Published: March 30, 2009
Words: 145821 (approximate)
Language: English

Ebook description

James, a high school senior, went looking for a job. But instead, embarks upon an adventure of a lifetime. Whisked unexpectedly to a world where magic works, he must learn to master its power, all the while searching for the meaning behind why he was brought there and what he must do.

Tags

adventure, action, adult, fantasy, magic, ancient, epic, teen, series, saga, spell, young, role, playing, rpg, troll, ruins, the broken key, brian s pratt, paypal, the unsuspecting mage, morcyth

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This book is free.

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Reviews

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Review by: Stiven Nielsen on Jan. 17, 2012 :
Thanks for the great books, Morcyth Saga and Travail you've written Brian!. There's a kind of immersiveness I haven't found in other books.
I really like how the writing is sort of in 'first person'. Everything the main character does is mentioned. You follow him from his point of view as he reacts to- and devices plans for the situations. That combined with the fact that i sort of can identify myself with the main character really adds to the immersion.

I first read The Morcyth Saga when i saw a free ebook - this first in the saga - was given away on smashwords for free. It was very good and i got quite immersed in it. I bought the last six of them. I am fascinated at how the main character transforms from a regular intellectual young man with a normal life, into the kind of mysterious Merlin type mage from old tales. Great books :)
(review of free book)

Review by: Michael Rogers on Jan. 16, 2012 :
I'll be one of the first people standing in the lines, waiting to watch this as a movie! :)
(review of free book)

Review by: Susan Scott on Nov. 16, 2011 :
This book will hook you. There are six more that you will want to read. I couldn't wait to follow James on all of his exploits.
(review of free book)

Review by: Douglas Smith on Oct. 09, 2011 :
I found the book as a free download on nook and truly enjoyed reading it, and am looking forward to reading the remainder of the series. That said I would like to point out that I felt that the character could have been developed a bit further,and I hope that this character development happens later in the series
(review of free book)

Review by: Michael Washam on Sep. 11, 2011 :
I enjoyed the entire series. I am looking forward to the next series with James just have to wait till its all done before buying. (Hate waiting for next part)
(review of free book)

Review by: Robert McCullough on Sep. 02, 2011 :
Sorry - hit submit instead of the stars...........
This would be worthy of 6!

O my…………
Excellent read!!!!!!!!!!!
Have just purchased through book 7 – thought I had seen reference to a #8?
Written where it is almost a screen play and should be simple to make into a budget movie.
Brian – let me know should you ever need BW photos for your stories.
I will do them free – just credit me for ones used.
Would love to be a part – I played AD&D years ago and had a ball!
And I was in my early 40’s!
Mac
(review of free book)

Review by: Robert McCullough on Sep. 02, 2011 : (no rating)
O my…………
Excellent read!!!!!!!!!!!
Have just purchased through book 7 – thought I had seen reference to a #8?
Written where it is almost a screen play and should be simple to make into a budget movie.
Brian – let me know should you ever need BW photos for your stories.
I will do them free – just credit me for ones used.
Would love to be a part – I played AD&D years ago and had a ball!
And I was in my early 40’s! Am now 67.........
Mac
(review of free book)

Review by: Kim Pursley on Aug. 27, 2011 :
Wonderful epic saga!! I found this book as a free read so I downloaded it and I absolutely LOVED IT!! I am currently reading the 5th book The Star of Morcyth. High marks for this series!!
(review of free book)

Review by: cheryl McKinley on Aug. 21, 2011 :
I'm 53 yrs old and have read literally thousands of books. I'm an avid reader. I purchased these through another online resource then came looking for more books By Brian S. Pratt. Mr Pratt pulls you into his books and makes you understand and care for his characters. With the start of the first book I thought I'd purchased something a bit too young for me, but as the story progressed the writer and the characters grew until I was completely hooked. I quickly purchased the whole series. As with the Harry Potter series I didn't want the story to end. I've read the first book in the next series, and now eagerly await the second book which is almost completed! Keep them coming Brian!
(review of free book)

Review by: pdarnold on Aug. 11, 2011 :
This book (along with all the others in this series which I purchased elsewhere) has been one thrill of a journey! Even my mother, who is in her sixties, devoured this and all the other books. She keeps asking if there has been any new books added to the series. If you're a teen or have that youngster yet living inside the old bones and love adventure, magic, and the faith of friendships this book and all the others in this series are a must read!
(review of free book)

Review by: Brian S. Pratt/DiddaEinars on July 04, 2011 :
Sorry Brian that I did not write a rewiew before. Of course this book is brilliant. I felt it from the start but never put it down in writing.

