Cover Reveal – Shadow Hand by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

I’m posting an anomalous Saturday article–a sort of Fantasy Saturday (as opposed to Fantasy Friday) post–as part of Anne Elisabeth Stengl‘s cover reveal for Shadow Hand, the next book in her Tales of Goldstone Wood series (due out in February 2014). Ta-da!

Here’s the description of the book:

“She Will Take
Your Own Two Hands
To Save Your Ancient,
Sorrowing Lands.”

By her father’s wish, Lady Daylily is betrothed to the Prince of Southlands. Not the prince she loves, handsome and dispossessed Lionheart, but his cousin, the awkward and foolish Prince Foxbrush. Unable to bear the future she sees as her wedding day dawns, Daylily flees into the dangerous Wilderlands, her only desire to vanish from living memory.

But Foxbrush, determined to rescue his betrothed, pursues Daylily into a new world of magic and peril, a world where vicious Faerie beasts hold sway, a world invaded by a lethal fey parasite . . .

A world that is hauntingly familiar.

And now, you have a chance to win a cool prize in conjunction with this cover reveal–a Tales of Goldstone Wood mug with this banner on it.

All you need to do is click on the link below and sign up with Rafflecopter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also, be sure to check out the cool new Shadow Hand blog site where you can find some added fun!

CSFF Blog Tour-Merlin’s Blade by Robert Treskillard, Day 3

As I have of late, I’ve reserved this third day of the CSFF Blog Tour for my review of our feature–this month, Merlin’s Blade by Robert Treskillard.

The Story. Merlin is near-blind, with facial scars–hard circumstances for a teen. What’s worse, he becomes the subject of bullying by the Magister’s n’er-do-well sons. His one friend, an orphaned boy living with the monks in the abbey, opens the door to trouble when he “borrows” a wagon to help them complete their errands. On the way home, he stops to investigate who might be roasting chicken in the woods. Soon the whole village learns what the two boys encountered—a druid priest and a rock of mysterious power capable of seducing or harming those who look into the glow shining from within.

Strengths. Merlin is the first strength of this story. He is a winsome character, in part because of his selfless qualities. When protecting his little step-sister from a pack of wolves, he ended up with scars that cover his face and with the loss of most of his vision. He’s not a whiner though, and works hard to do his share to help his blacksmith father. He’s also loyal and sacrificial. When his friend is condemned to be whipped for stealing the wagon, Merlin steps in and takes the punishment for him.

The other characters in the story are well drawn and believable, as is Merlin, but I connected with him right away and therefore cared what happened to him from the start.

The second great strength of the book is that it weaves in a familiar myth without calling attention to it. For most of the book it was easy to think I was simply reading a story about a teen boy set in Medieval England, not a story about the wizard of the Arthurian legend. At the same time, the history and setting seemed so true. I wasn’t ever weighed down with facts or description, but I felt as if I was transported to a time in England when political unrest was married to spiritual confusion.

The third great strength in Merlin’s Blade is the exciting story. The central conflict is a power struggle between a druidic priest and the followers of Jesu. Each person in Merlin’s village must take a stand. And when the high king arrives, it becomes clear that the druids plan to take back all of England for the ancient gods they serve. Merlin, of course, takes a central role in the events.

The fourth great strength arises naturally from who Merlin is and from the conflict driving the story. I’m thinking of the many truths embedded within the story–never preached, but lived out by the characters. One such truth is shown in Merlin’s near-blindness which actually protects him from the lure of the stone. God’s Word teaches us that when we are weak, then we are strong.

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. (2 Cor. 12:9)

Whether this was an intentional truth woven into the story, I don’t know because it wasn’t one preached by any of the characters. Merlin simply had a weakness that became the saving strength. Other themes are handled in the same way.

I’ll add one more strength. The story is well written. I marveled at how well I could “see” the world despite the fact that for the most part the story was told from half-blind Merlin’s point of view. There was the richness of other sensory details, but Robert also found ways of including visual description that felt innovative and yet completely true to the character and the circumstances.

