Review: Oracles of Fire - Eye Of The Oracle by Bryan Davis

Eye Of The Oracle by Bryan Davis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


OK, first off let me say, I am not a big reader of fiction. My mind seems more geared to engaging and loving deep theological works that challenge my thinking and my positions. Sure, I have read and loved things like Lord of the Rings and the Narnia series in the past, but it is just that fiction is something I rarely spend time with.


My wife read the first two related series of books by Davis, and suggested I give my mind a rest with some lighter reading occasionally, so I did. It was a struggle at first, I just couldn't get excited about fiction, so I found myself squeezing in other works in between starting this, and this became a secondary occasional read. But after finishing one of the in-between reading, I decided to focus my concentration only on this and "get through it."

Well, once I did that, I started to get into it, and got captivated by the story and characters. The big thing that initially drew my wife and I to this series was because it used extra-biblical writings like the Book of Enoch to base mush of the story on. I love that and other writings and thought it would be quite interesting, and it truly was.


The story starts back at the beginning of the Bible story, but in the unseen realm, with fallen angels, nephilim, watchers, etc. On the surface, we have the battle of some of these beings with mankind and dragons. The story bounces between our upper world, and the unseen realms, with most of it being in the latter realm and other realms accessible through portals. While it starts way back in ancient Bible history, it quickly progresses and spends a good chunk of time in the medieval time, with Merlin and Arthur as expected, however it then quickly zooms through the centuries, ending in our current time frame. Seeing the struggle and efforts of these characters as they exist through multiple thousands of years is a bit mind boggling, but interesting to see them change with the times.


I must say I got really frustrated when I noticed fewer and fewer pages were left to read, yet so many unanswered questions and were left. When I was about 50 pages from the end, I asked my wife "how are they going to ever end such-and-such story" to which she said "oh, that won't get concluded till about the sixth volume." NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Now I am wrapped up in the story line, and feel I HAVE to read the other volumes. My theological books never have a "to be continued" feel. How frustrating (lol).


I will say, for my limited reading of fiction works, this one was compelling, engaging, and truly took me into the world of the characters. This first volume is a prequel to the "Dragons in Our Midst" four-volume set, and then there are three other volumes in this "Oracles of Fire" set that chronologically fit after that "Dragons in Our Midst" set. I have chosen to read them in the chronological fashion they include, rather than the way they were initially released (I did the same with Narnia).


I have learned that the initially release four volume "Dragons in Our Midst" series were more geared for teens, and upon comparing the two sets, found those volumes to be about 1/3 fewer pages, and slightly larger font type, so plowing through those four should be quicker and easier. These four volumes of "Oracles of Fire" are considered Young Adult reading, which I see he bounces between those two categories in other series' too.


As much as I kind of don't want to "waste time" with fiction, I believe I am hooked and do see a continued place of Davis' works in my future. Maybe I can grow to like fiction more by the time I am done, and give my brain a rest from the heavier topic stuff.


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