Wonderfully entertaining: "Exiles" by R. J. Larson

about the book....

For daring to trust their Creator, Araine and Nikaros are swept from their homes into a foreign land…slaves to their enemies.

Araine Khalome of ToronSea follows the goddess Atea. But Araine secretly questions Atea’s power as a goddess. Wrestling with her spiritual doubts, Araine finds old scrolls containing verses that come alive, beckoning her soul. Within those words, Araine senses the presence of the Infinite, the despised Most Ancient God, enemy to all Ateans, and she’s captivated—secretly risking her life to read the Books of the Infinite.

You are forever in My sight…

Betrayed and condemned, Araine is swept away to the kingdom of Belaal, where she is swiftly apprehended and marked as a slave. Caught up in the lethal political and religious struggles within Balaal, Araine joins forces with another slave, Nikaros, a hostage and exiled son of an Eosyth Lord. As they fight to survive the antagonistic royal court, Nik and Araine soon realize that they must also protect the despotic god-king who has enslaved them.

But the god-king, Bel-Tygeon, has plans of his own.

Child of Dust, are you My servant?

my review....

I absolutely loved R.J. Larson's fantasy fiction debut series, "Books of the Infinite" and so when I saw that there was a new book that is loosely connected to the first, I was eager to get my hands on a copy! "Exiles" definitely lived up to my hopes, as once again readers are transported to an exotic land where danger and mystery abounds. I loved watching both Araine and Nikaros grow as characters over the course of the story, as they come to accept the calling that the Infinite has placed on their lives, and as the Infinite takes desperate, seemingly hopeless situations and brings good out of them. Readers who know their Bible well will see many wonderful parallels in this story to the truth of scripture, and also to the Biblical characters of Daniel and King Nebuchadnezzar. I love how the author borrows these themes and weaves them into "Exiles". The characters are wonderfully developed, and the book is full of action that kept me turning through the pages as fast as I could. But best of all, the scenes where the characters interact with the Infinite are so compelling that I found myself praying in a similar manner to God and listening for his voice! Like Araine and Nikaros, may we all have such relationships with God where we listen for his voice and his guidance and seek to obey no matter the cost. If we did, surely we'd all have lives filled with adventure, much like they do (though hopefully we would find ourselves in less perilous situations!).

Those readers who enjoyed Larson's "Books of the Infinite" series will definitely enjoy "Exiles". But if you weren't able to enjoy that series, don't let that stop you. "Exiles" is not just good fantasy fiction, but just good fiction, period. I highly recommend this book and award it 4.5 out of of 5 stars.


Access to an ebook of "Exiles" was provided for the purposes of this unbiased review.

 about the author....

R. J. Larson is the author of numerous devotionals featured in publications such as Women's Devotional Bible and Seasons of a Woman's Heart. She lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with her husband and their two sons.Prophet marks her debut in the fantasy genre. Visit http://rjlarsonbooks.com/ for more information.

Buy now from Amazon.com:

Exiles: Realms of the Infinite, Book One