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The Mountains of Sorrow: An Earth Dragon Fantasy Adventure (Elemental Dragon Fantasy Adventures) by [Iseult Murphy]

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Iseult Murphy

The Mountains of Sorrow: An Earth Dragon Fantasy Adventure (Elemental Dragon Fantasy Adventures) Kindle Edition

by Iseult Murphy (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.3 19 ratings

Part of: Elemental Dragon Fantasy Adventures (1 books)

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Today Rowan is on a one-way mission to kill the queen.

Rowan is driven by revenge.

She has convinced the other rebels that she wants to assassinate the ruthless queen to end her cruel acts against her subjects, but for Rowan, this suicide mission is personal.

As one of the last remaining wood witches, will her earth magic be strong enough to stop the queen’s star magic?

Argento wants to end the killing.

Desperate to save the country he loves, the former palace guard will do anything to stop the queen, even if he has to work with the enemy.

When the rebels want to use the queen’s star magic against her, Argento has to ask - how far is too far?

United by their common enemy, Rowan and Argento, believer and skeptic, learn that the queen is not the only danger to the kingdom, and if their plan succeeds, they could still fail the country they seek to protect.

The Mountains of Sorrow is the first in the dragon elemental series of fantasy novellas. If you like fast paced fantasy adventures, with strong characters, animal companions, and insidious villains, you’ll love this series from award winning author, Iseult Murphy.

Buy The Mountains of Sorrow today to discover if a wood witch and a disgraced palace guard can save a kingdom.

Part of series

Elemental Dragon Fantasy Adventures
Print length

103 pages
Language

English
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On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

November 24, 2021
File size

3147 KB
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Sarah Noffke
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09MKTVFH3
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 24, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3147 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 103 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,402,370 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #6,901 in Mythology & Folk Tales (Kindle Store)
- #9,997 in Dark Fantasy Horror
- #10,322 in Fairy Tale Fantasy (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 19 ratings

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Iseult Murphy

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Iseult Murphy started writing at a young age, entertaining her family with magazines that she wrote and illustrated as a child. In her teens, she won several local and national short story competitions, including three time overall winner of the RDS Young Science Writers competition, and had work placed in international writing competitions such as the BBC Wildlife Poetry competition.

Iseult is drawn to horror, fantasy and science fiction, as she feels that the most difficult aspects of life can be best explored through the lens of speculative fiction.

She currently resides on the east coast of Ireland. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys reading, art and spending time with her animals.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

19 global ratings

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Laura Lukasavage

Dragon Magic at its best

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 14, 2021

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The way magic is portrayed in this book was interesting and different. I enjoyed the connections with earth and dragons for the powers and how important and meaningful they were.
Rowan is the secret queen on the road of revenge for a deep injustice against her family which caused her father's death and her and her mother to live in hiding in the Forrest until her mothers death. Angry and in search of her justice things turn darker then she ever dreamed as she encounters Argento, a guard of the queen who also wishes to see her rule end and the land and people to see better days. Their meeting isn't just a coincidence, you soon learn their life's were entwined long ago and a promise must be kept.
Filled with secrets, lies, strength and hope this story is a fast but enjoyable read. The ending for me was a bit fast and I was hoping for more for the final throw down and what happened after (trying not to spoil anything lol) but overall I enjoyed how different this story was.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 3, 2023

This is an excellent book for anyone who loves stories about magic, dragons, high stakes adventures, and cute little squirrel friends. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 21, 2022

3.5/5

I had a lot of fun on this fantasy adventure. There were some really great elements to the story, but some other elements that I wanted a bit more from.

In a nutshell, this novella is about a wood witch named Rowan. Her task is to kill the evil queen Zelda, who rules the land with her corrupting star magic. But when Rowan is intercepted by an unlikely ally, she embarks on a journey that forces her to question everything she knows.

This was a fun, grim fantasy tale. I really liked the bleakness of it. It felt realistic in a fantasy kind of way.

The magic system was great and very unique. I loved all of the descriptions of how she summoned her magic and the sensations that went along with it. Every aspect of this element of the story was wonderful.

I also have to say that I loved Oak and Acorn. So cute!

As a character, I haven't quite developed a feel for Rowan just yet. I've mentioned in other reviews (not for any of Iseult's works) that a character storyline built on vengeance or revenge is extremely tricky. The emphasis of vengeance can easily block the reader from getting true depth from the character. We did get to understand Rowan's past and why she is the way she is presently, but I didn't get a good enough feel for who she is without that driving force.

