Illuminated
Publisher Description
If the Wizard of Oz swept you away and Narnia enchanted you, then follow the White Road Chronicles for a new kind of adventure.
Illuminated: Book One- begins with a girl in search of the truth.
Alyra, mockingly known as Princess, was captured at an early age by the evil ruler, Darnel, and brought up in the dark land of Racah. Now, at the age of seventeen, she considers herself nothing special. She has no recollection of who she is or where she came from. Her hope of ever finding freedom dims.
Until the messenger arrives. Until he brings to light the meaning behind the medallion she's kept hidden. Until she accepts the blinding truth.
Now she flees for her life.
Alyra's journey leads her down a narrow road with strange traveling companions. Together, they encounter a kingdom where nothing is what it first seems.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the first of Castle's White Road Chronicles, 17-year-old Alyra begins to learn who she really is. Captured as a child by the ruthless king Darnel, she has no memory of where she comes from. Only when she meets with a man that Darnel has captured, a messenger of sorts, does she realize that she is somehow significant; she carries a medallion that is worn only by those who have "stood in King Shaydon's presence." Armed with this knowledge, Alyra determines to overthrow Darnel's rule and return to the land of her origin. The Christian allegory is obvious: King Shaydon represents God and Jesus Christ, and Darnel the Devil or forces of sin. Alyra's story is both heroic quest and spiritual journey, and Castle sets up the story well for the sequels. While the Christian allegory is solid, other elements are flawed. The story is set in medieval times, but the dialogue is peppered with contemporary slang, and the prose is stilted at times. This may satisfy allegory fans, but as fantasy fiction it brings little new to the genre. (BookLife)
