Isabela Morales who blogs at The Scattering has given The Quest for Nobility a great review. She writes two posts about the book. Here's a short excerpt from her review:
"Debra L. Martin and David W. Small’s science fiction/adventure novel has a lot going for it: believable lead characters, a classic coming-of-age narrative, and an interesting mixture of both high-tech science fiction and fantasy elements. The incorporation of Arthurian lore and Stonehenge mythology was a pleasant plot twist..."
Here's a few excerpts from her second post:
Eclasius Jortac and the Goblet of Fire (Review The Quest for Nobility)
The Quest for Nobility takes the classic coming-of-age narrative and brings it a new spark with engaging, empathetic characters and the spark of both science fiction and fantasy elements.
Most of my generation are debating the quiddity of Quidditch this month, as our childhood slowly comes to a close with the release of the first part of the seventh installment of that oh-so-obsession-worthy Harry Potter series. It’s the beginning of the end of the end, I guess.
Martin and Small do create a world of dukes, duchies, and plenty of rival factions (there’s all sorts of fratricide going on). And the fragmented Kingdom of Otharia even has a particularly unpleasant fellow named Nils, who works as resident assassin for a Baron determined to destroy the family of a liberal-thinking Duke. Not to mention a young heir in exile who happens to be a telepath. I mean, I imagine that’s exactly what Frank Herbert had as a summary for his first draft. Political conspiracies, social metaphors, and–as the Bene Gesserit would say–wheels within wheels of plot complications were at the very heart of Dune.
The story of Darius, Dyla, and Eclasius is readable, enjoyable, with more than a few laugh-out-loud moments. None of that comes from back-room scheming: all of it has to due with the excellent characterization of the three young heroes, our own extraterrestrial Golden Trio.
The Quest for Nobility is strongest in the scenes between the three friends and traveling companions. And because I’ve always believed that the characters are the most important driving force in a story, as I reader I could overlook a missed “Your Grace” just for the pure pleasure of experiencing Eclasius’s embarrassment when his telepathic friend Darius reads some inappropriate thoughts about Dyla in his baby-blue eyes. When dealing with the interpersonal dynamics and relationships of the three teenage protagonists, Martin and Small are peerless.
This is where Potter mania comes in.
A young man on an epic quest has been the staple of good storytelling since the beginning of human history..."
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