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    Talisman Of El: Arcadia, #1
    Talisman Of El: Arcadia, #1
    Talisman Of El: Arcadia, #1
    Ebook513 pages5 hours

    Talisman Of El: Arcadia, #1

    By Al Stone

    3.5/5

    ()

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    About this ebook

    WHAT IF YOUR WHOLE LIFE WAS A LIE?

     

    One Planet.

     

    Two Worlds.

     

    Population: Human … 7 billion.

    Others … unknown.

     

    When 14-year-old Char­lie Blake wakes up sweat­ing and gas­ping for air in the mid­dle of the night, he knows it is hap­pen­ing again. This time he wit­nesses a bru­tal mur­der. He's afraid to tell any­one. No one would believe him… because it was a dream. Just like the one he had four years ago — the day before his dad died.

     

    Char­lie doesn't know why this is hap­pen­ing. He would give any­thing to have an ordi­nary life. The prob­lem: he doesn't belong in the world he knows as home.

     

    He belongs with the others.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCentrinian Publishing Ltd
    Release dateMay 20, 2012
    ISBN9780957001930
    Talisman Of El: Arcadia, #1

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    Reviews for Talisman Of El

    3.5/5

    112 ratings43 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Overall it was a quick enjoyable read, but it did have a bit of jumping around and choppiness to it that I don't like - I keep thinking that I missed something when a book is choppy and it takes me out of the story while I re-read to see what I missed.Enjoyed it and would definitely read the next one.I really would have preferred that the file for Early Reviewers was available in a mobi or pdf format. It took me a long time to get to this because I had to read it with an alternate reader and thought that it was for PC only - however, I finally discovered that I could read it on my ipad through "Tradebit". Once I had that app installed I was able to enjoy reading this more.
    • 4/5
      ** spoiler alert ** It took me a while to pick up this book and start reading. Once I did I didn't regret it. After finishing the first chapter it was difficult to put down and got harder as I got further into it. The mix of fantasy, mythology, and even biblical references is fantastic. I would definitely recommend this book, but I personally wish it wasn't a trilogy as the way this left me was confused. I literally looked through my copy to be sure I didn't miss some pages. The end was sudden and unexpected. Disclaimer: this book was received as an early copy for review
    • 4/5
      This book was alright. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I could have received a kindle copy through net galley instead of reading it off of my computer. After I read it of course I figured out how to load other onto it. Such is LIFE! I will definately give the author another go around.
    • 2/5
      I received a copy of this book through early reviewers. I had to download it from NetGalley. Let me just say this was not an easy process for me. I had to email them a couple of times before I was able to download the book. Also, reading on the computer is not enjoyable to me. I would much rather be able to download the book to my ereader and have it expire from there after a while.Therefore, I was unable to really get into the book. It's unfortunate as the other reviews make it sound like it is worth reading. I tried but I didn't get very far. I'll keep my eye out for the book at the library. Hopefully it will make it into the hard copy realm.
    • 3/5
      Charlie and his friend Alex,Richmond and Derkein delve into a world of demons, creatures,some danger,mystery and angels.I think Ms. Stone has created a storyline that is familiar but also has a life of its own. The characters are well developed and completely likable. There are a few areas where you get more info than you handle about the mystical races. I would recommend this book to all ages.Thanks to Net Galley and Centrinian Publishing.
    • 4/5
