Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Please be gentle with me here as I am new to writing reviews of stories and this one is extra tricky as it is the third and final volume in The Sylver Chronicles. Obviously I do not want to give away the ending and neither do I want to spoil books one and two which are, for the record: Dr Sylver And The Library Of Everything and Dr Sylver And The Repository Of The Past. I do not think it will hurt you to say that Dr Sylver is an angel in disguise who works in a regular school library. In the final volume, everything leads on towards a series of painful betrayals. One school's future lies in jeopardy but the crucial issue is far more cosmic: the dark powers desire to lever off certain people's DIY spiritual warfare to subvert time itself. My personal response is simple: What a ride! I thoroughly enjoyed the story and have been impressed by Paul Kercal's story-telling ability throughout. It has been a long time since I have read such a page-turner. I also appreciate the theological speculation that he has worked in. I have often mused about the apparent conflict between our God-given free will and God's foreknowledge. Kercal's ideas may not be right (and in any case, who are we to ask?) but they work. This could be a useful discussion starter with a church or school book club. On the mundane level the story raises issues that are of concern for most teenagers: school life including bullying, friendships, family breakdown, life, the universe. . . and then we move into spiritual matters. The embattled school Christian Union is expertly drawn and the images of spiritual warfare are thrilling. Older readers may be reminded of Frank Peretti's supernatural thrillers and those of us who are dismayed to find young readers who seem to take too much interest in the Twighlight world and Buffy should be glad to have something better - in every sense of the word - to which to direct them. We must thank Paul Kercal for opening up some wonderful doors and wish him every success but, dear reader, it would be best to track down volumes one and two before launching into this one.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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