The Realms Thereunder by Ross Lawhead - Book Review

I was very privileged to have gotten an advanced readers copy of the Realms Thereunder by Ross Lawhead. I read most of the novels written by his father Stephen Lawhead in my teen years and they were some of my favorite books. This being his sons first full length novel I was intrigued and excited to see how it would measure up.

I was quite pleased that Ross' writing style is similar to that of his father. He is able to draw you into the story quite quickly and keep you guessing the entire time. The story followed the adventure of the main characters Daniel and Freya and the chapters would alternate between telling the story of their past and their present that clearly is leading to the next book in the trilogy. I found the story compelling and was pleased that the plot and characters were not typical and predictable, a quality that bothers me in a lot of novels. There was a few passages of the book that were dry and difficult to get threw however it was for a purpose that advanced the plot. Though I do understand why they were included and important I found them more long and drawn out than might have been necessary. Though I didn't, I was tempted to skip over a few paragraphs.

Over all, I greatly enjoyed both the writing style and the content of the Realms Thereunder and I'm looking forward to reading the other books of the trilogy. The connection to English mythology was presented in a way to make the story seem just believable enough to keep the fantasy from being outlandish. This novel kept me guessing and has left me still wondering where the story is headed. It was artfully and skillfully written in a way that told the story of the past while setting the stage for future installments along with rich detail sufficient for creating a movie of the mind. I believe that this story could very easily be translated to the silver stage with wonderful effect.

I will definitely be reading any following novels by Ross Lawhead and I'm looking forward to discovering what happens in the lives of Daniel and Freya. Maybe you will join me, following their journey.

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