Quest of the Demon by M.L. Sawyer

Living the life of an average teen always seems like a challenge in itself. Becoming engaged in basketball and excelling at the sport, Darci can feel a burst in confidence. This is something she is good at. After spending the day with one of her friends, she returns home only to find her parents gone for the evening. Leaving a message to let Darci know that they expect to return after midnight, she settles in for the evening. When she does finally retire for the evening, her parents have not yet returned, so she is not at all surprised when a sudden noise wakes her up. Leaving her bed, she becomes concerned when she finds they have not returned. Fear replaces her initial surprise as she picks up her hockey stick as a weapon while she searches for the origin of the noise.


As she enters the main room, she sees light and motion behind a curtain. As she swallows her fear, she darts forward with her weapon only to find a strange vortex behind the curtain. Having ventured too close, she is sucked into the swirling mass, and finds herself deposited in a strange new world.

Suddenly, Darci realizes her whole life has changed. Rescued by a young Wizards apprentice, Taslessian, she quickly finds that all is not well in this strange, new world. Not only that, but she has been selected for a quest to rid this world of evil, before it finds a way into her own. Unaware of why she is chosen, she is afraid. Somehow, the evil presence of Domati is aware she is in the world and is now interested in finding her and learning the secrets of her own world. She is in over her head.

This world is full of magic, elves, wizards, warriors and dragons as well as the evil and twisted creatures that come from the darkness of evil. Her own world would not survive the presence of such perverted and twisted evil. When Taslessian’s mentor dies in battle, it is up to both Taslessian and Darci to find the means to defeat this evil. She cannot return to her own world, the magic is not available for such a feat, and she must follow her path. Chosen for a reason, she cannot fathom what she can bring to the fight.

As this young pair continues their quest with the help of a dragon, they began to gather a small group of heroes. Known as the five of light, they are informed that weapons will be awarded to help them meet the challenge. To begin their quest they must first find their courage, and then their way to the lair of the dragon that holds the weapons. Each step of their journey they must fight for their lives and that of their friends, as they begin to learn more about themselves and each other. Can they really be the ones to drive evil from the land, and save the universe, and all its worlds from the darkness?

M.L Sawyer has written a great story and while it tends to drag a bit through the middle, it picks up a head of steam and the flow evens out as the heroes begin their quest. I found grammatical errors throughout the book that tend to bog the story down, but the story and characters are quite superb.

Sawyer has set the stage for a follow up story, and I truly look forward to seeing what she does to continue her epic saga. She has done a great job with character enhancement; you can picture them quite well in your mind as you follow in their journey. Each has to overcome different flaws to become what they are capable of, and the quest is well written. Sawyer has put some thought into this work and a good grammatical edit would do wonders to put this work in the mainstream.

This story would be a great find for the YA reader; it has all the elements of a courageous and epic journey. Told with a view to the flaws and feeling often addressed by young teens, the journey that each travels helps builds their esteem as well as their courage. This is a fun and adventuress read.

Rating 3/5

This book was received as a free download from the author. All opinions are my own based off my reading and understanding of the material.