Hey, everybody! Welcome to an extra special edition of Tumnus’s Bookshelf. We are privileged to have been asked by author CS Lakin to review The Wolf of Tebron, the first installment of her Narnia-inspired fantasy series, The Gates of Heaven.
Title:The Gates of Heaven Series: The Wolf of Tebron
Author:CS Lakin
Publisher:AMG Publishers
ISBN-10:0899578888
ISBN-13:978-0899578880
Summary:
When his wife Charris goes missing, it is up to the young blacksmith Joran to rescue her. Accompanied by the mysterious and powerful wolf Ruyah, Joran embarks on his quest to save his beloved. Crossing through jungles and climbing great mountains- Joran will journey from his home town of Tebron, to the Castle of the moon, to the Palace of the Sun, and to the home of the West Wind. It is an adventure that will change his life forever and answer many questions he has about his past.
Review:
Last January, I had the honor of being contacted by Ms. CS Lakin, asking if I would be interested in reviewing the first book in her fantasy series The Gates of Heaven. In the past, I have only read and reviewed books by and about CS Lewis and the land of Narnia. However, Gates of Heaven was influenced by Lewis, so I agreed. I am very glad I did. I was hooked from page one.
At long last, lovers of fantasy (and not just the children in it’s recommended reading age) have a brand new fantasy story that has all the makings of a great series. We have a heroic quest (the hero Joran embarking on a mission to save his wife), a hero with a strange and magical ability (Joran can “speak” with the animals), and a completely other-worldly setting steeped in myth and magic.
Wolf of Tebron is a fantasy book with allegorical imagery that is set in a world where animals talk. Lakin quotes CS Lewis (among other writers and thinkers throughout the story ) and the quotes work perfectly. Some other noted individuals quoted include ; GK Chesterton, George MacDonald, Emily Dickenson and TS Elliot.
This story functions as an allegory, however, she chose a completely different and unique animal to be the symbol for Christ. This animal, instead of a lion, is a wolf. Lakin said in her interview with us that she felt the wolf best symbolized loyalty, courage, and strength. The more you read of Ruyah the wollf, you can see those traits and see how he is like Christ. However, this allegory does not hit you over the head. Lakin is highly skilled in the area of subtlety with these aspects of her story, just as CS Lewis was. This is very rarely seen in modern Christian writing, especially in fantasy literature, and it is refreshing to see it again. Here we have a writer who not only loves God, but loves her writing craft, the characters, and the story which is all shown so perfectly.
Joran’s quest is unique and fresh, and at the same time so familiar. Like in the old fairy tales, he is an everyman blacksmith setting out to rescue his true beloved. Yet there is also something about him that doesn’t “feel” like them as though he were a first of his kind. This allows the character of Joran to confidently take place alongside the other great characters of fantasy literature who came before him like Frodo Baggins, The Pevensies, Charles Wallace Murray, Will Stanton, Harry Potter, and Percy Jackson. He also, like many fantasy characters, has a mysterious parentage. What his parentage is (I won’t spoil in this review) was so amazing, ranking up there with the first time I “learned” that Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker’s father, that readers must discover it for themselves.
As you read this story and journey with Joran and Ruyah, you will discover that things are not as they seem. There is more then enough to keep you not only reading but backtracking to make sure you didn’t miss anything. This is sure to be one of those books that gets better and better every time you read it.
The end of the book features a selection of discussion questions for youth groups and Sunday School classes. They may be helpful for family devotional times or if you are like my mother and you have a child who loves to discuss literature like I did, you’ll have plenty of fuel for the discussions.
If this first installment is any indication, The Gates of Heaven promises to be one of the best fantasy series to come along in quite some time. One of the signs of this potential is it’s ability to hook you into it’s world at page one and leave you saying, “ just one more page” or “just one more chapter.” That has happened to me before with CS Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising Sequence. Now CS Lakin has done the same with Wolf of Tebron the first volume in the Gates of Heaven Series. When I finished the book all I could say is, “more please!”
Five out of Five shields.
Order the book from Amazon.com