Sam' Quest: The Royal Trident

Welcome to Ben Furman's Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tour.

Samantha "Sam" Costas and Prince Buznor "Buzz" are back in another adventure. Sam goes back to the world world under Mile High Mountain; when the Crimson Crystal begins to glow. It indicates that Buzz is in trouble. When she finds Buzz, they have to go save King Kaylan. He is being held by the Pax, a new kind of enemy. The friends find the Originators, the keeper of the Crimson Crystal and the savior of the Awokian people. They end up helping the Originators in their defense against the Pax.

Sam's Quest: The Royal Trident is the second book in the Sam's Quest series by Ben Furman. I found to be just as enjoyable as the first book Sam's Quest for the Crimson Crystal if not more enjoyable.

I did have one problem with this book. I did not like that Sam's parents die. I feel that this is similar to other Young Adult fantasy I have read. Furman should have taken a risk and kept the parents alive. The parents could have moved to the farm so that Sam could for to the innerworld when needed.

Overall, I found The Royal Trident to be a good, fun and exciting adventure. I liked the new creatures that Furman incorporated into the story. Some of the creatures are the lenkas who are transparent water creatures and the Paxs which are the villainous big insects with a two-headed leader.

Sam is one tough cookie even if she does not see herself that way. She is able to handle herself very well in the final battle of the book. I can't wait for my daughter to read this series, because I believe that Sam is a good role model for her. I look forward to more of her adventures in the innerworld.

About The Author:

Ben R. Furman, former FBI counterterrorism chief, has drawn on this experience to write about high-tech terrorism, chemical, biological, and nuclear threats, and transnational criminal cartels. During his career he investigated kidnappings, extortions, bank robberies, led SWAT teams and was the FBI counterterrorism chief assigned to address threats against the United States by terrorists of all stripes. He also writes fantasy adventure novels with positive messages for the young adult, juvenile market and is the Rexus CEO, a corporation that conducts international corporate investigations involving industrial espionage, internal theft, business due diligence and background screening. You can visit his website at http://www.blackhawkpress.com/.

American Quest

Welcome to Sienna Skyy Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tour.

American Quest is a rousing contemporary novel filled with unforgettable characters, passionate relationships, dazzling magic and epic drama. It is the premiere of a quartet of novels that will capture your imagination and your heart.

Two supernatural forces - the benign Auxilium and the malevolent Pravus - are attempting to affect the balance of life on Earth. The mission of the Auxilium is to aid humanity in its quest to make the most of itself. Its "angels," a consortium of entities that work for a common purpose, offer various forms of assistance and protection, but cannot fight our battles for us.

The mission of the Pravus, however, is to destroy all that is good in humanity. Its "demons," led by an oligarchy of supreme despots known as Macul, regularly interfere in the affairs of man, actively seeking to undermine humanity's nobility and pursuit of enlightenment and evolution. For each of our noblest qualities, a Macul leads a team of lesser Pravus to destroy it.

For the most part, the opposing forces balance each other out. Occasionally, though, the stakes rise to a new level when a person imbued with extreme potential unites with another person of extreme potential. When a match of this sort occurs, humanity gains the opportunity to make major leaps - unless a Macul can subvert it. If the Macul succeeds, it will gain so much power that the entire world - humans, Auxilium, and all other Pravus alike - will become its plaything.

American Quest is the story of two lovers, Bruce and Gloria, whose intense passion for life and for each other has made them unwitting pawns in this cosmic battle. Enervata, the Macul who opposes romantic love, captures Gloria. To save her, Bruce must embark on a quest across America, armed with only the scantest of clues, to collect the Four Pillars of Humanity before he can battle the enormously powerful demon.

Several people join him on his quest, including his best friend, a rocker, a stand-up comedienne, a little old Italian lady, an old-beyond-her-years child, and a strangely visionary fortuneteller. The questers face challenges from Enervata's minions at every turn and struggle mightily in their quest to uncover the Pillars...all the while unsure of Gloria's fate.

At once a spirit-stirring fantasy, a moving love story, and an endearing tale of friendship and sacrifice, American Quest introduces a wonderful new storyteller to the public and presents us with a thrilling new vision of our world.


I had a hard time getting into this book, but I kept reading and it became better. I found the interactions between Gloria and the evil dark spirit Enervata unbelievable to me. They did not connect with me. I did not feel a bond with these two characters.

That said I will say that I found the quest that Bruce had to gone to find the four pillars of humanity to be thrilling. I was drawn in the search and battle for the pillars. I was intrigued about how Bruce was going to find the pillars and save Gloria. Of course this leads up to the final battle; where Bruce has to save Gloria and thus the world. I did like the intensity of the final battle.

