Book: Catalyst (The Passage of Hellsfire #1)
Publication date: March 19th, 2011
Synopsis:
For centuries, the kingdom of Alexandria has protected Northern Shala from the monstrous creatures lurking in the Wastelands. Now, a dark force threatens that fragile peace.
Far from home, Alexandria’s princess is abducted. When a young villager named Hellsfire stumbles upon her and her captors, he rushes in to rescue her, alone and unarmed. His fear and fury unleash an uncontrollable magical force that grants him the power to save the princess—and change the world.
Hellsfire has never craved nor dreamed of power. But such magic as he now possesses has not been seen in Northern Shala for a thousand years, since the devastation of the War of the Wizards and the creation of the Wastelands.
Now Hellsfire must leave all he’s ever known, and make a dangerous journey to learn to master this wild, ferocious power—power he knows he is not ready to wield. More difficult still, he needs to master his emotions. If he can’t, the power will consume him, Alexandria will fall, and darkness will eclipse the land, destroying everyone he loves.
In the dead of cold, the spark shall burn...
For centuries, the kingdom of Alexandria has protected Northern Shala from the monstrous creatures lurking in the Wastelands. Now, a dark force threatens that fragile peace.
Far from home, Alexandria’s princess is abducted. When a young villager named Hellsfire stumbles upon her and her captors, he rushes in to rescue her, alone and unarmed. His fear and fury unleash an uncontrollable magical force that grants him the power to save the princess—and change the world.
Hellsfire has never craved nor dreamed of power. But such magic as he now possesses has not been seen in Northern Shala for a thousand years, since the devastation of the War of the Wizards and the creation of the Wastelands.
Now Hellsfire must leave all he’s ever known, and make a dangerous journey to learn to master this wild, ferocious power—power he knows he is not ready to wield. More difficult still, he needs to master his emotions. If he can’t, the power will consume him, Alexandria will fall, and darkness will eclipse the land, destroying everyone he loves.
In the dead of cold, the spark shall burn...
My Review:
I received a copy from the author to read and review in return.
I took a bit longer with this book than I intended to and I want to thoroughly express that this has absolutely nothing to do with the actual book itself. It was in fact exceptional! It has such an extraordinary story line, it is stunningly, creatively, and thoroughly written, and the book was filled with humorous, mystical and bloodcurdling characters! Marc Johnson definitely has a huge talent in plunging the reader into a wondrous, dangerous, and magical world including elves, dwarves, wizards, dragons, and many more creatures. The book is from start to finishing absolutely enticing, hilarious, adventurous and exhilarating all at the same time and it definitely exceeded my presumed thoughts. Let's dive straight into the details!
The Story and the characters...
The protagonist of the book is a young boy named Hellsfire. He was born in the midst of a harsh winter night, when a wise wizard visited the newborn and his mother and foretold that Hellsfire is to be a paramount figure in the future. Very quickly thereafter, we follow up with Hellsfire when he is 14 years old. Due to his differences he is not accepted by his town and he escapes to the forests which he considers his safe haven. That is when he encounters Krystal, the young princess of Alexandria. Hellsfire portrays his underlining characteristic, courage and selflessness, and saves the Princess from the Bandits who had kidnapped her. While he saves the princess he discovers that he has powers he had never dreamed of possessing and soon finds out that it was his mom's duty to send him up to the harsh and lethal White Mountain where someone would be waiting for him. Here he would learn who he truly is, why he has these exceptional powers, and what he is meant to represent in the Kingdom of Alexandria.
Hellsfire learns his most prominent power is of fire and that he is destined to become a great wizard who is to fulfill a very important prophecy. We follow Hellsfire's journey in his training and growth in becoming not only an apprentice wizard, but also a brave and dapper young man. Through his love and pure connection with Princess Krystal, he receives visions that the Kingdom of Alexandria is in grave danger and Princess Krystal is in dyer need for his help. Through his adventurous and roller coaster journey, Hellsfire becomes acquainted with Elves, Dwarves, Ogres, other wizards and many other mystical and dangerous creatures. Hellsfire realizes that he has a rocky path ahead of himself in order to save the Kingdom of Alexandria, who is controlled by am evil wizard named Premier, and to save his beloved Princess Krystal from the grips of darkness and danger.
The story is beyond intriguing and so original. Mr. Johnson describes surroundings such as landscapes, scenes, buildings and kingdoms in such a powerful and descriptive way that I had no trouble in creating the image in my mind. Throughout the entire book I was enveloped by Mr. Johnson's way of writing and the details he included, and it definitely gave the book a complete magnificent feel to it.
All the characters that came forth in the story were fun and entertaining to read about and to follow them throughout their journeys along with Hellsfire. They all had their own specific and special traits, and this made the book so much more prominent and unique. The way Mr. Johnson describes the characters makes you as the reader create a emotional bond with them, no matter if they are a friend of foe. Each character is embedded in my head, and because of Mr. Johnson's explicit characterizations, I was able to thoroughly picture the characters in my head. I don't find that often, that authors are capable of doing this, and I believe Mr. Johnson unequivocally succeeded in portrayed this.
I recommend this...
...to all readers who aren't afraid to let their imaginations run wild and trust the book to develop into a supreme and heartwarming story. This book describes magic beyond the usual means of magic, as if Mr. Johnson is an expert in wizardry himself. If you love a story with majestic and malignant creatures, a benevolent, brave and beautiful protagonist, a world bound with magic and wondrous kingdoms, and a fast paced and electrifying story line, then this is the book for you! I will definitely look forward to the second book of Mr. Johnson's The Passage of Hellsfire series!
Are you also excited to dive into Mr. Johsnon stunning and magical world? Go ahead and purchase the here!
