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Marc Secchia

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The Enchanted Castle (Shioni of Sheba Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Marc Secchia (Author), Senait Worku (Illustrator) Format: Kindle Edition

4.3 76 ratings

Book 1 of 8: Shioni of Sheba

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A king bent on conquest.
A murderous warrior tribe.
And the slave-girl who dares to stand between them!

When Shioni, slave to the Princess of Sheba, travels to the legendary Simien Mountains of Ethiopia, she encounters adventure beyond her wildest dreams. Little does she imagine the powerful forces lurking in this jagged volcanic wilderness; forces that could tear the Kingdom of Sheba apart.

Kalcha, the Wasabi leader, has prepared a deadly trap, an evil sorcery rooted within the castle the King has chosen for his fortress. Kalcha is massing her warriors and her giant hyenas, intent on annihilating the Sheban forces.

As the Wasabi attack it is left to Shioni to show the way with courage and the conviction of her heart. Can she overcome the wrath of a lion, outwit the treacherous Captain Dabir, and defuse General Getu’s inexplicable hatred? With the help of her friends Mama Nomuula, Princess Annakiya, and the fiuri Azurelle, Shioni must uncover the hidden secrets of the Enchanted Castle before Kalcha destroys all she holds dear.

Shioni of Sheba: The Enchanted Castle is the first book in a unique African fantasy series set in the ancient Kingdom of Sheba, for middle grades/secondary age readers. Experience the myth and magic of ancient Sheba in this truly African adventure. Includes original illustrations by the Ethiopian artist Senait Worku.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An enchanting read, this tale unfolds in a unique and very African setting - in the mythical Kingdom of Sheba in a bygone age." - Lance Morcan, author of Fiji and other historical novels"It was amazingly written and I loved it so much." - Adrienne Woods, author of Firebolt"The story also deals well with the issue of difference, a topic that can be very relevant to children in our diverse world." - Safie Maken Finlay, author of The Galien Spear

About the Author

Marc is a South African-born author who lives and works in Ethiopia with his wife and 4 children, 2 dogs, a rabbit, and a variable number of marabou storks that roost on the acacia trees out back. When he's not writing about Africa Marc can be found travelling to remote locations. He thinks there's nothing better than standing on a mountaintop wondering what lies over the next horizon. Find out more about Marc and his work, and catch up on news and special offers on www.marcsecchia.com.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00BAH9S8M
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Kindle; 2nd edition (December 22, 2013)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 22, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3697 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 198 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,510,316 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #28 in Children's African Historical Fiction
- #137 in Children's African History Fiction
- #3,398 in Children's Sword & Sorcery Fantasy Books

Customer Reviews:
4.3 76 ratings

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Marc Secchia

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Marc is a South African-born dragon masquerading as an author, who loves writing about dragons and Africa, preferably both at the same time. He's the author of over 40 fantasy books in 5 languages including 10 rip-roaring dragon fantasy bestsellers.

His latest releases are Khyrial and the King, an absorbing Fantasy Romance and the hilarious epic fantasy Call me Dragon which won gold in the 2021 IPPY Book Awards for best Fantasy novel.

Catch up with Marc at:

Twitter: @marcauthor

Facebook: www.facebook.com/authormarc

Website: www.marcsecchia.com

When he's not writing about Africa or dragons Marc can be found travelling to remote locations. He thinks there's nothing better than standing on a mountaintop wondering what lies over the next horizon.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

76 global ratings

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Gayle Julien

Hooked!

Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2014

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Shioni of Sheba is the second series, Aranya being the first, that Marc Secchia has hooked me on! Unlike Aranya which is pure fantasy, Shioni has some roots in Ethiopian history, mythology, and geography. Both Shioni and Aranya are strong, capable young women on a journey of self-discovery. Each in her own way draws the reader into her world, her life, and herself in such a way that one can almost see, touch, hear, smell, and taste everything she experiences in fully formed 3 dimensions. Marc Secchia is truly a master storyteller and word-crafter! I am going directly to get the next book in the series while awaiting the publication of the second book in the Aranya series. I couldn't put The Enchanted Castle down so expect to go through the series fairly quickly if successive books are half as engaging as this one, though I suspect they will be just as good if not better as Shioni's story progresses. All of the characters are well-developed and easily envisioned, though a couple of characters introduced in the last few chapters have yet to grow into fully-developed people. I am anticipating some terrific reading getting to know them, hero and villain alike. As a former middle school teacher and reader of countless YA books, I highly recommend Marc Secchia as one of the best authors around to help engage reluctant young readers and draw them into the wonderful world of the written word. I'm hooked and will happily immerse myself into any world this writer creates! IMHO, Mr. Secchia is consistently an award-worthy author of impressively creative, well-written, engaging fiction. Five + stars!

