"Darkness and hell would be his punishment for his betrayal of the Gods."
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The Ten Deadly Realms by Venessa Williamson & Deserie Questell AuthorHouse
book review by Mihir Shah
The golden gates of Nirvana, the heavenly city, have been broken down by Daylor, a Lucifer-esque character. From beautiful descriptions of its river of Everlasting Life to the lush gardens of apples, mangoes, etc, the city of Nirvana is comparable to Paradise and the Garden of Eden. Daylor, high counselor of Nirvana, experiences an endless thirst for power and knowledge—forbidden knowledge—that leads to his fall from Nirvana and into the depths and darkness of the Realm of Death and Hell. After his fall, Daylor is named Tribor, a fierce, devilish entity whose evil knows no bounds.
The Ten Deadly Realms revolves around the Supreme Beings desire to vanquish Tribor using his eight, highly trained warriors. Trained at Crystal Mountain, these eight warriors—Chan, Jade, Chaka, Raseen, Michael, Midori, Cheyenne, and Ming—were determined to not only destroy Tribor and his evil henchmen, but also rid themselves of doubt and replace it with faith in the Supreme being.
In the spirit of Dantes Inferno, the group travels through different realms, including but not limited to the Realm of Anger, Desertion, Realm of No Return, Realm of Humanity, and the Realm of Death and Hell. Led by Chan, the warriors, aided by the powerful prism stone of Nirvana, confront monstrosities unlike any other: flying vampires, blood-thirsty zombies, black panthers, giant spiders, conniving sorcerers, and much more. Tribor does everything he can to keep the warriors away. With the help of Hotei and the seven Buddha spirits, the warriors are able to locate Tribor. Will they be able to slay Tribor and return Nirvana to its original glory? Will the warriors triumph over Tribor and his fiendish demons in this raging battle of good versus evil?
Outside of grammatical inconsistencies, The Ten Deadly Realms is a fascinating and quick read that clearly shows the authors breadth of knowledge regarding martial arts, particular Buddhist concepts, and grasp over the fantasy genre.