Now, the good part is that we should get to see her true personality come through in the next book based on what happened, and I look forward to seeing that.

If I had to nitpick at anything else, I'd say that I wanted to see a bit more worldbuilding. We did get some good details about the present location, but I wanted to see things on a grand scale as well. What is the world like outside of this location? Are there warring countries? Is this some kind of last stand for humanity? What other kinds of magic is out there? I'm sure we'll get to see more of these elements in the next installments, and I look forward to exploring this interesting fantasy world more!

Helpful

Dereese Reids

All the correct ingredients but botched the recipe.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 3, 2022

(Warning, contains spoilers.)

Plot: The conniving queen has murdered her way to the throne and now oppresses the people with a star magic fist. The orphan princess, inheritor of earth magic and accused of killing her father, turns assassin for the rebels. Throw in a disgruntled palace guard, untrustworthy allies and some animal companions and you have the foundation for a decent fantasy stew.

The book contains an impressive twist in the late second act (SPOILER: the evil queen has been dead for some time). But, like many of the other cool elements in this story, it is included mainly for spice. Not because it is any kind of plot necessity. The replacement villain ends up muddying the story line.

Despite being only a hundred-odd pages long, the story tracks an impressive three try/fail cycles. However, since the ultimate and unsatisfying victory (SPOILER: beseeching and receiving a dragon’s direct help) is basically a 'deus ex machina', it is difficult to count as a success.

Prose: Overall, the prose is clean and mostly economic. For an indie book, the editing is quite good, with only the occasional mistake. (Memorably, the protagonist’s name is misspelled, once.) However, the focus is sometimes misdirecting: If someone grabs you, mid-assassination attempt, and drags you into an adjoining room, doubtful your first instinct would be to describe the look and purpose of the room…

Originality: Forget original ideas, plots and twist endings. It’s all been done before. Readers look for an original writer’s voice, character and setting – these are the things that compel one to read on. While the setting here is serviceable, the characters do not evoke sympathy or strong feeling.

Character: Character is one of two major letdowns in this book (the other being story logic). In a word, the characters were not damaged enough to feel real. A happy little girl whose life gets wrecked by evil magic, murder, imprisonment and assassination training should NOT turn into a well-adjusted woman who befriends squirrels. A dutiful boy who is forced to serve an evil ruler and is eventually targeted for human sacrifice is NOT going to be a warm or supportive presence for anyone. The lack of magical and personal growth in the protagonist leaves the story purposeless.

Critique: Fiction depends on the willing suspension of disbelief. Readers accept the fantastical (dragons and magic) so long as the familiar (people and relationships) are credible. When the story logic collapses, so does belief. This novella’s story logic and character motivation is filled with holes: Why waste your only magical princess on a suicidal assassination? Why does a competent palace guard risk it all on an obviously inept assassin? Why does the guard have the run of the castle after being identified for human sacrifice? If you are a powerful magical entity in control of the kingdom, why pose as the rebel leader and blow up your own facilities? The list goes on.

Conclusion: Though it showed promise, the second novella does not go on the TBR list.

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Joseph-wordsmith

An enchanting fantasy novella that is not all that it seems...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 4, 2022

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Iseult Murphy first left her mark upon me with her insightful reviews. Here was someone who wasn’t simply stating an opinion, but actually going a level deeper to incise the work she was discussing with a scalpel and see what was really going on underneath; in short, true criticism. Next, Murphy’s Horror series, currently featuring 7 Days In Hell and 7 Weeks In Hell, blew me away. Here is a story that deceptively lures the reader into thinking they are reading a small-town cosy mystery, when in actuality something much darker is taking place. The story slowly tilts into the macabre until it outright flings you into the abyss, though it is not without threads of beautiful hope.

Now, Iseult Murphy turns her hand to Fantasy—a favourite genre of mine—in The Mountains of Sorrow. This novella is a weird and wonderful mix. It starts by plunging us straight into the action and doesn’t really let up for the duration of its 100 pages. Our main character, Rowan, is a rebel with a mission to assassinate an evil and tyrannical Queen. There is a subtle critique of the modern world in the lore and mythos of Mountains of Sorrow, as the Queen is evil because she uses Star Magic to oppress the populace. Star Magic is a kind of forbidden, dark magic, because it’s technological rather than natural. The Star Magic allows Queen Zelda to create artificial lights that burn the skin, monstrous metal golems that lumber through the palace hallways, and energy centres that irradiate the populace and make them sick. It’s subtly done, a kind of Gene Wolfe double-blind where we realise that what’s being described isn’t what we think it is. Don’t worry, this isn’t a spoiler, there’re a lot more surprises in this.

