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    David and the Phoenix - Illustrated
    David and the Phoenix - Illustrated
    David and the Phoenix - Illustrated
    Ebook135 pages2 hours

    David and the Phoenix - Illustrated

    By Edward Ormondroyd

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    David has no greater wish than to explore the mountains behind his new home in North Carolina and as he does he finds a wonder never dreamed of, the Phoenix. The Phoenix introduces David to an endless list of his friends from mythology and in the process opens David's eyes to the wide world both the unseen world and seen world. In the unseen world David and the Phoenix share many adventures all the while a scientist is trying to capture the Phoenix to prove to the world that the bird is real. The phoenix takes David on "educational field trips" to meet sea monsters, fauns and other creatures. Plus they hatch a hysterical plot to scare off an over eager scientist from the phoenix's trail. David learns some valuable lessons about life, one is that nothing remains the same as one grows up. The other is... well perhaps you should read the book yourself and find your own lessons within the pages. A well written story, "David and the Phoenix" has no particular time setting so that it could very well be placed in current time. It brings back to me memories of times when life was much simpler, more pleasant and without the problems we as adults face. It's a story of childhood and the dreams that children of every age share and which we all to soon leave behind. Of course, there is the traditional fiery death of the phoenix in the story.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherStart Publishing LLC
    Release dateFeb 10, 2014
    ISBN9781609772956
    David and the Phoenix - Illustrated

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    Reviews for David and the Phoenix - Illustrated

    4/5

    38 ratings37 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This is a really fun book. David has moved into a new house and is enthralled with the mountain in his backyard. Eager to climb it, he discovers this isn't any ordinary mountain. For living on one of its ledges hides a curious talking bird who calls himself Phoenix. The Phoenix is a delightful character who promises David all sorts of adventures: some good, some bad. Insert some other mythical creatures and an evil scientist hell bent on catching the Phoenix for the purpose of nasty experiments and David and the Phoenix is fantastic story for young and old. Word of advice, listen to this on audio! 
    • 4/5
      The first fantasy book I ever read. It opened new worlds to my imagination.
    • 5/5
      This is the only phoenix in children's literature that I know worthy to stand beside E. Nesbit's, and in some ays (a certain dignity and mild vanity) rather similar.
    • 5/5
      I read this as a child and, when I came across it again, had to pick it up. Like many childhood books it was only hazily remembered but there was a gorgeous sense of rediscovery as I got to know its delightful characters again, and then a real grief as the book ended. I found myself poking around on the internet in the hopes I'd somehow find a sequel or at least another similar book by the same author. But this was written in the days before half the "young adult" books came with a set of predetermined sequels. And, like all great books, it is really for any age. Mostly I'm just so grateful I got to know the haughty, kind Phoenix and the inquisitive, sweet David again.
    • 5/5
      This is the book which woke a life-long love of fantasy in me.
    • 4/5
      and excellent and amusing read. A young boy meets the Phoenix on the mountain behind his house. The Phoenix takes him and andventures to meet various mythical beasts and manages to get him in to many scrapes.
    • 3/5
      I recently reread the Immortals quartet after what was probably a five or six year break. What surprised me the most about Wild Magic is that it was clearly for middle-grade readers, which is what I was when I began reading them.

      The quality of writing, however--and for that matter, of the story and of the characters as well--has not diminished. I may have been able to whip through each of the Immortals' installments, but I was still very impressed with the structure of the story and the fullness of each character. I found myself sympathizing with Daine, the main character, as she struggled to adjust to her new life. I fell in love with the supporting characters as well--everyone from Cloud and Tahoi to Numair and Kalasin. (And, of course, Alanna.)

