THE SLEEPER AWAKES

Author: Eilis Flynn ISBN: 9781419908552 4/2007 FANTASY Publisher: CERRIDWEN PRESS

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A DREAM SO VIVID YOU DIDN’T KNOW IF YOU WERE AWAKE OR ASLEEP? Terminally ill Cat Deveney wakes up after an earthquake in a place and time she does not recognize. She assumes she’s dreaming, and becomes more certain of that when she learns the natives believe she is the answer to a prophecy, the "Sleeper" who will end a long-running war and halt waterfire, a devastating weather phenomenon that threatens to level the land. But then she meets a man who must guide her through the war-torn countryside, an honorable man who is the very image of her unfaithful boyfriend, and she begins to wonder if she is dreaming. Strian of Kurit has been given the task of delivering this mysterious woman to the ritual grounds. Is she really the Sleeper as the legends foretell, or is she a spy from the enemy, sent to mislead and betray? Amid the battles and his own doubts, Strian finds himself drawn to the puzzling stranger, and despite his misgivings, starts to believe…

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

THE SLEEPER AWAKES by Eilis Flynn is a story that will remain with the reader long after the final page has been turned. It is one of those novels, and we've all read them, that sticks in the mind and heart for a long, long time. THE SLEEPER AWAKES is so well told that as soon as I finished it I wanted to begin reading it all over again, just to relive the tale and pick up any nuances or tidbits I'd missed with the first go-round.

When terminally-ill librarian Catherine Deveney and her two co-workers are caught in an earthquake, it seems as if her already precarious situation is about to get worse. A lot worse. But as the library crumbles around them in Seattle, a gate opens in the distant land of Kurit. And on the grass near the open gate on Gates Mount, Catherine Deveney and her two friends lay unconscious.

The legend of the land is that when all seven of the gates on Gates Mount open, peace everlasting will reign. Catherine lies within the shadow of the first open gate. The legend has begun.

THE SLEEPER AWAKES has it all. Adventure, romance and a host of intriguing characters make this book a Top Pick. I loved this story and I believe that others will, too. Eilis Flynn has a hit with THE SLEEPER AWAKES, and anyone who believes that love can conquer all will want to read this book time and again.

I hope that sometime in the very near future the second gate on Gates Mount opens and the story continues. Personally, I can't wait to see what happens next!

Kay James