Now that you’ve read the long version, here’s my opinion in short: Merlin’s Blade is a masterful story, well told. Robert completely disarmed me of my prejudices against reading another story derived from the Arthurian legend. Fantasy–not just Christian fantasy–is richer because of this book. Which, I’m happy to say, is the first in a trilogy. Book two, Merlin’s Shadow, is due out this fall.

Weaknesses. I’m pretty much bypassing “weaknesses.” Anything I put would be picky and forced. Some people thought the book started slow. I didn’t. Some people thought the prologue was confusing. I did too, until I remembered that prologues are either about a different character or a different time. This prologue was vital, as it turns out, and makes complete sense later–just not at first. A plot point or two might have had some small weakness, but they aren’t worth mentioning. I doubt most readers would consider anything amiss, or care, if they did. (I’m in the latter group).

Recommendation. Merlin’s Blade is a must read for fans of the Arthurian legend and for fantasy fans of all stripes. This trilogy could be considered an important contribution to the historical/myth fantasy genre. I also highly recommend this one to any readers who love a good story. The target audience is young adult, but the book easily spans the gap between twelve and adult.

I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book as part of the CSFF Blog Tour in exchange for my honest review.

CSFF Blog Tour – Merlin’s Blade by Robert Treskillard, Day 2

Good versus evil. That’s what fantasy is all about–its central trope. The Arthurian myth is no different, but it complicates things. Noble King Arthur must choose whether he is to live and govern by the principles of right he has established in his kingdom or whether he is to “make an exception” for those in his personal life.

Robert Treskillard in Merlin’s Blade, first in the Merlin Spiral Trilogy, carries on the good versus evil theme, but he addresses good and evil from both a societal and a supernatural point of view. The real battle is between the druids (and their practices often carried out in a circle such as the one pictured above) and the Christians–for control over life in Britain and over the lives of its people.

The conflict is fanciful since little is known about the druids apart from myth–fitting since King Arthur is also not a firmly established historical person, nor is Merlin. However, the clash between druids and Christians is believable, both on a societal level and a spiritual one.

In society, Christianity was the religion imposed on the conquered people of the Holy Roman Empire. I liken this to the Jewish nation ruled by kings professing belief in Yahweh, the One True God. Under their first king, Saul, witchery and sorcery were outlawed–and yet, the witch of Endor survived, apparently living in secret and not practicing her dark arts, unless cajoled into doing so by one promising her she would be safe from the penalties of the law. Clearly, sorcery was not eradicated by an edict from the king.

So, too, in the Britain of Merlin’s Blade. Those not in power bide their time and wait for an opportunity to reassert their influence, to reposition themselves for a climb to the top.

Spiritually, this power grab is a result of the evil forces, the false gods, which the druids worship and which control them through fear and intimidation.

The druidic power is real in Merlin’s Blade, and no less mysterious. When the priest who would rule first addresses the people of Merlin’s village, he says

. . . to call you back to the old way. To call you as lost children back to the only way your ancestors knew–they who claimed this wooded land as their own and coaxed forth crops from the soil . . . Your ancestors call you back to worship the old gods–the guides, the healers, those who bless your fields and cattle, who protect you from witchcraft and guard your children against the wailing sidhe, the gods who are furious at your obstinacy.

Since I equated druids with witchcraft, the above lines caught me off guard. The “sidhe” mentioned in those lines is “the Irish term for a supernatural race in Irish mythology and Scottish mythology, (usually spelled Sìth, however pronounced the same) comparable to the fairies or elves” (Wikipedia).

This suggests a layering of evil–fairies and witches that people fear, topped by a pantheon of gods who will protect their worshipers from those beings. The latter have a special hatred for the Christian God, his son Jesu, and his followers.

When the druid priest shows up with his power, he successfully seduces some to forsake their belief in the God of Rome and to follow the ancient gods of their homeland. It’s an appeal to ethnic pride, a repudiation of Rome, but also, and more convincingly, a plea to embrace the power gifted by the gods to an idol and its priest.

