The Goblet by Sylvia Patzold

When I received this novel I was very excited. The premise of the story is that a woman that is struggling with family stumbles across a goblet that once belong to Jesus. Although a powerful tool given to her to use by God, she finds a darker force trying to stop her.



This is a good story. It has a lot of potential. Unfortunately, I feel Sylvia didn't meet that. She writes that she started writing in High School and was encouraged by her English teacher. It seems to me that encouragement made her believe she was ready to publish this story. Personally, I think this is okay for a first draft, but had the chance to be tapped much further with considerable revision.

I also do not find Sylvia Patzold's writing strong. The character development was shaky. We do see changes in the characters because of the goblet, but they are quickly explained in a sentence and not elaborated on. This is akin to "show me, don't tell me."

We have a very strong point in writing this novel, which is wonderful. It is obviously very driven by a belief in God and the power in that.

We barely touch on setting in this novel. I assume this is so we can imagine any family. This leaves us with mostly dialogue and description actions and not many "inner thoughts."

Because I find Sylvia's story ideas strong, I would recommend her as an author as she learns to show the story more instead of telling. 

When it comes to The Goblet? 

Go Ahead and Burn It.
Note: I received this book free from the author. The review was my opinion and was not required to be a positive review.