Lost At Sea Scavenger Hunt Stop #13

 

Welcome to the Lost At Sea Scavenger Hunt where we are helping the Kinsman people find a new home. If you’ve just found us, be sure to start the adventure at Stop #1, which is Jill Williamson’s blog.

 

Collect all the clue words in order so you can enter to win the Kindle. If you want to enter to win the second Kindle, you’ll have to take a quiz at the end, so take your time and read each post carefully. The main prizes in the hunt are open to international entries. Individual author contests, however, might have different rules, so please read the parameters on each site. You have until Sunday night, February 19, at midnight, Pacific time to finish.

 

If you need help, or get lost along the way, click here for assistance.

Trevn wanted to stay in Hagenheim, but Onika the prophetess was certain this was not the place. Wilek led their party south until they came to a great chasm. Onika led the way to a very long, wooden ladder, and at her urging, they started down. At the bottom an ancient forest enveloped them. Picking their way across ground knotted with roots, they dodged bands of men in search of slaves and took circuitous routes around hunting parties out for blood of any kind. But cresting a ridge, they finally spotted the turrets of a castle flying blue and silver flags, assuring them they had indeed made it to Stop #13, the country of Ahavel from Chawna Schroeder’s novel Beast. 

Chawna Schroeder loves stretching both the imagination and faith through her novels. Living in Minnesota, she dreams of far-off places, daring swordfights, magic spells, and princes in disguise. When she isn't committing her dreams to paper, you can find her studying the biblical languages, working with fiber, or teaching about the importance of discernment. You can find out more about her at www.chawnaschroeder.com or connect with her on Facebook @ChawnaSchroederAuthor.

Here’s a closer look at Chawna’s novel Beast.

For as long as Beast can remember, she has lived among her master's dogs. With them she sleeps. With them she eats. With them she fights and struggles to survive. But through hunger and cold she dreams of one day becoming her master's favorite, earning bones with meat and a place beside the fire.

When her pack scatters after a surprise raid, Beast must defend herself against slavers, hunting down the loners.

They are so strong, and she is only a beast . . . or is she?

Ahavel: The Simple World

When it comes to a story’s world, Ahavel may seem pretty simple. There’s no complex geography to map out. There’s no complicated technology to learn. There are no strange races to meet, political intrigue to unravel, or complex socio-economic structures to navigate. Ahavel, by all appearances, is just your typical fairy tale realm. There are dark forests filled with a variety of wildlife. There are the stone castles with their dungeons and moats, throne rooms and turrets. Scattered villages, with their simple homes and the local tavern-inn, dot the landscape. All places any fairytale lover would recognize. Indeed, the most unfamiliar thing about the world maybe its name, which means “Love of God.”

Most of the time, this familiarity would be a huge detriment to a science fiction or fantasy novel, if not an outright death knell. After all, the complicated otherworldliness is one of the reasons we love to read those genres, right? Yet it is the familiar backdrop which allows Beast to act as the parable that it is. For with typical speculative novels, the reader’s brain is busy learning new rules of a world, what can be done, what can’t, and who belongs where. In the midst of such a steep learning curve, the not-so-obvious elements which must be mined—symbolism, metaphors, parallelism—often are overlooked or completely lost within the story. But parables rely on images already imbedded within the collective memory and imagination so that the reader might focus on mining its truth.

Not that every tree and building has great significance. If they did, Beast would be an allegory, not a parable, and the world would have to be complex indeed. But as a parable, Beast uses familiarity to disarm our defenses and simplicity to calm our hurried busyness, allowing the truth to find a home within the keep of our hearts.

You can order Beast on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or CBD

And don't forget your CLUE! Write down this clue: the

The next stop on our map is Stop #14, Acktar, on Tricia Mingerink’s blog.