Ross Lawhead, son of famed novelist Stephen R. Lawhead, has embarked on a literary career of his own, following in much the same footsteps as his father. In
The Realms Thereunder, Daniel Tully and fellow classmate Freya Reynolds, on a tour of an old church, leave their classmates and find themselves underneath in catacombs where they happen upon a pair of sleeping knights. After arousingso them, they learn that the knights are meant to awaken when great evil stirs in the land. The story follows Daniel, Freya, and the two knights as they travel underground to confront this evil. At the same time, the story unfolds eight years later in present-day England where Daniel and Freya meet anew. Evil is once more upon the land and they again find themselves caught up in a story well beyond themselves.
As much as I like fantasy, I never really got into the book. It continually jumps back and forth between present and past which I found hard to follow. In addition, a few of the episodes I didn't find contributed to the overall story. It seems that Lawhead is already thinking ahead to the next books in the series but in the process seems not to have captured my interest. I did like the premise, though, with knights preserved to overcome a great evil.
Book has been provided courtesy of
Thomas Nelson and
Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from
Thomas Nelson.
