endure the company of the old man whom she secretly despises.

I enjoyed the characters very much. Both Aria and Bikkar came alive for me as did the world they lived in. The growth in their relationship and in Aria's sense of responsibility was skilfully done. The descriptions, particularly of the Forest of the Drayds, were very evocative without being wordy, and the magnificent scene at the end leapt off the page with vibrancy.

The ending left me feeling satisfied, as you do after enjoying an excellent meal.

The only issue I had with it was a slight tendency early on to overstate things, for example we are told several times that Aria would do anything for her brother.... Once was enough; after that we could see what she was doing, we didn't need to be told it. This tendency didn't continue into the rest of the book, however, and would be solved easily with the deletion of a few lines here and there. The author may well do this in the electronic version at some stage, so don't let this put you off buying the book.

I feel that this is an author with great potential. Read more ›

4.0 out of 5 stars A refreshing adventure story October 24, 2011

By Veronica Morfi @ Mostly Reviews

Format:Kindle Edition

The Black Orb is absorbing all the magic from the Kingdom of Azmeer. The Queen is using its power to turn her armies into mindless zombies who care only about her. Aria never thought her brother would be one of them, but when the Queen's army takes him away to join them, she decides to save him. With the help of a weird old man, who is so much more than he originally seems, they travel to the Queen's city only to find her brother already under her spell. The old man tells Aria that the only way to stop the Orb and save her brother is the Dragon Claw, a mystical weapon with more power than anything else, they set out to find it and so their journey begins.

The world that Sabine A. Reed created was beautiful. A lot of magic, different races and so many beautiful sceneries. If only the book was bigger like over 400 pages it'd be so much better. I'd love to get a good description of everything and get some more detailed scenes and history facts. But it was a great fast read, with lots of adventure and...no romance, I loved especially that part, it was kind of refreshing!

I had a hard time connecting with the characters, in the end I didn't care if they lived or died, which usualy doesn't happen. The character of Aria was strong and devoted to her brother and cause but it felt like something was missing.

The writing style is really beautiful. It seems like the author gave thought every word and created a masterpiece. Some of the descriptions were so beautiful that got me lost in the poetry of everything.

I reccomend this to anyone who wants a fast read, full of adventure, magic and no romance!

3.0 out of 5 stars Three and a half stars: A well written debut fantasy novel. October 18, 2011

By Heidi

Format:Kindle Edition

The book opens with our heroine Aria engaged in a plot of trickery and cunning deception. A smile and promise of intimacy with a gold laden stranger lead to a sleight of hand, a draft of a sleep inducing drug into a wine glass, the inevitable comatose respite of the rich man and the adept removal of his heavy purse. A hooded figure melts into the shadows smiling with the knowledge that the coins will provide her with food and other necessities. Aria, who was orphaned at young age has led a hard life. She is a nimble thief with an arson of disguises and cons to insure her survival. Yet, she is content in her life, since she has always had her beloved older brother at her side. Then Marcus disappears and Aria is fraught with worry over his safety. She soon discovers that he was taken prisoner by the Queen of the land. Aria journeys to the Queen's castle with the aid of a stranger named, Bikkar. He promises to aid her in recovering her brother in exchange for a favor that he will later name. When Aria reunites with her brother she is distraught to find that he is a comatose shell of his former self because he is under the influence of the orb. The Black Orb, an object of great power, bent to the Queen's dark desires, controls and steals the will and magic of anyone who dares to go against the malicious, meglomaniacal Queen. The only way to restore her beloved brother is to destroy the Black Orb. To achieve this mission she must embark on a dangerous journey that may even result in death. Will Aria be able to rid the world of the evil Black Orb?

What I Liked:
*Aria, is a strong, admirable, lead heroine. She is resourceful, determined, nimble, rash, adept in trickery, a skilled thief and exceedingly loyal to her brother. Aria is also completely capable of protecting herself.... Armed with a quick wit and sharp tongue she is an absolute force to be reckoned with. I loved having a fantasy novel centered around such a formidable female lead. Her growth and character development are impressive. I admired the lengths that she was willing to go to save her brother, even if it meant losing her life.
*Bikkar, at first meeting he is an enigmatic stranger but as the story progresses his depth and complexity are exposed. He is noble, kind and self sacrificing. I liked the way the relationship formed between he and Aria. It starts on shaky ground; neither of them willing to trust the other, but as they progress on their journey they learn to trust each other and end up forming a strong friendship. He is a gentleman that I grew to admire. I hope he will be in future books.
*The writing is smooth and flows nicely. Ms. Reed provides beautiful,detailed descriptions. She creates an impressive world filled with magical and fantastic characters. I especially enjoyed the visit to the Dryad forest and encountering the wise, mystical creatures who dwell there and commune with the trees.
*While the story line of this book is familiar to the fantasy genre, Ms. Reed does a good job with the elements. Her characters are rich and detailed. The story has danger, action, mystery and a surprisingly difficult decision that Aria must make to save her brother. The book resolves neatly but the door is left open for Aria to continue her adventures.

And The Not So Much:

*I admit I don't foray often into the fantasy genre so maybe this is my ignorance showing; Ms. Reed does a nice job of creating her own world but I felt a little lost. I would have liked just a touch more reference for a time and a little more depth and detail regarding the environment. How many people inhabit the land? Who are these varied inhabitants? What kind of land do they live in? Adding a little more development in the world building would enrich the experience.
*There was a bit of conflicting information regarding the Queen taking possession of the orb. This does not detract from the overall story but I was a little confused over the details around the Queen's ascension to the throne and her acquistion of the Black Orb.
*While I appreciated Aria's absolute loyalty toward her brother this point was brought up numerous times in the book and it became a bit redundant.
*The story takes it's time developing and unfolding. It proceeds at an even deliberate pace but the ending felt a bit rushed. I would have liked the ultimate battle to have been a little more difficult and climatic. I was grateful for a neat resolution and thankfully no cliffhanger ending.
*One final detail that was perplexing was that Aria had palms with no lines that were supposed to better help her control her destiny but as she reached the end of her climatic journey it was not mentioned how her unique hands were helpful in her quest.

The Black Orb provides a nice entry into the fantasy world especially for novices, like myself. Ms. Reed does a great job building a magical world that is easy to immerse into, especially since it isn't weighed down with intricate, strange languages and foreign creatures. The story is easy to follow and the writing is smooth and detailed. This is a good debut novel in the fantasy genre. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Sabine Reed's work.

Favorite Quotations:
"Humans lives are so short that they don't even register in the order of the universe. Still you humans manage to make the most chaos in the world despite your short life span."

"The future is a mass of possiblities. It could be one thing or another. Each choice a person makes affects another person. One thing leads to another. Nothing is fixed until it takes place....and then it is fixed forever." Read more ›

More About the Author

Sabine A. Reed is the author of The Demon Mages (Book 1 in The Power of Three Trilogy), The Black Orb, Ashuliya and Serpentine Love.

You can visit her website www.sabineareed.com for more information, or join her at SabineAReed (on twitter) and goodreads.