Book Review: A Touch Of Light: The Ashes Of Avarin: Book One
Book cover image from Bookshop.org
“Truth is never popular. People are always asking for it, but it’s never what they want. Not really.”
Lynn, the Sentinel
A Touch Of Light by Thiago Abdalla explores this quote as you traverse an entire land, rich in lore and belief.
The continent of Immeria is divided into different areas, but all are part of The Domain. The Domain is governed by the belief and laws of the Seraph. Death was not to be spoken of, and only a few were chosen to be worthy of the Promised Dawn. The rest are reduced to ashes.
The book begins with Prince Jovu’s death. Judged unworthy, his body was cremated. Prince Adrian was not pleased that he had to act as though his brother had never existed. The dead were not to be spoken of or mourned outwardly. When Prince Adrian was chosen to assume Prince Jovu’s duties, his new status did not sit well with either he or the King; but blood always holds the strongest ties. Belief in the Seraph is truth.
At the same time, a blood-borne pathogen is sweeping through The Domain, causing a madness of sorts. If tainted blood touches you, you are infected — the virus must be avoided at all costs.
I absolutely loved this book. The words and descriptions were like poetry, giving the characters a sense of gentleness and civility. However something might appear to the outside world, looks can be deceiving; that is the premise of the book. Look deeper than the surface. Find the truth. Beauty may be deadly.
A Touch of Light was exciting, moving, and never seemed to drag in its intensity. This epic fantasy artfully handled various topical subjects such as a virus, faith, and truth, and handled them in such a way that your emotions vacillated between sadness, anger, and jubilation.
As I was reading this book, a stanza from Jesus Christ, Superstar, played in the back of my head. “What is truth? It is a changing law. We both have truths, are mine the same as yours?” This theme runs throughout the book as well, where each character must deal with their own ideas of truth.
The characters, even the ancillary players, came alive on the pages. It was beautiful, horrible, deadly, life-affirming, and didn’t shy away from asking the tough questions. That is the kind of epic fantasy I love to read. Bold. Sweeping. Hard-hitting!
Although at first the number of characters was daunting, I became invested with each of them very quickly. I cared what happened to them to the extent of trying to flip ahead to see what the resolution was at the end of the chapter. (Thank you, Kindle, for keeping me in line.)
I can’t praise this book enough, and I highly recommend it for anyone into Lord Of The Rings-esque fantasy. My only question is, when will book two be available?
Sue Cook lives in Freeport, Illinois with her husband Randy and two dogs. Her passions include assistance dogs, rescue dogs, music, acting, theater, poetry, and Doctor Who. She’s been in both film and theater and is a regular cast member of the podcast Doctor Who’s Line is it….Anyway? Sue is an advocate for the use of Service Dogs to assist their disabled handlers to maintain their independence. Quigley’s Quest, her first children’s book, addresses how a dog becomes a Service Dog.
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