About the Book
Book: Light of Mine
Author: Alen Brokken
Genre: Christian Fantasy Middlegrade
Release Date: November 3, 2019
Light of Mine, introduces Lauren (12), Aiden (9), and Ethan (5) who bear the responsibility of keeping their Father’s newly constructed Tower of Light shining in his absence.
Darkness is spreading through Zoura. Beyond the borders of the heathlands, innocent animals are being turned into monsters, and good men into pawns of the Dark One. Father has vanished after joining the Mighty Mercenaries and mother has gone missing in search of him.
Alone on the farm, twelve-year-old Lauren and her brave little brothers, Aiden and Ethan, must guard the Tower of Light that will guide both parents home. But when a hooded stranger is caught trespassing the farm, and a new bishop claims the church, confusion pervades their close-knit community. Will the children be able to recognize who is a threat to the Tower and who is there to help them protect it?
With little else but the aid of a trio of blessed pets, three mysterious weapons, and their growing faith, Lauren, Aiden, and Ethan find it is up to them to stop the agents of The Dark One from putting out the Light and dooming the heathlands to Darkness.
Fans of Little House on the Prairie will feel at home in the series’ classic farmstead setting, and the sincerity of the children’s love for one another— nurtured by the example of their parents—will bring a smile to readers and listeners of all ages.
Read Light of Mine aloud to your family or confidently give it to your middle grade reader, knowing he or she will be ensconced in a wholesome and riveting experience, beginning to end.
My Thoughts
It appears that at some point before publishing, "Light of Mine" was originally called something else as each of the pages has the header of "Darkness Cloaks the Land" and the standard wording about the book being a work of fiction at the beginning of the book calls the book "Darkness Cloaks the Land". There were also some typos. The book is definitely written for children and had little life lessons given about how they needed to obey and let their light shine. The setting was interesting with it being a fantasy twist to the frontier. I liked how the children worked together to solve their problems. The book is full of biblical truths woven through.
About the Author
Allen Brokken is a teacher at heart, a husband and father most of all. He’s a joyful writer by the abundant grace of God. Follow his endeavors @towersoflight, @twodadsandajoke, and http://www.brokken.net. Your children can grow their own faith and love of God by following the adventures of Lauren, Aiden, and Ethan (plus their pets!) at instagram.com/towersoflight.
Stay tuned for book two, launching in June 2020, and book three in December 2020.
The faith journey continues! Onward and upward.
More from Allen
When my kids were young there was really nothing better than getting out of my car at the end of a long day at work and having my three little kiddos run up to me and give hugs because Daddy’s Home! As a Father of three young children I was very concerned about the direction society was taking. I wasn’t sure that with how things were going that I had the knowledge or the skill to train them up in the way they should go, as the Bible directs.
Then in 2008 I took a new job that had me traveling four days a week. It was one of the hardest times of my life, the stress of a high pressure job, the loneliness of being on the road, and uncertainty of being a young parent really brought me to the end of myself. However, all of the travel gave me a lot of time to study the scriptures and learn from the writing of great bible teachers.
It was during this time that I began to write stories for my children. At first I brought my children’s stuffed animals to life for silly adventures. But then one day while we were putting together a play fort in our back yard I saw a sunrise pattern in the wood in the top of the tower. I thought:
“What if there was a Tower of Light shining God’s goodness over the children and their animals?”
“What if the children experienced the indwelling of the holy spirit in a real way like Sampson or David?”
“What if the full armor of God was physical armor they could use to defeat the darkness?”
As I shared my story with my children, they loved it.
I believe you and your children will love it too.
Blog Stops
Inklings and notions, April 4
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, April 5
Texas Book-aholic, April 6
Seasons of Opportunities, April 7
Wishful Endings, April 8 (Author Interview)
Library Lady’s Kid Lit, April 9
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, April 10
For Him and My Family, April 11
For the Love of Literature, April 12
deb’s Book Review, April 13
Blogging With Carol, April 14
Blossoms and Blessings, April 15
Simple Harvest Reads, April 16 (Author Interview)
Artistic Nobody, April 17 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)
Giveaway
To celebrate his tour, Allen is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
"Light of Mine" is available in paperback:
- Series: Towers of Light (Book 1)
- Paperback: 212 pages
- Publisher: Independently published (October 9, 2019)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1697224024
- ISBN-13: 978-1697224023
- Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
and in Kindle edition:
- File Size: 3394 KB
- Print Length: 214 pages
- Publisher: Towers of Light Christian Resources LLC; 3 edition (November 3, 2019)
- Publication Date: November 3, 2019
- Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
- Language: English
- ASIN: B07YNDH3T1
I got a free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own and given voluntarily. No compensation was received for my review.
7 comments:
Sounds like a good book.
I enjoyed reading your review.
This sounds like a wonderful book.
I appreciate getting to read about your book. With sisters and daughters who love to read, this helps so thank you.
Becky, thanks for your honest review. You are right that Light of Mine is the 3rd edition of a book originally called Darkness Cloaks the Land. I wrote an article on LinkedIn about why the original title and approach really didn't fit my intended readers. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rethinking-marketing-self-publishing-part-2-allen-brokken/ Celebrate Lit was provided with an early printing provided for reviewers. The errors you mentioned have been corrected in the newer printings. I'm happy to swap your copy out with the final, but who knows if the series takes off you may have a rare limited edition. :)
Becky, since you liked “Light of Mine” so well I wanted to let you know about an event happening on March 24th. I’ll be doing a cover reveal for Book 2, Still Small Voice at 5:15PM Central Time along with a selected reading and some other fun things. This is to celebrate the Still Small Voice Pre-order availability. Your readers will be happy to see that to celebrate this announcement, Light of Mine will be free on eBook and on sale for $9.99 in print at Amazon from March 24th – 26th. Visit lightofmine.net for more details!
I wanted to let your readers know that Still Small Voice, Book 2 in the Towers of Light Series will be generally available July 24th, https://www.lightofmine.net/stillsmallvoice To celebrate the launch of Still Small Voice, Light of Mine will be free on Amazon Kindle from July 24th - 26th.
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