Day two of the CSFF blog tour

I mentioned in my last post, that I don't like Fairy Tales. I meant to say Fables. I don't mind fairies, goblins, trolls, and such, it's just the far fetched "moon and sun being people" thing I don't care for so much.

The basic story is this. Joran is a young man growing up in an out of the way village, where nothing out of the ordinary happens- except Joran speaks with animals. It is a peculiar gift, mostly responsible for why he works as a blacksmith. Hearing complaints while shoeing an irritable horse now and then is preferable to hearing fish beg for their lives. The detail Lakin uses to describe this gift and its effects on Joran is just one of many ways she brings her world to life. Lakin makes it easy for the reader to feel what Joran feels, like for instance, his lonliness. Though he was raised by a loving family, and is surrounded by kind people, Joran still feels out of place. Lakin informs the reader that all of Joran's brothers were strong and burly, and he is thin and lean, with long spindly fingers. These physical differences make it easy to see how Joran, though loved, feels like an outsider.

Joran lives a simple life as a blacksmith, and is married to a beautiful weaver named Charris. From the start of the story Charris is absent from Joran's life, except in his dreams. And, as the puzzle comes together, we find that Charris betrayed her husband, and he sent her away secretly. It is all basically cut and dry-- save for the messy matter of the local witch, who claims Joran locked Charris away in his dreams, and the only way he can save her is to travel to the end of the world and speak to the moon-- yup ... that's where I yawned a little bit.

Joran heads off into the wild and picks up a faithful wolf companion named Ruyah, in a sort of "mouse pulls the thorn from the lion's paw" kind of way. Together they travel on a twisting adventure full of philosophy and whimsy, and deep emotional turmoil. I would give more detail, but I'm afraid anything I say would ruin the story.

There are many Christian elements throughout, including a nice story of redemption. If you enjoy Fables, you won't be disappointed with this one.