“When a simple game of Hide and Seek ends unexpectedly with being kidnapped by a dragon-like creature, Xuen, princess of her village, is thrown into an adventure she never saw coming.
Carried off to the northern land of Shardonia, Xuen learns that the ruthless and power-hungry King Xolleran intends her to be nothing more than snack food for his pet, the Halaveel Monster.
A fortunate escape brings her into contact with Sus, a boy who always carries a mysterious ruby sceptre. Together they seek to unite those who have suffered under Xolleran and to bring about the end of his evil reign.”
A map of the lands of Shardonia and Angdoodle, where “The Ruby Sceptre” is set
“The Ruby Sceptre”, recently published by Ngaio Publishing, is a fantasy adventure story for children by New Zealand author Kirsteen McLay-Knopp (me). 🙂
A number of people have asked me what age group “The Ruby Sceptre” is suitable for. Long ago at a writing workshop I was told not to put an age on my characters for children, as this encourages a wider audience age range. A 13 year old who is a reluctant reader may be put off if he or she thinks, for example, that the characters are only 10. So I’ve left the characters ages open. Another tip I learned from the writing workshops was that kids love food and if you read “The Ruby Sceptre”, you will see that there are a lot of references to food: Xuen, the main female character, loves marshmallows and Sus, the main male character, loves chocolate-covered bananas.
The main characters, Xuen (a girl, left) and Sus (a boy, right) on a flying carpet created by magic
I love the fantasy genre (as well as many others) and have been privileged throughout my life to have read (and had read to me) some of the best. I don’t think we can ever have too many books in this genre (or too many books of any sort) and anything that keeps our kids engaged and reading is a plus. Let’s face it, we all need a bit of magic and escape in life at times too. My hopes are that “The Ruby Sceptre” will provide joy and magic to many for years to come.
“The Ruby Sceptre” is now available on Amazon… please follow the link below:
The Forever Years 