For starters I loved the front cover and the map inside - very professional.

But more importantly...the story's the thing after all.

Such wonderful writing, straight to point and the action. Instant empathy for Sheyna.

A jewel...full of magical promise.

Julie Elizabeth Powell, author of Gone

from what i read it wasn't bad. a female protagonist, is kind of sexy in my opinion. good luck with the sells and promoting the book.

Finally a girl in a strong fantasy role instead of some young farm boy becoming kind or a great wizard! According To Shadesilverbooks.com this book is just eh first book in a series of four, which tells me that the best is yet to come. Mark Tyson has created some pretty inventive characters that move away from the traditional orcs and goblins of fantasy without moving away from fantasy itself. The Dramyd is a bastardization of a dragon and is a welcome change. Also, Tyson has moved away from the magic user title to call all wizards in his world “wielders” hence the name of the book. Wielder Apprentice is the first book that tells of how the young Sheyna Namear begins her career as a wielder. According to the publishers website, the next four books are called Novice, Adept and finally Master. Basically, Wielders go to a type of school where they are evaluated and eventually apprenticed to a master Wielder, who takes them in to their own dwelling and continues to train them. Wielding is characterized as the essence present in all things and the wielder can draw on that essence to perform magic. If you take too much essence from your surroundings you basically turn your surroundings into a wasteland where no wielder can draw essence or perform magic. In other words you kill it magically. In this book, Sheyna becomes apprenticed to an evil wizard but she is unaware of his plans or the fact that he is evil. I don’t want to give too much away, but Sheyna meets some friends and eventually becomes apprenticed to a wielder that never takes apprentices to the surprise of everyone around. Geared toward teenagers, this book is delightful and stresses the value of friendship and doing the right thing. I can’t wait for book two Wielder: Novice !!!!