The Heart of the Staff, Book 1
Carol Marrs Phipps and Tom Phipps
Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author
This delightful tale of yore, if there ever was a
place, is presented in a colorful setting. Relatives, families, siblings, and
royalty are the same throughout history, even if some of them are wizards,
witches, dragons, or birds, as it is in this novel.
In the Phipps’ fictitious land, there is a clear-cut
divide between good and evil. One sister is the child any mother or father
would love, where the other sister is the one you would like to take out in the
woods a hit with the strap. But this is not what you do with a witch that can
travel at will through thin air.
The story is about disagreements going back before
time began. This family dynamic pits brother against brother, a daughter
against mother, and sister against sister. The way they resolve their
differences make this fun read.
Now, who do you know can turn his brother into a
dragon because he has been a bad boy? Or, when was the last time you heard a
sister be jailed in her own kingdom by using wards, whatever they are.
The language HITS on a new but easy to follow
vocabulary that won’t hinder your train of thought. You’ll have a few chuckles
out of hearing a crow’s wife talk to him about his business and how he’ll get
the next meal.
This first book in a series was well thought out, and
I recommend it to the fun-loving reader. I enjoyed it much.