On The Other Hand

Landon Snow is my kind of kid. He wants to figure things out; to "know the reason why." He’s not content to let things be; no, he is uncomfortable with mystery.

"Landon liked to have reasons for everything. But he tried not to ask too many questions. Instead, he came up with reasons on his own. It felt good to explain things, at least to himself. If he knew the reason for something, he was happy. If not, he was uncomfortable. For instance, even though he would have preferred to sit by a window and even more than that would have liked to ride in his mom�s SUV, he understood the reasons for his current situation. These were that his mom�s car was in need of repair and he had been too slow in remembering to call for a window seat. The first reason wasn�t due to anyone�s fault, really. And he could only blame himself for the second."

I can identify with Landon. Things that don’t make sense bug me… a lot. So needless to say, when I read the above, I was hooked. I’ve never felt so much like I was the character I was reading about.

Landon Snow is a young man who is given two gifts for his eleventh birthday — two gifts which send him on a whirlwind adventure into the "Book of Meanings" much like Alice’s trip down the rabbit hole. As with Alice’s adventures in Wonderland, the places Landon discovers are strange (and sometimes frustrating). It’s a crazy trip, and by the time Landon had met his first Odd, my head was spinning.

That would be my main point of dislike with the Auctor’s Riddle: we spend chapters upon chapters on what seems, in the end, to have simply been the "rabbit hole." Hopefully there will be a return to these landmarks in future books, because there seems to be quite a universe waiting to be fleshed out there; but it felt more like weak editing.

My other "huh?" moment was at the end of the book: I was left unconvinced at how the "Grandpa got hurt" thread got "resolved"; it’s essentially, "I’m back now… and oh yeah, Grandpa was at the hospital. Oh, he’s here now, and we’re going to the library later. Okay, I’m happy."

Even with those gripes, though, I absolutely fell in love with this book! The characters are written well, the plot isn’t corny, and (surprise, surprise) the distinctive Christian elements came across cheese-free! As another blogger noted, it’s like Alice in Wonderland, but with a point. (Shoot! I knew I should have kept that window open. For the life of me, I don’t know who said that! Sorry!)

The theme of the book is coincidence… chance. We so often live as if the universe is guided by chance, but what if there is a God, and He is sovereign over the affairs of the universe (let alone man)? What does that mean when life gets crazy? What does it mean when loved ones are hurt?

As I said in my pre-review, I give Landon Snow and the Auctor’s Riddle 4½ stars. I recommend it for anyone between 10 and 30, and fans of Alice in Wonderland, too.

You can find out more at the official website, or by checking out the author’s profile on Barbour’s web site and the illustrator’s blog.