Friday, December 29, 2017

Friday Fiction Fix: "Scarlet Moon"

The Short:

Scarlet Moon
Children of the Blood Moon, Book 1

By: S.D. Grimm

4.5/5 Stars

What: Jordan's supernatural powers are the key to delivering the kingdom; the only problem is, the people who want her to use those powers killed her parents.

Recommended to those who like: Fantasy, loosely Christian, some romance

The Long:

I don't know why it took me so long to pick up this book, but I'm glad that I finally did! I really enjoyed it and definitely look forward to reading the second book in the series. 

Jordan lives a peaceful life with her adoptive family. Her greatest worry is her looming wedding to a man she likes, but doesn't yet truly love. 

Until her special talents bring the Feravolk to her door. Now forced to flee, and her family in tatters, she's faced with a choice: help overthrow the queen that she despises with the help of her family's murderers, or try to make her own way in the wild. 

The resulting story is one of some romance, a healthy amount of action, and some fresh worldbuilding. My only significant complaint was that there were so many questions about the world left unanswered! 

The Christian element to this story is quite loose, but I think it may play into a bigger role in later installments in the series. 

The Bottom Line: This loose Christian fantasy would be a good pick for fantasy fans who enjoy fresh storyworld development and a small bit of romance.

Happy New Year!

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

December Blog Update

It's that time again--I don't have a posting idea, so I'm just going to make up some fluff that's hopefully mildly interesting. Enjoy?

What's Been Happening:

In general, a vague disbelief that Christmas is coming in less than a week, which has resulted in a flurry of shopping, gift-wrapping, and chocolate consumption. 

More to the blog's point, I've been reading (duh). If you want to follow what I've been up to on the bookish front, I would highly recommend my Goodreads page. Most recently, I've been re-reading the Legends of Karac Tor series by D. Barkley Briggs, as well as what you've seen me review on the blog. 

Additionally, I've been participating in Hamlette's "Another LotR Read-Along", which is excellent. If you're a book nerd like me and secretly have been missing bookish discussions from your high school English days and you have a desire to read The Lord of the Rings, I would definitely refer you to the event. (I promise I won't tell  your English teacher or any of your classmates). 

Outside of reading, I've discovered I enjoy painting, I've procrastinated on cleaning, and I'm working. (That last one's totally a shocker. I thought you worked for like two days and paid off your college debt? That's not how this works?) I'm keeping up with a volunteer editing project as well. 

Looking Ahead:

For the next two weeks, I'll be posting on Fridays only due to travelling for the holidays. After that, I plan on resuming a normal twice-weekly posting schedule. 

However, I'd love to have some feedback from you folks on what you want to read about for the next few months. Character analyses? More author interviews? More reflections? More writing posts? Different tags? Something new, like a read-along or more discussion-based posts? As much as I'd like to be a mind reader, I'm not. Shoot me an email with the contact form or sound off in the comments--I won't even make you fill out a scary survey, so there's no reason not to respond ;) !

Have a blessed Advent week! 

(And please comment with ideas!)

Friday, December 15, 2017

Friday Fiction Fix: "The Fall of Lucifer"

The Short:

The Fall of Lucifer
Chronicles of Brothers, Book 1

By: Wendy Alec

4/5 Stars

What: Satan's fall and the birth of mankind from an angelic perspective.

Recommended to those who like: Spiritual warfare/supernatural, Christian, some sci-fi elements

The Long:

I must say that I was really intrigued by the concept of this book. It depicts the fall of Lucifer from heaven from the perspective of the other angels--mostly Michael and Gabriel. To a somewhat lesser degree, the book also portrays events on earth such as the fall of man and the flood. 

The imagery in the book is stunning to the point of being almost overwhelming. On one hand, this is one of the book's greatest strengths; it's a hard task to bring heaven and the direct presence of Christ to life. On the other hand, the descriptions are a bit like eating Thanksgiving dinner--it's good, but there's so much of it that it's hard to appreciate all of it at once and by the end you're wondering why you ate (or read) so much of it. 

It's important to note that this is a fictional book and it's difficult to discuss in-depth theology with a novel. That being said, I thought that the author did a solid job of describing some of the basic tenets of Creation and its fall while filling in some of the unknown gaps. It gives a new flavor to the term "speculative" fiction. Given the prologue and epilogue to the book, I think the series could get into some dicey areas when it comes to theology regarding Revelation/other prophetic books, but if one reads it as a work of fiction rather than theology, it works out fairly well. 

The characters were well-conceived for being such untouchable figures, though I felt they still retained some of their distance. Also, the very nature of trying to fill in the gaps for a tale that's already been told make it a difficult story to construct. We know that Lucifer has to become Satan and fall from grace, but how can you do that while making him something other than just the ultimate villain? I thought the author achieved a fairly nice balance between his ultimate evilness and his initial grace. It was a fine line to tread and, for the most part, it was trodden quite well. 

The Fall of Lucifer does contain some sci-fi elements, which was an interesting twist. For example, much is made of mankind's DNA, the composition of matter, and other scientific pursuits. This adds an interesting flavor to what could otherwise be a very heavy-handed theological story. 

The story does address some issues of sexual immorality (not in detail), so it would be more suitable for teens and up, even though the writing style isn't strictly age-prohibitive. Furthermore, I would say that it's important to give this tale only to people well-versed in the Christian faith and who are willing to take it as a book of fiction; taken too literally, I could see some pitfalls for heresy. (In short, make sure that whoever you give it to understands that theological questions should be addressed to their pastor, not a work of fiction, especially concerning God's judgement and mercy, levels of heaven, eternal punishment of sinners, the nature of sin/original sin, etc.) On the flip side, it could make an interesting book for someone who's vaguely interested in the Christian faith; it offers many opportunities for discussion.