I feel, but have problems in expressing my feelings in writing, especially if it is not in my own language.

I translated this book into Icelandic because of that. I wanted to share with other people in my country the message that there is hope for a better world if we just belive in it.

It just takes one person to begin with and then it spreads, maybe it takes some time but eventualy it does.
(review of free book)
(review of free book)

Review by: William Massey on June 14, 2011 :
The book is very enjoyable. Interesting plot although a lot of the things that happen seem to have little to do with James's quest to discover why he was brought to this world and the purpose of the amulet that he is given. I assume that their purpose will pop up in later books of the series. While the writing style of the book flows well, I found it a little distracting that the author has the main character do something then has him tell one of the other characters what he just did. I thought he did a great job of relating how a novice discovers that he can perform magic and gradually learns to control it more and more. I'm already starting Book 2 of the series.
(review of free book)

Review by: Rikki K on June 02, 2011 :
Three stars for interesting characters, plots, and world. Two stars empty because as a voracious reader, present tense is horribly tedious. I find that I simply cannot devour the book in one sitting, I have to put it away when the tense makes me so irritable I prefer doing laundry. I'm not sure if I can bring myself to stick with the series, even though I'm intrigued enough to wonder what happens to the characters.

About 120 or so pages in it clicked in my head what writing in present tense made me think of constantly. It reminds me of the old online roleplay MUDs, only instead of getting to 'choose your own adventure' you are simply reading someone's completed game. I really would like to give the series more consideration but I'm not sure I can grit my teeth that often.
(review of free book)

Review by: Mark Stewart on June 01, 2011 :
The novel was written extremely well and flowed naturally.
(review of free book)

Review by: Shon Sechrist on May 02, 2011 :
I started reading The Morcyth Saga and can not get enough of reading James' trek into a new world filled with uncertainties and great adventures. Brian Pratt has a way of writing that leaves you wanting more, therefore I am starting on book 3.
his books have a nice flow and keep you moving right along.
I have been reading a few of his reviews from other readers. I like that Brian makes you feel like your rift there I'm these lands that he travels to.
For the ones that sea so intent on critiquing his stile and use of punctuations, how many books have you tried to write? I for one am a reader, not a writer...of the books hold my attention then I keep reading. And these books are definitely addictive.

Good job Mr. Pratt and keeps the books coming. Your have a raw and addictive writing talent that you should be very proud of.
(review of free book)

Review by: Joseph L. Garrido on April 02, 2011 :
I couldn't read more than four chapters. Seems like the story is in par with any good fantasy, but the viewpoint writing took the fun out of it for me. It's not the way I am used to reading with this type of book. I still highly recommend downloading and reading it. Brain obviously put a lot of time and effort to create the series. If you have no issues in the way he wrote the book, then get the whole series.

I give him four stars for story creation. written in the third person would have won him all five.
(review of free book)

Review by: Lisa Vandiver on March 30, 2011 :
I found this book to be both interesting and entertaining. I love this kind of mystic story and fell right into it, and enjoyed it very much. Mr. Pratt has a great talent at story telling and any minor errors are easily overlooked. I found myself being drawn into the story and anxiously awaiting to see what next terror or triumph was going to unfold for the main character James. I am looking forward to continuing in the series. I will continue to be a reader of Brian Pratt's adventures.
(review of free book)

Review by: PM Geuze on March 05, 2011 :
As posted on my Facebook page:

I just finished this first of eight books by Brian S Pratt that was for offer at the Smashwords website. So far the selections at Smashwords have been a whole lot of miss but this is a hit. Provided for free under the guise that all following books are charged for, the story is simple in the simple RPG format. The writing is simple and easy to read. While the writing is easy enough to read, you get the sense that somebody better at writing English is tutting at the prose, but it is a light enough touch that you can still enjoy the story.

Given an interest in middle fantasy, and an social repressed teen magically transported to a magical land, the story picks on the path of finding his way through a strange land. Characters come and go, each adding a small part to the hint that there will be an overreaching story yet to be seen.

I saw that the author has managed at least eight books, so what has been hinted to, clearly will be delivered over time. So if this sounds interesting, come look at the free edition at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1444.
(review of free book)

Review by: John McHaffie on March 05, 2011 :
This is a very good series. I have read all 7 of this series, the first book of the sequel Travail series, and am anxiously awaiting the publication of the next book.

I agree that there are some slow spots, but overall this is a very engaging and visual series. It really creates imagery as you read it, and the action just gets more and more intense as the book goes on. In the other books it gets *really* intense as well.

