I confess I haven’t read much fantasy since Lord of the Rings; in my “grown-up years” I’ve gravitated toward reality-based fiction. A.W. Hill’s Ministry, however, taps into my youthful romance with the J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy, and kicks it up a notch!

The word ‘enchanting’ may seem inappropriate for a post-apocalyptic adventure that begins on the “ass-end” of a burned out city, with a dead, frozen-stiff father. But, trust me, early on in this sprawling novel you will be warmly under Ministry’s spell.

Much like Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, life in “the valley” begins as a dark dream story, recounted by a naif, with fierce antagonists lurking around every corner. The girl’s childhood name is Christmas.

Isobel Christmas Lemont was born on Christmas day, and in the year of the Expulsion, along with her mother and father is among the expelled. Accelerated global warming – on which Hill goes into only essential detail throughout this book – has moved the earth into a new system: “the temperature got higher, the seas poured in, and things stopped growing.”

The diminished natural resources turn the population into the Elect (or “Tops”) and the Atrophines - the banished ones. The Elect survive on algae, cultivated in heavily barricaded cities all now on saltwater ports. The Atrophines survive basically on pre-apocalyptic garbage.

During the Expulsion, Isobel loses her mother. But she is doted on and educated by her father with the aid of the Big Book - the Random House Illustrated Encyclopedia. After ‘Daddy’ dies on a foraging mission in sub-freezing weather, our heroine, now experiencing visitations from the saints she learned about in the Big Book, strikes out to find sanctuary.

To summarize this 573 page adventure in a brief synopsis would be as daunting as the trials that await young Isobel Lemont. Suffice it to say that Isobel's "ministry" is finding the Architect, who has taken control of the world, and either bringing him around or taking him down. Her power is simply speaking truth and hope – that “things are growing again.” She spreads her conviction to as many souls as she can reach, her message often accompanied by music and dance! Eventually Isobel builds an army of followers. Music plays a spellbinding role in this novel and, like other readers, I envisioned a cinematic version of Ministry from beginning to end.

So, what makes Hill’s tale of adversity in a dystopian world stand out from the others, the “Left Behind”s in our current zeitgeist? It’s the visceral paean to humanity in Hill’s voice, often through the dialogue of Lemont. Her manner is impish but intimate, her speech so unblinkingly honest it evokes a child just learning to talk. Each well-crafted character we encounter along her pilgrimage adds a poignant level of humanness to this often thrilling journey. There is a purity of mind and indomitable spirit infusing Ministry that make it a truly exhilarating read.

In fact, there are times when Hill’s prose is so timeless and true, you could mistake it for something you once came across in classic English literature. But then you read the passage again, and think “no - this is just what good writing sounds like.”