Hi, everybody welcome back to Tumnus’ Bookshelf where we review any and all books written by, about and inspired by C.S. Lewis, the Land of Narnia and the Inklings. For today’s review we will be looking at the new book the new fantasy novel, The Hidden Kingdom, the final book in C.S. Lakin’s The Gates of Heaven series.
TITLE: The Gates of Heaven Book 7: The Hidden Kingdom
AUTHOR: C.S. Lakin
PUBLISHER: Living Ink Books
ISBN-10: 0899579078
ISBN-13: 978-0899579078
Summary:
The last days have come and Meris of Me’arah has begun to develop her powers. The daughter of the Lord Na’tar, the only initial concern she or any one seems to have is the upcoming wedding of her older sister. However unknown to anyone else in her home, Meris has begun to develop strange magical abilities. Among them, she sees the coming final battle. She apprentices herself to the lady Shamara , who is one of the wizards who has protected the land of Me’arah for centuries.
Meanwhile, Sha’keth has dispatched his minions to destroy the last of the sacred sites, in one final attempt to conquer the world once and for all. Five heroes; Joran, Perthin, King Adin, King Kael, and Justyn, together with the wizards gather to find a way to save the sites and vanquish evil once and for all. Evil forces attack, cities are destroyed, old friends are lost, and good triumphs over evil in this epic conclusion to The Gates of Heaven Series.
Review:
“All good things come to an end”, so the old saying goes. This is even true for good stories. Narnia faced it’s apocalypse in The Last Battle. The Third Age came to an end in Middle-earth as Frodo, Gandalf, and Bilbo boarded the ships at Valinor and left Middle-earth with Galadriel and Elrond. And now, so to must CS Lakin’s The Gates of Heaven series comes to an end. It’s a bitter sweet moment, as even though we can go back and take the journey all over again, there will be no more new adventures in this exciting world to take.
The main heroine of this story is the young maiden Meris who lives in Me’arah, one of the books two hidden kingdoms. The blood of the fairies is in her and she can not only see the future but appears to have some magical abilities that need honing. Like Lakin’s other heroines Meris is brave, but there is more of an innocence to her as she has not had much life experience due to living in a hidden kingdom that knows nothing of strife, suffering, or pain.
While Lakin drew inspiration from a Russian fairy tale, the idea of a hidden city is a classic archetype in myth and legend. Like Atlantis of the Greeks, Shangri- La in the Far East, or other mythical cities, this city is hidden from prying eyes and protected by magic. Like Jules Verne’s classic adventure Journey to the Center of the Earth, this lost city is deep beneath the world itself. However, while some of those civilizations were destroyed as a punishment, or act of war, Me’arah , or Moreb as the outsiders call it, was hidden with benevolent intentions to protect them from The Destroyer.
As such Me’arah is a peaceful, idyllic paradise on earth, but it is one created by Shamara, one of the wizards, an imperfect being so it is therefore flawed in the ways that matter. Because of this, Meris longs for more to her life, even to the point that she wonders if weddings like her older sister’s were developed out of boredom. It is a world free from pain, but as a result no one grows from those experiences. Characters even question once the truth is revealed if this was a good thing for the people of Me’arah. In the process Lakin reminds us that while perfection and Paradise are things we should long for, the journey there is just as important as the destination as God shapes us and molds us through those painful experiences.
However, this story is not all about Meris. Old friends Perthin Quay from The Crystal Scepter, King Kael from The Sands of Ethryn, Justyn from The Unraveling of Wentwater, King Adin from The Map Across Time, and of course, Joran and his father from The Wolf of Tebron are all a part of this story as they gather to help save their world and fight in the final battle. Other characters like Joran’s brother Callen from The Land of Darkness and Teralyn from The Unraveling of Wentwater are even mentioned. In short this book is the full culmination of everything Lakin has built up and promised readers over the last five years and six books.
One of Lakin’s greatest strengths as a writer is how perfectly she still knows each character from the earlier books. She admitted in our interview to having reread the earlier books and taken notes in order to get each characters voice right, and her work clearly shows. There is not a moment where a reader will ever scratch their heads and say that that character would never do that. They have all been on their respective journeys and emerged out on the other side, ready to be the heroes they are destined to be. She even provides a nice little summary in regards to who each character is, just in case you haven’t read the earlier six books. That has always been one of the best parts of the series: each book stands alone perfectly, but you get a much stronger experience by reading the whole series.
She’s also not afraid to let some of our favorite character’s die. This is the last book, and the end of the world for her series so it is natural and fitting that it should happen. These are sure to be heart breaking to readers, and well they should be. If Lakin, and the readers didn’t care about the characters then their deaths would be meaningless. However, Lakin clearly cares about them and makes every moment we spend with them count to the point they become our friends. This is to say nothing of the destruction of one of the cities we’ve come to love.
Yet, this book is not all doom and gloom like the endless glut of teen-dystopian fiction that has cropped up, nor is it heavy in graphic violence and material not fit for mentioning like Game of Thrones. Lakin does not dwell on the violence passages, nor does she smother us in darkness and despair. On the contrary, that there is always hope and that it is not in any one person, no matter how strong, brave, or powerful they may be, that the final victory over evil can be achieved , but in God. Further second hidden Kingdom in this story is God’s Kingdom which knows no end, and that is the world that awaits our heroes. Thus, like Lewis and Tolkien before her, Lakin reminds us that there is true comfort in the midst of pain and darkness before, and there is a kingdom far greater than any on this earth in store for all of us.
The story’s framing device is certain to resonate with fans of Narnia as the narrator, a mother tells this story to her son Aron, almost like the scenes in The Princess Bride where Peter Falk tells Fred Savage the story of the movie and he keeps interjecting his commentary. There’s even a call back to that classic 80’s fantasy film with the line “none of that mushy stuff”. The reason why these scenes resonate with us is that we are not unlike Aron or Fred Savage’s character in The Princess Bride not so long ago. Someone, be it a parent, a grandparent, a teacher, or a favorite uncle or aunt took us on a journey through these worlds and we were enchanted, entertained, and we even learned a thing or two.
The Hidden Kingdom is a perfect ending to a great series that has reminded us not only of God’s love, but of the importance of words, ideas, and most importantly: stories. Lakin tells us at the end of the books prologue, “Never forget the stories”. Well, I don’t know about the rest of our readers, Mrs. Lakin, but I can safely tell you that I will never forget the Gates of Heaven and the wonderful characters I have encountered are sure to have a safe place tucked away inside my heart alongside old friends like Aslan, Lucy Pevensie, Gandalf, Mr. Bilbo, Ms Who, Meg Murry, and other fantasy favorites.
Five out of Five Shields
By the book on Amazon.com