Following the beacon of Auralia’s colors and the footsteps of a mysterious dream-creature, King Cal-raven has discovered a destination for his weary crowd of refugees. It’s a city only imagined in legendary tales. And it gives him hope to establish New Abascar.
But when Cal-raven is waylaid by fortune hunters, his people become vulnerable to a danger more powerful than the prowling beastmen–House Bel Amica. In this oceanside kingdom of wealth, enchantment, and beauty, deceitful Seers are all too eager to ensnare House Abascar’s wandering throng.
About the author:
Jeffrey Overstreet is the author of The Auralia Thread, the fantasy series which begins with Auralia’s Colors, a thrilling adventure twice-nominated for a Christy Award, and Cyndere’s Midnight. He is an award-winning film critic and columnist, his work appearing in many publications including Image and Paste. He is also the contributing editor for Seattle Pacific University’s Response magazine.
My Impressions:
Reading fantasy requires a lot of work. The pages are populated with fantastic beings. The landscape is strange; the language is foreign. Usually there is no point of reference for the reader to use. Imagination is all the reader has to work with.
Christian fantasy is a little different. Although the worlds described exist only in the imagination of the author, a familiar thread runs through the books. So it is with Jeffrey Overstreet’s Raven’s Ladder.
Raven’s Ladder is the lastest installment of Overstreet’s Auralia’s Thread series. The first two books in the series are Auralia’s Colors and Cyndere’s Midnight. The author is currently working on the fourth and last book of the series. I would suggest anyone interested in this series to begin with book one. I have not read the first two books, and I was a little lost at first, but I soon became entangled in this fantastic tale. House Abascar has been destroyed and sent into exile. Many have forgotten the source of their existence, the Keeper. King Cal-Raven desires to bring his people to their rightful home and reestablish them as followers of the Keeper, who most often appears in dreams. Cal-Raven and the people of Abascar face many and diverse obstacles in their journey. There is open evil seeking to destroy them, and there is a false security and beauty lulling them into accepting good over what is best. Overstreet uses a fantasy world to expose the struggles we all face in a world that denies God or seeks to find a substitute for Him. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the other books in this series.
To buy this book, click here.
(I received this book from Waterbrook/Multnomah in return for a review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.)
Blog Tour Participants:
Great review. I agree. Fantasy is hard to read. I had a hard time getting into this one. But I have not read the first two.
I’m really impressed that you managed to get so into this one when you haven’t read the first two — I think I would have been lost! But I definitely recommend reading them all. Each is fantastic in its own way. “Cyndere’s Midnight” might still be my favourite, but at this point I’m just totally embroiled in the whole story and am happily awaiting the fourth book :).