There Comes a Prophet by David Litwack Book Review

I once saw a documentary that said in a thousand years, if our society crumbled, there wouldn't be much left of our buildings or our culture.  There Comes a Prophet by David Litwack makes me think of that documentary and reflect on what would people think of us today.  Now, I know that probably wasn't the goal Mr. Litwack had when he set out to write this book, but that is what's resonating with me.

There Comes a Prophet takes place in a dystopian future where the Temple of Light brought civilization out from the "darkness" and lead them into the light.  There are strict rules in this society and to ensure that people follow the correct path, new adults are selected for a "teaching".  This is where our story picks up....

Nathaniel has two best friends in the world-Orah and Thomas.  Thomas is sent for a teaching first and comes back a sullen and changed.  When Orah is selected next for a teaching Nathaniel tries to save her.  In the process of saving her he finds out about a secret that could change history forever.  The three friends embark on an adventure to uncover more to the secret and hopefully a way to defeat the oppressive Temple of Light.

On their journey they come in contact with the remains of a past civilization (ours) and this is where my mind gets stuck, for lack of better word.  Mr. Litwack does a fantastic job of showing us our strange inventions through the mind of young adults that have no clue what these items were for.  I liked guessing what he was describing in front of the trio. 

The three friends have lots of conflict during their journey, but for me some of the conflict was resolved very easily or almost without word.  And to some extent the reasoning for this is explained, but some scenarios would have been better with more details.  No one's perfect, there are some minor spelling errors, but those are easily overlooked. 

This book is great for young adults and above, there isn't strong language that would deter some of the younger crowd.  It's a fun dystopian adventure that moves along at a fast pace to keep your attention on the quests.  I give this story of friendship, adventure and courage 4 stars.  I've heard this book may have a sequel and if that's true, I will definitely be picking it up!