There Comes a Prophet by David Litwack

Who among us will cast aside a comfortable existence and risk death to follow a dream?

A world kept peaceful for a thousand years by the magic of the ruling vicars. But a threat lurks from a violent past. Wizards from the darkness have hidden their sorcery in a place called the keep and left a trail of clues that have never been solved.

Nathaniel has grown up longing for more but unwilling to challenge the vicars. Until his friend Thomas is taken for a teaching, the mysterious coming-of-age ritual. Thomas returns but with his dreams ripped away. When Orah is taken next, Nathaniel tries to rescue her and ends up in the prisons of Temple City. There he meets the first keeper of the ancient clues. But when he seeks the keep, what he finds is not magic at all.

If he reveals the truth, the words of the book of light might come to pass:

“If there comes among you a prophet saying ‘Let us return to the darkness,’ you shall stone him, because he has sought to thrust you away from the light.”

My Thought's/Review:

Wow. When I first started this book, the premise was just a little bit too boring, the characters were a little too meh, and the story-line was dragging. Yes, it was. I was supremely bored, and more than a little unhappy that I'd accepted this book's pitch. Then, when I was about 50 pages in, it suddenly just all came together.

The character's became more developed, the story-line sky-rocketed to terrific, and best of all, the premise suddenly became amazing. Because of one simple reason: It suddenly became an epic fantasy. Dystopian was just not working for this book. When I was sent the review request, that's what I chalked it up to. A simple dystopian, just like the hundreds of others that have been released recently. Was I ever wrong.

The book was clearly fantasy, and I can't believe that I missed it before. Honestly, I am so blind. But I'm glad I am, because after a certain dragon book, (I'm sure you can guess which one) I completely backed off fantasy. It just wasn't my thing, after that one book ruined it for me.

And that was that. So, in retrospect, I never would have picked this book up if I thought it was fantasy. On one hand, I can see the dystopian elements, but it reads so much like a fantasy!

Moving on, because I've spent a little too much time rambling about fantasy.

While the characters weren't exactly phenomenal, they were more than enough to keep me entertained, and I really wanted to know what happened to them.

Nathaniel, our lead character, was extremely brave, honest, and he just wanted to be a hero. Nathaniel was a dreamer, and I love that. We very rarely get to see dreamers anymore, because of the contemporary craze. Orah and Thomas were every bit as good as Nathaniel, but they lacked the leadership that Nathaniel ignites. The rebellion, and other spoilerish content, would not have began without Nathaniel. He's a born leader. And he deserves every bit of praise he gets.

All in all, There Comes a Prophet was a fantasy of epic proportions, that kept me reading until the very end.


Favorite Quote: "Ideas combined with Courage can change the world."