      August 19, 2012: Talisman of El ReviewI received a free copy of Talisman of El by Alecia Stone in return for a review on netgalley.com and I will be posting this review to Amazon, Goodreads, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble.This is a good, solid beginning to a series with an interesting series arc, unique characters both human and otherwise and is quite well-done for a first-time author. I will be looking for future books in this series because it does what a series is supposed to do: make the reader want to find out what else happens to the characters and the story. The pacing of the story overall is good because it moves right along without rushing or dragging. The main characters are very consistent in their behavior and are described well, with the reader learning more about each character as the story continues. The characters are pre-teen/teen in age and it appears that we will stay with them as they grow up some and grow into their abilities, especially Charlie, the main character. It is also nice to see a book without incorrect homophones (bear, bare, etc.) and with proper sentence structure. The author obviously put a great deal of work into this book and it shows.There are some first-time author issues that should be addressed such as getting to a character's back story a little sooner in more detail because it would answer questions the reader has that really are not major parts of the story arc but are waiting to be answered a bit too long. It is obvious very early in the story that the protagonist is an orphan who has been placed with a foster father in a small village away from London, where Charlie grew up with his dad until the father died. However, the manner in which it was decided that Charlie be placed with this widower so far from his home and why with this particular man stays a mystery for almost the entire book. There seems to be no reason to wait until almost the end of the book to find out why Charlie ended up with Jacob. Not only would it help for the reader to know why Charlie ended up where and with whom he did, but some of the foster father's behavior is completely at odds with someone who would volunteer to be a foster father to orphans from as far away as London. We would not need to know absolutely everything about Jacob, but it would help to understand why Charlie is sent to him instead of being placed closer to where he grew up.The story is a bit choppy in places and could use fuller descriptions of some of the characters (like Richmond), their motivations and the reasons for some of the activities, but overall it is well-plotted and a fun read.There is a problem with the Kindle formatting that makes it a bit difficult to follow the story, but those can be dealt with and the file re-uploaded. Where a scene change occurs or when the action jumps forward in time, there is no indication of any change in the text -- the paragraph that starts the new scene or time frame is directly after the last paragraph of the prior action, so it is a bit confusing and causes the reader to have to stop and check back to figure out what has just happened. A division or extra spacing would help very much so the story moves more smoothly in those situations. Having formatted a fair number of Kindle books, I completely understand there being problems with the initial formatting.I give Talisman of El four stars and will be watching for more from this author.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed this book & am looking forward to reading the other ones. I would prefer it in book form as I have little time to read on my KOBO, so it took me longer than usual. I think this is targeted more to younger teens, but I enjoy all age groups.
    • 4/5
      An entertaining book for kids and adults, I enjoyed this adventure-fantasy novel by Alecia Stone. The characters were real and human (except for the very non-human Arcadians); the plot moved at a good page and kept my interest throughout the story. The book lays the groundwork for a series that I would definitely recommend to those into urban-fantasy and middle grade/young adults books. There were a few times when the break between chapter was disorienting, and some inconsistencies between how I expect a character to act and how the actually did, but these were relatively minor and did not significantly detract from my enjoyment of the book. I'd be interested in reading more books in this series (and I do believe this is the first in a series). Overall, a fun and exciting read.
    • 5/5
      I don’t know how to review talisman of el, so I will not even attempt to. At times I was bewildered but couldn’t understand my own confusion. However, I will leave my comment on the book cover. What is it? A snake … a world …I believe it’s an eye in the form of an eclipse. Wow! What creativity. What first attracted me to talisman of el was the cover. What’s this book about? As I got into reading it I realised something very unique that I have never seen before in literature. The entire novel was written through the eyes of the main character Charlie Blake, hence the book cover. In all my years of reading I’ve never been the storyteller, hence why I was confused. I was seeing through the eyes of a 14 year old who was confused about his own identity.PAY FULL ATTENTION.Alecia Stone is the author of Talisman Of El, but Charlie Blake is the storyteller.
