CSFF Blog Tour: Auralia’s Colors

If you like rich fantasy with lavish well-crafted descriptions, then Auralia's Colors, by Jeffrey Overstreet is a book you'll definitely want to pick up.

If I've piqued your interest, hop over to the author's website. He has the first chapter available in PDF format. I read it, and I found myself immediately drawn in to the world of Auralia's Colors, and wanting more.

Below is a quote from the author:

I write fantasy because it draws me into an elemental world of nature—forests, mountains, rivers, fire, secret tunnels, and amazing creatures. I’ve grown up in the big city, and I longed for those rare vacations to the Oregon Coast where I could see nature with all of its raw power and awe-inspiring beauty. I believe that creation “declares the glory of God,” and that the natural world “pours forth speech” (to borrow some words from the Psalmist). I feel closest to God, and open to learning about him, when I’m close to nature. Fantasy takes me there.
-Jeffrey Overstreet, in an interview at Zyphe

For those of us readers who've found themselves drawn, with unquenchable appetites into worlds of fantasy, Jeffrey Overstreet strikes at the core of our desire. Wonder, beauty, a sense of amazement, a hunger for the majestic, a longing to transcend modern life, with its man-made beauty which is indeed the most ugliest blot of all. How ridiculous--how atrocious--our modern buildings look, even compared to a barren tundra. Are you the type of person who looks out your bedroom window, at all the houses and buildings, and imagine what it would be like if they would all disappear. (I'm speaking aesthetically, we wouldn't want to erase precious souls whom God loves of course! Whom he wants to make beautiful, in Christ!)

As Jeffrey said above, "Creation 'declares the glory of God."

Consider this verse:
The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."
Romans 8: 19-22

When Christ returns, we have much to look forward to...I can hardly wait!


Brandon Barr
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges
Jackie Castle
Carol Bruce Collett
Valerie Comer
CSFF Blog Tour
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Timothy Hicks
Heather R. Hunt
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Kait
Karen
Carol Keen
Mike Lynch
Margaret
Rachel Marks
Shannon McNear
Melissa Meeks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika or Mir's Here
Pamela Morrisson
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Deena Peterson
Rachelle
Steve Rice
Cheryl Russel
Ashley Rutherford
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachelle Sperling
Donna Swanson
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Laura Williams
Timothy Wise

15 comments:

Kait said...

Truthfully, I enjoy well designed buildings, but I know what you mean - often I would love to not have to look at so much of the ugliness that is urban life.

I never thought about fantasy that way, maybe it is partly why I am drawn to it!

Brandon Barr said...

:)

Hi Kait. I will concede that point...not all buildings are ugly.
If I had my way, I'd live in a home built much like a Hobbit's house. Just a door that leads into a nice, cozy, underground living space!

Sojourner said...

Great insights. I can appreciate good architecture as reflecting the beauty of the ultimate designer however nothing inspires me like the wildness and wonder of the natural world that our Lord has so creatively designed. I live in a crowed and polluted place and often long for the wilderness of Oregon or Scotland or Colorado or other places of natural beauty that I have enjoyed in the past. I loved how Auralia's colors kept pointing out how the all the colors were present if you could only see past the ordinary everyday blandness and witness the diversity and beauty of creation in the world all around us.

Brandon Barr said...

Hi Sojourner,

Colorado and Oregon I've been to--absolutely beautiful. Scotland, that would be a treat.

Unknown said...

I too enjoy nature especially the sound of running water be it Ocean waves or a stream or river. The sound is somehow soothing and cannot truly be reproduced outside of the real thing.

I'd much rather as Jeffrey mentions be surrounded by God's creation than city skylines.

Melissa

Rebecca LuElla Miller said...

Yea, Melissa. Running water--that's me too. I love the sound of a rushing river or the trickle of a hidden creek or the booming explosion of waves on rock. Love it all!

But then, I love light too--the glint of the sun on clouds, the moon peaking through tree branches, lightning bursting across the sky.

Of course there are the mountains, too. Rock formations that ...

Well, so I guess the short of it is, I agree with Brandon ... and Jeffrey.

Great post.

Becky

Anonymous said...

Intriguing! He seems like an amazing guy. All that stuff about nature! That's totally me. :D

I really can't wait to read this one.

Anonymous said...

Hey! I guess that's why I write about faeries, huh? lol...

Christopher Hopper said...

Brandon, thanks for your post. And love that Oregon coast! Took many great pics there and built many memories myself. (Go Goonies!).

CH

Brandon Barr said...

Hi Forstrose,
Yes, God's creation is so beautiful. The New Jerusalem spoken of in the bible, now that will be a CITY of God's own design. Now that's a city I won't mind living in!

Hey Rebecca,
I like how you mentioned some of the many elements of nature: From the power of Lightening, to the simple, unfading beauty of light playing through a canopy of trees. God is a masterful designer!

Good to see you again Pixy,
Yes, fairies. Have you read C.S. Lewis' book, "On Fairy Stories". It really captures the power of fantasy.

Hi, Christopher Hopper!
Great to have you stop by. Ah, Goonies.... Yes I know what you mean about that Oregon coast. I just finished a short story set there. I couldn't help but have it be a haunting story. Those woods, those shorelines, they're so raw.

Roheryn said...

I would love nothing more than to live out in the country, in simple house, surrounded by books (mostly fantasy of course!)
with horses...

I've not read Auralia's Colors yet, but I just got it from the bookstore today.

The more I hear 'bout it, the more intrigued I become
I'm going to have to read it soon!
http://lookingcloser.wordpress.com/

Marcus Goodyear said...

Great post, Brandon. That's why I love fantasy in the broadest sense. It reminds us that world is full of miracles--and it helps us remember to look for them.

Brandon Barr said...

Hi roheryn
Thanks for stopping by!

Hi Mark,
I agree. Fantasy gives us fresh eyes for beauty and miracles.

Mike Lynch said...

Brandon,

Sorry I didn't get to your review sooner. It's been kind of crazy for me. Anyway, as usual, a very nice overview of the story. I like how you pull in elements of our lives and inject them into the story. I wish I could see things that way, but alas, I don't.

Bob Farley said...

Good plug for Auralia. I don't normally read fantasy because so much of it requires a ton of backstory, but this one did a good job, I thought, of leading into it, giving explanations when necessary, and allowing a lot to be discerned from the reading. Good pick.