I cannot imagine trying to review a book after only reading a few pages, so I am unsure how some of the one or no-star reviewers are coming up with their opinions of this book.

I think it is obvious by many of the comments (such as improper use of amber alert) that many people have not even read the book carefully at all. Do not care for this type of genre, or for some reason just want to post something negative.

If you like fantasy books (like Weis / Hickman type stuff, etc.) then you will LOVE this in my personal opinion.

Hey it's free. Give it a read and definitely read it for more than a few pages lol. You will find that you will be purchasing the next one... then the next one... just like I did.

If you must defer to proper grammar and sentence structure to create a comfortable reading environment for yourself, then this is not for you.

I give this book 4 stars only because there are others in this series that I think are better written as far as keeping the reader engaged in the story. Keep in mind that this is a *series* so after reading it just imagine how good the others get!
(review of free book)

Review by: Chelsea Maloney on Feb. 26, 2011 : (no rating)
I admit, I only ended up here because the ad for this eBook was so hilariously awful, I figured it had to be a joke. (Considering the "Morcyth Saga" looked like a cheap misspelling of the classic "Forsyte Saga," a series of books from which a number of TV mini-series have been made over the last hundred years.)
It promised a "full length" fantasy eBook from a series with seven books "completed." (Do the quotation marks insinuate that the rest of the books are actually not done, or that they somehow skirt the definition of 'completed'...?)
I could have just gone about my day, enjoying the schadenfreude from how patently terrible the opening pages were, until I saw the number of four- and five-star reviews.
I don't know which of the author's friends or relatives wrote these, or who encouraged him to spend his life writing another six books, but the first eight-or-so pages were, frankly, embarrassing. ("James removes a six inch homemade hoagie from his sack and smiles." Did he measure it? Would we otherwise have assumed it was store-bought, having had his grandmother's "2nd-place" cooking skills already crammed down our gullets? Would it have taken that long to spell out the word 'second'?) Maybe it somehow evolved into Shakespeare after that, but I'll never find out.
Unnecessary descriptors, awkward verbs,("The officer hands each of them a card bearing pertinent contact information," the second awkward use of 'bearing' in the first eight pages) lack of research, (look up 'amber alert' on Wikipedia before you issue one for one of your characters) poor choice of tenses, expository infodumps to spoon-feed us character information...
I can't imagine why this was never published.
(review of free book)

Review by: Daniel A. Roberts on Jan. 05, 2011 :
This is every AD&D's fan full fledged fantasy if it ever became real. I grew up playing Dungeons and Dragons and the elements are done very well. As for the writing style, it brings a human touch to story telling and I won't naysay such things. Being different and providing a story through that level of difference that's enjoyable when you go on the adventure is what counts. I remember reading a story about an author who did a 'play' outside of the limitations of the day, used slang which was unheard of, had his plays get negative reviews all the time from 'distinguished' writers of his day who raised their noses. His name was William Shakespeare. To William, it was about the story, not about the expected format that allowed little room for expression and growth. Brian Pratt wrote his book with the focus on the story, and he told it well. He told it like a human, not like some stuffy gray headed english professor who's very perfect English will hit you like a valium at page 5. Brian has conjured for us a story with elements of magic as experienced by a teenager. Well done, good sir. It's nice to know you didn't stop.
(review of free book)

Review by: Benjamin Haynes on Jan. 04, 2011 :
I rather enjoyed this book, and found that I even more drawn to the book because it was written in present-tense. Such writing styles in my opinion make me feel more like I am there either as or with the character in the story. The book was well written and I enjoyed following James as he discovered magic and how to use it. I also enjoy how there was a limit to the magic he could use, unlike most fantasy book with magic in them a person in this book was only limited to what his or her body allowed, so it seemed more reasonable and made the story more interesting as he struggled with his limits. Bought the whole series and plan to read it again and again
(review of free book)

Review by: Shoobydoo on Jan. 01, 2011 :
I only managed to get through 8 pages of this before asking myself why I was bothering and hitting the back button. The present-tense writing is incredibly distracting, but I am a poor judge of that because I absolutely despise present-tense writing in general. What dialogue I read was stilted and very unnatural. The main character starts out as trying to be an interesting subversion, by making James interested in geeky and nerdy things, but in practice it just seems like a poorly written author stand-in.