The world-building, contained in such a brief narrative, is very impressive. Rowan is a wood-witch, one of the last of her kind, and so she has an affinity for the earth, magic, and the seven sacred dragons. The dragons are kind of druidic gods who watch over and guide those who are still connected to magic. Each of them can grant different boons. In this way, they operate almost like Catholic Saints; appealing to the right saint with the right cause can lend a magic-user aid. It feels original, and more importantly it’s done well; the naming conventions of the dragons lead me to believe they are partly inspired by Irish lore and mythology. There’s surprising depth considering how little wiggle room Murphy has in a story of this length.

In terms of characters, this story is again an interesting mix. It personally took me a while to warm to the main character Rowan. I found her to be so bitter and depressive that it was hard to feel for her. However, given everything Rowan has experienced, this was probably very psychologically accurate. Argento proved to be an interesting foil to Rowan, and the two work well together “on screen”. Murphy does not fall for the usual traps of a relationship of necessity like this, and if any of you are expecting predictable romance, rest assured you can think again.

There are a surprising number of characters considering the book’s length but perhaps the final ones worth mentioning are two very cute squirrels, Acorn and Oak. The book actually contains beautiful illustrations of these squirrels done by the author herself, and her talent is really off-the-charts. The interior of the book is exceedingly beautiful because of these illustrations, which also make their way into the chapter headings (very much echoing the illuminated text of medieval manuscripts) The inclusion of these squirrel characters is one of the brilliant but also anomalous aspects of the books. Murphy clearly has a love of animals. I know she keeps many pets and dogs feature prominently in her 7 Hells series. Cute squirrels, who are far more intelligent than they seem, would seem to lend the book more of a Disney-fantasy than let’s say Tolkien-fantasy vibe. Indeed, I wondered if this book was meant for children at times. The writing is straightforward; there is no cussing.

However, it seems that Murphy could not resist flexing her Horror-writer muscles at times, and there are some genuinely disturbing scenes in this that are worthy of a Stephen King novel or indeed something beyond. If you are looking for a literary comparison, the nearest would be C. S. Lewis. Lewis also created wonderful and enchanting fantasy worlds for children, but they were not without their share of horror, as anyone who read that scene in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe can testify.

When the true extent of the evil Queen’s machinations are revealed in one stomach churning encounter, I was caught completely off guard, and that made the horror all the more affecting and visceral. I admire Murphy for this. It would have been easy for her to write something pedestrian, something that conformed easily to a genre archetype, but she chose instead to push boundaries, to show us that even in the magical world there is suffering. In fact, this suffering is created by the intrusion of technological “magic” into the fantastical sphere. I will not preach to the choir: you may read into this as you will!

The last thing I want to say about this book is in relation to the title. Firstly, The Mountains of Sorrow clues us in to one of the interesting aspects of this book, namely, that I suspect it is part of a series. This book seems entirely concerned with the element of earth, and that includes not just literal stone, soil, and wood, but also the concepts of family, friendship, and the stability of civilisation. I suspect that Murphy might be planning to showcase the other elements in subsequent books! We can only hope.

Secondly, The Mountains of Sorrow feels very apt indeed. Sorrow permeates this story. Rowan has lost her mother. Argento has lost his family. The magical dragons seem to be leaving this world of wickedness and technologic gods. The “mountains” of sorrow are the psychological mountains that we must perilously climb in order to overcome our despair. What is so brilliant, however, is that Murphy’s ending is spiritual, redemptive, and hopeful, which, in our current era, is exactly what we need.

One person found this helpful

Kindle Customer Paula

Magic Mountains and Divine Dragons

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 24, 2022

Verified Purchase

Zelda, usurper to the title and position of Queen of Glardock. Rowan, heir to the true Queen Laurel and would-be assassin of the pretender. Argento, bodyguard to Zelda but a sympathiser of the rightful royal line. The star magic of the supplanter versus the natural elemental magic of the supplanted. Mechanical beings and humans, black squirrels and fire panthers, wood witches and earth dragons, rebels and traitors.

The stage is set for the uprising which will restore the natural order in author Iseult Murphy’s fantasy adventure, which shows a great deal of imagination in its conception. It sounds straightforward. A few setbacks, but the rebels will win through in the end—don’t they always?—and free the people oppressed by the silver construct monsters and the Gatherings of the Sacrifice. Or will they? There are twists and turns, and a quest to be undertaken before the kingdom can be retaken—and success is by no means guaranteed.

