I probably won’t usually review a series without starting from the beginning, but that’s what I’m doing now.
Kacy Barnett-Gramckow’s Genesis Trilogy takes place in the days immediately before and after the Great Flood. The first book, The Heavens Before, starts before the Flood and ends after Noakh and his family begin their new life on the cleansed Earth. This book, He Who Lifts the Skies takes place many years after the Flood, where the tribes of the earth have begun to scatter and it’s hard to keep up with who is the son of this son or that cousin.
In He Who Lifts the Skies, our main character is Keren. Keren’s eyes are silver in a world where everyone has brown eyes and brown hair and coppery skin, being all of the same gene pool. Her sister, Sharah, has silver eyes, light colored hair, and pale skin, making them both an anomaly. Their unique coloring draws the attention of Nimr-Rada, the grandson of Noakh’s third son. Nimr-Rada has set himself up as king in a great city, demanding tributes from the other tribes and murdering without a second thought. Nimr-Rada takes both women to his city, Sharah by her own greedy choice and ambition, and Keren through her selflessness in not wanting Nimr-Rada to kill her family for her refusal. Nimr-Rada declares that Keren is “poison to men” and that no man may touch her. He insists that she wear face paints, extravagant clothing and jewelry so that no man may be unaware that to touch her, even accidentally, will result in his swift execution.
For the majority of the book, we are focused on Keren and her household, learning to live with the cruel and tyrannical rule of Nimr-Rada. He begins to build a Tower to Shemesh, the sun, which Bible-readers will recognize as the Tower of Babel (the central theme to the third book in the series, A Crown in the Stars).
This series is one of my favorites. It shows an accelerated version of humanity’s fall: from a time when everyone honored and obeyed the Most High God to a time when He is relegated to myth and scorn. In the series, this shift takes place over maybe 200 years. 200 years for humanity to completely turn away from the Most High, even though they live in full awareness of the Great Flood and the coming of the Promised One who will save us. The relationships between the characters are especially drawing. I won’t give anything away; you can read it for yourself and find out!
It’s worth noting that The Heaves Before is one of my favorite historical fiction books of all time. The characters of Shem and Annah are captivating, and Kacy Barnett-Gramckow’s ability to transport you from wherever you happen to be reading to the anti-deluvian world is extraordinary. I had never considered that the Earth would be fundamentally different, harsher and less beautiful, until I read this book. Books 2 and 3 do not disappoint!
And there we have it, folks, the first review for this new blog! Many more to come, as I keep reading and rereading the books of which I am so fond.