    • 4/5
      Great start to a great, unique fantasy series.
    • 5/5
      This is possibly my favorite Tamora Pierce book. It is so full of laugh-out-loud humor and brings back all the familiar characters you loved in the first series. Daine is someone you want to be friends with the entire book and along with all the old characters from the Alanna series making appearances, I loved the newer ones too. An excellent summer read!!!
    • 2/5
      After raiders destroy her happy village, a young peasant girl named Daine joins up with the Queen's Own hostler. They travel to Tortall, having dangerous adventures along the way. Once in Tortall, Daine discovers she has Wild Magic, which enables her to communicate and control all animals. Despite the many attacks by monsters, this book lacks any narrative tension, probably because I actively dislike Daine.
    • 3/5
      In the first book in this series, Daine, a 13 year old girl is capable of communicating with animals. Although this sounds interesting, the way the author handled it was more annoying than anything else. Daine is an orphan, who is trying to develop her skills while a war is going on. In her journeys, she becomes an apprentice to a mage, who helps her develop her magical skills. Using her skills, Daine senses new beings known as immortals trying to break into her world. Her and her friends now must fight these immortals and defend their world.I liked the general concept of this novel, but there was also a lot not to like. For one is the dialogue, which I found to be subpar. Another is the characters, which generally speaking I didn’t find very appealing. At the top of the list is Daine herself, who comes off as whiny and not particularly interesting. The plot and action were pretty solid. This was only a so-so novel, not something that would get me excited about reading additional installments.Carl Alves – author of Blood Street
    • 5/5
      This is one of my most favorite books of all time! I've bought this book twice, the first time which was fantastic! The second not so much because I had read the first so many times it just up and fell apart on me - something I have never done before.

      The story of Daine just grabs me up from the very first sentence and no matter what I do I can't bring myself to put it down. It is my inspiration, something to bring me up when I am down, and everything in between. Reading this book makes me want to right something equally amazing as well as read more and more. Daine is headstrong, speaks to animals, and makes friends of which I envy her of so I am very happy that I can live in the world she does for even a fraction of my time. I can't help but wish for Tamora Pierce to write many more books so I can live in that world with them more often with new adventures.

