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The Legend of Darien: A Hero Rises | 
| Author: Lauren C. Mayher
Publisher: Blue Eyed Mayhem Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy New: $7.92
You Save: $5.03 (39%)
New (14) Used (6) from $7.92
Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 772668
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 424
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0979454506
EAN: 9780979454509
ASIN: 0979454506
Publication Date: December 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Imagine entering the world under the guise of a prince. This is what happened to Darien the Dragonslayer. A few days after his birth, Darien was taken from his family and brought to the mythical main kingdom of Monahelm: the Hemlon Kingdom. There, he is switched with a prince that will fight alongside Darien to take the throne from his evil brother. Darien a.k.a. the Hemlon Prince Aernon is informed of his true identity on his eighteenth birthday via a magical sage, his gardener Karah, who leads the Dragonslayer to meet his fortune of foiling monsters and quelling the dark forces that threaten his community. However, Dariens biggest battle in The Legend of Darien: A Hero Rises, is trying to live up to the stories and legacyand if he has the heart to fight against his own family.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 This needs to be made into a movie! GREAT book! September 27, 2008
go6car
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a fantastic read - full of layered characters, plot twists and turns, and innovative use of fantasy that tells a compelling and timeless story. Unlike cliched fantasy tales, Darien is original in its roots, and delivers on its promise to thrill, inspire and entertain.
The author's profound and colorful tale is so full of intricate details and landscapes, that the reader is immediately transported into a fantasy world full of imagination and aesthetic. It's a read that is sure to delight folks of all ages. This book begs to be made into a feature rich movie. Hollywood, are you listening?!
A Brilliant and Breathtaking Fantasy May 1, 2008
Jack O'Neill (Sykesville, Maryland USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Lauren Mayher begins The Legend of Darien with assassins pushing a naive Prince Aernon out a castle window to his certain death. Enter Kara, a castle gardener and a sage. Two more opposite individuals you will never meet. The no-nonsense Kara saves the Prince's life and masterminds his escape. Deep inside a cave hours from the castle Kara informs the arrogant and cocky Prince Aernon that he is actually Darien, the legendary dragon killer. The next morning in a nearby village Darien and Kara buy Merchant and Kiki, two white unicorns and we begin a journey of several harrowing days to the Cave of Hopefuls. There they meet Sir Prophis who trains Prince Aernon using magical powers and potions to be Darien, the legendary dragon killer. Lauren Mayher has done a firecracker job telling us this fast moving adventure. She tops it all off with an unexpected finale that will leave you with a craving for her follow-on novel.
 A fantastic book! February 25, 2008
Reader Views (Austin, Texas)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Reviewed by Emily Judah (age 13) for Reader Views (2/08)
"The Legend of Darien" was a fantastic book! I loved every minute of reading it! When I received it I started reading and couldn't stop! Ms. Lauren Mayher is an awesome author that knows how to catch the reader's attention from the first paragraph.
Seventeen-year-old Prince Aernon knows nothing but luxury. He is the second son of King Gronte, Ruler of Hemlon. Because Aernon is second-in-line to the throne he has nothing to worry about, and he mostly spends his days sparring with his brother, hanging out with princes and princesses, and talking with his bodyguard, Maxwell. Little does he know that he is not the real Prince Aernon, but actually Darien the Dragonslayer. He was switched at birth with the real Prince Aernon, the Usurper. The reason being is that Darien the Dragonslayer has to be killed when he is 18 to fulfill a prophecy created by one of the three makers of Hemelon. So he knows nothing about how special his 18th birthday is. And, instead of dying like he is supposed to, he will start an amazing journey to turn the tide of destiny and save his beloved kingdom from peril.
The rest of the book is about Darien's amazing journey to fulfill his destiny as Dragonslayer. With the help of the castle gardener and an ancient knight, he will slay his first dragon, gain Darien the Dragonslayers armor, and he will learn to give up his luxuries, and help save his people. I thought "The Legend of Darien: A Hero Rises" was a great book! I hope you like it too!
A solid debut novel February 20, 2008
Andrew Gray (Minnesota)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The Legend of Darien: A Hero rises by Lauren C. Mayher is the first book in The Legend of Darien four book series. As yet there is no title, or release date for book two. Although, Ms. Mayher indicates she hopes for a mid-2009 release. This novel is set in a world of Ms. Mayher's creation, and since it is her first novel readers do need to read any previous work to jump right into this novel. This book is marketed as a Young Adult novel, however after reading it I think most fantasy fans will not notice a difference. After reading countless fantasy novels, I did not feel much of a difference between this novel and a traditional fantasy novel.
The overall plot of this book is somewhat linear and cliched. Although, to be fair, if this book is a Young Adult novel, the common cliches that a typical adult reader would notice may not be as noticeable to a more novice reader. The main plot is the typical young man who, due to a series of events in thrust into finding his destiny. There is a subplot of the young man, Darien, finding an old mentor sage type characters that tutors him in the ways of helping him find his destiny. There is a separate subplot of the evil behind the scenes seeking to foil the heroes attempt at that destiny. While the plot is heavily cliched, I think anytime you read a book it should be judged on it's own merits. As such, the plot is solid, well written, and makes logical sense. For an adult reader it may be heavily cliched, but it flows well enough to hold a reader's interest. For a younger reader, it may very well captivate them and should surely hold their interest.
