Review: Wizards, Castles, Princes and Battles of Strength
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 22, 2014
The first in a series of books, this initial story includes the elements that make a good story of yore combined with fantasy.  Wizards, castles, ghosts, poisons, noble families turned slaves, family members fighting together and each other, and more.  A dark wizard manipulates situations so that he begins to take over castles and cities, his goal to eventually rule the world.  Alliances with and against him are formed and lost.  Ordinary people turn out to be spies.  Good wizards take shapes of other beings.There are a number of type-o issues that should have been caught by a good editor.  Other than that, the largest issue is that the story is too incomplete to be published as complete; even in a series, each installment should have enough of a story line to carry a complete tale of some kind;  there may surely be open story lines and obvious issues to be resolved, but there should be a primary story line that is told in completion in each installment within a series.  An author would never ordinarily sell a story without providing a complete story, and to charge a full price for a third of a story--then demand another 200% to get the entire story is not acceptable.  To tell three separate, complete stories that complement each other and perhaps tell a larger, fourth story is acceptable--but to sell a partial story without a decent conclusion is just not right.