“Remember your fairy tales.” C.S. Lewis

First, you can’t help but love an author who writes under the initials C.S. especially when they have the fortuitous last name of Lakin. But while that might earn the book a grin and maybe even get you to pick up a copy, it is the quality of the books themselves that will keep you coming back to The Gates of Heaven series.

The Gates of Heaven are probably best described as mythic faerie tales. Events tend to take place at a high spiritual level than most faerie tales, but there is definitely a hint of each story being a popular folk tale handed down through the generations. An observant reader will realize that this is specifically a review for The Map Across Time, which is technically the second book in the series. However, while there are nice moments when the different stories cross paths, each book is a standalone title. The Map Across Time happens to my favorite and, in my opinion, the best of the series.

Why? Well, it’s a time-travel fantasy book. The twins Adin and Aletha’s world crumbles around them after the death of their mother the queen. Evil advisers and his own grief are unbalancing their father, and the twin both begin to fear for themselves and for each other. When the king offers Aletha’s hand in marriage to whoever captures an elusive Firebird, Adin, though badly crippled from birth, sets out to catch the bird and spare his sister from a forced marriage. However, his journey leads him not across the kingdom, but across time itself.

Time travel is one of the top plots that authors seem to struggle with. Most time travel tales require massive suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader and don’t hold up well to people poking at them for plot holes. Once you get over the concept of time travel itself, Mrs. Lakin does a superb job handling her tricky subject. I poked at it just for fun and found it held up very well. Gushing over the complexities that came together so neatly in the end would, of course, give too much away, but I think even people who prefer science fiction to fantasy would enjoy how perfectly the time travel elements work for this story.
As with all The Gates of Heaven books, Mrs. Lakin uses an older form of writing similar to that of George MacDonald. Once again succeeding where many fail, her prose remains remarkably consistent throughout the book, never once sounding like an actor who can’t remember which accent to be using. She constantly drops words and phrases from an older high tongue, but there’s never any doubt about what they mean, and they provide depth instead of confusion. Like MacDonald’s books, The Gates of Heaven series would make wonderful read alouds for younger kids who can’t quite parse the older sentence structures yet, but, also like MacDonald, there are some very dark elements at times which certainly enhance the story but might prove a bit too dark for some children.

My thanks to Living Ink Books for providing me with a copy of The Map Across Time via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest opinion of the book.