In all this, the question hangs unspoken–does the Christian God have power to counter the druids? Or is He limited to the work of His servants? It’s a timeless question, one people could well ask today by replacing “druids” with any number of other people standing against God. How can human followers of Christ stand against the forces marshaled against Him? The corollary is this: can Christians count on God when they call on Him in times of crisis? And the follow-up question: what’s the difference between trusting God to save and ordering God to save or trying to manipulate Him into it?

Merlin’s Blade raises questions for anyone willing to consider the good and evil conflict at the heart of the story. It’s one of the strengths of the story, as far as I’m concerned, but I’ll get to that tomorrow in my review.

For now, I suggest you see what other CSFF Blog Tour participants writing about Merlin’s Blade have to say. Especially, don’t miss Timothy Hicks’s interview with Robert.

And don’t forget, anyone leaving a comment to the Day 1 post will be entered into the drawing for an ARC.

CSFF Blog Tour – Merlin’s Blade by Robert Treskillard, Day 1

It’s always fun for me when CSFF features a book by one of our members. Robert Treskillard has been a part of the Blog Tour since its early days, supporting other writers and discussing books we highlight. Now we get to do that for him. His debut novel, Merlin’s Blade, is the first in the Merlin Spiral Trilogy, published under Zondervan’s new young adult imprint, Blink.

All this brings so much to my mind–the growing popularity of young adult novels, not just with teens but with adults, the unique goals of the new Blink line, and of course, Robert himself. Who is this man who wrote another story in a long line of tales derived from the Arthurian myth?

I think, for readers like me, I need to address one other question which the last one in the previous paragraph alludes to: do we actually need yet one more tale about Arthur and company? Some people, of course, are huge fans of the Arthurian legend and can immerse themselves in the numerous novels and movies and TV shows. Others of us tend more toward Arthurian weariness (I’m sorry, all you dedicated, loyal Arthur fans–it’s just the way it is).

I cut my teeth on Arthur on a Classic Comic of Idylls of the King. Later my high school produced Camelot a year or two before the musical by the same name hit the big screen. I’ve seen many other productions and read any number of other versions of the myth, or portions of it, since then, to the point that I began to think there couldn’t possibly be another new slant, take, interpretation, or approach to the story.

Surprise! Robert found one.

It’s interesting to read a story that has such familiar elements and yet be surprised when they pop up. For much of Merlin’s Blade I was reading as if the book was about someone else named Merlin, not the famous Merlin everyone knows from the Arthur stories.

And when parts of the legend did appear, I still was left guessing how they would congeal with the story unfolding before me and with the aspects of the legend with which I was familiar. In short, from the early pages, Merlin’s Blade had me off center, offering me a story I didn’t expect.

In the end, my Arthurian myth weariness played no part in my reaction to Merlin’s Blade. In much the same way that Shannon Dittemore’s Angel Eyes books upset my thinking about angel books, Robert’s story has upset my thinking about Arthur myth novels. And that’s what good books do.

I’ll have much more to say about the book, but I recommend you visit the blogs of others participating in the tour and see what they think. I’m looking forward to making the rounds myself.

Oh, one more important thing. I have an Advance Reading Copy to give away during the tour. Anyone interested may leave a comment to this post, and I’ll draw for the winner on Friday. In addition, Robert has a REAL contest running in conjunction with all of the books in the trilogy. You might take a look at his intro blog post announcing it.

Here are the other CSFFers participating in the tour this month. Once again check marks will link you to a CSFF tour-related article.