    • 4/5
      I thought the story was quite good. The main character, Charlie, is an orphan living in foster care. He has strange dreams of a place called Arcadia. When he meets someone whom he thought was merely a dream, then his adventure begins. He travels with his friends to the land he dreams about, Arcadia, and learns some very strange and vastly important things about himself. Looking forward to the next one.
    • 4/5
      Fascinating story, adventurous, and personally love mythology infused novellas.Not sure it was interesting enough to read a second time, but it was good enough to recommend to a bored fantasy-lover.
    • 3/5
      This was a good middle grade not-quite-YA book full of fantasy, creativity, tension, and resolution. Stone created a fantastic world mixed with mythology, fantasy, and wonder. Charlie is a sweet, compassionate boy thrown into terrible and often scary circumstances, but he stays true to his code and his friends, even when he doesn't know what's going on within him or around him.One comment about the formatting of this book. I'm not sure if this is due to different punctuation styles in the UK or if something was lost when converting to epub, but the dialogue was enclosed within single quotes instead of the usual double quotes.
    • 2/5
      Sometimes when I read the jacket description of a book it looks like it should be right up my alley, but then when I get it home and take it out to read, it really disappoints. Unfortunately this was one of those times. The middle-grade, almost YA, book promised an interesting plot full of adventure, fantasy and intriguing characters. All of the foundations for those elements were there, but the delivery was lacking. The story follows a boy named Charlie who is an orphan, finding his way through one terrible foster home to the next. He has some strange dreams that lead him to meet Derkein, a man who is rapidly aging. Through various plot points that were hard to follow, Charlie, Derkein and two other friends who have little to no impact on the story, find themselves in a dangerous world called Arcadia. Charlie meets an otherworldly race of angels and discovers his destiny. The plot of the book rolls along at a fast pace. This may be why the story suffered so much. Characters were shallow and often annoying. It's hard to care about what happens to the characters, so plot points and dangers which may have been exciting seemed to come from no where. Often I found myself re-reading sections to see if I missed something. Characters converse about events you feel like, as a reader, you should know about, but there just isn't enough back story or fleshing out of either characters or plot to make sense of it. I enjoy when authors lead you along the bread crumb trail to figure out parts of the future story. In this book you are told so many details that little mystery remains. The ending is obviously leading you towards a second instalment, but it's handled poorly so you're left feeling very unsatisfied as a reader. Overall, a great idea that could have been executed so much better.
    • 3/5
      This was a pretty enjoyable book, but I don't think I'll go out of my way to read more of her books.When 14-year-old Charlie Blake wakes up sweating and gasping for air in the middle of the night, he knows it is happening again. This time he witnesses a brutal murder. He's afraid to tell anyone. No one would believe him ... because it was a dream. Just like the one he had four years ago - the day before his dad died.
    • 2/5
      Great book for younger readers. Plenty of action to keep them interested, but interesting character dynamics and development offers important higher-level literary themes. A well-done book. However, the book was offered to Early Reviewers as a DRM-locked EPub that could only be read for 55 days, and had to be viewed in Adobe Digital Editions. This lack of trust for the Early Reviewer community, and the self-destruction of the book file after a certain period of time, is insulting. The book deserves 3 stars, but is receiving 2 because of the format it was provided in.
    • 4/5
      Talisman of El (Talisman of El #1) by Alecia Stone

