Recent Reads {The Map Across Time}

The Map Across Time by C.S. Lakin - This is Book Two in Lakin's 'The Gates of Heaven' series, and although I didn't read it quickly, I was much more drawn into this story than the first one, The Wolf of Tebron. The series of novels are essentially fairy tales for adult or young adult readers, and include elements of mythology, fantasy, magic, and Biblical references.

Something is very wrong in the kingdom of Sherbourne. The king has long been greedy, and now is obsessed with finding the legendary firebird. The kingdom itself is beginning to fall apart, but the king doesn't seem to notice. Adin and Aletha, the twins who are prince and princess, see that something must be done, and Adin sets out to find the firebird himself, despite the fact that he is crippled. He meets a mysterious hermit that tells him how to find an enchanted map that will take him back in time so that he can undo the curse upon the kingdom. Aletha has no idea where he has gone, but later follows him. Disaster and mishaps force them both to make difficult decisions, even after they find each other in the Sherbourne of the past.

There are plenty of twists and turns in this inventive plot, and although some outcomes were predictable, there were many surprises as well. The only thing I really didn't appreciate was the liberal use of words and phrases in the mysterious lost language of Sherbourne, as the twins' wise old nurse and many other characters sprinkled these words into their dialogue. I found out later that the words were based on Hebrew, which adds to their symbolic meaning, certainly, but I felt that they were overused and became confusing when used so often without always providing adequate context for the reader to understand.

Overall, this was a very good read, and although the second in a series, it's not necessary to read the first in order to enjoy this one.

By the same author: The Wolf of Tebron

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