√ Noah Arsenault
√ √ √ Beckie Burnham
√ Keanan Brand
√ Jeff Chapman
√ √ √ Pauline Creeden
√ Emma or Audrey Engel
√ April Erwin
√ Sarah Faulkner
√ Victor Gentile
√ Ryan Heart
√ √ √ Timothy Hicks
√ √ Jason Joyner
√ Carol Keen
√ Krystine Kercher
√ √ √ Shannon McDermott
√ √ √ Meagan @ Blooming with Books
√ Joan Nienhuis
√ Faye Oygard
√ Nathan Reimer
√ √ Chawna Schroeder
√ Kathleen Smith
√ Jojo Sutis
√ √ √ Steve Trower
√ Phyllis Wheeler

Captives By Jill Williamson – A Review

I know I just finished the blog tour for Broken Wings and did the review, so most visitors here at A Christian Worldview of Fiction probably aren’t expecting another review so soon. But, hey, I waited a day and I can’t wait any longer.

Unlike my normal reading pattern these days, I inhaled Captives, a young adult dystopian fantasy by Jill Williamson. What an awesome book. But I’m getting ahead of myself. I need to give you a disclaimer so you understand my perspective as you read this review. I haven’t read a dystopian novel since Brave New World and 1984. No, I didn’t read the Hunger Games series or Veronica Roth’s books or any of the others in that genre which has been all the rage.

Why is that significant? Perhaps what I think is fresh and inventive will not seem so, at least to the same degree, to those who have read the more recent dystopian novels. All I can tell you, of course, is my opinion from my limited perspective.

For those of you who may not know what kinds of stories fit into the dystopian category, they are ones like the TV series Revolution. So here we go.

The Story. A plague initially carried in the water supply wiped out most of the population of earth. However, a small community with access to clean water survived. They walled themselves in, named themselves the Safe Lands, and built a society utilizing some of the most advanced technology available. The goal of the citizens is to live happy, pleasurable lives. Their “have a nice day” has morphed into “have pleasure in life.”

A handful of small communities exist outside the walled city, also relying on the same water source, but these people do not have the resources or the technology of those in the Safe Lands. They rely on scavenging and hunting to survive. To them, family and community relationships are of utmost importance, and they adhere to the traditions that have been passed down from their elders.

Another major difference exists between the two cultures: the people in the Safe Lands are all infected with a virus passed through bodily fluids. Along with other symptoms, their women can no longer bear children.

The outsiders, however, are healthy, monogamous, and have strong familial ties.

The Guild governing the Safe Lands decide they need to bring in outsiders to repopulate their land. Hence, with the help of one young disgruntled outsider, they forcibly take the entire village of Glenrock captive—those they don’t kill—and move them into the Safe Lands. One young man, engaged to be married, was away during the attack, and he determines to get his people back.

Strengths. What isn’t a strength in this story? I’ll be honest—I love Jill Williamson’s writing. Her stories engage me from the beginning, and I race through them. You might say I find them to be page-turners. But in my experience, page-turners, books I gulp down, tend to be ones I quickly forget. That’s not the case with Captives.

First, the characters are memorable, distinct, engaging—even the sell-out who enabled the Safe Landers to capture the people of Glenrock. From time to time I complain about multiple-points-of-view stories, largely because I feel disconnected from all the characters. Captives is a story about Levi, Omar, Mason (three brothers), and Shaylinn. There’s even a prologue in the point of view of one of the Safe Landers, and yet I feel equally invested in each one of the characters, though I admit I was initially partial to Mason.

Jill has done a remarkable job making me care for each person as they adjust to life as honored prisoners. I understand their motives and the decisions each makes. I cheer for them to be wise and careful and strong. I want them to resist the temptations that the “have pleasure in life” way of living throws at them. I even want them to escape the consequences of the situation in which they’ve been thrust. It’s heart rending at times.

The plot obviously is filled with conflict. The overarching story question is, will the captives escape or will they choose to become a part of the Safe Lands? That question, in one form or another, drives the plot.

Stated in that way, it doesn’t seem so different from run-of-the-mill kidnap stories, but another significant factor in Captives is the setting. Jill has created such an incredible world–with advanced technology but with enough connection to our culture today, that it feels so real. She’s created future slang, future attitudes toward reproduction, future monetary system, future approach to employment, future entertainment, future penal system, future outlook on growing old and on death, and more.

