Auralia's Colors

Auralia’s Colors, The Auralia Thread, Jeffrey Overstreet, WaterBrook Press, Fantasy, 2007, 338 pages.

Synopsis: When thieves find an abandoned child lying in a monster's footprint, they have no idea that their wilderness discovery will change the course of history.

Cloaked in mystery, Auralia grows up among criminals outside the walls of House Abascar, where vicious beastmen lurk in shadow. There, she discovers an unsettling - and forbidden - talent for crafting colours that enchant all who behold them, including Abascar's hard-hearted king, an exiled wizard, and a prince who keeps dangerous secrets.

Auralia's gift opens doors from the palace to the dungeons, setting the stage for violent and miraculous change in the great houses of the Expanse.Auralia's Colours weaves literary fantasy together with poetic prose, a suspenseful plot, adrenaline-rush action and unpredictable characters sure to enthral ambitious imaginations.

My thoughts: Writing a review of this book is hard. There are few books you can easily compare it to, one being the Bible. It is its own tapestry. Overstreet weaves in colors hinting at joy, intrigue, betrayal, and desire. The color metaphors never got old, which shows his mastery of allegory. Many finer points of this allegory are hidden deep and are hard to discern. The Keeper is an interesting creature to note. I have been told it is not in fact a representation of the Creator, though it would seem that way.

The ending left me breathless and sad, but I look forward to the next Strand! I believe this will become a classic in the allegory genre, alongside C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia!

My rating: 5 stars


Review taken with permission from www.noahsreads.blogspot.com. All rights remain with www.noahsreads.blogspot.com.

The Charlatan's Boy

The Charlatan's Boy, Jonathan Rogers, WaterBrook Press, Fantasy, 2010, 305 pages.

Synopsis:  As far back as he can remember, the orphan Grady has tramped from village to village in the company of a huckster named Floyd. With his adolescent accomplice, Floyd perpetrates a variety of hoaxes and flimflams on the good citizens of the Corenwald frontier, such as the Ugliest Boy in the World act.

It’s a hard way to make a living, made harder by the memory of fatter times when audiences thronged to see young Grady perform as “The Wild Man of the Feechiefen Swamp.” But what can they do? Nobody believes in feechies anymore.

When Floyd stages an elaborate plot to revive Corenwalders’ belief in the mythical swamp-dwellers known as the feechiefolk, he overshoots the mark. Floyd’s Great Feechie Scare becomes widespread panic. Eager audiences become angry mobs, and in the ensuing chaos, the Charlatan’s Boy discovers the truth that has evaded him all his life—and will change his path forever.

Thoughts: I am getting a great hankering for the southern style of writing. Roger's character development is reminiscent of the style of Flannery O'Connor. The southern grammar and vocabulary were very entertaining!

I found it interesting that Grady had very wise insights, such as when he reflected that townspeople can learn more about themselves from their neighbors than from a "phrenologist," someone who can determine character traits from indentations in a skull. He only thinks of the feechie act as "an honest trade" while he thinks he really is a feechie. For a show assistant, he is quite honest.

Rogers' characters are great fun! Ranging from the trickster Floyd, to the compassionate Short Fronie, to the whooping drovers, I had a glimpse of a different world.

I recommend this to anyone who likes adventure and a show, because this book is full of it!

Rating: 4 stars

This book was provided free by the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review, and the opinions expressed are my own.


Review taken with permission from www.noahsreads.blogspot.com. All rights remain with www.noahsreads.blogspot.com.