2 people found this helpful

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Steve Justice

Interesting Setting

Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2014

Verified Purchase

The Enchanted Castle is the first in a series of books following the life of slave-girl Shioni in a mediaeval era setting based on the background of Ethiopian history.

Secchia's decision to build his world from the foundations of Ethiopian history is a good idea; it provides a fresh look at what ultimately is a well-trodden path.

Some of the descriptions are very good, and the writing is excellent. Secchia has a good command of creative language and some of his similes are truly original.

My reservations about this book mostly focus on plot and character. I felt the characters were a little underdeveloped, their motives confusing at times and their actions often contradictory. The plot was in no way bad, just a little unoriginal with the poor slave girl somehow saving the day.

Unexplained magic powers also feature but I have a feeling this is because while writing this book one eye was on the sequels that would follow, which I believe amount to four or five. Much may be clarified in the series but as a stand-alone book, too much just seemed to happen for the sake of advancing the plot without any exposition.

Nonetheless, despite any criticisms I have made, it is a book that held my interest to the end. The unique background and detailed descriptions are great and, while a little thin on the ground in characterisation, I'm sure there will be plenty of room for that in the sequels.

3 people found this helpful

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arch_reviews

I loved this book! 5 stars!

Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2013

Verified Purchase

The Enchanted Castle: Shioni of Sheba is the story of a young white girl named Shioni who has been sold into slavery to the king of West Sheba as an expensive play-thing and future protector for his motherless daughter. The novel takes place during West Sheba's conquest of an adjacent kingdom and while the warriors of the kingdom are in full battle dress and clinking their swords, young Shioni attempts to keep her life simple and focused around her training, being entertaining to her princess, cleaning, doing slave-type duties and learning who she can and cannot trust. Yet she continually finds herself dragged into events of much grander scope, events that may determine the fate of the entire kingdom, events that may hold the lives of all the people around her, including her own.
One of the best aspects of this book is the concrete yet dramatic drawing of the gravity of Shioni's situations. Here is one example. As a slave girl, Shioni's movements and whereabouts are restricted so in order to do what she feels is vitally necessary she must continually break the rules and sneak out. This basically risks her life as she would be seen as a runaway slave if she were to be caught before she can sneak back in. I really liked that although what Shioni is doing is for the benefit of everyone she still has to pay the consequences for her disobedience. Too many middle school kid's books have main characters who flaunt the rules and everything turns out grand for them and I have always questioned that message. Here we have a character who certainly breaks rules but with dire consequences and she knows it and she has to answer for her actions.
The title might be a little misleading as one would think that "Enchanted Castle" would indicate that this is yet another one of those supernatural fantasy books -yawn.
Not so. Although the book certainly has a few magical-mystical elements, the main focus, and where the book shines, is in character interaction and development and, as I said above, the choices that the main character makes and their real-life consequences.
This book should be in every middle school library in the country. It is tight, well-written, well-edited, describes an accurate landscape and historical context and the characters are diverse and interesting. I truly enjoyed it. Bravo Zulu, Mr. Secchia.

6 people found this helpful

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Aminuts

Enchantment for the Readers. Great job Author

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2015

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I was an enchanted reader. At first I thought this was just a child's story, but I really got hooked. The characters came alive and even the magical huff that usually doesn't grab my attention was perfectly part of the package. Bravo author. You have made me wish to visit Ethiopia as I never thought possible. It has always been depicted as dry and poor, but you showed a beautiful part nobody bothers to teach us. Thank you Author for letting me review this book. I'm looking forward to reading the others in this series.

Thank you also BookReads and Amazon. This never would have come into my line of reading without your advertising, free and cheap books, and excellent service and quality. Keep them coming.

One person found this helpful

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Heather

Exciting new fantasy adventure

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 25, 2013

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this book is aimed at secondary age children. It is easy to read with really well formed characters who are easy to imagine. The descriptions are excellent and the story line keeps you hooked. I am really looking forward to the sequel now!

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The Enchanted Castle (Shioni of Sheba Book 1) Kindle Edition

Editorial Reviews

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About the Author

Product details

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About the author

Marc Secchia

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