A Kingdom of Shadows

By: Emily Bain Murphy

Narrated by: Jon Eric Preston

A band of misfits seek to fight the darkness that's slowly overcoming their kingdom—the start of a grand adventure series in the tradition of The Chronicles of Narnia and the Wingfeather Saga.

Light in the Kingdom of Wildfel is dying. The shadows have been overtaking the light ever since The Great Betrayal. Now, the sun shines increasingly dimmer, it takes more firewood to brighten a room, and the world is growing more desperate and dangerous by the day.

Twelve-year-old orphan Finn survives in this world by being a thief, along with his best friend Adrion and younger sister Lydia. When the three meet a mysterious stranger who claims to know of a lake of light, they set off on an adventure across the kingdom. They discover that Wildfel is a place of great danger and great beauty, where the mist can steal your most precious memories, starlight gathers in waterfalls, spiders spin shimmering webs of glass as deadly as they are dazzling. If they can find this mythical lake of light, it could change the course of their lives, and the kingdom itself.

There are also secrets hiding in the darkness that could change Finn’s very understanding of everything he knows to be true, even about himself—but only if he's brave enough to step into the light.

A valuable and highly engaging story for middle grades to adults.

This is a wonderful book where real life is set in a fantasy world. As the story develops, the world develops and expands beautifully.
We all struggle with darkness in the corners of our life. How we respond says a lot about us. Emily’s character development is honest and real. I can see where youth will find themselves in the characters. The author illustrates how to make good decisions and what happens when we are blind to our wrong way of thinking. The inner view is the “soul” is a great concept for youth. Our souls can be dark, dry, or parched as well as beginning to flourish and grow to thriving forests. I appreciate that there are realistic struggles and even mistakes or wrong ways of thinking. Such a great book, I was sad when I came to the end! I look forward to the next chapter. Yet waiting will be a good discipline. Well done!

Great Christian Allegory

I enjoyed the allegory! Parts of it bogged down a bit, but over all it was a great story.