Rebel

14-year-old Timothy enters an extraordinary world when he stays with his relatives in this second novel about Oakhaven and its magnificent oak tree. The son of missionaries, he’s far from his home in Uganda but, having been temporarily expelled from his boarding school, he needs somewhere to stay. So, reluctantly, cousin Paul and his wife Peri agree to take him in. Timothy is puzzled when Peri warns him that the massive old oak tree near the house is strictly out of bounds. It is, he discovers, home to a small group of faeries called the Oakenfolk. Having lost their magic powers to an evil faery many years ago, the Oakenfolk are facing extinction. Their queen, now on her deathbed, exhorts one of her subjects, Linden, to set out on a quest to retrieve their magic. As Linden and Timothy’s destinies merge, they set off together on a quest fraught with cruelty, spells and evil spirits. Their friendship blossoms and Timothy learns much about the faery world, Peri’s involvement in it and his own feelings and beliefs. The book ends loosely, with some issues awaiting resolution, presumably in the next book in the series.

The author constructs a parallel universe that sometimes works with the human world, sometimes against it, but which is at all times credible and sustained by an intricately woven plot. Essentially about good and evil, the book consciously weaves Christian beliefs into the fabric of its storyline. Yet in its depiction of a supernatural world, it can also be read as a compelling fantasy adventure.