Book Review - Raven's Ladder

Raven’s Ladder
Jeffrey Overstreet
WaterBrook Press (February 16, 2010)

In short: This is book three in a series and “like walking into the middle of an awkward conversation” it was hard to get into for me.

Arbitrary as it may be, if I’m not engaged within the first fifty pages I have to move on. “Too many books, too little time”. Backseat Writer sums it up,

“Starting the Auralia Thread series with Book Three, Raven’s Ladder, is not a good idea. It’s like walking into the middle of an awkward conversation or trying to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop without first biting into the candy covering—difficult, but not impossible.”

Impossible for me. The writing was a little overwrought with too much backstory for me to tackle right now.

“Up a ragged stair to a low-ceilinged cave, she had moved like a moth to a flicker of light. A host of slaves, hands joined, arms bruised from long days of tunneling for the chieftain, sand House Abascar’s Evening Verse. Its melody unfurled like a watchtower’s flag. The exhausted prisoners seemed to draw strength from that rhythmic ritual, prodding at the darkness until it bled hope.”

I will try again at a later point - with the first book. Until then, here are some random reviews from around the web that may be fairer than I at this point.

Backseat Writer
Novel Teen Book Reviews
Bibliophile’s Retreat
Musings of a Book Addict
Library Journal

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.