Auralia's Colors (The Auralia Thread Series #1) (Paperback)

by Jeffrey Overstreet (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Film critic and author Overstreet (Through a Screen Darkly) offers a powerful myth for his first foray into fiction. The kingdom of Abascar is cloaked in gloom, sentenced to an ongoing wintering by a jealous queen, in which colors have been done away with and are only allowed in the royal court. But young Auralia, found as a baby by the river and raised by outcasts, has a talent for finding colors everywhere and bringing them to life in a way no one has ever seen before. The fate of the kingdom rests on what Auralia chooses to do and how the king responds. Overstreet creates a world with not only its own geography but its own vocabulary—it is haunted by beastmen, home to cloudgrasper trees, vawns (something like dinosaurs) and twister fish. There are Christian bones to the story—particularly in the mystery of the beast called the Keeper, who is always moving about, but he likes to hide just to see who'll come seeking—which may be too obvious to some and not at all clear to others. Overstreet's writing is precise and beautiful, and the story is masterfully told. Readers will be hungry for the next installment. (Sept.)
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Review
Publishers Weekly (Review, 7/16)
Film critic and author Overstreet (Through a Screen Darkly) offers a powerful myth for his first foray into fiction. The kingdom of Abascar is cloaked in gloom, sentenced to an ongoing “wintering” by a jealous queen, in which colors have been done away with and are only allowed in the royal court. But young Auralia, found as a baby by the river and raised by outcasts, has a talent for finding colors everywhere and bringing them to life in a way no one has ever seen before. The fate of the kingdom rests on what Auralia chooses to do and how the king responds. Overstreet creates a world with not only its own geography but its own vocabulary — it is haunted by beastmen, home to cloudgrasper trees, vawns (something like dinosaurs) and twister fish. ... Overstreet’s writing is precise and beautiful, and the story is masterfully told. Readers will be hungry for the next installment.


“Through word, image, and color Jeffrey Overstreet has crafted a work of art. From first to final page this original fantasy is sure to draw readers in. Auralia's Colors sparkles.”
–Janet Lee Carey, award-winning author of The Beast of Noor and Dragon's Keep


“Jeffrey Overstreet’s first fantasy, Auralia’s Colors, and its heroine’s cloak of wonders take their power from a vision of art that is auroral, looking to the return of beauty, and that intends to restore spirit and and mystery to the world. The book achieves its ends by the creation of a rich, complex universe and a series of dramatic, explosive events.”
–Marly Youmans, author of Ingledove and The Curse of the Raven Mocker


“In Auralia’s Colors, Overstreet masterfully extends the borders of imagination. Whereas so many writers sacrifice characterization for plot or substitute weirdness for substa... --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press (September 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400072522
• ISBN-13: 978-1400072521
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #399,543 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In a land beyond Myth, September 23, 2007

By	Jedidiah Palosaari "Not My Real Name" (New Glarus, WI) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

At a live podcast Jeffrey Overstreet described how he came on the idea on a hike with his wife, overlooking a lake. He had an image of a woman with a coat of splendid colors, and she had come to bring it to a city where no color is allowed. He had to know her story, and so was forced to write this book.

Overstreet's wife is a poet who helped him hone every word, and it shows. Every word drips honey. This is a work of art. The fantasy is so full you have to put the book down every few minutes, to contemplate the tapestry you've been drawn into. I am transported into another land, into myth on the level of George MacDonald.

Overstreet has an ability to paint a convincing image for the people who have no color, and then bring to life unknown colors through sheer description. He has a phenomenal commitment to true fantasy, and not the humdrum of today that exists merely as a dry husk of a once great genre. Overstreet's very names evoke new thought and let your mind ride the winds of imagination.

The book ends well, answering all questions, and yet leaving much unanswered as future hope. I want more, and am thankful there are three more books coming. Yet I felt satisfied at the end of this book, as after a good meal. But it was not merely my literary palate that was satisfied. For there are depths upon depths in Overstreet, and the spirit is stretched as well, through labyrinthian pathways of unexpected discovery.

Don't wait. Don't walk. Run, and get this book, and know what true pleasure is.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Made this Superfast Reader take it slow, September 11, 2007

By	Superfast Reader "http://superfastreader.com" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

I became a fan of Jeffrey Overstreet after reading his book on film, Through a Screen Darkly, and subsequently become a reader of his blog, Looking Closer. Auralia's Colors is the first in a proposed series of four, to which I say, "Bring it."

It's an astonishingly accomplished debut, and falls prey to none of the lazy traps to which fantasy writers are prone. The characters are strong, the concept and plot inventive and original, and the prose is lyrical. Here's a sample:

"The child's words, an empty chant, made Auralia recoil. A sudden fear swept over her, and she climbed off the stool, dragging the cape toward the questioner as if to save her from a chill. 'Nobody owns the colors. Can't you see? They're free. They're what trees do. They're what water and sky do. Fields. Hills. Mountains. No matter how much you give them away, there'll always be more.'"

Auralia is a fresh creation, a character that I can't compare to any I've seen in the fantasy literature I've read. She's not the stereotypical fierce hoyden or pampered princess, nor is she the wise and mystical Galadriel-type. She's a child of nature stepping into destiny with a confidently unsure step, if that makes sense. She doesn't know who she is or where she came from, but she can't deny the purpose and passions that animate her any more than the trees can deny giving their colors.

Overstreet credits Patricia McKillip's The Book of the Atrix Wolfe as an influence in his foreword, and I would say that's the author I'd most closely link him to, of the ones I've read-I've not read Guy Gavriel Kay yet, whom Overstreet also mentions. I put it in my Young Adult category not because I think it's written for a teen audience, but because teens who love to read and enjoy books about magic are likely to enjoy this book. Especially the girls.

The highest praise I can give this book is to tell you that it took me forever to read, by Superfast standards, anyway, because I was so enthralled by the story and the world he was creating that I wanted to stay in each sentence a little longer than usual.

[...].

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed and colorful bag, October 14, 2007

By	Robert A. Mullin "Author and Cryptozoologist" (Flagstaff, AZ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have to confess to some ambivalence as I write on Auralia's Colors. I do love the poetic prose, but as a writer who has wrestled to submit to the modern conventions of "show, don't tell" and "keep Point-Of-View consistent," I was somewhat surprised to see that this story is almost all omniscient point-of-view telling. The characters come off as a little cool and distant in the epic sweep of Overstreet's narrative, and almost secondary to his story. I am thrilled to see that more Christian authors of speculative fiction are being published, but am surprised that they are not held to the same standards recommended by "professional" authors all over the world. Not to say that there is anything unprofessional or even unpleasant about the book (though the fairy-tale nature of it makes the first sign of real violence and cruelty somewhat of a shock), but it does almost seem more suited for another day and age. I have to put myself in the mindframe of reading a George MacDonald book (not at all a bad thing), but for readers of modern fantasy, this might be somewhat of a jolt.

On a purely positive note: The scene with the Keeper is breathtaking in its beauty and symbolism, and more than makes up for a number of ostensible flaws in the novel. And the quiet Christian symbolism of Auralia's reformation/transformation is appropriately understated and exquisite.

All in all, this book breaks a number of rules, but the beauty of the prose and the vivid imagery make up for lack of conformity to modern standards, and what the story lacks in depth it more than makes up for in substance. With the caviats to the writing style notwithstanding, I won't hesitate to buy the sequel when it comes out.