The Bottom Line: The Fall of Lucifer is an engaging book that could be thoroughly enjoyed if given to an appropriate audience.

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Sin, Cancer, and Antagonists

Working in a veterinary hospital exposes you to any number of sad cases on a weekly basis. It's a sad fact of life that many of our companion animals live shorter lives than we do. Beyond old animal issues, there are traumatic cases, contagious diseases, and freak accidents that take the lives of pets
.

But one thing in particular that seems to claim a lot of critters: cancer.

It has a lot of names, some unpronounceable, some simple. It's not uncommon to hear someone ask if they're looking for "the badness" in a particular animal. Positive results are greeted with a string of profanities cursing the disease, deep sighs, and a sad pat on the head for a dog that probably still wags its tail.

Old, young, healthy, unhealthy. Doesn't matter.

Perhaps the most disturbing thing about it is that it isn't anybody's fault. It's the body attacking itself from within, eating itself from the inside out. Sometimes it doesn't even show itself until the last moment, when there's nothing to be done.

Animals don't smoke a pack a day. They don't go to tanning salons. They don't choose to microwave their food in styrofoam or take unnecessary hormone replacements or drink excessive alcohol or work in high radiation areas or do any of the other things we avoid to try to escape the "c" word.

The badness comes for them anyhow.

Sin comes for us in much the same way.

We try to go to church and say the right things and do all the right things. We try so hard to be conscientious of our tempers, of our words, of our thoughts. But in the end, we fail.

Because the badness is already in us, eating us from the inside out.

We are by nature sinful and unclean. We cannot escape our sinful nature, our soul's innate desire to self-destruct through selfishness. It's growing within. And we can't fix it on our own. We need something from outside of us to cure it, something more powerful than ourselves. And that cure must be miraculous, or else sin will merely rear its ugly head in some other form somewhere in the body.

I think we're missing a key story element here. So often our antagonists in our stories are outside of the protagonists. We miss the opportunities that our characters themselves present. After all, if our characters are fallen humans (or fallen aliens, I suppose), they have sinful natures struggling to consume them from within, in spite of all their best efforts to prevent it from growing and spreading.

Don't get me wrong--I'm a fan of taking the Ring to Mordor to destroy the Dark Lord. The devil's real and we need to acknowledge that evil powers exist outside of human nature. However, the most terrifying battle line isn't drawn between Gondor and Mordor as good and evil clash head on; it's drawn down the center of every human heart. One side has the true picture of what God intended; the other has sin struggling to break free. It consumes from within, slowly at first, but growing.

Sometimes the enemy within is the most frightening--even if that enemy is yourself. Don't discount it in real life and don't miss out on the chance to utilize it in your stories.

Friday, December 8, 2017

Archive Highlights

I apologize for the unintentional hiatus as I take some time to re-stock my review pile. In the meantime, please enjoy some reviews from the archives.

Never to Live, by Just B. Jordan. 

A Christian fantasy novel suitable for teens and up due to some darker elements. 

Embers, by Ronie Kendig

A Christian fantasy novel with some vibrant characters. 

Failstate, by John Otte

Awkward teenage superheroes. Need I say more? 


Thanks for your patience! I plan on returning to a normal posting schedule next week. 

Friday, December 1, 2017

Sequel Review: "Awakened"

I would recommend reading the first book in the series, Tainted, prior to reading this sequel. However, this review should be spoiler-free for both books. 

The Short:

Awakened
The Soul Chronicles, Book 2

By: Morgan L. Busse

5/5 Stars

What: Kat and Stephen must find a cure for her while avoiding bounty hunters, international disputes, and their own troubled pasts. But time's running ut. 

Recommended to those who like: Steampunk/sci-fi, Christian, Romance, Young Adult.

The Long: 

It felt like it took forever for this book to be released. In looking back, it's only been a year and half since the first book was released. Regardless, it was certainly worth the wait. In fact, I enjoyed Awakened even more than I had enjoyed Tainted. Reuniting with Kat and Stephen was definitely enjoyable. And even though it's been some time since I read the first book in the series, it was easy to hop right back into the action. 

Kat and Stephen are on the run from the Tower once again. This time, they also have to contend with their own troubled past. Will they be able to overcome their differences before Kat's mysterious condition overcomes her? And will the doctor they seek even be able to help?

The resulting tale is one of romance (though not too much, even for a stooge like me), imaginative steampunk action, and solid worldbuilding. Not only have the stakes been raised for Kat and Stephen, they've also been raised for the entirety of World City. 

I'm not one for romance (as most people reading this blog know), but I did think that the romantic element of the story was well-played in this novel. It addresses some real issues in the couple's relationship in a realistic manner, heightens some of the tension in the story (without being there for tension's sake), and even manages to be fairly believable. 

I was even more impressed by the Christian element in this story. While it occasionally dances the line with cliche, it largely avoids many of the common problems of Christian fiction. Turning to God doesn't miraculously make everything better, true struggles with Christian dilemmas are addressed in an honest manner, and what many authors would have left as a deus ex machina at the end was beautifully executed to be logical and spiritually miraculous at the same time. 

The Bottom Line: Awakened is not only a good sequel, but a great book on its own for execution of a Christian plotline as well as fantastic worldbuilding and character growth.