The Restorer's Son by Sharon Hinck Published by: Navpress (2007) 405 pages Rating: 8/10 Buy it Now:    Also by Sharon Hinck: The Secret Life of Becky Miller Renovating Becky Miller The Restorer The Restorer's Journey

In the first book of The Sword of Lyric series, Sharon Hinck turned the fantasy genre on its ear by having the heroine of the story be a middle-aged housewife. Susan Mitchell became this other world's "Restorer" - a chosen one given great powers and abilities to help the People of the Verses in their time of troubles.

When Susan and her husband Mark returned home to Earth, they discovered that their son Jake had wandered through the otherworldly portal. Now they return, hoping to find him right away and go home, but of course that isn't going to happen.

Meanwhile, the next chosen Restorer is the rebel Kieran. Refusing to accept his role or the guidance of the One, Kieran lands himself in intense trouble and gets himself banished. How is he supposed to guide the People when he's not even allowed to stay in the land?

The armies of Hazor are marshalling, assassins from Kahlarea are infiltrating Lyric... can Kieran finally surrender to the One in time to become who he's been called to be? And where's Jake, anyway?

As a matter of fact, Jake is conspicuously absent for long periods of the novel. Just when I was really wondering about this, Sharon Hinck threw me another curve ball regarding the title of the book. I really should have seen that one coming.

At its best, The Restorer's Son stands up with any other fantasy on the shelf right now. Unfortunately, the fractured storytelling with multiple characters detracts from Hinck's primary writing talents - getting into a character's skull. Consequently, the characters aren't quite as interesting or well-developed as they were in the first book, with the exception of Kieran.

While some of the polish has gone off the sword, Hinck still gets enough things right that this storyline works, and works well. The conclusion leading into the next book is one that I predicted and secretly hoped to see happen. The third book in this series should be very interesting. Recommended.