Tag: Lumen

My name is Sephone Winter. I am a slave, but one day I will be free.

Book Review | Lumen (Nightingale #2) by JJ Fischer

Lumen is the second book in JJ Fischer’s Nightingale trilogy, based on the Hans Christian Anderson story (which I’ve never read, which means the entire story is new to me).

I read and enjoyed the first book, Calor, which introduced us to Sephone, a slave with a gift for changing (and healing) people’s memories. Calor shows her meeting a ragtag group of characters, who she falls in with as they search for a rumoured Reliquary that will help Dorian forget his past, and perhaps heal their broken world.

Calor introduced Sephone’s strange world – and the people with their strange gifts – gradually.

Lumen, as the second book, can’t and doesn’t. Instead, we’re immediately introduced to Sephone, Dorian, Cass, Bear, Bas, and Jewel, a wolf who seems to have strange powers of her own. It’s a lot to take in.

As Dorian leads the travellers through the land in his search for the Reliquary, we meet other characters. Lots of other characters. There is also a lot of politics which I found hard to follow the first time I read Lumen, and no easier when I re-read it.

It could be that I found it difficult because it’s more than a year since I read Calor, because I’m not normally an epic fantasy reader, or because I don’t know the source story (I’ve considered reading it, but that might give the plot away, and I don’t want that).

Maybe this is a series best read back-to-back (which means now is a great time to start reading).

Lumen is well-written with a fascinating premise (a world with people with strange gifts), and the story has some clear Christian images, like life beginning in a Garden (with a capital G), a mysterious group called the Three, and a possible saviour figure. I am definitely engaged in the story.

While I found parts of the story confusing, with too many characters and too much politics, this isn’t the first trilogy I’ve read where the second story was weaker than the first. The end did leave me wanting to read the final book to see how the story ends. Memoria releases in December, and I’m looking forward to it.

Recommended for young adult fantasy fans, especially those who like to see the Christian links in the story.

Thanks to Enclave Publishing and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About J J Fischer

J. J. Fischer’s writing dream began with the anthology of zoo animals she painstakingly wrote and illustrated at age five, to rather limited acclaim. Thankfully, her writing (but not her drawing) has improved since then. She is a clinically-trained psychologist but no, she cannot read your mind. When she isn’t killing defenseless house plants, pretending she can play the piano, eating peanut butter out of the jar, or memorizing funny film quotes, she and her husband David are attempting to prevent their warring pet chickens from forming factions and re-enacting Divergent. Honestly, it’s a miracle she finds the time to write any books.

Find J J Fischer online at:

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About Lumen

What if erasing the past cost more than you were willing to pay?

Having narrowly escaped their enemies, Sephone, Dorian, and Cass continue their search for the elusive Silvertongue, the only one with knowledge of the Reliquary’s whereabouts. But time is running out for Sephone, and with Dorian accused of high treason, the quest takes on a new urgency.

As secrets from each of their pasts drive a wedge between them, Sephone invests all her hopes in finding her homeland, Lethe—where her family may yet be alive. But nothing about Lethe is as she expects, and disappointment, betrayal, and danger await her at every turn.

When the truth about the Reliquary’s curse comes to light, the fragile bonds between the unlikely companions are tested like never before. Meanwhile, Dorian faces a terrible choice: to save the life of one who is beginning to mean more to him than the past he’s so desperate to forget, or to save his beloved Caldera from dangers outside and within.

Find Lumen online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #355 | Lumen (Nightingale #2) by JJ Fischer

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m quoting from Lumen, the second book in JJ Fischer’s Nightingale trilogy.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

It was early morning, and I stood on a beach of broken glass.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About Lumen

What if erasing the past cost more than you were willing to pay?

Having narrowly escaped their enemies, Sephone, Dorian, and Cass continue their search for the elusive Silvertongue, the only one with knowledge of the Reliquary’s whereabouts. But time is running out for Sephone, and with Dorian accused of high treason, the quest takes on a new urgency.

As secrets from each of their pasts drive a wedge between them, Sephone invests all her hopes in finding her homeland, Lethe—where her family may yet be alive. But nothing about Lethe is as she expects, and disappointment, betrayal, and danger await her at every turn.

When the truth about the Reliquary’s curse comes to light, the fragile bonds between the unlikely companions are tested like never before. Meanwhile, Dorian faces a terrible choice: to save the life of one who is beginning to mean more to him than the past he’s so desperate to forget, or to save his beloved Caldera from dangers outside and within.

Find Lumen online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

Do you like to read fairytale retellings?

Bookish Question #347 | Do you like to read fairytale retellings?

I haven’t read a lot of fairytale retellings.

I don’t have anything against the genre: it’s just they rarely catch my eye.

There are a couple of exceptions:

I have read Unnoticed by Australian author Amanda Deed, and Unhinged is on my to-read pile. Unhinged is an Australian historical retelling of the Beauty of the Beast, and Unnoticed is a twist on the classic Cinderella story.

I have also read Calor and Lumen by JJ Fischer, and am eagerly awaiting Memoria, which will be released in December 2024. This trilogy is described as a fantasy transformation of The Nightingale by Hans Christian Anderson, with echoes of the myths of Hades and Persephone. I don’t know the story of The Nightingale, so I don’t have any expectations about the story.

That is one of the challenges for authors writing a fairytale retelling: when readers know the original story, the author has to find a way of telling the story in a way that readers recognise as familiar, but with enough of an original twist that it is still interesting.

What about you? Do you like to read fairytale retellings? Do you have any good Christian retellings you can recommend?