The Restorer (Sword of Lyric, #1)

by Sharon Hinck

[cherryblossommj]

Two absolute favorite quotes from this book: Chapter 27 "As far as dramatic entrances go, I thought it was very effective." and Chapter 33 "Warmth surged through me. He was right. The role of the Restorer wasn't all that different from the roles I had in my own world. In both worlds I felt discouraged by my weakness and very small against the needs and battles I faced. yet, even weak or small, I wasn't on the road alone."

When I agreed to read The Restorer for review, I was fairly excited about it. I had seen the book in a bookstore and almost had purchased it then. The cover completely intrigued me with a woman in normal khaki and sweater attire while holding a medieval sword. Upon receiving the task to read and review The Restorer's Journey, the third book in the series I knew I had to read all three in order, especially since I had heard so many good things about the creativeness of author Sharon Hinck's mind. I'm new to read the sci-fi/fantasy/speculative fiction Christian world and I am loving it. There are so many things that I do not have a basis for imagery, but just giving myself a brief image I am fully learning to use the capabilities of my imagination again.

The Restorer takes a normal, average woman and throws her into an alternate world and as I reader you think she might be dreaming or just plain crazy, but as each chapter and page reveals itself you stop caring about the reason why she is where she is and about what she will do next, and how she can survive. Hinck has performed an incredible task with her writing to really make the reader understand and feel what is going on in the life of our main character Susan. She doesn't just pick up a sword and become a super-hero, she goes through doubt and fear and through a realistic turn of events crazy and wonderful and terrifying things happen.

This story gives a reader an escape from reality, everything that Susan needed at the time. But it does so in a fashion that brings you back stronger and more optimistic about what really needs to be accomplished in reality. (Confused yet? Don't be, because that is not what is important.) There are so many things in our lives that are overwhelming and we just sometimes want to run away inside ourselves. It is possible and we are capable of doing just that, but that will not solve anything and really make life harder on the people we care about around us. It is when we realize that we need God, the One, and use His strength that we can accomplish any and all things that we are meant to do. The Bible, the Verses, are a gift to man from God. He has given us this gift of power for strength. When we know various scriptures and verses that can help in various situations, we can avoid the doubt and depression that comes on and move forward in His love. This book fully encourages me to go and memorize scripture for all I'm worth. When I think about my life I can remember times when scripture has helped me, or I knew the right thing to say to a friend to help. But so many times I have gotten caught up in the world around me and let doubt and the lack of time take over. In a sense I was being "poisoned" and did not realize it.

Part of me feels like if only we could live in a world that is framed around the Biblical scriptures and have everyone believe it would be so much easier, but at the same time. I realize that it wouldn't fix everything. There are still the random leader who seeks power for corruption and people can be fooled by man-altered documents. Prayer and time spent with the Lord and time thought over his verses of scripture personally is the only way to be as strong as you can be. Nobody else can do it for you. Wow, what an inspirational book. I never thought I'd be this impressed, but I am.