Review of The Hidden Sun

When I was asked to review The Hidden Sun by J. Lloyd Morgan, I wasn't sure what to expect. It sounded kind of like a fantasy since it was set in a medieval-style kingdom, but when the book arrived in the mail I found out it wasn't. Even worse, as I started to read it, it began to look like a romance. Ugh.

After reading the first few chapters, though, I was hooked. The Hidden Sun ended up being a pleasant surprise and a nice book to read while on vacation. The nice thing about being on vacation at the time was, when I found myself not wanting to put the book down, I didn't have to. I could keep reading and no one could stop me! I wish I always had that luxury when reading.

And the book wasn't a romance, though it had some romance in it (but not enough to make me nauseous). This was a political intrigue book with interesting and enjoyable characters. In fact, I enjoyed some of the characters so much that I got mad at what the author did to them. But then, that was what ended up sucking me in. It created a great emotional response, which is what every author wants to do. I also enjoyed the action and sports scenes which added another dimension to the novel.

I don't want to go into detail about what happens, because that would ruin the surprises, and there were many. A lot of the story revolved around the Book of Law and how the various characters, both good and bad, worked with it or tried to subvert it to their own purposes. It seemed to parallel what we see today going on with the U.S. Constitution, whether that was intentional or not.

There was a recurring theme throughout the book, having to do with “the sun playing hide and seek.” This, of course, does relate to the title. Also, there were a lot of symbolisms with the various character names. You can read about them on J. Lloyd Morgan's website: http://www.jlloydmorgan.com , but don't do that until after you finish the book.

As far as age group, this could be read by anybody, but the political stuff probably won't appeal to readers until in their teens. This book does get the official Berin Stephens Big-toe-up award for being a clean read.

An interesting moral dilemma comes up in the book and is worth noting: sometimes doing the right thing can be very difficult and at first seem to be the wrong thing. This is the dilemma the characters face and is one we often face in life. But don't worry, doing the right thing does work out in the end. Or sometime . . . anyway . . . maybe in the next life.

I highly recommend this book for not only being a clean read, but also a thoroughly engaging story. So go get it. Now. Are you still here? Why are you still reading? Go, git, you should be clicking on Amazon right now: http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Sun-J-Lloyd-Morgan/dp/160911437X