{"id":3515,"date":"2023-09-21T17:39:44","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T21:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/?p=3515"},"modified":"2023-09-21T17:50:19","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T21:50:19","slug":"scribes-aflame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2023\/09\/21\/scribes-aflame\/","title":{"rendered":"Scribes Aflame"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By Dylan West
\n\u00a9 2023 Pickle Jar Press
\nASIN: B0CH5L623Y
\nKindle version; file size 3015 KB
\nPaperback, 430 pages.<\/p>\n

Scribes Aflame<\/em> is the second book in the Scribes trilogy, and continues the story of Mallory, Rain, and Boxer, the Scribes foretold in the Book of Books. The adventures and trials they began in book one carry into more critical territory here, putting all their lives\u2014and others, besides\u2014in danger as they struggle to carry out their fated mission.<\/p>\n

This is a pretty fast-paced story, with lots of action to keep the reader turning pages. Everything from hostile humans to feral and dangerous animals and otherworldly beings (to us surface-dwellers, anyway!) arise to challenge our heroes. In fact, everything is moving so quickly that the Scribes barely have time to stop and think about what they\u2019re doing; instead, they are obliged to throw themselves at each successive challenge in order to keep going. While there are moments when the pace slows, it\u2019s never for long\u2014just enough to let readers, but not the characters, catch their breath.<\/p>\n

The young protagonists, Mallory and Leah, along with their friends, are well-educated, intelligent, rational, thoughtful, and courageous. Mallory, especially, questions everything. It\u2019s rare that she simply accepts something at face value. In addition, they think their way through problems, seeking reasonable and workable solutions that will benefit the most people. I can see how they would serve as excellent role models for YA readers.<\/p>\n

Author Dylan West\u2019s imagination takes interesting turns in the descriptions of the story\u2019s subterranean ecosystems. It\u2019s clear he\u2019s given a lot of thought to their creation, and how such environmental marvels might occur in a real-world scenario. Descriptions are accompanied by dialogue between the characters about how they could have evolved in such a setting, explanations that are well-reasoned and totally believable.<\/p>\n

Given that the Scribes series is YA Christian fantasy, there are certain expectations set up from the beginning. The Scribes are followers of a religious system called Protectorism, are on a spiritual mission, and are being aided (less often than they would like) by The Voice, to whom they pray for guidance and protection. Through character development, we see the doubt that can creep in, even with the strongest believers, and how faith helps them overcome the hurdles and move on into a deeper connection with the tradition, and with God (though they call Him something else in the story). While I am not a Christian myself, I understand the significance of that connection between the Divine and the religion\u2019s individual practitioners and was thus able to sympathize with the characters in these moments.<\/p>\n

I would venture to say that it would be difficult to easily follow book two, Scribes Aflame<\/em>, if you have not yet read book one, Scribe\u2019s Descent<\/em>. That said, both books are good, well-paced stories. If you like faith-based fiction, you\u2019ll want to add these books to your list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dylan West \u00a9 2023 Pickle Jar Press ASIN: B0CH5L623Y Kindle version; file size 3015 KB Paperback, 430 pages. Scribes Aflame is the second book in the Scribes trilogy, and continues the story of Mallory, Rain, and Boxer, the Scribes foretold in the Book of Books. The adventures and trials they began in book one…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8n0kX-UH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6318,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/21\/scribes-emerge\/","url_meta":{"origin":3515,"position":0},"title":"Scribes Emerge","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"July 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Dylan West \u00a9 2025 Pickle Jar Press ISBN-13: 979-8985983166 Kindle version; file size 2.7 MB Paperback, 521 pages. Scribes Emerge is the third book in the Scribes trilogy, and continues the story of Mallory, Rain, and Boxer, the Scribes foretold in the Book of Books, and Leah, their devoted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Against a dark green background with spears, flags, and swords, three circled underground cities are connected together leading from the bottom to the top. Text reads, \u201cScribes Emerge: Book Three of the Scribes Series. 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