‘Raven’s Ladder: A Novel’ by Jeffrey Overstreet – Book Review and Giveaway

Some people are just so productive that I don’t know how they do it!  Jeffrey Overstreet is one of those people!  He is an award-winning film critic and columnist; his work has appeared in such publications as Image and Paste.  He collaborates on a blog called Filmwell; its tagline is ‘Is this a film blog?’   He is also the contributing editor for Seattle Pacific University’s Response magazine and a very busy public speaker.  According to ‘About the Author’ in the back of the book:

Jeffrey and his wife, a poet and freelance editor named Anne, spend time writing in the coffee shops of Shoreline, Washington, every week.

Not only that, but he is a published author!  I have heard acclaim for his other novels; ‘Raven’s Ladder’ is the first book of his I have had the privilege to read.  This is the third book in the ‘Auralia Thread’ Series.  The others books are ‘Auralia’s Colors’ and ‘Cyndere’s Midnight.’  In addition, he has written ‘Through a Screen Darkly,’ which he describes as his “memoir of dangerous filmmaking.”

Mr. Overstreet describes his novel this way:

‘Raven’s Ladder’ is about preserving a vision of hope through doubt, disappointment, distraction, and disaster. (p. 385)

We certainly all could use more of that, couldn’t we?!

I have not read a lot of Christian fantasy novels, but I have enjoyed the ones I have read to date.  ‘Raven’s Ladder’ was no exception.  Mr. Overstreet is a masterful and imaginative storywriter.  He has created a wonderful fantasy world, and has described it with lots of color and creativity.

As seems to be the case with all Christian fantasy novels I have read to date, it has taken me a couple chapters to ‘get it.’  ‘Raven’s Ladder’ was no exception.  I think I am too grounded in this world to be immediately transported into another one (which is worrisome in itself, being that Jesus instructs us that ‘My Kingdom is not of this world’ – John 18:36).  Be that as it may, I did hang in there and was soon drawn into the story and its characters.

As is often the case when you join a book series midstream, there is the concern that it will be difficult to follow the storyline.  I did not find that to be the case with ‘Raven’s Ladder.’  It stands alone very well.  And Jeffrey helps those of us who are joining the series in the middle by providing ‘A Guide to the Characters’ at the back of the book, a tool which I found most invaluable through the entire reading of the novel (there are a lot of characters; pay attention!).

I found this book to be extremely well-written; Mr. Overstreet is a masterful storyteller.  It was adventurous and mysterious, and the story kept moving.  There are interesting characters – both human and non-human – and intriguing plotlines.  ‘Raven’s Ladder’ is multi-layered and quite detailed. 

I was a little surprised that the story was not more overtly Christian (unless I overlooked something).  It is billed as ‘Fiction/Fantasy,’ but since it is published by Waterbrook Press (the Christian imprint owned by Random House Publishers), I expected it to be more allegorical.  There were some elements, but not as many as expected.  It is certainly not non-Christian or non-biblical, in my estimation, but I had other ideas of what it would be.

There will be a fourth and final volume of ‘The Auralia Thread,’ which Jeffrey is in the process of writing.  I look forward to seeing where his imagination takes these characters!

You can order this book here.

This book was provided to me by Waterbrook Press for review and giveaway purposes.

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I have a copy of this book that I would love to pass along to one of you! 

There are several ways to gain entry:

1) Leave a comment here on the blog, telling me what intrigues you about this book!  Please make sure to leave your email address in this format – sample[at]gmail[dot]com.

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So there are five chances to enter!  Please limit one entry per option.

This give away is for U.S. residents only.  The deadline for entry is Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. EST.  A winner will be chosen via the Random Number Generator on Sunday, March 21, 2010 and will be contacted via email.  The best to all of you!