      GO DAINE!
    • 4/5
      Read the book multiple times and just listened to the Full Cast Audio production - both are highly enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      When I'm dog tired and distracted, this is my kind of escapist fiction. Sometimes you just had a long week. You met all the obligations on the list and for some reason it was a long list, and you're fighting some sort of a minor virus and mostly winning, and those new shoes are needing to break in a little more than you thought so now your feet hurt a bit and all the batteries in all the battery operated things chose now to run out, and apparently the drivers had a bad case of Friday afternoon lunacy and were pulling out in front of you and stopping for no damn reason and then honking at you as if it were your fault, and there's no damn milk in the fridge!!! and so it goes. You are just a bit worn and a bit ready to be in a big soft chair with a nice cold drink and something to read that isn't going to be all that demanding because you've had enough demands just now thank you very much. But at the same time, please don't insult my intelligence. Please don't be mean spirited and stupid and tawdry. Ahhh Tamora Pierce, welcome to my tension headache, and thank you very much.
    • 3/5
      While this is not an expertly crafted story, it is a pretty children's tale. I enjoyed its whimsical nature. I would definitely recommend it to anyone.
    • 3/5
      I liked this book, but it was not brilliant. The story is relatively simple, a bit childish I'd say, but entertaining.
    • 1/5
      Such a disappointment! I don’t even have the heart to write a decent review, and believe me when I say I’m hurting inside---this was my first Tamora Pierce book and I had such high expectations, but the poor darlings came all tumbling down as the story progressed. I just couldn’t get into it. It’s… it’s all over the place, to the point that I had no idea whatsoever of what, who, when, where… I just---I just---it’s not for me.
    • 3/5
      Tamora Pierce was recommended to me by a friend when I need to get the bad taste of Twilight out of my mouth. I started with Alanna and The Lioness Quartet, which I greatly enjoyed. Like that series, The Immortals is set in Pierce's imaginary and magical land of Tortall, although this is focused on a completely different set of characters: in particular Daine, who raised by wolves has an ability to communicate with any animal. This isn't my favorite Pierce series or character: I find the environmentalist themes not just not to my liking, but heavy handed. But then I read these as an adult, not in the 12 to 16 age group recommended. But like all Pierce's books, the world-building is well-done and the storytelling strong enough I was completely sucked in. And I loved Numair, Daine's magical mentor. Lots in these books is fun and quotable, and had I read this as a young girl, I'm sure I would have eaten up the girl-who-can-speak-to-animals plot. I was less taken with the next book, but then the last two books I think were kicked up a notch.
    • 4/5
      Perfectly charming story of a 13 year-old, Daine, who discovers that the talent for which she's been excoriated is a kind of wild magic. True to fantasy tropes, we have a journey, a discovery of self, triumph over evil and a discovery of where Daine fits in the world. Yet it all seems quite fresh, and as a reader, I shared Daine's exhilaration and fear as she grows into an assured young woman. I recommend this.
    • 5/5
      This was the first Tamora Pierce book I ever read, and I was hooked from then on. Wild Magic brings us back to Tortall and introduces the character of Daine, who is looking to find work and to escape her past. Her skill with animals gets her a job as an assistant to Onua, a horse buyer for the Queen's Riders. They journey together to the capital and meet a couple old friends on the way. This starts Daine on the way to mastering her wild magic and integrating into palace life. Adventures await and soon only Daine's magic can help when enemies of Tortall attack the royal family.I loved this book for it's characters, and for the continued world building. I would love to visit Tortall! Daine is pragmatic and smart, Numair is fun and caring, and the whole cast seem REAL, which can be hard in YA fantasy. Definitely a must read, especially for young/teen girls. Pierce's "sheroes" are great for boys too.
    • 5/5
      Daine Sarrasri, an orphan girl from Snowsdale, arrives in the magical kingdom of Tortall and becomes assistant to the royal horsemistress. Her gift for calming horses is almost magical, even though Daine tries to hide it. As well as horses, all animals seem to understand Daine as she seems to understand them. They come to her when injured, scared or ill.Daine communicates and trusts animals better than she trusts humans, it seems. She was run out of her village after her family was killed by raiders when she was thirteen. She discovers that she has an ability to speak to animals with her mind. Now she has to trust her new human friends enough for them to help her control her magic before war breaks out in Tortall. Even though this is a young adult fantasy novel, I loved Wild Magic and give it an A+!
    • 3/5
      I probably would have loved this book if I'd read it as a kid, but as an adult I noticed that there was really no conflict at all in the whole book. Daine grows and learns but really things keep getting better and better for her without many surprises. I'll be interested to see if this continues in the rest of the series. Even so, I read it quickly and definitely enjoyed it. It's got all the right pieces, a tough spunky heroine who can talk to animals, a supportive cast of colorful friends, monsters and mythical creatures, even the badger god, and a big battle.
    • 5/5
      Tamora Pierce wrote "Wild Magic" as the first installment of her second set of books in the Tortall universe. It offers a perspective on Alanna's world from the other side, that of an illegitimate foreign peasant, who has a completely different magic about her which does not follow the formal rules of the "Gift" of Alanna and her type. Where Alanna was stubborn and brash, Daine is shy and...also stubborn, but with her own quiet way about it. The book also opens up the world of Tortall and its neighbors into a much more lush, diverse landscape. Whereas the Tortall of "Song of the Lioness" served as sort of a medieval stand-in (with magic), in "The Immortals" series, Pierce broadened her scope to other countries, while introducing truly original magical what-nots. By what-nots I refer to the cascade of immortal creatures flooding into the human world due to some sort of rip in the division between their world and that of the gods and chaos.This book is a marvelous follow up to her first quartet of books in that it firmly establishes Tortall as a complex, fascinating fantasy setting that can indeed evolve and show many different colors, with plenty of room to encompass all different kinds of characters and stories.
    • 3/5
