Thanks to writing book reviews, I’ve discovered a new author who I love. Tracy L. Higley writes fantastic fiction. Her stories let me escape into a time and place I have always been fascinated with: the ancient world. While, I’ve only read two novels so far, Palace of Darkness and The Queen’s Handmaid, I have intentions of reading more in the future. While scrolling through the free novels for kindle, I came across this novel and was instantly intrigued. The knight on the cover (another era I enjoy) and the fact that it was an allegory grabbed my interest, and since it was a short story, I decided to read it right away.
If this short story interests you, it is currently free for Amazon kindle. To find it quickly, you can click on the link at the bottom of this post or on the cover image.
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**This is a book from my personal collection. I am not being compensated for this review.**
When I started this story, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The cover intrigued me, and I skipped the synopsis, not that it said much.
This book is exactly what you would expect, and then a bit more. As the cover reveals, it has a medieval setting, and as the title states, it is an allegory.
With nameless characters, we join a girl who starts as a prisoner, traverse with the knight who rescued her to a kingdom. The journey is beautiful and dangerous. Joyful and tragic. But the knight is always there for her.
For those familiar with the Christian faith, the allegory is quite representative of the various aspects of life for the believer. For the non-believer, this story offers a glimpse into the promises of salvation.
Higley’s writing is beautiful, and in this particular short story, it reads nearly poetic. The word choice is perfect and the imagery vibrant. If you are looking for a fast read (I read it in about 20 minutes) I would suggest picking this up.
I would love to hear from you! Do you enjoy short stories and novellas? What have been some that have stood out to you?
For more on the author or this book, please check out the following links:
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D.L. Kamstra 
I like strongly-written short stories and novellas – George MacDonald’s “The Gifts of the Child Christ” is one of my favorites. 🙂 I’ve heard good things so far about Tracy’s writing – think I’ll be picking up a copy of “The Queen’s Handmaid,” Lord willing!
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I recently started reading Tracy’s novels and they are wonderful! They do tend to be long and I’ve had moments where I feel like I have to work to get through them, but by the end I’m so glad I stuck with it because the endings tend to be phenomenal!
I haven’t heart of “The Gifts of the Child Christ.” I’ll have to look into it.
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Did you know Tracy’s recent book “Awakening” is free on Amazon right now? I read it and gave it 4 stars. I think it became more of a speculative fiction/allegory towards the end of the book. You might like it 🙂
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I did! I was just going through all the kindle free books yesterday and downloaded it. It sounds quite different from the two novels I have read from her so far, but I was intrigued by it. The books I’ve read have some spiritual warfare that could border on a bit of the speculative side, but I didn’t mind it (speculative fiction doesn’t usually interest me too much).
Thanks so much for stopping by!
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Have you read Shopping for a Groom by Kathleen Sprout or the Teacup Novellas by Diane Moody?
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I had not heard of Shopping for a Groom until now. It sounds like a fun read!
I have the second one of the Teacup Novellas on my kindle currently since it was free on Amazon. Do they need to be read in order?
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Yeah, I would recommend you read them in order. The novellas are about an author who writes the stories so there are 2 stories in one. Each book is a new published book by the author character, but she also has a story of her own that is on going through out the novellas. It’s a great concept and one that I wish I had thought of first. Lol I have all of them now. You’re welcome to borrow them whenever you want them. I’ve gotten all of them for free so keep your eyes open, they’ll be free again. I haven’t read her latest one yet because it’s a Christmas novella and I’m saving it. 🙂 It’s at the top of my Christmas reading list.
Shopping for a Groom was fantastic! It was funny, charming, and romantic. I got it for free too. I think I let my aunt borrow that one already and if I remember right, the kindle rules are to lend them out one time only. If I’m wrong, you’re welcome to it whenever you want!
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Borrowing them sometime would be great! Thanks! I’ll just have to knock a few books off my list yet. Fortunately novellas are quick 🙂 I have the second one of the teacup novellas. Kindle freebies are wonderful. That was actually part of why I ended up buying a Kindle.
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Whenever you’re ready, works for me! I don’t doubt your list is crazy long!! Lol Most all of the books on my kindle are freebies. 🙂
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