Each of these, standing in stark contrast to the outsiders and their traditions, creates a spotlight on our own culture, which of course, lays the groundwork for the themes of Captive. In short, this novel has all the elements of a good story, in the proper doses.

Weaknesses. I have one issue that’s really too picky to mention and another one I’m willing to ignore. So that’s it.

OK, for those of you too curious to accept such a brush off, the too picky issue has to do with time. The story takes place in 2088, but that seems too close to now for the traditions in both cultures to have built up. I like the fact that it isn’t in the distant future because that makes the similarities with our culture believable. But I think a better time might have been another generation later–maybe 2120 or somewhere around there.

The other point which I willingly ignored and only thought about because I was planning this review, is something that happened too easily. It would be a huge spoiler to go into detail, but there was a character made a dramatic change. I thought it was believable and well motivated, but other characters seemed to accept this change with little angst or serious working through of issues that should be worked through.

Recommendation. Great book. Really entertaining, full of material that provokes thought and, potentially, discussion. Love this story. For young adults–must read. I think any reader could enjoy it. Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys a story with a gripping conflict and engaging characters.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher with no restrictions or requirements on what I might write.

Nominations Now Open

Nominations are now open for the 2013 Clive Staples Award (books published in 2012).

Eligible books must be all of the following:

• Christian — either overtly or because of a Christian worldview.
• Published in English.
• Published by a publisher that has no direct affiliation with the author and that pays a royalty. (This does mean self-published works are not currently allowed, not even books self-published through any publishing companies’ services.)
• Published between January 1 and December 31 of the contest’s current year. (Entrants this year must have been published between, Jan. 1, 2012 and Dec. 31, 2012.)
• In the science fiction/fantasy/allegory/futuristic/supernatural/supernatural suspense/horror category.

Reminder: authors, agents, and publishers may not nominate books with which they are affiliated.

Please read the complete Standards for Clive Staples Award Books and then nominate the book or books of your choice by giving the following information in the comments section of the nomination post: title, author, and publisher.

I’m looking forward to the list we readers will put together. Please feel free to share this post with your friends and followers.

Fantasy Friday – I’m Not Buying It

I’m not actually writing this post about a particular book–it’s more about an idea.

There are a collection of authors who are on a number of bloggers and readers and journals “must read” lists. For fans or writers of speculative fiction that list undoubtedly includes Ursula LeGuin, Walter Wangerin, Gene Wolfe. But I’m not buying it.

Some months ago, a blogger wrote an article about why Christians should read horror. I’m not buying that either.

Call me snapped, but I don’t want to read stuff that is dragging my mind and heart into despair, and I’m not planning on reading that kind of book ever again if I can avoid it. I’ve tried.

I hefted myself through a number of “Christian horror” titles, and yes, there were messages of redemption toward the end, following pages and pages of ritual pagan human sacrifice, loss, and grief or fear and madness. I’m not buying the idea that my life is richer for having read those books, or that my spiritual eyes are open wider, or that I understand the world better.

I’ve also tried reading The Book of the Dun Cow, a title that appears on any number of best book lists. I stopped on page 136. That’s more than half way through (my copy has 246 pages). And I’ll tell you, by nature I’m a finisher. I’ve finished my share of bad books simply because I started them.

As it happened, the place in the story where I stalled is at least two pages of the animals coming:

The Foxes had come from the north. The Ants, like thought, had come from anywhere. Now, out of the east and wet with the sticky water of the Liver-brook, Otters rumbled into the yard, scooting chaos into the Antian dignity which had preceded them, snapping left and right like a hundred fish, altogether unrestrained by the gravity of the Council, playing games . . . Animals brown and soft, animals quick and gray, animals ruddy, animals black and melancholy, animals with piercing, suspicious eyes, animals plumed and animals pelted, winged animals and those footed for the ground, the fleet and the contemplative, the leapers and the dodgers and the crawlers and the carriers, the racers and the trotters . . . (pp. 135-137)

It keeps going, but I didn’t. There’s a point where I say, I’m not buying it. This book is supposed to be so deep, so profound, so great an example of stellar, literary writing, but I’m not jumping on that bandwagon. I’m just not.