American Quest is the first of four books in a series by Sienna Skyy. The next book in the series is Otherworld Quest.


New Publishing House:The Story Plant:
American Quest is the first novel published by the new publishing house The Story Plant. This new publishing house was greeted with excitement within the publishing and writing communities. Seen as a fresh approach to discovering new talent at a time when many houses area reducing the number of titles they publish, it's also the start of a unique partnership focused on nurturing authors from the grouping up. The Story Plan is founded by Peter Miller and Lou Aronica.


About the Author:
Sienna Skyy comes from a long line of storytellers, and from the moment she learned to speak she began telling tales of her own, many of which were reflections of the beautiful city where she lived. She got her start by exploring lyricism in the form of song, and was inspired the combination of literary fantasy and rock music that was prevalent in her early years. (Nowadays they call it classic rock.) She believes that art and music and literature are different forms of the same wonderful thing. She also believes that knights exist today though they’ve stopped wearing shining armor, and that magic is waiting just beyond the surface of the things we see. Sienna Skyy lives in Gotham City, and is surrounded by animals, of both the human and non-human variety. She is currently working on the next novel, Otherworld Quest.

Sam's Quest for the Crimson Crystal

Welcome to Ben Furman's Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tour.

Synopsis from the back cover:

Not every hero looks the part....

"Sam" Mae Costas is nobody's idea of a hero. She is constantly teased about her thick glasses, her small size, and her asthma attacks are embarrassing and difficult to control. When Sam is forced to spend the summer on her grandpa's farm she thinks things can't get much worse.

Deep in the caverns below the farm, Prince Buznor is a young Awok on a life-and-death mission to save his world. He has to find Sam and prove to her that only she can find and control the Crimson Crystal.... the one weapon that can defeat the evil threatening his people.

To reach the Crimson Crystal Sam must journey through the hostile Land of Geffen, facing horde of catacomb dwarfs, vicious vampire bats, and deadly monsters. Can Sam overcome her fears, her doubts, and find the Crimson Crystal in time to save the Awokian world?

Sam's Quest for the Crimson Crystal by Ben Furman is a young adult fantasy. It is the first book in the Sam's Quest trilogy.

The book started off slow but once the quest began it moves along very quickly. Along the way Sam encounters many new characters. Some of these characters are friendly, like Kryton the crusty old dragonfly and others are not, like the evil Zogs and their leader Drogon.

I think that this book will appeal to girls, because the main character is a girl. Sam has flaws and insecurities just like every other girl, but she see herself in a different light after her quest.

Sam's Quest is written so that it will encourage the slow reader to keep going and finish the book because they will want to see what happens to Sam and her friends. The child who likes to read will want to read it because of the different challenges that Sam and her friends come across; as well as the different characters and the world that Furman has created.

My daughter has Sam 's Quest for the Crimson Crystal on her TBR list. She thinks it is cool that a girl is the main character. Maybe after she reads it I will put up her review on the blog.

Overall, I did like this book. I am looking forward to reading book two in the trilogy. The title of the book is Sam's Quest The Royal Trident. I will have a review up sometime in October.

About the Author:

During Mr. Furman's FBI career he worked counterterrorism, organized crime, bank robbery, extortion, and kidnapping. His is not a school marm's background that one might associate with writing young adult stories, but than , neither are Sam's fantastic journeys the stuff of coloring books. When Mr. Furman isn't writing, he fills his time painting, woodworking, and managing the Rexus Corporation, his private investigation company.

Happy Reading

Seed Upon the Wind

Seed upon the Wind by Carole Nelson Douglas is book 2 of the taliswomen. I enjoyed this book as well.

Alison sees a man with flaming red hair that remains her of Rowan. She sees that as sign that it is time to return to Veil. She has been absence from Veil for about 6 months. Veil time about a year, she returns just in time for the wellsinging the competation for attaining the cup.

She finds that alot has changed since her last visit. She is unable to decide if the changes are for the better.

I hope that Book 3 comes out soon but this qoute is from her web site.

"Many of you have been asking about when the third Taliswoman book will come out.That's not my decision, but rather whether the publisher will want to bring it out.
There has been some discussion of this in the past year, and the possibility of my writing the third book hasn't been ruled out. It depends on the state of the publishing business, which is pretty sickly right now"

I hope that the publishers decides on Book 3 cause I have some unanswered questions and I would like to see this story continue.