"an air of magic that weaves into a wonderful love"
GRYPHON'S QUEST by Candace Sams is a fantastic start to
the 'Tales of the Order'. I read the second book, THE
GAZING GLOBE first, which I thoroughly enjoyed and then
went in pursuit of the first 'Tale of the Order',
GRYPHON'S QUEST. I really can't say that I enjoyed one
book more than the other, as they both are equally unique
with wonderful creativity and suspense woven around the
romance of the two lead characters. Each is an amazing
creation in its own right following the common lore of
fairies, druids, nymphs, elves, etc. GRYPHON'S QUEST begins in modern day introducing us to a
secret Order. This Order is a society of fairies, druids,
elves, nymphs, sprites, etc. all living in harmony with
each other in a beautiful shire that is hidden in England,
away from the human race in hopes to protect their ways
and culture. However amongst the Order is a unique and singular
man/creature. His name and what he is are the same, a
Gryphon. So different is Gryphon from the rest of his folk
that his peers cast him aside at a young age. Only his
parents love him for who he is and he ultimately has lead
to a very lonely life. In order to find value in this
realm and gain more control over his ability to shape
shift into a gryphon, which is half eagle like bird and
half lion, he makes a pact with the leader, Shayla. Shayla is the sorceress that rules over the Order and
commands great powers. She bestows on Gryphon the ability
to control his change provided he will help her protect
the Order and go on missions of her choosing. He accepts
and as time goes on Gryphon finds these missions more
tedious as it only seems to alienate him even more from
the rest of the shire folk. His latest mission is to recover the three ancient runes
stolen from the order and now in the United States.
Gryphon and his parents go to New York in pursuit of
them. It is upon this mission that Gryphon encounters
Heather, an assistant to one of the scientists in the
museum. Gryphon believes that through Heather he should be
able to gain the runes and return to England where he will
resume is lonely life. But his loneliness has made him reckless and he becomes
more entangled with Heather than he ever dreamed; for she
does not know his true identity and truly cares for the
man she has coming to know. However relationships outside
the Order are forbidden and can carry a punishment of
death. So Gryphon walks a fine line in his enlistment of
Heather to find the runes and his new found feelings for
her. As the intrigue and conflicts continue to twist and
develop, my reading accelerates wondering if a bridge
might be made between the Order and the outside world?
Or, if either will survive this quest to love each other,
because someone in the outside world has initiated the
runes for evil and is wreaking havoc in New York hunting
those that are after the runes. This book is awesome. It has an air of magic that weaves
through it right into the wonderful love scenes shared
between Heather and Gryphon. I totally recommend not only
this book but also the series that is growing from this
first 'Tale of the Order'. Candace Sams is a wonderfully
creative author that is taking paranormal romance to new
heights. I can't wait to read her next 'Tale of the
Order', STONE HEART. reviewed for a previous release by Imajinn Books /
February 1, 2002 -
ISBN #1893896722
Reviewed by Mindy Lobaugh
Posted June 12, 2003
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