      The Talisman of El is a beautifully written YA Fantasy/Adventure novel, Alecia Stone’s writing is fantastic, the character development, the plot are well written, her words flow easily and once you start reading the Talisman of El you are hooked.

      Charlie is a 14 year old boy, who has experienced many traumatic events in his young life, his parent’s death, living in an orphanage, and then finally getting adopted. Thinking now he is finally going to be able to live a normal life and be happy. Finding out his adoptive dad Jacob is a criminal and wants to use Charlie to help him is not something Charlie expected. Then to make matters worse when Charlie enters his new school he makes some enemies pretty fast, thank god for Alex who ends up one of his closest friends. Because of Jacob and his illegal activities Charlie ends up meeting some more friends and we are introduced to Richmond and Derkein.

      Together Charlie and his friends set out to find the world of Arcadia and the adventure begins. This is one of those books when you put it down you know you have to get back to it to see what happens next. True adventure novel.

      The Talisman of El is a great read, and I would recommend to any of my friends who love fantasy and adventure this is the novel for them. Alecia Stone has done a terrific job introducing us to the world of Arcadia, and I cannot wait to read book 2 in this new series.
    • 2/5
      Well I won this book so If not I would probably have put it down.This was okay to me. It took a while to get into, okay I had to force myself to even finish it, but books are like opinions and we all have one. I'm just really did not enjoy this book overall and honestly I thought I would. I found a lot of the images very disturbing.I hate to give anything a bad review but for me this is only a 1 star. I will rate it as a 2 star as it was given to me but if I had the choice I would have turned it down.
    • 2/5
      Good idea but poorly written, shallow characters, some incorrectly used words, confusing grammar and generally a thin story line. Some parts reminded me of a very inferior Lord of the Rings, some of The Hunger Games, but sadly this book is miles away from either of them in terms of quality. Overall this feels like a book written by a talented but naive sixth-former.
    • 2/5
      This book loses some points as it cannot be downloaded in Kindle format. It has to use Adobe Digital and there was an expiration date to read the book. I don't like being forced to read this on my computer as I am not always at the computer. I do carry my Kindle mostly everywhere. The beginning starts with a character who behaved as all individuals in books behave when hit with a surprise; stupidly. I found myself frustrated with the characters, with the story. Frankly, I'm tired of young adult novels all seeking to be alike. Let's get a bit more creative, shall we?
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed the book, but I personally got a little bit bogged down with all the different types of characters involved in Charlie's journey. I particularly like the relationships that Charlie developed with those closest to him. It will be interesting to see where the author takes these characters in the next book!
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book - the story keep you interested, and you fall in love with the characters. You really want to understand what is happening, and how it will be resolved. I had some difficulty understanding all of the different character roles, but it didn't really impact my ability to follow the story. I enjoyed that the book was different from others that I have read, and that it leaves you wanting more. A couple of spelling mistakes here and there, but a good quick read, would be great for teens. Would be interested in a sequel.
    • 4/5
      I found the characters in this book to be likable and the story line to be interesting. The fun starts right away in the first paragraph and pretty much continues throughout. There are moments when there seems to be bits and pieces of information missing....Like finding Charlie sitting in a boat with someone, halfway across the lake when the previous paragraph had him standing looking at the water by himself. Other than that, it is a good easy read that is sure to capture the attention of some very easily bored readers.
    • 3/5
      Note: I received this book from the author/publisher. All that was asked was an honest review.It is books like this that I wish I could give partial stars as this book deserves better than 3 stars but because of problems I couldn't give it 4 stars. It starts off with Derkein Odessa hearing a noise and finding his father, who he hadn't seen for a long time in the study. Why talking they hear a crash and his father gives him a talisman and they are attacked by a force they can't see. His father disappears and he is injured. Then we see Charlie Blank settling into his new home with Jacob Willoughby after being in a group home after losing his parents and I am wondering how did we get here but set the feeling aside as it was just the start of the book and figured just setting up the characters. We follow Charlie as he starts school and on his first day on the bus he meets Alex, a girl who sides with him as he stands up to bullies bothering another kid. While putting his suitcase in a closet he finds a hidden room which has jewels in it and we later find Jacob is a thief in addition to being an undertaker who robs the homes of people he just buried and he intends to make Charlie his helper. Charlie runs away for the first try and on the second he runs into Richmond, a kid who is also robbing the home. He and Alex spot Richmond and follow him to a rundown shack where who shows up bu Derkein. After talking with him they start to search for Arcadia, a mythical land where perhaps Derkein can find the cure to whatever has caused him to age so fast that although he is only 26 he looks 50. Finding a doorway they enter Arcadia to find out it is the home of angels. They have many adventures and as the story is flowing good, all of a sudden we are back with Charlie in a group home and no idea of how he got there.This was one of the main problems I had with this book and what kept it from be rated higher. The reader would be going along with the story and something would happen and you would have no idea how or why. Many times I went back to see if I had missed something only to see that I hadn't. The author failed to set up or keep the story flowing and a few times jumped into a different situation with no reason why. If she had just kept the story flowing a little better it would have earned 4 starts instead of 3.
    • 4/5
      3.5 STARS for a solid first entry by the author. Won this book on Library Thing and enjoyed the opportunity to read it. The author created an interesting world and likable characters.What caused me to deduct a half star were issues such as: certain scenes/characters felt unpolished and could have probably benefited from a bit more attention; also, repeated instances of people who 'locked eyes' or other variations of the same thing. After about the fifth occurrence of this in a short time it started to get distracting. But this is an editing issue that can be easily fixed.I look forward to the other book(s) in the series.
