This book is the kind of book this blog is all about. It's nice to see a NEW one, much as I love the great classics.
Full disclosure, the author is a friend. And I have just finished doing a review of the book for the "Books to Treasure" column of The Handmaiden. That will be out in mid-August, and will have much more detail than I have posted here.
But apart from that.... if you want something "like" Narnia, but "different" from Narnia, this is the book you're looking for.
This book has a sense of the transcendent, like Narnia. Unlike Narnia, it is not an allegory.
It is however a tale of a magical unseen world, and a battle between good and evil. Young Jonah Comfait journeys to Mysterion, where he faces the Cyclops, the Reef of Fire and the Bay of Storms to rescue his father from the Djinn, who hold him captive in the Nightmare Tree, feasting on his terrible dreams.
Unlike most of the stories I write about in this blog, this one is just newly published, so I don't want to give any spoilers here. It's probably for a slightly older audience than Narnia-- pre-teens up to adult. It has a fresh setting, the Seychelles, yet it uses the classic hero journey archetypes-- mentor, helper, crossing the threshold, enemies/shadows/shapechangers etc.; and it draws on classic legendary motifs like the Djinn, the Cyclops, pirates, mermaids and more.
What is "refreshing" about this book? It is a book of hope. "There's always hope of freedom in Mysterion," says one character.
You can order the book online now from amazon.ca, but it will also soon be available on amazon.com
3 comments:
Thanks for posting the link at your other blog. If you don't mind, please continue to do that so I don't miss anything.
That sounds like a great book. I'm not reading anything right now. Can't w/school almost over and baseball. When school's out, I'll have to see if the library can order it.
I intend to always post links on the Rafters (my news blog) when I have a new post on either of my other blogs.
I find it interresting you say that it's not an allegory when according to the blurb from the author on amazon, it seems as though the book is an allegory for the author's relations with their parents, etc. Perhaps they misrepresented him.
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