The Queen’s Poisoner (The Kingfountain Series #1) by Jeff Wheeler

To survive as a hostage in the court of Kingfountain, eight-year-old Owen Kiskaddon must find help among the adults from the king’s chilling inner chambers to the warm and inviting kitchen.

As Owen wanders the secret passages of the labyrinthine castle he learns to recognize the magic of the fountain that is bubbling through him, he gathers allies and avoids enemies among a cast of well-developed characters including the mysterious Queen’s Poisoner who dwells in secrecy.  

Wheeler’s understanding and ability to express the emotions of his young hero creates a political drama that will draw in readers of all ages.

Based on the War of the Roses, but don’t expect Game of Thrones or Shakespeare’s Richard III. Thought-provoking and moving, this well-paced mystery within a clean fantasy is constructed in the often hard-to-maintain third-person point of view. 

Wheeler’s writing style is straightforward – no long, flowery descriptions nor much internal dialogue. While the sentences and chapters are short, they keep the plot moving, the protagonists and antagonists creating intrigue, and the reader up late at night.

Ganesha's Temple by Rohit Gaur

Gaur, Rohit. Ganesha’s Temple (Temple Wars). 2016. Rohit Gaur Studios.

 Tween/Teen Sword and Sorcery Fantasy

From the book:

"I will help you prepare yourself for the dangers that lie ahead."

Those words, and Lord Ganesha's appearance in a dream ring ominously in fourteen-year-old Tarun Sharma's mind as he and his family travel to a festival celebrating the elephant-headed god.

Tarun, the son of Kashmir's chief minister, soon experiences his first taste of danger when terrorists attack the festival. He flees into the wilderness and takes shelter in a cave—where he meets Ganesha and discovers the deity needs his help.

Thus begins a journey into a mystical spirit world full of strange creatures and infused by the life-giving power of prana. Tarun must travel into the spirit world to return to Ganesha what's his. But the clock is ticking as he struggles to avoid the evil Serpentine and races to complete his tasks. If he fails, the disastrous consequences will spill out of the spirit world and devastate the Earth.

Travel with Tarun on an odyssey of epic importance in Rohit Gaur's Ganesha's Temple, the first book in the Temple Wars series. It's a fantasy adventure with a message that will inspire as a young boy discovers the strength and courage he needs to persevere.

The Writer’s Review:

Tarun is shy and average fourteen-year-old student. Often teased for believing animal gods and talking statues, Tarun's life changes as his family appears to be the focus of a terrorist attack. Tarun flees into the wilderness only to find himself in a cave face-to-face with the elephant-headed Lord God Ganesha whose festival his family had attended. His quest is defined, and he sets off on an adventure even his friends would find hard to believe.

Meantime, beyond his awareness, people at the highest level of government are planning to build a wall between Pakistan and Kashmir to keep out the ostensibly rebellious Kashmiris. In reality, the wall will have much deeper ramifications not only in Tarun’s home and family but the spirit world of prana as well. Then his brother is kidnapped, and his mother sets out on a dangerous journey into rebel-held lands to rescue her son.

Some knowledge of Hindu cosmology and customs is helpful, but with the aids built into the Kindle version of the book, one can move relatively seamlessly from the story to Wikipedia and dictionaries that will assist the reader.

A story of adventure requiring strength and courage each teen must at some point find within himself or herself.

I received a free copy of this book for my honest and unbiased opinion.