The Guardian

Matt Walker

The Guardian is an adventure story of self-belief and the strength of the human spirit. Can Earth survive a war between two spiritual realms?

12-year-old Ella Barrotti worries she's going mad - she keeps seeing spiritual beings (who, by the way, seem less mature than she is). She is being dragged into a war between the spirit world and the void of Antifaith, and success or failure is balanced precariously on a knife edge. The Darkness has come for her. It is unfortunate then, that What Was Written has assigned to her a guardian angel that is completely useless. A war is coming. The Guardian has received great reviews, including: "An intriguingly creative tale of good and evil... The Guardian is filled with twists and turns... The concept is inventive and I thoroughly enjoyed the story and Walker’s humor. I look forward to future works! (83%)" - Holly Christine at http://www.hollychristineonline.com "I really enjoyed it... A fast paced, emotive book. One that should appeal to a wide range of audiences, teenagers, and adults alike. (83%)" - Phil Owens at http://www.kopek-publishing.com/blog_review/?p=452 A "Compelling story..." (75%) - James McCormack, www.amelorn. wordpress.com

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tags

, angels, children's adventure, darkness, ethics, evil, fantasy, god, guardian, life, love, magic, philosophy, religion, spiritual, war

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5 comments

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Jan wrote 567 days ago

Plenty of action and intrigue.
Few personal nitpicks:
Father is a bit OTT and feels rather like a Dickensian character. In fact I did find the whole thing somewhat 19thC lit. in style. Not a problem for me, I like 19thC literature, but many young adults may not have the patience. It is well enough written, you just may want to think about the target audience wth regard to style.

Hope it does well for you. I liked it enough to back it.

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TomW wrote 825 days ago

Comment on Prologue to Chapter 2...

I think you're trying a trifle too hard with the similes and metaphors here. They're all good, but they are scattered like salt when they should be just a dusting. I would work on keeping the ones that fit the pov character: the one about iron soldiers is a good example.

On Frank, again he lurched slightly too close to evil genius for me. Now, maybe he is mad, but I could almost hear him giving a Dr Evil laugh in some of the dialogue. Maybe tone him down a little.

Chapter 1...

Ok, now you've settled down. Similes like "twinkling stars" fit more in with a five year old. And Dad, whilst still a nasty piece of work, seems more believable.

Chapter 2...

The paragraph beginning "Ella chuckled at her friend's ramblings..." is a bit of a tell. Not a capital crime, but it stands out when you show us what Rosie is like in the dialogue that follows. The dialogue itself felt a touch older than the kids, but maybe their extra smart kids.

Overall: a good start, with plenty to like, and most of my comments are personal quibbles. Good enough for a run on my shelf, and best wishes with it.

Regards,

TomW

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toffeespoon wrote 828 days ago

Good stuff, Matt. Particularly like the dialogue between father and daughter, and i found Frank truly frightening when putting myself in the shoes of a ten year old girl (I try not to make a habit of that by the way).
I'll be back to this when i have the time

TS

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klouholmes wrote 831 days ago

Hi Matt, Puzzling and gripping to read from the outset. Ella’s father has that insanity that appears rational while Ella has every reason to be hysterical. But the green man and her experimental environs could seem to add crazy to hysterical. The descriptions enhance the story and the dialogue is sophisticated.
Two points: The section with Dominic seemed overlong in comparison to more eventful sections. And then the narrator intruded, commenting on Ella at one place. I liked it but it hadn’t been used much as a technique so maybe it should could come in more or less.
This is different and it’s very intriguing, especially as Ella is portrayed strongly! Shelved – Katherine (The Swan Bonnet)

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Kendall Craig wrote 832 days ago

This seems like a rare find - a hybrid between something gothic like Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' and a modern day thriller. I was actually reading this out to somebody else and found that it worked very well with fast dialogue and a good balance of detail in between. There was tension evident and much to urge you to read on to find out what was happening.
Kendall Craig, The Halo (of Delight)

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