Zack’s Tale An Otherworldly Trilogy Companion & Prequel
Fantasy
World Castle Publishing
Nov 28, 2023
Kindle
210
Amazon
After breaking up with his first love and losing his only family member, Zachary Valentino has his heart set on taking revenge on Alta Williams, the wicked queen of the Underworld, for the irreversible damage she inflicted on him. As he joins the Otherworld, however, his life is far from peaceful. The Elders mock, ridicule, and demean him for his lack of potential, with his mentor and only ally, Helen Edmunds, as an exception. One day, fortune smiles upon him and grants him a miracle that brings him and Helen closer to each other, and he develops an infatuation for her. When King Patrick and Queen Marianne send Helen on a mission to the Underworld, Zack risks his life and volunteers to accompany her through the unknown trials that await them. What neither of them are aware of is the sobering fact that this quest may determine their rise or fall in more ways than one, for their demise may not be as far away as it seems….
Reviewed by Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
This is Zachary Valentino’s tale and what a tale it is, betrayal, torture, and death. Zack is an orphan, and the only family member is his grandmother, but he did find love, his first and true love. Alta Williams was the light in his otherwise dark life until he discovered that that light was covered with darkness. When he entered her lab, he discovered what she really was a woman using dark magic with the goal of overthrowing the current leaders and taking over the kingdom.
When Zack makes it very clear that he would not follow her and would never turn to the dark side she lashes out leaving him injured, bloody and locked in a cell. When he was able to find a way out of his cell and escape, he left everything behind him and ran to the mortal side. Six years he lived a life away from the kingdom he loved and six years till he discovered that Alta and her brother Alto succeeded in turning their kingdom into a place of evil called the Underworld where the wrong word or action meant death or torture.
When Zack’s grandmother was accused of being a traitor and imprisoned, he did what he could to rescue her, but her imprisonment did both mental and physical damage and she died shortly after. Now Zack finds himself standing in front of the palace in the Otherworld where he hopes the queen and king will allow him to become an Elder-in-Training. He is assigned a mentor, and, in a year, he would take the recruitment test to see if he passes.
Zack’s mentor is Helen Edmunds, a quiet, cold woman determined to teach Zack everything he needs to know. He is sure that her high position in the palace and her past are the reason she never seems to smile or laugh and doesn’t associate with anyone. The queen is Alta and Alto’s sister and they resent the fact that she and her husband created the Otherworld and continuously try destroying it.
Zack is a constant victim of bullying by the other Elder’s-in-training and the Elders themselves. Unfortunately, Helen is not free of their beratement since poor Zack can’t hold a bow in his hand without shaking and keeps missing the target. Helen is the master of the bow so the more poorly her student does the more criticism and tormenting she receives.
For six years Zack has blamed himself for the evil Alta has become feeling that he should have noticed changes in her and been able to help, his blame is totally unwarranted because there was nothing, he could have done to prevent her from seeking power. Now he is the cause of the ridicule Helen is suffering due to his incompetence and the fact that he has no way of getting to be an Elder.
History has proved that there is no perfect place, the Otherworldians complain about too many taxes, complain about Elders-in-training who have come from the Underworld and there are as many happy as unhappy occupants of a world totally opposite of the one ruled by evil.
Secrets, surprises and men and women who should embrace their counterparts but who find reason to hate. What happens to Zack is not for me to reveal, all I can say is that this is a must-read story that takes place in a fantasy world with the same prejudices and hatreds as our own.