I’ve tried reading A Wizard of Earthsea, too. This is one every fantasy writer is supposed to read, and I’ve started it, at least three times, I think, and I still have it on my to-be-read pile as if I will some day try once again and succeed. But really, should a “must read” be that hard to get into? Judging from my bookmark, I actually made it to p. 37 the last time I made the effort. And maybe I’ll give it another try some day. After all, it is fantasy, and it has maps.

I’ll admit, I even had a hard time with Out of the Silent Planet, book one in C. S. Lewis’s space trilogy when I reread it a couple years ago, and I haven’t picked up the other two books since. So maybe it’s me.

Or maybe contemporary fiction–21st Century Fiction, writing instructor Donald Maass calls it–has spoiled me for the old style. I don’t want to read books that meander or digress, but I also don’t want to read books that wallow in angst or fear or despair.

I’m just not buying it any more. These books can win all the awards out there and have other writers praising them to the hilt, but I’m not buying the idea any more that the best books are the ones I don’t like to read.

CSFF Blog Tour – The Orphan King and Fortress of Mist, Day 3

As I mentioned Monday, I decided to review The Orphan King and Fortress of Mist together because they are parts of one grand young adult fantasy story–Merlin’s Immortals by Sigmund Brouwer.

The Story. Young Thomas is an orphaned boy growing up in an out-of-the-way abbey where he is treated more like a slave than a charge of the church. His nurse, who he discovered was actually his mother, cared for him until he was eleven, teaching him to read and pointing him toward his destiny–one day he would conquer the unassailable fortress of Magnus and reclaim the throne taken from his father.

Goaded once too often by one of the monks, Thomas makes a violent break from the abbey and begins his quest. As part of his plan, he frees a Knight Templar from the executioner’s noose. In the process he also frees two other prisoners–a pickpocket and a beautiful young woman who appears to be deaf and mute.

As Thomas struggles to gain control of Magnus, he discovers there are those who promise to help him, even empower him, if he will but join their ranks and turn over to them the legacy left to him by his mother–books of knowledge that give him a decided edge over his enemies. But are these Druids enemies or friends? And who are the Immortals? On what side is his new friend, the apparently disfigured young woman serving in the candle shop who he defends?

Strengths. Sigmund Brouwer is a wonderful writer. He has created intriguing, believable characters. Thomas is wise beyond his years, an observer of human nature, kind-hearted. The secondary characters are equally interesting and well-drawn.

The plot has lots of intrigue and avoids the fantasy curse of predictability. There are surprises and twists and (unfortunately) cliffhangers. And romance for those of us who think a good romance belongs in every story.

The setting is well drawn, with sufficient sensory detail to transport the reader to England during the Middle Ages. There is also a distinct thread running through the story exploring faith in God at the same time that it exposes the corruption of the church during this period.

Weaknesses. The Orphan King started slowly. It had moments of suspense, but drifted into confusion too often, I thought. Rather than opening with the main character and grounding the reader in what he wanted, one of the factions vying for his allegiance made the first appearance.

Much of the story involved William, the Knight Templar who didn’t trust Thomas, though they appeared to build a bond. His unwillingness to give Thomas any information that would help him understand what he’s up against was galling.

The story picked up in the latter half and continued at a crisp pace throughout Fortress of Mist. Anyone interested in this series should not judge it by the beginning of Book 1

I mentioned yesterday that this is a fantasy series that, so far, is missing one of the main fantasy tropes–magic. Rather, scientific activity that may have appeared as magic in that day, replaces traditional fantasy magic. So the prediction of such a thing as an eclipse appeared to those without knowledge about the way the sun and moon work, as though the person making the prediction had the power to darken the sun. Mr. Brouwer’s use of science in a superstitious age instead of magic was innovative and clever. Some readers may find it a refreshing departure from supernatural power. Others may be disappointed that the speculative elements are so thin.

