No Words to Say, Write, or Read? Oh My!

The Unraveling of Wentwater
  The Gates of Heaven Series


By C. S. Lakin




While you may not want to read the whole series, if Fairy Tale Fantasy is not your thing, I found this latest book by C. S. Lakin, which is due out in July, particularly delightful from a reading and writing standpoint... Many writers will enjoy reading what happens when all the words are gone!

It all happened in Wentwater, a small village that was mostly made up of farmers and tradesmen. For some reasons, the town had become insulated from other towns, due to distance perhaps; however, it had resulted in layer upon layer of various superstitions that had been passed down through the generations... There were so many issues that had to be remembered that it was hard to even finish a day's work without ensuring that this or that was taken care of... Chicken feathers, for instance, that might have been left by the chickens or roosters had to be picked up immediately, else bad luck would surely strike!

One of the tragedies coming out of those traditions, was when a family had a child and the women of the village gathered, with the oldest woman having the privilege of naming the child... Fromer, one of the main characters had been thus named--but it had been by mistake. The woman had been planning on saying farmer, since she believed he would one day do that work...but what a mistake that turned out to be!

Now the town women were gathered for the birth of a girl to a young couple. But an old woman, a witch, busted into that gathering, asking why she hadn't been invited, and then proclaiming that the child would bring about the end of Wentwater!

And that superstitious town forced the parents to leave and burned down their house! Everybody had always thought that the baby had been burned along with that building...

Fromer and Justyn, his older brother, were both there that day and saw what happened. Justyn, who was very intelligent, remembered that; and as he grew older, he began to see that the superstitions and some traditions were not just silly, but could be dangerous! He was fortunate to later win a scholarship and moved to the location of a major school of learning that was located above the village. There Justyn thrived in learning and moved forward rapidly!

But a young girl named Teralyn who had Professor Antius as her friend, also lived there. She had been left at his home many years ago by a young woman and had since been adopted by parents who also were part of the faculty. Teralyn was going to be 18 soon and loved music. The town was happy and played music, dancing and singing, and a festival was coming soon. Antius suggested that Teralyn accompany Justyn when he visited home and she would be able to attend the festival!

Justyn came to care for Teralyn, but Teralyn had immediately, upon meeting Fromer, fallen for him! And as simple as that, the curse on Wentworth began to come true!

And continued until the village was no more...

But somewhere close by was one of the Gates of Heaven; and Teralyn knows where the Gate is...

Obviously, for me, this was a fun read! The result of the curse was simple--if a word was deleted from the world, then that item or person for which the word was used--would disappear too! One of the first to go was the rutabagus!

This is my second of the series and I enjoyed this one even more. For 14+ and above, these books will be enjoyed by teens as well as adults! They are very well written but more importantly, have an important message in each! Highly recommended.


G. A. Bixler

C. S. Lakin is a novelist and professional copyeditor who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, dog, and three cats. The first three books in her seven-book fantasy series, The Gates of Heaven, have been released: The Wolf of Tebron, The Map across Time, and The Land of Darkness, allegorical fairy tales drawing from classic tales we all read in our childhood.

Lakin's relational drama/mystery, Someone to Blame, won the 2009 Zondervan First Novel award, released October 2010. She just completed writing her eleventh novel, a modern-day take on the biblical story of Jacob called Intended for Harm and her twelfth: The Crystal SCepter (book five in The Gates of Heaven series). Also available on eBook are two mystery/psychological dramas: Innocent Little Crimes and Conundrum. Don't miss Time Sniffers: a wild young adult sci-fi romance that will entangle you in time!

Lakin has two websites for writers: www.livewritethrive.com with deep writing instruction and posts on industry trends.

Her site www.CritiqueMyMaunscript.com features her critique services.

Follow her on Twitter: @cslakin and @livewritethrive and Like her Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/C.S.Lakin.Author