Beautiful Love Story Cloaked in Morality Play

Eric is the king of Abaddon who has been tasked with figuring out the way that his banished people will be allowed to be brought back to Earth. He has a portal through which he can go between Earth and Abaddon. He had thought this would be a relatively easy task, but centuries have gone by. He learned some lessons early on, like charity and justice, but others took longer to appreciate. Sands in an hourglass mark this immortal’s progress, and he hasn’t seen any in decades. What pieces of the puzzle is he missing?

This book comes across, and not in a bad way, as a mixture of morality tale and paranormal romance. Eric and Tamara are decent, good-hearted, and kind people who want the best for their worlds. They have different strengths and weaknesses, yet their strengths are intensified when they are together and their weaknesses diminished. It was interesting to watch Eric struggle as he was trying to figure out this big puzzle that has been set before him. He wanted to do right was by his own people, getting them back to a world they had been banished from, and by the humans, with whom he wants to coexist peacefully. The lessons that he learns are lessons that would benefit us to fully appreciate, which is why I call this, at least in part, a morality tale. But it is told with such beauty and elegance that it doesn’t feel like the author is preaching or moralizing. The love story between Eric and Tamara is beautifully rendered. You can truly see how each makes the other into a better version of themselves, in ways that are physical, mental, and spiritual.

The book did have some strange issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage. Some punctuation was left off, like an occasional period, and hyphens were not always used appropriately.

That said, I found this book to be an engaging read, both in the gentle moments and in the more harsh ones. Eric and Tamara are a great couple to follow as they learn about each other, each other worlds, and their true roles within them. It’s hard for me to figure out the precise genre for this, as it has elements of science fiction, romance, and the paranormal. There’s even a touch of suspense as Eric tries to figure out precisely what he is supposed to learn. If you like stories that cross genres like that, you might find this book to be as compelling as I did.