Emissary ~ Review

Emissary
Legends of the Realm
By Thomas Locke

Hyam is a young man who has lost everything when his mother dies.  But the truth of what he has lost will not be revealed immediately.  And there is something more - a truth about Hyam that has been kept hidden from him.  A truth that may very well determine whether or not his world will survive or be lost to a powerful enemy that thrives on death.

Called upon by an ancient race to be their voice, Hyam is about to discover all too soon just how powerful this enemy is.  As a result of this encounter Hyam is about to discover new friends and allies in his quest to turn back the evil that has entered the land.

But through it all Hyam is determined to discover who he truly is, but discovery comes with a cost...

But Hyam's is not the only life whose story is brought to light.  For hidden away from the world is Joelle - a young woman whose life is about to intersect with Hyam's destiny.  Joelle is a young woman with an incredible destiny before her if only she can find a way to seize it.  Her chance is coming...

Fans of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis should delight in this new world that is given birth with Emissary. This is a world in which one will want to get lost within the pages.   What has been forgotten must be rediscovered, legends and myths are truths that have been hidden by time.  This is fantasy fiction that is not geared toward the teen/young adult, but rather the adult reader.  That is not to say that the teen/young adult reader won't enjoy this book, because they will.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher Revell through their blogger program in exchange for my honest review.

If you enjoy Emissary be sure to get the free (at this posting) Legends of the Realm short ~ The Captive from Amazon!


About the Book:
With his twenty-first birthday, Hyam begins a journey that will lead him to his destiny--or his doom.
Hyam has always shown a remarkable ability to master languages, even those left unspoken for a thousand years. But now the shadow of suspicion that was cast upon him as a child prodigy at Long Hall is lengthening, and he must keep his identity hidden--or face annihilation.

As Hyam's mother slips toward death, she implores him to return to Long Hall before he settles down to farm his land. This journey born from duty becomes an impassioned quest for the truth. War is coming swiftly, and Hyam must rely upon his new found powers and the friends he meets along the way in order to unravel the puzzling past and ensure that he--and the realm--will have a future.

In a world where magic has been outlawed for centuries, one young man discovers that he possesses powers beyond his wildest dreams.

But he does not realize how pivotal this gift will be in the days to come.

Except for the healing arts, magicking is a punishable offense in the realm. The only places it is still practiced are the Long Halls scattered throughout the land--isolated haunts of wizards called mages and their long-suffering students.

But hidden rivers of power course deep beneath theearth, and not everyone has obeyed the edict banning magic. Vixens lie in wait on the Galwyn road. A mysterious race of telepaths comes and goes invisibly. It is even rumored that Elves still hide among the wizened trees. And somewhere beyond the badlands, a growing menace threatens the hard-won peace of the realm.

This young man could stem the ominous tide . . . but only by turning away from everyone and everything he has ever known. And facing dangers he cannot fathom.


Thomas Locke is a pseudonym for Davis Bunn, the award-winning novelist with total worldwide sales of seven million copies. His work has been published in twenty languages, and critical acclaim includes four Christy Awards for excellence in fiction. He divides his time between Oxford and Florida and holds a lifelong passion for speculative stories. Davis's screenplay adaptation of Emissary is currently under development as a feature film with a British production company. Learn more at www.tlocke.com.