The Fight Against Good and Evil
The Magic of Music image courtesy of Pixabay.com |
I would like to introduce you to a fantasy fiction series today. First Magyc is book one in the Guardians of the Path series written by Nicole Dragonbeck. A short summation would be the plot involves the age old battle between good and evil. That would be factual but doesn't come anywhere close to giving you insight as to whether you will enjoy the first book in the series or not.
Let me start out with explaining a little of my reaction to reading First Magyc. I feel like I have to tell you that not very far into this first book, I almost stopped reading it. This is a very unusual feeling for me to experience when reading any book. It is rare that I give up on a story of any kind. Suffice it to say, I didn't put the book down. There was something in my mind that niggled at me, telling me to continue with the story. I am glad that I did. I guess what I am trying to say is you might feel the same when you begin this book but I encourage you to keep reading. I don't think you will be disappointed. I wasn't. In fact, the story took on a spiritual significance for me.
The story begins with Ria, a twelve year old girl that I immediately related to and I think many people will. She is a troubled child; slightly broken after the loss of her mother. Her father and step-mother fight a lot. Those fights are usually about her which makes them even harder for her to listen to and cope with. Her escape is to lose herself in music. Her Ipod and earbuds drown out the angry words and sounds of the arguments most of the time. On this particular day, the fight is intense enough that she feels she needs to sneak out of the apartment to get further away from the words of battle that are being spewed by her parents.
Sitting in a grungy corner away from the other apartment doors, Ria hears a song in her head that she has never heard before and it is not one that she has on her playlist. As she concentrates on this song, a door appears where a door never was. She has a strong feeling that she should open that door even though her twelve year old mind knows that is not a safe or wise action to take. When the door opens she meets Cedar who doesn't look like anyone she has ever seen before. There are colors around him and the room that he is in that intrigue her. She knows that she should turn around and leave but yet she feels that she needs to stay. Cedar explains to her that he has been trapped in this world between worlds for a long time and that he thinks that she may be able to help him get back to his world; a place that he desperately needs to be. Cedar has to use First Magyc or Blood Magyc in order to return. (This is where I got disturbed enough that I almost quit reading. All I will say is, keep reading the book!)
So, it turns out that Cedar is one of a handful of Guardians who have been given the task of protecting the Path which is the force of life itself. Cedar and other Guardians have been battling Demons who appear from the Void trying to destroy the Path and the humans who follow it for centuries. Life has become chaotic in Cedar's world; the Path is fading to almost non-existence and the Music of Life is vanishing. Of course, Ria does not understand any of this when she arrives but she knows that somehow she wants to help.
Cedar is surprised to find out that Ria has some abilities that he was not aware of when they first met and this gives him hope but also concerns him greatly. A Demon appears to do battle with Cedar and after injuring the Guardian the Demon calls Ria by a name that she doesn't know anything about but Cedar does. Is this girl who opened the door and helped him get back the very one from the ancient prophecy?
OK, so if you have read any of my other reviews you know that I don't like to give away much of a story line. So, I am recommending that if you want to know more about the Guardians, the Demons, and Ria you need to read this book and the ones that follow.
Here is what I love about the book and I did end up loving the book! For me this is a story about our spiritual journey in life which can and really should be a magical journey through life. Isn't our faith, no matter what name it might be called, a path that we walk on? We don't see the path, we feel it. We know when we have made a wrong turn on our journey and need to get back to the warmth and glow of the path we are supposed to be on. Sometimes that means we have to slay some emotional or physical demons to get back to where we are should be. The walk isn't always easy especially if there are no spirits, angels or guardians protecting the direction we are headed.
There is also the connection between walking our journey through life and music. I love that the author more than hints at that connection! Music is spiritual and it doesn't have to be music in a religious setting to touch your soul. Actually, most times it isn't the music you hear or sing while at church that touches your soul. Is it? Certainly there are songs of a religious nature that move me and I am sure you, too. In our lives there are songs that we hear that help us get through a rough time, make us smile, bring us joy, or make our feet move. Music is emotional, it is spiritual, it is magical, life without it would be like being in a void of nothingness.
Bottom line, I love the first book in the series. I think many of you might also enjoy it. Perhaps, the message that the author hoped to convey is very different from what I came away with. Perhaps you will have a different take away, altogether. My overall reaction is that it touched my soul and that doesn't happen often when reading a book of fiction.
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