Allon by Shawn Lamb
Glass Road PR Blog Tour
It has been a while since I've read young adult or fantasy so this book was an exciting change. This story is set in the land of Allon, which was once a paradise, but is now overcome by the Dark Way as King Marcellus rules. Marcellus and his team are pawns of Dagar, the evil lord, and his shadow warriors.
An ancient prophecy tells of the future restoration of Allon and the Guardians, which are angel-like creatures and followers of Jor'el. The prophecy speaks of two individuals who will bring together Guardians and men to usher in this return to paradise. Those individuals are Ellis and Shannon. This book follows both characters. Ellis learns his identity and trains to fulfill his destiny, eventually travelling through the provinces of Allon completing tests to show his readiness to take the throne; and through Shannon, the Guardians begin to return.
It takes a unique mind to create a cohesive fantasy world, and Shawn Lamb has done that. I admit I had a little trouble reconciling all of the storylines and characters at the beginning, but as the story progressed and I became more engaged, I was able to connect the dots. The characters were likable and three-dimensional. I enjoyed the Biblical connections and allegorical nature of the story and characters. I did find a couple of editing errors or typos, but overall this was a good young adult fantasy and an interesting read. I look forward to continuing through the series and following the adventures in Allon.
I am curious about two things, I'd love to be able to ask Shawn:
1. How did you choose the characters' names; there were a few that I could see the significance, but others I wondered about?
2. Have you thought about graphic novels...with your daughter's artwork, I think this would make a graphic series!?!
For more information about Allon or the author, visit www.allonbooks.com. There you will find the book trailer, an interactive map of Allon, an excerpt from the book, and artwork and information about the characters and about Shawn and her family.
I received this book free through Glass Road Public Relations in exchange for my honest review.
Comments
1)Names - Yes, you're right some were specific, like ELLIS, since EL in Scripture is connected with God. Overall, I didn't want to make the names difficult to pronounce for the kids, yet remain a bit uncommon. Some fantasies go out of their way to create unusual and unique sounding names that I can't even pronounce. When that happens, I can't get a complete mental picture of the character to connect with it.
2) Graphic novel. Yes, we have. Unfortunately, that is something for my publisher to deal with. Still, the artwork is establishing the look and style. Also, a group of boys at a local middle school, were so enthralled with ALLON, that they are taking the art work and map to create a presentation of how ALLON would look as a video game. I hope to have that up on my website once that is done.
Again, thank you.