When the author actually wrote "It's not like he was fat or anything" was really the last straw. That is not the kind of sentence you put in a professionally written manuscript. (And yes, that is what the independently published should strive to be; professional.) That is the kind of thing you say in a conversation with your buddy when trying to defend your sedentary lifestyle. In fact, it would have been fine if this sentence was used as a piece of dialogue between two characters DISCUSSING the main's sedentary lifestyle. However, it was a piece of background information about the character. Instead of revealing James' traits through his actions and interactions, we are instead treated to lovely infodumps like "It's not like he was fat or anything. He just wasn't in to that sort of thing." If that's the best this book has to offer, you can count me out.
(review of free book)

Review by: Jason on Dec. 28, 2010 :
I'm surprised at the high rating other reviewers have given this book. My guess is that the other reviewers are on the young side or the author is bumping his own work.

The book is written in the present tense which is actually really distracting. It may be that the author decided to do this so that readers might associate it with the way the GM of a role playing game narrates but it doesn't make it less disconcerting.

The book's dialogue and plot are very simplistic, suitable for young readers but probably not for most adults. I found the whole book to be a demanding slog. Not recommended for advanced readers. Only barely recommended for anyone else.
(review of free book)

Review by: frostschutz on Oct. 26, 2010 :
The style takes some getting used to at first, since it's all in the present tense instead of the usual past tense for fantasy novels; so he goes, sees, says, asks, hollers, rides, camps, fights, etc.

The story is mysterious and many questions aren't answered, so the main character doesn't know why he is taken to the fantasy world, or what exactly it is he's supposed to do there. So he travels in search of answers, but instead finds himself in trouble at pretty much every corner.

Although the book is free, the ending is a total cliffhanger so if you enjoyed it at all, you're basically forced to buy the next book as well. I ended up buying the entire series after finishing the second book.

The only thing I can criticize about this story is that it gets a bit too repetitive sometimes; ride, fight, camp, ride, fight, ...
(review of free book)

Review by: Thomas Harning on Sep. 22, 2010 :
Great read and a great introduction to a new book series. May not have started reading if it were not free... reading drove me to get the next one! The attention to detail on the mechanics of how things work in the environment are not "inconsequential" but an enhancement to the experience. Look forward to reading more of Pratt's work.
(review of free book)

Review by: Donal Fitterer on Jan. 14, 2010 :
I liked the book. The beginning caught my attention and I was able to ignore some of the issues I have with the author's writing style. The middle dragged on but the last part of the book was exciting and I fell into the story. I was bummed when the book ended and I found out I needed book two. If you keep in mind that the author is inexperienced (this is my opinion, not a fact) and you are looking for just a fun story then by all means read the book. I have yet to decide whether I am willing to buy the second book. It does make me want to write my own story!
(review of free book)

Review by: redwriter on Dec. 10, 2009 :
This is a fun and exciting story following a teenager as he falls into a world of magic. My main problem is not with the cliche plot, but with the authors tendancy to get caught up in inconsequential details. I felt like yelling at my screen "who cares about money, get on with the story". But aside form a few flaws it was an extremly entertaining story.
(review of free book)

Review by: Jonathan Craig on April 07, 2009 :
Action, more action, and then add a bit more action, and that’s what you got here. From the getgo, about chapter 2, the action starts and other than a few minor interludes, never stops. James went for a job, but finds himself on another world, one in which magic works. Sounds like a dozen other books written along the same vein, yes?

But no. Pratt gave this one a new angle. You see, James is a role-player and fantasy reader. Once in this new world, he puts his experience d-ming and other stuff to good use. He’s a babe in the woods at first, knows nothing about nothing,

Upon first arriving, he’s told three things.
He can’t go home
Magic works on this world
And to make his way to Trendle, which turns out to be a village.

That’s it. From that point on, his life is in constant turmoil, first with pursuit by wolves, then even worse nasties. Every chapter has something going on, something interesting. The battle scenes were pretty good, though Pratt does like to describe some rather mundane details like eating at an inn and haggling, but I think it added to the ‘flavor’ of the book.

A few items of note that might put some people off. First off, it’s written in present tense. For me it took some getting used to, but after that, it went fine. Secondly, there are a few misspellings, improper syntax, that sort of thing. Thankfully, the story was sufficiently intriguing that after a while I stopped noticing.

If you come at this book as a fun, exciting adventure; a way to wile away the afternoon, you’ll love it. If you are after a dark, deeply convoluted story with a cast of thousands, you’ll not care. The story follows James throughout. Basically, what James knows, the reader knows.

Descriptions are at a minimum. For those burnt out by Jordan’s Wheel of Time, this might be a good alternative.

This really should have a four and a half star, but as I couldn’t give that, I’ll give it a five. He needs an editor to go through it before it gets a whole five. Liked the story, enjoyed it throughout, and am recommending it.

--Jonathan 'Terry' Craig
(reviewed within a week of purchase)

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