Monday, February 16, 2009



BLOG TOUR - DAY 1



Cyndere's Midnight
by Jeffrey Overstreet

Web site - http://lookingcloser.org/

(Click book for Amazon link)

Like the title, Cyndere's Midnight comes across with a darker tone than Auralia's Colors. In this book, the second in the series, many of the characters deal with loss of some type. Cyndere, the future heir to the kingdom of Bel Amica, planned to help the vicious beastmen with her husband Deuneroi. When a group of beastmen kill Deuneroi, Cyndere spirals down into a feeling of loss and questions of her future. What will she do now, and what difference will it really make?
Jordam is seperated from his brothers, the very ones who killed Deuneroi. His loss is a feeling of pack seperation at first, and then from a drink known as the Essence which provides the beastmen with superhuman strength and speed. The Essence also provides long life, but all of these benefits are at a cost, for each beastman has loss their humanity and taken on the curse of madness.


The people of Abascar, from Auralia's Colors, have lost their capitol and their identity. Now their young king must rebuild their country anew in the mountains where they hide from their attackers and the memory of great Abascar's fall. All have lost family, home, and friends, and now must strive to survive the harsh Winter.
Like his previous book in the series, Jeffrey Overstreet has created a foreign landscape rich in detail and texture. Maybe because of the tone, the story seems to delve deep into charcter's pain and emotion. Each faced loss and carries the pain inside. The strange beastman, Jordam, while vicious because of his life and the Essence, has moments of near humanity through his contact with Auralia. The story draws you in, and leaves you wondering how you might respond in the same circumstances.

2 comments:

Robert Treskillard said...

"The story draws you in, and leaves you wondering how you might respond in the same circumstances"

You know, as I read the story I was drawn in, and thought about my own life here and now ... but you've taken it a step further.

How *would* I respond if I were IN the story? Hmmmm...?

I'd probably turn tail and run! Following the Keeper's tracks is harder than it seems!

Great review!

-Robert
http://robert.epictales.org

Rebecca LuElla Miller said...

Good intro, Tim Thanks for your consistent commitment to the tour.

I hadn't really thought about the theme of loss running through the book and making it darker. Good observations!

Of course there is also the turning point toward redemption, so in some ways it's a lighter book. Or maybe just more colorful. ;-)

Becky