      A friend told me that she couldn't bear to re-read this as she was afraid of spoiling the memory of her enjoyment. It's certainly a book for a younger audience. Daine, the heroine, is skilled with animals, brave, and friendless - an excellent basis for the main character of a fantasy novel. The world is well-evoked, even though the 'good' characters merge together rather in their excessive niceness. Following Daine and Onua on their journey with a herd of horses is exciting as they manage dangers of all kinds and find out more about Daine and her powers. We don't dicover why Daine is all alone, or how it is that the animals do all that she asks, until quite far into the book, and that keeps the interest going nicely. I want to read the next volume.
    • 3/5
       The setting is a comfortable mock-medieval world of small towns and feudal holdings, familiar to those who have read the preceding four-novel set (which I have not), and not markedly distinct from any other such fantasy world. As the central character, a recently-orphaned teenager called Daine, encounters a woman horse-merchant, the scene is rather transparently set for a book designed to appeal especially to horse-loving girls. (I was a little irritated by a heroine who must not only have a preternatural knack with animals but also be a phenomenal archer: one special power seems enough!) As the journey commences, there is more than enough of the domestic minutiae of camping to answer the charge that questing fantasy heroes never seem to go to the toilet or wash the dishes.Daine has a secret "bad thing" about which hints are dropped. When we find out what it is, it seems a little odd that she was so reluctant to tell her new friends, though she had curiously failed to spot that Numair the mage was a shape-shifter. It also clashes rather with her polite and well-groomed persona. Pierce has deprived herself of a cracking novel by dealing with the preceding part of Daine's life (running wild with wolves) entirely in flashback; but perhaps the different tone required would have stretched either the author's skill or (less likely) the reading skills of her target audience.The older characters are fairly enough drawn, if a little same-ish. Daine's repeatedly exressed surprise at the informality displayed by Tortallan nobility does make me sneakily wonder whether the author can actually do formal dialogue: easier to follow Terry Brooks and have all your folk talk as though they lived in the 20th-century. (There were hints of the faults of David Eddings, too: I do not think that adult queens should ever giggle!) But Daine's perception of her wild magic is beautifully described, and the insertion of meditation into the regime of a mage was an interesting notion. The story builds to a magical siege, and there are some basic but thoughtful issues about whether animals should be persuaded to assist in human conflict or discouraged. Daine expends some effort in trying to dissuade small, vulnerable creatures from getting involved, and is suitably nonplussed when the whales from whom she does seek help turn out to be pacifists and refuse to intervene! The help that does come is from a being so powerful that it takes some effort to dismiss -- an old trope (remember The Worm Ouroboros?) but a good one.All in all, a pleasant read, if a bit girly in places.MB 11-ii-2011
    • 4/5
      I like Daine. She's a bit of an idiot, hiding her secret from her friends - but I can see why she does it, too. And it had a happy ending, too - that could have been a complete ending (orphan finds her place), but works well as a step along the way of her path. It's been a long time since I read these books for the first time - I know Daine's future - so it's hard to see only what goes on in _this_ book.
    • 4/5
      I am very partial to Pierce's heroines. There's just something about them that I love. Alanna will always be my favourite (I think subconsciously I avoided this series because I worried I would be let down), Daine now holds another special place in my heart, probably because of her connection to animals. I know the writing isn't exactly deep, but the characters are beloved, as well as the realm of Tortall, and reading this book feels just like coming home. I love Numair & his cheekiness, and reading about Alanna again feels like being united with a dear old friend. I have the rest of the series coming in the mail quite soon ^^ I believe no young girl should be without Tamora Pierce's wonderful quartets.
    • 2/5
      I listened to the audiobook and it ruined the book. The "full-cast audio" was done by what sounded like a junior high school English class. The main narrator's pace was set to a metronome - never wavering even during the fight scenes. Ms. Pierce really needs to respect her work and get a better production company.
    • 5/5
      Wild Magic is the first book in Tamora Pierce's Immortals Quartet and I must say, it sets the bar high. Here we meet Daine, a young orphan with a dark past who is taken in by Onua, the horse keeper for the Queen's Riders. Though Daine does not possess the Gift, it is quickly apparent to Onua and the warrior-mage Numair that she has more Wild Magic than either one of them has seen in a single person before. This gift manifests is self most clearly in her ability to speak to animals and it comes in handy when the beastly Immortals, previously sealed into the Divine Realms, break out and begin preying on humans. With her Wild Magic, Daine is an asset to Tortall, but will her and her magic be enough to save them all?Based on only the first of four books, I like this series even more than the Song of the Lioness Quartet. Perhaps I'm just a bit jealous of her magic, though :) Being a lover of animals, actually speaking with them is something I can only dream of. I think it's great to include this in youth fiction. It shows a younger audience that an animal, though it may not think like a human, does indeed feel things and for me, a vegan, it resonated strongly with my own morals.I love the relationships between characters and the emotions in this book as well. There was just the right amount of character angst, heartfelt pain, fear, silliness, and joy. I laughed out loud more times than I remember and I got teary-eyed at the end. I love being touched by books like this and I can't wait to read the rest of this series.5 stars!
    • 4/5
      Even in a world filled with magic, Daine Sarrasi's gift with animals stands out, and between her unusual gift and having to hide the secrets from her past, it's easier for her to connect with animals than people. It takes time (and some gentle and not-so-gentle coaxing from friends and mentors) for Daine to come to trust her new acquaintances.I really enjoy these books and always like the strong women characters that Pierce writes, but she does have a tendency to do things like pound us over the head with the idea that something bad had happened in her past, long before we find out what it is. A few fewer - or more subtle - mentions of how she can't trust these new people with her secret because they'd surely hate her would have been just as effective, if not more so. But things like that aside, it's a good story and a fun, easy read.

