Ancient Illumination
by Elaina J. Davidson
Reviewed by S. S. Bazinet

Description: Fire spews and ice follows. The world Drakonis is near death and all life has fled. Except for Brennan, the thief who hears mysterious directions to Castle Drakon on the wind, and brothers Bastian and Cole, who choose to follow her. Then there’s Halley, an exotic dancer from the burning cities, and Audri, who refuses to speak.

These five are the last and it is their task to ensure at least memory remains, or Drakonis will be eternally forgotten. To ensure this, they must find Castle Drakon.

In a grotto under the ice they discover three others alive and before the warmth of a fire hear of a mighty legend. Unravelling its mysteries could lead to a way off a dying world. An ancient light will illuminate their path.

Review: “So much more than just an entertaining fantasy!”

“There are only five of us now. We are the last of our kind.”

A great story teller needs to know how to hook the reader immediately. And that’s why Elaina Davidson is fantastic at what she does. As soon as I read the first two lines of the prologue of “Ancient Illumination”, my mind raced with questions that needed answers. Who are these five? How and why did the rest of their kind perish? And more importantly, will the five survive until the end of the tale?

I’ve read some of the other reviews regarding this book. Many of them are very well thought out and address how brilliantly Davidson weaves a story with issues that have relevance in today’s world. However, the idea of survival was the concept that held my attention. Survival is a basic drive in any species. For the five people in this story, it’s pivotal. If they perish, their kind will be lost forever.

However, when they are presented with the price of survival, they have to consider the cost and what they’d have to give up to survive. There is also a question of immortality and what one would sacrifice for that immortality. Would living forever be something of value?

This is a beautifully written narrative that held lots of surprises and kept me reading to the end. I won’t tell you what that end is, but I will say that this story made me more aware of how lucky we are to have the choices we have, that we can only survive as a species if we each choose carefully and with a more enlightened approach to life.

Highly recommended!

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