This first science fiction, fantasy book in the ” The Shadowside Trilogy” by Robert Elmer is published by Zondervan.
Trion Rising is written for kids ages 13 years and up. The age range reflects readability and not necessarily content appropriateness.
Oriannon Hightower of Nyssa is the daughter of a prominent member of the Corista Assembly. She’s spent her life memorizing the words of the holy Codex and watching her countrymen follow those laws religiously. But when a music teacher named Jesmet arrives with new ideas, healing powers and a song that stirs Oriannon’s heart, she begins to wonder if there’s more to life than just the rules of the Codex.
The Assembly’s hostility toward Jesmet grows; in time, he’s banished to Shadowside and Oriannon follows him there to discover he has other followers who really feel and understand his song. Jesmet eventually is killed by the Assembly, but Oriannon returns to Shadowside to help her newfound friends and finds Jesmet is there, and alive.
This unique space-age allegory explores what happens when a young woman from a pharisaical society encounters a teacher (Jesmet) who puts life, meaning and music into the texts she’s memorized from childhood. The Assembly spies on Jesmet, looking for a reason to condemn him as he heals, enlightens, and even raises a student from the dead. Phrases from the Codex, as well as incidental situations, clearly bring to mind messages from the Gospels. The theme of sacrifice echoes throughout Trion Rising, as both Jesmet and Oriannon make life-altering choices to save others.
The Assembly (representing the Pharisees and Saducees of Jesus’ day) believes the Codex should be followed to the letter; they plot against anyone who challenges their traditions.
Jesmet is a kind teacher who uses stories to capture the attention of his listeners. He heals and helps those in need, and he exudes a joy unfamiliar to Oriannon and her people. Oriannon’s father, a powerful leader of the Coristan nation, repeatedly puts his loyalties to his coworkers and pharisaical beliefs ahead of his daughters needs and safety. He allows her to be injured by having her memories extracted, uses her to help capture Jesmet, and urges her to lie so that she won’t be considered an accomplice in Jesmet’s “crimes.”
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