Many years ago the Emperor of Dominion and his Necromancer stole all the colour from the entire kingdom, forcing everyone to live in shades of grey. But then one day a baby is borne who lives in colour, whose skin and everything she touches turn to colour. Knowing the danger she is in, her parents flee in an attempt to keep her safe but are attacked and killed by the Emperor's Ripper Dogs and their riders, Black Coats, but not before the little girls' mother protects and saves her daughter. Shortly after, the girl is found by Sandy, a mage who travels Dominion with his dog Oliver. Finding the girl, Sandy quickly discovers the girl's secret power and names her Hope. Knowing he has to protect her, he creates a potion for her to take that masks her colour. Over the years, Sandy keeps Hope safe but rumours of a rainbow child quietly spread and the people of Dominion begin to hope that they can find colour again. But will this put Hope in danger and will colour be returned to Dominion?
I am a big fan of Ross' books and know that anything he writes is going to be wonderfully written, and The Colour of Hope is no different: from the very first page, the descriptions of colour are glorious and draw you in to the story. The lack of colour through the novel makes you appreciate all of the colour around you and also makes you realise how much we rely on colour in everything we do (how do you explain a colour to someone who has never seen it before? I'll be using the first few pages as a writing exercise with my class to describe a colour as Ross did).
Hope is a girl who is brave and confused, and just wants to be herself in a world where she must hide the essence of who she is. Despite loosing her parents, she is lucky to have Sandy who, along with Oliver, the talking dog, becomes her family (wonderful to see in a world where who we call family can vary so much).
I don't want to say too much about the plot so as not to give anything away, but magic, mystery and adventure are deftly woven into the story with Ross' usual ability to write dark fiction (one of the reasons I love his writing so much!). Hope lives in all of us and most definitely lives in the people of Dominion. With an ending that will leave you breathless, The Colour of Hope is a book that I highly recommend you read when it is released in May.
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