“In the spirit of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis,” writes Jim Nichols, James Eckblad gives us in Blackfire (Vol.I of the trilogy) the story of young Elli Adams and her three friends who, summoned by a startling stranger, become unlikely heroes in their mysterious mission to defeat an evil overlord and restore a rightful child queen, Taralina, to her throne. Eckblad has created a wonderful story of heroism arising from the ordinary and, as the principal characters would assert, the woefully under-qualified.
Join 14-year-old Elli Adams and her friends, Beatriz, Alex, and Jamie, as they journey through singing forests and stardust valleys full of mystical, glorious, and ferocious creatures, all of which – together with their own personal challenges, including self-confidence, blindness, and Down syndrome – test their resolve to advance their seemingly impossible mission of saving another land in the face of overwhelming adversity.
Eckblad’s novel wrestles with the age-old questions of Good and Evil, doubt and faith, trust and disbelief, and the nature of the heroic life, even as it provides a fresh perspective on how we can have faith in the Good against every indication that Evil is prevailing – and how each of us can be immensely more than we seem to be.
