This inventive fairy tale with subtle Christian overtones includes enough suspenseful content to make it entertaining, in...
Prince Leo and ugly Rose Red make epic, separate journeys across kingdoms and to the dragon-infested doors of Death in this fantasy from an evangelical publisher.
The companion work to Heartless (2010), this illuminates different aspects of the same tale. Mysteriously veiled, kindhearted Rose Red dwells up the mountainside; her grotesque appearance frightens villagers. Leo, not just the wealthy boy he first appears, but in fact the Prince of Southlands, befriends her, yet many believe he’s actually bewitched, not making this choice of his own free will. Daylily, the lovely, spirited—but not especially sympathetic—maiden to whom Leo is promised, lacks the depth of the other two protagonists. After dark forces invade dreams of both Leo and Rose Red and then a dragon attacks and enslaves their land, each is faced with hard choices of the potential costs of their efforts to defeat the rising evil. They receive guidance from ethereal voices whose trustworthiness they must judge. From frequent allusions, it’s obvious that a complex back story provides depth to this faerie world, but readers must often guess at its components, making some aspects of the tale confusing. The conclusion leaves the story unfinished, setting up the next entry in the series.
This inventive fairy tale with subtle Christian overtones includes enough suspenseful content to make it entertaining, in spite of leaving too many somewhat-bewildering threads hanging. (Fantasy. 11-18)Pub Date: July 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7642-0782-2
Page Count: 284
Publisher: Bethany House
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
Hoffman (The Red Garden, 2011, etc.) births literature from tragedy: the destruction of Jerusalem's Temple, the siege of Masada and the loss of Zion.
This is a feminist tale, a story of strong, intelligent women wedded to destiny by love and sacrifice. Told in four parts, the first comes from Yael, daughter of Yosef bar Elhanan, a Sicarii Zealot assassin, rejected by her father because of her mother's death in childbirth. It is 70 CE, and the Temple is destroyed. Yael, her father, and another Sicarii assassin, Jachim ben Simon, and his family flee Jerusalem. Hoffman's research renders the ancient world real as the group treks into Judea's desert, where they encounter Essenes, search for sustenance and burn under the sun. There too Jachim and Yael begin a tragic love affair. At Masada, Yael is sent to work in the dovecote, gathering eggs and fertilizer. She meets Shirah, her daughters, and Revka, who narrates part two. Revka's husband was killed when Romans sacked their village. Later, her daughter was murdered. At Masada, caring for grandsons turned mute by tragedy, Revka worries over her scholarly son-in-law, Yoav, now consumed by vengeance. Aziza, daughter of Shirah, carries the story onward. Born out of wedlock, Aziza grew up in Moab, among the people of the blue tunic. Her passion and curse is that she was raised as a warrior by her foster father. In part four, Shirah tells of her Alexandrian youth, the cherished daughter of a consort of the high priests. Shirah is a keshaphim, a woman of amulets, spells and medicine, and a woman connected to Shechinah, the feminine aspect of God. The women are irretrievably bound to Eleazar ben Ya'ir, Masada's charismatic leader; Amram, Yael's brother; and Yoav, Aziza's companion and protector in battle. The plot is intriguingly complex, with only a single element unresolved. An enthralling tale rendered with consummate literary skill.
Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4516-1747-4
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
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