Dragonwitch

Blood pounded so hard in Leta’s head, she could scarcely get the words out. “I think the House of Lights is real. I think it stands somewhere in our own country, hidden until the time is ripe. I think the Smallman is a real person, and he will find Etanun’s sword, and he will find the hidden door. He will open up the House of Lights so that we will hear the Sphere Songs again!”
”Silly superstition?” the Chronicler said, but it was less a rebuke than a suggestion for her to consider.

“Maybe,” she replied. “Maybe not. But I believe it.”

Book: Dragonwitch (Tales of Goldstone Wood) by Anne Elisabeth Stengl, Bethany House Publishers, 2013

 

Genre: Fantasy

Target Audience: Girls 13+

Subjects: Faith, Fear, Truth

Summary: A dwarf hidden in a library, a prince not ready to replace the dying king, a goddess mourning a love rejected, a faire on her third and final life, a proud cat fearing for the one loved, a princess forced to marry someone who does not love, a small mouse on a crucial mission, and a hidden truth. The House of Lights has been hidden for centuries. But the faire tales (or are they just faire tales) promise that when the Smallman comes, he will find the hidden door and throw open the Doors of Light. Many don’t believe it, but those who do are hanging on to the hope. The time has come, but the Smallman can not be found. And until he is the Dragonwitch will continue to grow in her power and evil will prevail.

Notes: This is the fourth in Anne Elisabeth Stengl’s Tales of Goldstone Woods. The series sets up a mythical world – or rather, multiple worlds. There is the realm of mortals and a couple other realms – a sort of in between world and a world which seems to at least sort of represent Heaven and a world that seems to at least sort of represent Hell. In each story, the author seeks to demonstrate one aspect of God’s character through the Prince of the Farthest Shore. In this story, he shows how in our weakness He is strong. The heroes of this story are weak, pathetic, pitiful characters. They aren’t the strong powerful champions. But it is in their weakness, their knowing that they can not do this on their own, that the strength comes.

Another interesting spiritual element in this story is the issue of truth. Because the truth of what will come is hidden in faire tales, very few believe the truth. The Bible is the truth but many refuse to believe it, yet as one character says in the story “What you believe cannot affect the truth of the matter”. Whether or not the characters choose to believe the truth, it is still truth. Whether or not we choose to believe what the Bible says, it is still truth.

Recommendation Scale: 4/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

2 Corinthians 12:9 – But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

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