Eye of the Oracle (Oracles of Fire book 1) ~ 2 stars

     Eye of the Oracle, by Bryan Davis, is the first book of the Oracles of Fire series, a prequel to the Dragons in Our Midst series. It begins with the flood of Genesis, but continues into our time, a story involving dragons, the spirits of sorcerers, and people who serve Elohim, the Creator of the universe.

     When the flood wiped out life on earth except those who were on the ark, not all servants of Satan, a fallen angel opposed to Elohim, were destroyed. Lilith and Naamah, two sisters, hid aboard the ark, unknown to Noah and his sons, and escaped the destruction caused by the flood. When the ark reached dry land, Lilith used her dark magic to create a secret dimension for them beneath the ground where they could wait in safety and create an army to help them control the world. But two of the underborns, the beings Lilith and Naamah created, were part of Elohim's plan for the future.

     Mara and Acacia, underborn slave girls, are the Oracles of Fire, prophets of Elohim. Mara, one of the main characters, finds the Eye of the Oracle, a relic from before the flood which speaks to Mara with the voice of Elohim. The Eye of the Oracles tells Mara prophecies that warn her of trouble ahead for the world above and for the dragons.

     Makaidos and Thigocia, the pair of dragons Elohim put on the ark, were told to reproduce so that they and their offspring could protect humankind. But Satan corrupted many of the young dragons and led them astray. When Satan ordered them to attack the humans Elohim meant for them to protect, a hatred that would last for thousands of years was born between the two races. Only Makaidos, Thigocia, and a few of their children remained true to Elohim, despite the trials they knew they would face in the coming centuries.

     The story revolves around Mara's journey to discover Elohim's purpose for her as an Oracle of Fire, and the dragons' struggle for survival as they oppose Lilith's plots. An important point in this struggle occurs during the time of King Arthur, when Merlin, another prophet of Elohim, saves the dragons still loyal to Elohim from annihilation by turning them into humans. In their new forms, the dragons continue to try and stay one step ahead of Lilith as she tries to destroy them once and for all. The fight continues into our time, where the book reaches a climax as Mara fulfills one of her own prophecies to try and stop Lilith once and for all.

     Eye of the Oracle was not an enjoyable book for me, even though I may have made it sound interesting and engaging above. I usually enjoy allegories, but this one turned out to be a disappointment. The biblical foundation of the story was shaky and unconvincing to me. Elohim was a distant and rather uninvolved figure, unlike the biblical God. Also, the story only followed the basic outlines of the flood and post-flood era of the book of Genesis before it skipped to the Arthurian legends, and then skipped even farther on into our time. The huge gaps between events would normally not have disrupted the story, but I also felt the author didn't handle the personal journeys of each of the characters very well. That and the drastic change in time left me feeling disoriented.

     All in all, I found Eye of the Oracle to be a decent book for a few days of reading, but it could have been better. Because the scope of the story was so immense, I think the author wasn't able to spend enough time with each character and event to make them come to life for me. Other readers have enjoyed the book, but in my opinion, it's not worth it to buy a copy.

Link to author website: http://www.daviscrossing.com/