The characters in this novel, much like the plot, are what you would expect to find in a fantasy book. There is the hero who is seeking to fulfill his destiny. There is the requisite sidekick for said hero who has skills and knowledge that the hero will need to succeed. There is the wizened mentor who is mostly in the story to impart valuable information and training. The villains are typical fantasy fare as well. Seeing to do things behind the scene and since this is the first book of the series, they are largely in the background and just touched on in this book. One thing that truly surprised me was the amount of character development that Ms. Mayher was able to fit into this book. Being that it is a young adult novel, I was unsure how `deep' the characters would be. While they are cliched, and some things I fully expected to happen, it was well written and they were fleshed out rather nicely. There weren't any real surprises as far as the development of the characters went, but what was there made sense and certainly moved the story along.
I do have a couple criticisms about this novel as a whole.
1 - The main characters, Darien, is made out to have a rather smart mouth and seems to always have a smart comment. While I really appreciate humor in fantasy novels, in fact I wish there were more, by the end of the novel it comes across as too much. There are a couple scenes in the book where things are rather serious and dire, only to have this characters make a funny comment it seemed wrong and didn't fit with where the story was at the moment. I think that adage of `too much of a good thing can ruin it', applies here. The humor that was in the book was well written, but it was like a overly powerful perfume it was too strong at times and took away from the beauty of the novel.
2- Some of the dialogue seemed really forced at times. It almost felt as though Ms. Mayher knew what she needed to happen and figuratively `pushed' the character to get there. This may be a word count issue, or just a newer author trying to hone the craft. Much like the plot though, this may not be much of an issue for a young adult reader.
3 - This is more of a personal bias here. There is a great deal of territory traversed in this novel. However, it was hard for me to get a good mental picture of where the characters were and where they were going. I think a map or some type of inlay would have been very beneficial. Just to give the reader more of a concrete idea of where things are in relation to the characters.
This novel is not full of negativity however, there are several things that I liked.
1 - As I mentioned above, I was really pleased with how well the characters were fleshed out. There is a great deal of character development in this novel. In fact, I would even go so far as saying that at times, the characters carry the story. Ms. Mayher succeeds in giving the characters a life of their own. Instead of being dragged along by the story, they are creating the story. That may be a mater of semantics to some, but it is something I have always appreciated.
2 - For a first-time author, the story is well written. It's tight, succinct and there is not a lot of excess that seems to happen with many newer authors. It flows in a logical pattern, but most of all, it makes sense. I don't recall things of anything during this story that happens merely to move the plot forward (aside from my dialogue comment above).
While this book may have several cliches, and may be predictable to some readers, I think the market that this book is geared towards, Yong Adults, will find this book fun to read. Is this book the next best thing in the fantasy genre? Probably not, however, it is hard to catch lightning in a bottle. While I am waiting for the next batch of lightning in a bottle novels, I can easily see myself recommending this novel to several readers. For an adult reader heavily versed in the fantasy genre I would probably say this book is about average and would garner a 3 out of 5 stars. However, for the young adult reader I would say this book would earn a 4 out of 5 stars. No matter what, this is a solid book and Ms. Mayher has captured my attention as an author and hopefully has many more tales to tell.
Good versus evil January 10, 2008
Debra Gaynor (Hawesville, KY USA)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Long ago Heghviss and Loviss created Monahelm and all of its inhabitants. Heghviss believed their role should be that of a creator that watched over the people and assisedt them only when required. Loviss disagreed, he wanted to control the people, he wanted them to worship him, for their worship brought him great power. The two creators battled for centuries. Heghviss knew the only way to stop Loviss was to divide himself into three. Thus were the three gods born; Hemlon the God of Knowledge, Laurinia, the Goddess of Serenity, and Peltor, the God of power. Together they defeated Loviss but did not destroy him. When the Gods divided, they lost their divine aspect. They were no longer all knowing. The ability to see the past, present and future was given to Messengers. The Messengers could deliver prophecy by inhabiting the minds and bodies of select people. One such prophecy was the legend that a savior would come to rescue his people. Darien the Dragon Slayer would fulfill the prophecy. It was told that another would be given almost equal status as Darien, he would be the Usurper. Usurper is not evil; he would be second in line to the throne. When his older brother embraced evil, the angered Usurper joined forces with Darien to defeat his brother. So begins Darien The Dragon Slayer's adventure...
A Hero Rises is the first of four books in Lauren C. Mayher's series, "The Legend of Darien". The plot is very complex with magical beings, dragons, and ogres. I found it a little difficult to keep up with all the characters. I finally began to write them down along with the part they play in this tome. The basis for the plot is a battle between good and evil. Mayher has skillfully entwined principles throughout the plot. She successfully demonstrates jealousy, conviction, and family loyalty. Reading this book reminded me of watching my sons play a computer game. They always knew the story behind the game and the part each character played. Mayher is a skilled writer, her books will entice gamers and science fiction fans.
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