Eye of the Sword - Day 2

"Raise the sword, Trevin," she said. "Look into it."

With both hands he lifted the sword and stared at the reflection. Broad shoulders. Long hair gathered at the neck. His hands glowed like coals, the right one raised in the sign of the Tree. The face was his but more confident. Older. Wiser.

He was certain the image did not show who he was now, but he could not deny that it showed the man he wanted to be.

After hearing me say good things about Eye of the Sword, the second book in Karyn Henley's Angelaeon Circle, my eldest niece asked to read it. She's fourteen, and we can't keep enough reading material. (Well, there'd be more, but I haven't unpacked all my books.) In her own words:

The story is very interesting, the characters are believable, the main character is someone I can relate to. He suffers from what we all suffer from: he feels he isn't good enough, and can't live up to who he wants to be because of things he's done.

The descriptions of people and places are clear, easy to understand, and good.

It bears repeating: "He suffers from what we all suffer from: he feels he isn't good enough, and can't live up to who he wants to be because of things he's done."

Wow.

Yup. I can totally identify.
 
I liked Trevin, the main character, and his band of fellow travelers, and the fact that -- despite wings and harps and elementals -- Henley does a great job of turning ethereal creatures into flesh-and-blood people.

My favorite part? The eye of the sword. It sees beyond the surface to the truth.

Kinda reminds me of the old prophet, Samuel, coming to anoint the young shepherd boy, David. The kid wouldn't be king yet -- that was years in the future -- but Samuel didn't think he had the right stuff. God replied, "The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

More about Eye of the Sword tomorrow; meantime, check out these other stops along the Christian Science Fiction & Fantasy Blog Tour:

Julie Bihn Thomas Fletcher Booher  Beckie Burnham Jackie Castle Brenda Castro Jeff Chapman Christine Theresa Dunlap Cynthia Dyer Victor Gentile Ryan Heart Janeen Ippolito Jason Joyner Carol Keen Emileigh Latham Rebekah Loper Shannon McDermott Karen McSpadden Meagan @ Blooming with Books Rebecca LuElla Miller Anna Mittower Mirriam Neal Nissa Faye Oygard Nathan Reimer Chawna Schroeder Kathleen Smith Donna Swanson Jessica Thomas Steve Trower Shane Werlinger Phyllis Wheeler