Reviews of Quest of the Demon
by M L Sawyer
Darci is a popular sixteen-year-old girl who plays basketball and lives in a country town. But her life is changed forever when she is accidentally transported to the land of Nahaba by Taslessian an apprentice wizard.
Within hours of her arrival, both are thrust into a dangerous journey to the cave of Grisham the Great in the hope that he can send her home but not all is as it as it seems.
Reviews of Quest of the Demon by M L Sawyer
Alice Yeh
reviewed
on Sep. 11, 2012
As a teenage girl living in a modern era, the last thing that Darci expected was to be transported to an alternate world, one in which dragons, elves, and ogres live alongside humans. Drawn there through the ineptitude of an apprentice wizard, she finds herself embroiled in a battle against evil that will decide the fate of more realities than one. At least she gets a nifty weapon and some strong allies.
First off, I will say that Quest of the Demon has an interesting premise. The idea of dragons maintaining the balance between good and evil is intriguing, and yet the goal of the supposed balance seems to be skewed to the side of good. At least, it's supposed to be. Add to this unbalanced scale some impossible odds and a strong sense of urgency, and you're suddenly invested in Darci and company and their quest to save the world, so to speak. The author did think up credible background stories for most of the main characters, and they explain a great deal about current behaviors and motivations. Unfortunately, the plot itself is a little disjointed, with subplots that go nowhere and asides that add little to the story or the development of the characters.
Perhaps the story itself would have been easier to follow if it were more readable. Beyond the extensive array of grammatical errors, there was an abundance of proofreading gaffes that made reading the book almost painful at times. In all fairness, the writing quality improved dramatically in the last third of the story, as did the plot, but both flaws returned with a vengeance at the very end. There are only so many times that a reader can excuse the use of "bought" for "brought." Now, I received my review copy over a year ago, so hopefully the book has undergone some editing since then. If not, it sorely needs to undergo some revisions.
On the whole, Quest of the Demon had a lot of unrealized potential. Due to violent content and sexual references, I would not recommend it to readers under the age of thirteen.
(Review copy provided by the author)
(reviewed 2 years after purchase)