If you like fantasy stories this is a great read for you, whatever age you may be.

Valinora Troy

Don’t miss this exciting magical tale of good and evil in an amazing fantasy setting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 27, 2021

Verified Purchase

Rowan, the last Woodwitch of Glardock, is determined to kill Queen Zelda who is destroying the land with her use of poisonous star magic, controlling the people with her evil metal constructs and robbing them of their faith in the earth dragons even as she rounds up the citizens for the day of sacrifice to further her schemes. When the assassination attempt goes awry, thanks to a tipoff that it’s a trap waiting for Rowan, Rowan, the rebels, and Argento, palace guard turned rebel, have to find another way to end the queen’s evil reign. But with a possible spy in their midst, who can Rowan trust? And have the earth dragons too deserted the land and the people they once protected?
This is a brilliantly written imaginative novella, with so much packed into relatively few words that I don’t know where to begin. From the first page there is such a satisfying mix of action, danger, and imagination that I couldn’t put the book down. I love the way the poison of star magic taints everything it touches. I love the sweet little squirrels, Rowan’s animal companions from when she lived in the forest. I want to avoid spoilers but Rowan’s journey, which is probably the heart of the story, is gripping. I love the character of Argento and his backstory, and although we don’t spend much time with the other rebels, under the author’s deft hand, they spring to life. I absolutely adore the earth magic and how skilled Rowan is at wielding it. The depiction of good and evil in this story is really well drawn and to me very much a commentary on the world and humanity, both now and throughout history. I also think the antagonist story is an original twist in a fantasy tale.
Like all of this author’s work (and I am a big fan of her horror novels), there are layers of meaning within the story, and I think I will have to read it several times to decipher them all. I only wish the book was longer!
Hugely recommend this exciting imaginative story with brilliant characters and world-building, which has magic, monsters, - and squirrels.

J

A Little Bit of Everything

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 30, 2021

Verified Purchase

Iseult Murphy’s ‘The Mountains of Sorrow’ is a little bit of everything if you’re wandering down the Science Fiction & Fantasy aisle. There are evil robots that wouldn’t be out of place in Star Wars; glimpses of dragons that Anne McCaffrey might have once considered; squirrels akin to the dæmons of ‘His Dark Materials’ and a bit of magic we all enjoyed in David Eddings’s work. Murphy brings these together in a two-hour read with some success.

Murphy’s heroine is Rowan, a Woodwitch of Glardock. As the story unfolds, we discover her secret heritage, and the motivation behind her journey becomes clear. What starts as a simple desire to prevent the destruction of the land by the queen’s star magic (not as lovely as it sounds), Rowan is not the one destined to murder Queen Zelda. Murphy invests soundly in portraying this character, easily the most rounded of the ensemble. The use of familiar squirrels to depict Rowan’s emotion is charming at first, but it does become tiresome as the chapters race past. Ultimately, we learn of the wrongdoing against Rowan’s family and see her restored to her rightful place in the end. Her trusted sidekick is Argento, the somewhat mysterious guard. It’s not clear if Rowan and Argento’s relationship is anything more than professional, but the third act reveals his purpose: the shrine to the earth dragons.

‘The Mountains of Sorrow’ is centred by two types of magic: the evil star magic destroys everything it touches (obviously favoured by the wicked queen) and the good earth magic, which is Rowan’s most important weapon. But before that, there are the android creatures that protect Queen Zelda. While the lack of a detailed explanation of how the magic works is positive, it is unclear how robot guard dogs fit into this world. Perhaps they may have been better described as metal creatures (rather than ‘constructs’); however, Murphy would have been better served to name her antagonist after a non-Nintendo icon. Suffice to say, evil is the technology that ruins the planet, and good is wielding natural forces in a way that everyone wins – except the wrongdoers. And this natural energy comes from elemental dragons so that all ties up nicely.

Murphy’s novella trips along at an incredible pace, maybe a chapter every six to ten minutes. Most end with a natty dialogue-driven cliffhanger, which is equally charming and cloying. As we race through, things do slow a little, as if this is a marathon and not a sprint after all, but then, like all good athletes, Murphy digs deep and tears through the end of the story at breath-taking speed. This is a shame because readers always want to enjoy a book’s climax.

In all, Murphy has done a good job with this novella. The words are well-considered, and the story, although single-faceted, does what it needs to do. Yet it lacks a certain magic that has nothing to do with dragons or robots or wicked empires, possibly because the quest every epic fantasy needs is not clear from chapter one.

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