    Book preview

    David and the Phoenix - Illustrated - Edward Ormondroyd

    In Which David Goes Mountain Climbing, and a Mysterious Voice Is Overheard

    All the way there David had saved this moment for himself, struggling not to peek until the proper time came. When the car finally stopped, the rest of them got out stiffly and went into the new house. But David walked slowly into the back yard with his eyes fixed on the ground. For a whole minute he stood there, not daring to look up. Then he took a deep breath, clenched his hands tightly, and lifted his head.

    There it was!—as Dad had described it, but infinitely more grand. It swept upward from the valley floor, beautifully shaped and soaring, so tall that its misty blue peak could surely talk face to face with the stars. To David, who had never seen a mountain before, the sight was almost too much to bear. He felt so tight and shivery inside that he didn’t know whether he wanted to laugh, or cry, or both. And the really wonderful thing about the mountain was the way it looked at him. He was certain that it was smiling at him, like an old friend who had been waiting for years to see him again. And when he closed his eyes, he seemed to hear a voice which whispered, Come along, then, and climb.

    It would be so easy to go! The back yard was hedged in (with part of the hedge growing right across the toes of the mountain), but there was a hole in the privet large enough to crawl through. And just beyond the hedge the mountainside awaited him, going up and up in one smooth sweep until the green and tawny faded into hazy heights of rock. It was waiting for him. Come and climb, it whispered, come and climb.

    But there was a great deal to do first. They were going to move into the new house. The moving van was standing out in front, the car must be unloaded. David would be needed to carry things. Regretfully, he waved his hand at the peak and whispered, It shouldn’t take long—I’ll be back as soon as I can. Then he went around to the front door to see what could be done about speeding things up.

    Inside, everything was in confusion. Dad was pushing chairs and tables around in an aimless way. Mother was saying, They’ll all have to go out again; we forgot to put down the rug first. Aunt Amy was making short dashes between the kitchen and the dining room, muttering to herself. And Beckie was roaring in her crib because it was time for her bottle. David asked, Can I do anything?—hoping that the answer would be no.

    C’mere, Aunt Amy said, grabbing him by the arm. Help me look for that ironing board.

    When the ironing board was finally located, Mother had something for him to do. And when he was finished with that, Dad called for his help. So the afternoon wore on without letup—and also without any signs of progress in their moving. When David finally got a chance to sneak out for a breathing spell, he felt his heart sink. Somehow, in all the rush and confusion, the afternoon had disappeared. Already the evening sun was throwing shadows across the side of the mountain and touching its peak with a ruddy blaze. It was too late now. He would have to wait until morning before he could climb.

