A Short Review of The Holy Road, by Ginn Hale.

The Rifter Book Two: The Holy Road by Ginn Hale

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Two caveats.
First, I'm a big Ginn Hale fan.
Second, I wish had had the chance to reread Book 1 of The Rifter saga, The Shattered Gates, before I read Book 2, as it took me a while to remember what had happened before and who the key players were.

Even so, this is one compelling book and it kept me reading and I found myself drawn into Hale's detailed and intricately drawn world of Basawar. Would John, Laurie, and Bill, survive in a world more violent and dangerous than their own? Will Bill and Laurie find true revenge in the "household of the exiled Lady Bousim?" And John, who has climbed the "Thousand Steps to monastery of Rathal'pesha," will he find what they most seek, a way home? Forbidden witchcraft and the possibility one of the three could somehow be the destroyer god, the Rifter, makes matters even more complicated.

If that's enough, add in the growing relationship between John and Ravishan--and that "such desire is punished with death."

This is an adventure with its heart, a love story, that of John and Ravishan. It is a tale of power and desire, and of religious warfare and rebellion. The second book in a trilogy can be tricky: can the writer sustain the story enough to keep the reader engaged with the characters and their world and their adventures, until Book 3. Will the reader stay engaged in what is essentially an alien world?

The answer here is yes, yes, and yes again. At times, I did find some of the nomenclature a tad confusing--but it is necessary and the glossary in the back helps. So, please, read this book and Books 1 and 3.





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