Image courtesy of Tantor Media, Inc.
Amidst a plethora of average-to-awful
supernatural/paranormal romance out on the market, Thea Harrison’s Elder
Races series shines out like a diamond in the rough.
Her
latest installment, Oracle’s Moon, is no different. Alternating
effortlessly between witty and sublime, Harrison artfully renders a tale
that weaves the real-world struggles of a suddenly single mom and the
joys of discovering love and support in a decidedly otherworldly being.
Grace
Andreas is a smart and fiery heroine who finds herself at 23 the sole
guardian of her young niece and nephew when her sister, the Oracle
Petra, and her husband are killed in a car accident. She herself has
been seriously injured in the accident as well, and if learning to walk
again and caring for her sister’s children before she’s even finished
her college degree isn’t enough, she finds that she has inherited
Petra’s power of The Oracle – and she is in high demand in the magical
community. But how is she supposed to take on the mantle of her sister’s
and her family’s legacy when she doesn’t even know where to find a good
babysister?
Enter
Kahlil (which happens to be the Arabic word, appropriately enough, for
“friend”), a Djinn prince who has a penchant for making deals and
doesn’t have a solid physical manifestation. He’s timeless, he’s cranky,
but yet cannot resist Grace’s four-year-old niece, Chloe, and
nine-month-old Max. (One charming scene shows Kahlil in the form of a
cat, with Chloe tugging at his tail. When he reappears in his human
form, he chides her gently, saying “You know you’re not supposed to do
that to real cats, right?” To which Chloe obediently nods. Trust me,
it’s a heart-melter.) In a moment of desperation, Grace makes a deal
with Kahlil that he will stay with her to be the children’s bodyguard,
on the condition that she returns a favor for him – anything he wishes –
at an unspecified time in the future. Grace immediately regrets making
this choice until both her and Kahlil begin to discover that despite his
inhumanity and her physical limitations, that they are not so different
after all.
Harrison
takes the rules of her magical world quite seriously, and the degrees
to which Kahlil begins to take human form, from a simple apparition to
someone that can be touched, is truly fascinating. It is a great device
to show how Kahlil begins to not only spiritually but physically find
his inner humanity, something he thought was lost to the sands of time.
And let’s be honest here, it’s also downright sexy. In return, Grace is
able to discover her inner strengths and abilities, proving that her
humanity is not a deterrent, but rather an important asset, to her
success as the Oracle – and in finding a true love.
Narrator
Sophie Eastlake’s young voice enhances Grace’s tough side while still
carrying the undercurrent of her vulnerability, while the deep, rumbling
urbane tone she offers Kahlil that wavers between dismissive and
passionate is right on the mark. And the voice she gives young Chloe is
sweet and innocent without being cloying. It is clear to me that Ms.
Eastlake understood this tale is much more than meets the eye, with an
ending that is satisfying as well as surprising.
For
a cut above the usual boy-meets-girl with a compelling plot to boot,
get yourself a pair of headphones and nestle yourself under the Oracle’s
Moon tonight.
Click here to listen to an audio sample.