    As he gazed up miserably at the glowing summit, he thought he saw a tiny speck soar out from it in a brief circle. Was it a bird of some sort, or just one of those dots that swim before your eyes when you stare too long at the sky? It almost seemed like the mountain waving its hand, as if to say that it was quite all right for him to wait until morning. He felt better then, and returned more cheerfully to the moving.

    It was long after dark before the moving van drove away. Beckie crooned happily over her bottle, and the rest of them gathered in the kitchen for a late supper of sandwiches and canned soup. But David could not eat until he had found the courage to ask one question:

    May I climb the mountain tomorrow?

    Aunt Amy muttered something about landslides, which were firmly fixed in her mind as the fate of people who climbed mountains. But Dad said, I don’t see why not, do you? and looked to Mother for agreement.

    Mother said, Well ... be very careful, in a doubtful tone, and that was that.

    You never know what you will find when you climb a mountain, even if you have climbed them before—which, of course, David never had. Looking up from the foot of the mountain, he had thought that it was a smooth slope from bottom to top. But he was discovering as he climbed that it was not smooth at all, but very much broken up. There were terraces, ledges, knolls, ravines, and embankments, one after another. The exciting part of it was that each feature concealed the ones above it. At the top of a rise would be an outcropping of strangely colored rock, invisible from below. Beyond the outcropping, a small stand of aspens would quiver in the breeze, their quicksilver leaves hiding a tiny meadow on the slope behind. And when the meadow had been discovered, there would be a something else beyond. He was a real explorer now. When he got to the top, he thought, he would build a little tower of stones, the way explorers always do.

    But at the end of two hours’ steady climbing, he was ready to admit that he would never reach the peak that day. It still rose above his head, seeming as far distant as ever. But he did not care now. It had been a glorious climb, and the distance he had already covered was a considerable one. He looked back. The town looked like a model of a town, with little toy houses and different-colored roofs among the trees that made a darker patch on the pattern of the valley floor. The mountains on the other side of the valley seemed like blue clouds stretching out over the edge of the world. Even the peak could not give him a better view than this.

    David gazed up the face of a scarp which rose like a cliff above him—a smooth, bare wall of rock that had halted his climb. Halfway up the scarp was a dark horizontal line of bushes, something like a hedge. Apparently there was a ledge or shelf there, and he decided to climb up to it before he returned home. To scale the rock face itself was impossible, however: there were no hand or foot holds. So he turned and made his way through the grass until he reached the end of the bare stone. Then he started upward again. It was hard work. Vines clutched at his feet, and the close-set bushes seemed unwilling to let him pass. He had one nasty slip, which might have been his last if he had not grabbed a tough clump of weeds at the crucial instant.

    But, oh! it was worth it. He felt like shouting when at last he reached the ledge. Truly it was an enchanted place! It was a long, level strip of ground, several yards wide, carpeted with short grass and dandelions. Bushes grew along most of the outer edge. The inner edge was bounded by a second scarp—a wall of red stone with sparkling points of light imbedded in its smooth surface.

    David threw himself on the grass and rolled in it. It was warm and soft and sweet-smelling; it soothed away the hurt of his aching muscles and the sting of his scratches. He rolled over on his back and cushioned his head in his hands. The sky seemed to be slipping along overhead like a broad blue river. The breeze ruffled his hair and whispered, the bushes murmured and gossiped to each other. Even the sunlight seemed to hum to him as it laid warm hands on his face.

    But there was another sound, which now and then rose above these murmurs. Then it would fade and be drowned out by the breeze. Hard to say why, but it just did not seem to fit there. David propped himself up on his elbows and listened more intently. The sound faded: he had been imagining it. No, he had not been imagining it—there it was again. He sat up. Now he noticed that the ledge was divided by a thicket which grew from the inner side to the outer. The noise, whatever it was, came from the other side of the thicket.

    David’s curiosity was aroused, but

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