Find out the latest indie author news. For FREE.

ADVERTISEMENT

Formats
Paperback Book Details
  • 12/2013
  • 9781494226220
  • 282 pages
  • $14.99
Ebook Details
  • 11/2013
  • B00GYNPIAE
  • 282 pages
  • $4.99
Alina Sayre
Author
The Illuminator's Gift
Alina Sayre, author
Ellie is a twelve-year-old orphan who desperately wants a family. She just doesn’t expect to find one when she joins the crew of the Legend, a flying ship in a secret rescue fleet. On board, she meets a boy with a pet tarantula, a bully with eyes like mirrors, and a librarian who can read eighteen languages. Unexpectedly, Ellie also discovers a powerful gift that only she can wield. But when the Legend is called to a dangerous rescue mission, Ellie risks losing everyone she loves. Will her mysterious gift be enough to save her and her friends from a deadly enemy bent on destroying their world?

Semi Finalist

Plot/Idea: 8 out of 10
Originality: 8 out of 10
Prose: 10 out of 10
Character/Execution: 9 out of 10
Overall: 8.75 out of 10

Assessment:

This fantasy novel focuses on 12-year-old orphan Ellie, skilled in drawing and manuscript illumination and blessed with the gift of true Sight. Aboard a flying ship bound for a training school, she and her companions are enlisted to help save doomed islanders and fight the forces of the Enemy. Couching a fantasy novel in Christian symbolism, Narnia-style, can be awkward or didactic, but here the allegory is handled subtly and without distracting from dramatic, steadily building adventures set in a vividly imagined world.

Date Submitted: July 20, 2016

Reviews
Readers' Favorite, 5-star review

The Illuminator's Gift (The Voyages of the Legend) by Alina Sayre is the magical story of an orphan girl called Ellie. She has been adopted a few times, but was always unlucky with the families and got returned to orphanages. And now she's close to turning 13 - the age where she has to leave the orphanage as nobody would adopt a 13-year-old. Fortunately for her, the manager of the orphanage has an exciting offer for Ellie and her friend: they can join the Vestigia Roi, part of a story that Ellie only thought of as a legend. She joins the crew of a flying ship. The ship was just supposed to take her to an academy, but as fate would have it, the crew of the ship is needed elsewhere for rescue missions. Will Ellie and her new friends ever make it to the academy or is the rescue mission more dangerous than they can handle?

I just loved The Illuminator's Gift (The Voyages of the Legend) by Alina Sayre. It is described as a book for children, but even as a 32-year-old reader I was immediately drawn into this fantastic world. I loved how the book was written, and I think that people who write fantasy for younger readers have a great way with words, and are able to create such wonderful worlds into which you can dive. The book gave me great joy, and I loved living in Ellie's world for a few hours. The characters are all unique (and you even felt bad for the spider!); the book is a real page turner.

News
10/04/2014
2014 Moonbeam Children's Book Award Results

38. BEST FIRST BOOK - CHAPTER BOOK

GOLD: The Sword of Demelza, by J.E. Rogers (Acadia Publishing Group)

SILVER: The Illuminator’s Gift, by Alina Sayre (CreateSpace)

BRONZE: Call of the Sun Child, by Francesca G. Varela (Homebound Publications)

Formats
Paperback Book Details
  • 12/2013
  • 9781494226220
  • 282 pages
  • $14.99
Ebook Details
  • 11/2013
  • B00GYNPIAE
  • 282 pages
  • $4.99
ADVERTISEMENT

Loading...