Friends, Meet Kiriath

I took advantage of some time off last week to get a little reading in. The Legends of the Guardian-King series by Karen Hancock is some of the best fiction I have read in a good long while.

The Light of Eidon introduces the reader to the land of Kiriath and its two predominant religions, the Mataians and the Terstans. Both religions claim to be the true followers of Eidon. Their approaches to their faith in Eidon are significantly different. Abramm Kalladorne, 5th son of the king of Kiriath, finds himself in a struggle to find Eidon while also struggling to survive a life of gladitorial slavery after his brothers and spiritual mentors betray him. There was only one thing I really did not like. The story seemed to rationalize and even condone an extra-marital sexual encounter that took place.

In The Shadow Within, I was rewarded with meatier spiritual truths and more relatability to Abramm as he learns how to walk the true believers life. The mystical fantasy adventure element of these books has given them a delightful twist on the traditional Christian allegory. I look forward to picking up book 3, Shadow over Kiriath, from the library on my next visit.

The Wild Side of Sarah5

So, last year I was wondering what I would do if all my friends jumped off of a bridge. I have an update to that answer. If the bridge was a maximum of 40 feet above the water and the water was deep enough, as demonstrated by others jumping safely first, I would do it in a heartbeat. Having now experienced the incredible thrill of jumping off of a 40-foot cliff, I can say this with certainty. And it would have to literally be in a heartbeat because I don't like the idea of spending much time standing on a little ledge high up in the air. The adrenaline rush of the free fall was such that I didn't even realize that my arms slapped the water pretty hard until generous bruises started showing up a few hours later.