Review of ‘Through Kestrel’s Eyes’

Posted on March 6, 2014

Through Kestrel’s Eyes continues Yvonne Hertzberger’s epic Earth’s Pendulum fantasy. I received a free copy of this book for review. Seventeen years of peace have followed the events chronicled in Back From Chaos, but that peace is soon destroyed when the rulers of the kingdoms of Gharn and Leith are overthrown, and their heirs seek help from Lord Gaelen. Thrust into the middle of this mess is Liannis, a gifted young apprentice seer with amazing powers, who finds her apprenticeship ended when her mentor Liethis dies. Now, she must somehow restore the Earth’s balance if the drought and famine caused by the weakening of Earth’s power is to be ended.

Just when things seem darkest, though, Earth sends Liannis a kestrel, through whose eyes, Liannis sees more, and a horse to carry her on her perilous journey. With her ability to mind-speak with birds and animals, these two become her main companions and staunchest allies.

Hertzberger demonstrates her skill as a fantasy writer as she takes us along with Liannis, who must battle doubt in her abilities as she faces test unlike any she’s ever known before. The reader is taken from first person point of view – through Liannis’s eyes – to third person, but in a way that rather than being disruptive, actually makes sense. She has created a fantasy world that seems very real, populated by people we can relate to. Despite her powers, Liannis is someone you find yourself rooting for from the first time she appears on the page. Good novels engage all the senses, and Through Kestrel’s Eyes does just that – and, not just the usual five senses, but the sixth sense as well.