    • 4/5
      The thing that I noticed immediately was how much dialogue was in the story. I do not know why this stood out for me. I normally pay attention to the dialogue as it brings through most of the humor and a way for me to really get to know the characters. But I noticed that this particular story is told more in dialogue than anything else. Which is not a bad thing.The reader is introduced to Charlie and how he does not feel like he fits in. He knows there is something different about him and possibly more out there. He suffers from nightmares and living with his adoptive family, he is bullied inside and outside of his home by his new family members and schoolmates. Eventually through different events that take place, he ends up bonding with a group of friends, together gaining the knowledge of a place called Arcadia, deep within the Earth's core.They decide that they must go on this adventure together.All of these events I could see building up and was expecting something more to happen next, but never in my life after reading the blurb and beginning this book did I imagine it would become a battle between Angels and Demons. The idea that part of the story takes place in the hidden lands beneath our feet was a very unique spin. One of the boys that Charlie befriends, Derkein is also an unusual guy, he is 26 but looks 60 and continuing to age faster than others every day.I though that the world that they discover and the creatures and myths and rules that come along with this story was an amazing read. I loved reading as they had to overcome some of these weird animals, and finding Eden. Everything has to be done in a certain time frame and with all of these distractions it becomes a very intense and fantastical adventure. I wish that I could have stayed longer in the world of Arcadia.I cannot say that I really had a favorite character in the story. I think that was partially because of the writing style, all of the characters showed an equal role to the story. Although their tasks could not be completed without Charlie and what he finds out he is, each and every character is just as unique and an integral part of the story that I had a hard time liking any of them over another.At 364 pages, and once I got into the story I was hoping for more of it to be focused on Charlie's big task, but I find that I feel this way a lot in the first book in series, that of course we need to get introduced to the characters, the world and the plot before more of the adventures can take place. I struggled with whether I wanted to rate it 3 or 4 stars, it was an enjoyable read and I am going to continue to see where the next story goes.
    • 3/5
      Book series shows promise, I do want to read the rest of the trilogy. This being said the book seemed to being trying to find itself using many different mythologies to tell the story. While it was an interesting take on many different mythos it could get confusing trying to place all these things together in one story. Writing was sometimes very choppy and there were too many characters introduced at the same time to be able to keep them all straight in the big sequences.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book. This is book one out of ?? Its the story on a 14 year old orphan who finds out he is more than human. I do like the mix of mythologies but even I found all the hierarchies/types confusing at times. I am interested in reading book two since I like angels and mixing of mythologies and hoping that some of the confusing parts I had will make more sense in book two.I was loaned this book via LT member giveaway. To get this book I was given a deadline of 55 days to read the book. Now, I am a slow reader and I also have other books in my queue to read first before this book so as feedback to the publisher/author I'd highly suggest providing details stating that using net galley means having a deadline for reading the book and that you won't actually own the book to read again if so desired. This would have made me think twice of requesting this book and it is a big learning experience for me to not request any other books that use Net Galley. I'd suggest Smashwords.
    • 2/5
      To be honest, I found this book confusing. Characters and events jumped around. It was if there were several different storylines all vying for attention and bumping into each other. It's aimed at middle graders and perhaps it would appeal to them. Personally, I found it hard slogging to get through it.
    • 2/5
      This book started out with some promise, but quickly fizzled into confusion and a slow, plodding storyline. It seemed that every time the heroes were in a tough spot, another new character appeared to save them. If that didn't happen, they could always fall back on holding the talisman out and seeing if anything happened. Far too many "classes" of character made it confusing to keep track of whom had what abilities and characteristics. I considered going back through all the character introductions and making myself a chart to keep track, but I just didn't care enough to bother. Simplifying the cast and setting would have made this more enjoyable. I muddled through the entire book, but won't be going back for any more in the series.
    • 4/5
      Thank you Alecia for writing a superb fantasy adventure and allowing me to read and review an early copy!This book is aimed at young adults but could be enjoyed by just about any age. It is a fantastic read full of action, fantasy, mythology and even a little romance. You follow Charlie, a fourteen year old boy who has suffered the devastating loss of his parents. He is adopted by a man who turns out to be horrible and tries to force Charlie down a path he does not want. Despite all this, our admirable main character continues to search for who he is supposed to be. He meets new friends along the way that will stick by him through all that is to come.These characters were wonderfully relatable. I felt connected to them from the beginning and was delighted to follow them on their journey.Soon Charlie is confronted by an intense revelation about his identity and the turn his life is about to take. He enters a beautifully constructed world, Arcadia. The author uses a unique writing style with a wonderful twist on popular mythology. Her imagery is detailed and builds a spectacular world full of angels, demons and other mythological beasts.This book kept me reading. I couldn't put it down! I stayed up until 3AM to finish it. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep without finding out what happened to Charlie and his friends.I look forward to reading the next installment in this exciting trilogy! What a great first book for Alecia Stone!

    Book preview

    Talisman Of El - Al Stone

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