Michelle Murray

I will be a relief after reading this book to return to reading ANY book with correct grammar and decent editing. The author is very nice, and I was sent a free set of this trilogy in exchange for a fair review, which makes it a bit harder to be totally honest. She's so nice! And the story is not bad, really, once you get past the lack of editing. I read a few chapters out loud in hopes that this might make the grammar issues and other problems easier to overlook, and I kept falling into a tone reminiscent of Terry Pratchett's character Carrot, in his letters home. If a seventh grader had written this book, it would sound like what one would expect from such a young, immature writer, but the author of these books is a mature adult, and articulate enough outside these books that I expected better.
There is enough potential in this series that I really wish Murray would pull this series and get it thoroughly, professionally edited, before re-releasing it. As as, it feels like a working draft, not finished, published novels.
So, if you are not bothered by bad grammar and less-than-careful editing, and if you enjoy fantasy adventures with magic and wizards and quests, you might like this book. I will not be reading the third book, because I suspect my third review won't be any more positive at this rate. But, I do think this author is capable of publishing good novels, worth checking out in the future. Her stories are creative, and her cast of characters is good for her genre. Her world-building is a bit shaky, but mostly consistent, and if she finds a better editor to help her iron out her storytelling into a more professional finished product, the next books she releases may deserve a much better review.… (plus d'informations)

I received my copy of this book free from the author in exchange for a fair review.

I liked the magical world in this book. The story is a lot like that of Neverending Story, and several other fantasy stories in which someone from our world is magically transported to a fantasy land where there is some sort of quest or mission to be done to save that world. In this book, the heroine is a college freshman by the name of Miranda, and she finds a magical bowl in a shop that transports her into the fantasy story as a Dream Walker. While the world, its magic, and all the characters are rather simple and underdeveloped, the style and length of this story reminds me a lot of Andre Norton's fantasy books, blended with a bit of Pratchett's style of wizardry, some New-Age goddesses, and some rather pale tribal plains-people who seem inspired by Native American cultures. Adults may find this novel too simplistic, but younger readers will find this story accessible. I wish Murray had made Miranda a 12-14yr-old girl, rather than a college student, since this is the age Miranda seems more like anyway, and making the heroine younger would solidly place this book as a middle-grade novel, where it seems most comfortably to fit.

I do think this book NEEDs a good editor, and it would have benefited from some grammar-Nazi beta-readers and more stubbornly critical, fantasy-fan beta-readers. As Stephen King has pointed out, a good story is a good story, and this is one, BUT the spelling and grammar issues throughout this book make this book feel amateurish and unfinished. The weaknesses in characterization and scene development pop out more when the whole book reads as a second draft anyway. Polished and edited, this book could be the start of a long-lived and popular fantasy series that could go on for as many episodes as Discworld, but with the lack of editing I found in this book, this series could never break into the mainstream book world.… (plus d'informations)

Michelle Murray is a magical author. I bought this book for my kids. They enjoyed reading it, however they felt they were a little mature for it. After reading it, myself, I give it 4 stars. This is a very imaginative tale about the fantastical land, Mystica. There was a lot of creativity that was put into this story and I could easily see kids between the ages of 9-12 really getting into this series. It is short and sweet, which makes it a great summer read. So, if you're looking for something to keep your kids brains going this summer, I strongly recommend this book. They will find wizards, battles, and other fantastical drama that will keep them entertained. I enjoyed the vision of the author and her easy writing style. I am excited to see that there are other books in this series. If your child loves this story, there are more for them to attach to.
~Laney Smith
Author… (plus d'informations)