There are some books that you fly through, reading it all in a night. This is not one of those books. This is the kind of book that makes you think. That pushes the stale places in your brain and forces you to question them and challenge your viewpoint, and come away the better for it. This book floats a new idea in front of you so intriguing that you need to take time to ponder it and absorb it, and then go back for more. Tim Hick's approach to writing is creative, refreshing, and energizing. His characters' train of thought is one moment complex and one moment perfunctory--in other words, completely relatable--drawing you in to the ideas just as much as to the story
If you have a lot of time when you don't have to jump up and do things, that is a great time to read this book because once begun, you won't want to put it down again until the final sentence...not even for eating and drinking and sleeping. Tim's characters become vibrant and real with deep emotions as they struggle to deal with paradoxical situations both personal and global. The story has sweep and power reminiscent of ancient legends handed down by verbal tradition through many generations and interlaced with unexpected, often unsettling surprises not unlike being jumped from behind by a hungry cougar. It is a story of compassion, tenderness, confusion, courage, determination, faith, rage, love all intertwined and hurtling wildly towards the edge of a precipice. Read it and you'll see what I mean. Bryce Scully