"You can be a candle. Bring some light into the darkness.”
The charismatic island of Atlantis sprang to life in Atlantis Rising and is now a thriving world with a deeply rooted source of power. Promi, with the mark of the prophecy emblazoned on his chest, has thrown the darkest foe, the evil warlord Narkazan, into a nearly bottomless maelstrom. All seems well on the surface.
Evil stirs. "A hand. The first bony fingers reached out of the swirling center, grasping at the shreds of cloud..." Narkazan is back to demand his place to stand in the spirit world and writhing with his desire for vengeance. Will he find a way back into the world of spirits and of mortals - our own world? What dark fate awaits us all?
Narkazan turns his red eye toward the sea of mortal souls and searches until he finds exactly what he is looking for...someone with a heart full of ambition and greed and that is where he sows his seeds in a dream opening the world up as his playground.
Beware Greeks who come bearing gifts. Out in the ocean a ship tosses on the brink of being swallowed in a violent turbulence. Promi, caught in his own pain and mistrust of his family, does not hear the vision of his sister, Jaladay, in time. Instead, he turns to his powerful allies in the spirit world and calls to them to save the sailors. In that moment the doorway into the mortal world swings wide open as Narkazan has found the mortal heart brimming with ambition and greed. Utterly unseen by human eye and certainly unknown to Promi, it is through this ship’s captain, Reocoles, that Narkazan will work his destruction.
Who will challenge this evil? Who will recognize it? Who will be strong enough of heart and mind to fight against him? Promi with the mark of prophecy on his chest is struggling with his family. How can he trust them? Why should he listen to their words of caution? What is expected of him and how can he rise up to those expectations?
In two worlds we meet a brilliant panoply of characters ranging from Promi's sister, Jaladay, the Seer, who can never get too close, to a turquoise dragon who deeply understands her place in the world and is wiling to risk everything that matters to play her part in defeating the darkness. "Orange speckled mushrooms," "the quiet breathing of baby falcons," a stream of yellow liquid flowing from a smoky building, "places within places, "deserts within oceans," only begin to unveil the infinite spirit world and the lush beauty of the mortal world of Atlantis that is now at risk of being utterly destroyed.
Using his trademark metaphor Barron leads us into a world that only a rare few can begin to imagine. We travel deeper and explore widely in the spirit world that seems to expand before us as we fly on the back of the silver-maned lion. The potential, the depth, the superbness of this place come to life through his peerless imagination and it is mirrored by the brilliant journey he creates into the hearts of his characters who are faced with moments of utter despair and desolation, seemingly impossible challenges, and the choices only they can make.
Underlying all is his message that each and every one of us human, plant, animal is uniquely valuable and necessary to this world. No matter our challenges or our failures, our story shines as vividly as any rainbow. Together we hold immense power and that power comes from the source called love.
This story will make you ask yourself where does the real treasure lie? How much of our natural world should we be willing to sacrifice in the name of progress? When is that progress truly moving us forward and when is it simply a cloak that disguises personal ambition and greed?
Big questions being asked of us and we expect nothing less from the vivid pen and deeply probing mind of author T.A.Barron.
Ages 10 and up 978-0399168048 270 pages
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
