The Guardian's Mark: A Guardian Circle Novel (Guardian Circle Novels) (Volume 1) [Paperback]

Isabelle Santiago (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 8, 2012 | Series: Guardian Circle Novels

In Zerah, Guardians of Water, Fire, Air, Earth, Life and Death are chosen by The Beings to serve their people. Able to feel emotions The Beings cannot, the six keep their world, and each other, balanced.

Guardians live and die together, but when Kieran is born with marks that prove he is the Guardian of Death, his mother risks her life to conceal him instead of giving him up to the Temple. When an attempt to heal him of the burdens of the Guardianship goes horribly wrong, Kieran is suddenly brought to the attention of the High Priests and forced into servitude to a people who have shunned his very existence.

He resents his position and all that it entails. It has cost him everything: his freedom, his family. Expected to live and study with the other Guardians, learn the right ways to use his power, Kieran is an outsider among his own kind until he finds the one person who can see the man beneath Death's mask.

Amaya, the embodiment of Water, breaks through his bitter shell and helps him to see that all of life is not bleak. But they've sworn a vow and love for one another isn't part of it.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Ms Santiago's characters are strong, well-defined and determined to do the right thing. Will leave you yearning for the next book." - Aloe, Reviewer for Aurora Reviews (Long and Short of It)

"There are many layers woven into the storyline and world building expertly." - Danni, Reviewer for Night Owl Reviews

About the Author

Isabelle Santiago is a multi-published author who dabbles in 1950s romance, speculative science fiction, and more recently fantasy and YA. A twenty something dreamer who loves chocolate, romance novels, and heart wrenching movies, Isabelle is most comfortable on stage behind a microphone belting out her favorite karaoke tunes, or curled up in bed with a book and a cup of cocoa on a rainy night. Isabelle co-runs the free read fiction journal, Tales From the Hollow Tree, with fellow YA fantasy enthusiast, Lisa Asanuma. Their first short story anthology, Tales From the Hollow Tree Volume 1: Stories of Enchantment and Desolation is available now.

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (April 8, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1470179474
• ISBN-13: 978-1470179472
• Product Dimensions: 0.6 x 5.2 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,037,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Isabelle Santiago is a multi-published author who dabbles in 1950s romance, speculative science fiction, and more recently fantasy and YA. A twenty something dreamer who loves chocolate, romance novels, and heart wrenching movies, Isabelle is most comfortable on stage behind a microphone belting out her favorite karaoke tunes, or curled up in bed with a book and a cup of cocoa on a rainy night.

Isabelle co-runs the free read fiction journal, Tales From the Hollow Tree, with fellow YA fantasy enthusiast, Lisa Asanuma. Their first short story anthology, Tales From the Hollow Tree Volume 1: Stories of Enchantment and Desolation is available now.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars not bad, just did not catch me January 22, 2013

By YA lit reviewer

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I read this book last week and soething about it just didn't catch me. I made it through the whole book. The writing was descent and the story was different, but somehow for me something was missing. I felt like I didn't connect.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting from the very beginning...can't wait for the next one! May 14, 2012

By MaliLama

Format:Paperback

The Guardian's Mark was a book recommended to me by a close friend, and though I am not a science-fiction lover per se, I could not put this book down. From the very beginning you are drawn into the world of Zerah and the Guardians, knowing that it is fantasy but feeling that somewhere at some point in time this world existed/is existing. As you get into the story, you see how relatable the characters are and truly start to feel for them; at one point I was justifying their actions- to myself! You really do feel Kieran's conflict and his intensity is felt throughout the book.
As much as I love that there is more to this story (it is the first book of a series), I really cannot wait until the second installment. I have high expectations for the second book, but until then, I will just have to re-read this book. It seems like the kind of book that will reveal more of itself the more (times) you read it, so I will start right away!

P.S. Do not pass this book over just because it is not your preferred genre- if I would have done that, I would have missed out on a very good read. Expand your horizons- you will not be disappointed.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting and Hard to Put Down April 30, 2012

By Bow

Format:Paperback

I started reading this book before I went to bed last night and wound up staying awake until 3:00 a.m. to finish it. The setting and magic system are unnusual and you quicky grow to care about the characters, in particular Amaya, Kieran, and Phoenix. It's mostly the story of how one character (Kieran) struggles with the idea of sacrificing personal happiness to fulfill his duty. As he trains at the Temple and begins forming bonds with the other Guardians, it becomes obvious he is different from the rest. The others seem mostly content to give up everything to follow the will of the powerful Beings. But Kieran rebels and in the end his rebellion may cost his friends and his world everything. I won't spoil it by revealing the ending, except to say it's a cliff-hanger and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Rich world-building and enticing characters April 11, 2012

By Lisa

Format:Paperback

Zerah is a rustic world, a world of common men, fishers, and prophets, ruled by Beings both mysterious and fearful. This story isn't about common men or fishers or prophets, though. Every generation, six people are branded by the Beings and made Guardians over the elements--Water and Fire, Earth and Air, Life and Death. Those born with the brand are sent to the temple to train, to learn how to control the power they have over their elements in order to maintain the balance that makes up life.

The story begins with a woman who has been brought to trial. She has borne a child branded as a Guardian, but instead of sending him to the temple, she has hidden him away, kept him to herself. He is, after all, her child. Kieran has been marked for Death, though, and his power is too much for him to conquer on his own. When he is finally found, his mother hands him over without argument. She knows her time with her son is over. The elders sentence her to life in a solitary cell, fair payment for treason.

Kieran then is thrust into a life he neither wants nor understands. Most of the other Guardians--one is still missing--fear and dislike him. Only Amaya, the Guardian of Water and an empath to boot, accepts him without question from the beginning. Over the years Kieran begins to find his place among his fellow Guardians, and even learns to feel that the temple is his home, but he cannot forget what the "righteous" elders have done to his mother. More than that, he can't forget to love the way that she taught him to. Guardians are supposed to live without tie, without emotion. Without love.... A passionate person to begin with, Kieran simply cannot live under the conditions set for him, and the story comes to a head as Kieran and Amaya's friendship turns into something much more--something the Code of the Guardians forbids.

Zerah's Chosen is the first in what is to be a trilogy. The world-building is rich and absolutely superb--you know the minute you set foot into the story that this is a society that existed before you started reading. The characters are also fantastic. The story is mostly told from Amaya and Kieran's POV's, but all five Guardians we get to know are so fantastically diverse from each other that every time one of the other three are in the scene it's a delight.

My personal favorite is Phoenix, the Guardian of Fire, who has his own unrequited love for Amaya--something which I know is brought much more in to play in the second novel of the Guardian Circle Series, Zerah's Offering, which isn't quite available just yet, but I'm definitely looking forward to it! Read more ›