The Light of the Oracle, by Victoria Hanley

When I saw this book on my NookColor for just $5.00 I knew I had to buy it.  Of course I read the sample to confirm, but a great price and a beautiful cover always pull me in.  The concept behind this book is definitely rooted firmly in fantasy.  The beginning seems to follow an ordinary poor girl living in some other time or place, but very soon into the book she is selected to be taken from her family to go live in the Temple with all the others, "like her," and the reader is clued in to the fact that this girl is something special.  Bryn is off to train as a handmaid and perhaps she'll become one of the bird-chosen in the future and she could even become the High Priestess.  It's a world away from the lonely one she grew up in, filled with people destined to become her new best friends and her future worst enemies.  Reading this book reminded me of watching one of my favorite 80's fantasies like: The Neverending Story, The Labyrinth or The Dark Crystal.  I'm not sure if it was the atmosphere or the characters, but Light of the Oracle was so comforting just like those movies were.  This was another one of those books I started reading before I fell asleep and I woke up to immediately start reading again.  And as soon as I was done, I was searching for more to read by this author, but unfortunately the other two companion novels aren't on the NookColor yet (or might not ever be) and I rarely buy real books anymore, so I doubt I'll be reading them anytime soon.  But even though I can only read one out of the three, I am still glad to have read it.  From what I heard it stands alone and I certainly didn't feel like I was missing anything when I read it.  All-in-all I would recommend this book to any fantasy lovers or anyone looking for a comforting read.

My favorite things:  Bryn (the main character) is strong, resourceful, kind, beautiful, modest, genuine and just a great character to read about in general.  Kiran (her close friend and someone she starts to develop feelings for) has a bird-chosen ability that allows him to communicate with animals, which is one of those things I really wish I could do and even joked about being able to do in my younger years (I always said I could talk to squirrels haha).  He can speak through his thoughts to animals and this ability makes for some interesting and exciting situations throughout the book.  I also loved that Victoria Hanley gave me vivid images to look at in my mind and I love when a writer can paint with words without getting too bogged down with adjectives.  This is one of those books that would make a great movie! 

Criticisms: There were a couple slow parts where my mind drifted trying to read, but there were literally only two parts like that and they both were very short.

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars!   I've had some good luck picking books lately, yay!