The Pillar of Light: The Milana Legends, Part 1
By Anna Travis
As a Christian author myself, I’m always on the prowl for another Christian fantasy or other adventurous fiction. So I was pleasantly pleased when author Anna Travis approached me for a review.
The Pillar of Light is a Christian fantasy that focuses on the message of forgiveness and redemption, two of the most basic pillars of the Christian faith. I thought that alone was a cool play on the faith, books with a message are tough to find these days but ones with a firm Christian message is even rarer. So kudos to Travis for giving us something that’s both interesting and able to learn from.
The beginning of the story takes place in a missionary home in Brazil, its here that we meet the Millers, a husband and wife who simply go by Doc and Ruth. Readers are given a description of their struggles as whites in a minority country. It’s a very interesting tale as I’m a minority so I’m used to the whole racism thing being the other way around. There wasn’t a huge stress on their victimization but it was clear that the Millers had a hard time in Brazil, both as white people and especially as missionaries. Two struggles that are actually very common in other countries.
Fast forward a bit and we meet our protagonist, Nani, a girl who has little to no recollection of her own identity or whereabouts. She is taken in by the kindhearted Millers and thus our story begins; an adventurous race to find out just who this mysterious girl is.
I honestly enjoyed this book, its worthy of each of the five stars I gave it in its rating. Its written well, it has an even balance of detail and story, and its got a colorful and multicultural cast—most of whom have a Christian foundation in their background. So basically this novel has everything I look for in a book.
If I had to name a complaint, it would be that there were a lot of characters. Not everyone was a main character but there were plenty of people just called the boy or girl, the Hunter, etc… If you actually read the story then you’ll know many of the characters mentioned aren’t integral to the rest of the book and don’t make more than one appearance. Also, this book takes place in multiple locations, because of the storyline there’s bound to be plenty of characters. But for me, it was an AWFUL lot. However, I still gave the book five stars. Obviously the number of characters wasn’t bothersome enough to make me close the book but I did take notice to it.
Overall, I think Travis did a great job in representing the realistic side of Christianity while keeping her fictional novel interesting and entertaining. I liked the blend of faith and fiction and the happy medium she was able to find with her characters, detail, and plot. Christian fantasy isn’t easy to write, I can speak from personal experience, but Anna Travis makes it look easy. That’s a wonderful, wonderful gift to have.
I would recommend this book to fans of fantasy and adventure, those with an interest in Christian fiction will especially appreciate this book but I feel that a secular audience will find enjoyment in the author’s writing as well.
*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*