Recommendation. If you lean toward historical fiction, you’ll especially enjoy The Orphan King and Fortress of Mist. I quickly connected with Thomas and wanted to see him succeed at every turn. I was most frustrated when people I believe to be good refused to help him because of their own doubts. Thomas rightfully had doubts, I thought, but those who were in a position to help him … not so much. Still, that bit of frustration is in no way a deal breaker. I’m happy I found these books and recommend them to fantasy fans and highly recommend them to fans of historical fiction.

CSFF Blog Tour – The Orphan King and Fortress of Mist, Day 2

Yesterday I introduced Books 1 and 2 of Sigmund Brouwer‘s Merlin’s Immortals series–The Orphan King and Fortress of Mist–as classic epic fantasy. The only problem is, one of the key fantasy tropes is … well, sort of missing. What we have is a fantasy with the promise of magic but no actual magic.

The protagonist sets his sights to conquer a secretive, fortified city built by none other than the wizard Merlin and rumored to protect magical secrets. There’s the promise of magic.

But throughout the story there is largely a scientific explanation for anything that looks to the people in the story as magic–potions, acid, technology, acrobatic trickery, scientific knowledge. It’s interesting, but I have to wonder if Mr. Brouwer is intentionally skirting the kind of magic the wizard Gandalf displayed in J. R. R. Tolkien’s books for fear of offending his Christian readership.

I suppose I’ll never know. Still, I thought it might be appropriate to re-post my thoughts on magic from two years ago, largely answering the question, Is magic un-Christian? Here, then, is “Standing Up For Magic,” a re-do.

The first definition for magic in the Oxford American Dictionaries is this: “the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.”

My question, then is, Do we Christians not consider God “supernatural”? But … but…but … God’s work is miraculous, not magic, someone may well say. And the Oxford American Dictionaries would agree that God’s work is miraculous: “occurring through divine or supernatural intervention, or manifesting such power.”

But isn’t miraculous simply a more narrowed term, specifically referencing the divine? Magic, on the other hand, does not exclude the divine.

However, I don’t want to get too caught up in semantics. Let’s agree that the Bible does warn against magic and witchcraft and other sorts of divination sought from powers other than God Himself.

In contrast, God’s powerful works are called miraculous and prophetic.

The point that is noteworthy for fantasy writers and readers, however, is this: the Bible makes it clear that both God and Satan have power. Not in equal measure. Satan is no more omnipotent than he is omnipresent, though I suspect he’d like Man to think he is both.

Make no mistake. God’s power trumps Satan’s, and it’s not even a fair comparison. Satan may not get this because it seems he keeps trying to go up against God, as if he can outmaneuver Wisdom or out-muscle Omnipotence.

Be that as it may, we can’t deny that he has power and it is supernatural—beyond Man’s abilities. Pharaoh had his magicians and so did Nebuchadnezzar, and seemingly they were used to these conjurers producing what normal folk could not. Their power was not from God, however.

Moses, with the rod of God, went head to head with Pharaoh’s magicians, if you recall, and God’s power dominated. Nebuchadnezzar’s sorcerers could not tell their king his dream, let alone the interpretation of it, but God’s man, Daniel, could.

But back to fantasy. If supernatural power—good and evil—is real, then why should Christian fantasy writers pretend that the evil forces in their stories don’t have real supernatural power? Why should we pretend that those siding with good have no supernatural power?

Fantasy, after all, gives a story-long metaphor for the real world. Why would we want to give Christians—young adults or adults—the idea that there isn’t actually supernatural power of any kind by doing away with magic in our stories?

It seems to me it’s important to address the source of power and the reality of power and the proper attitude toward power—all which fantasy can address. Unless, of course, a Christian story must be scrubbed clean of supernatural power.

CSFF Blog Tour – The Orphan King and Fortress of Mist, Day 1

This month the CSFF Blog Tour has the privilege of featuring both books 1 and 2 of Sigmund Brouwer‘s young adult fantasy series, Merlin’s Immortals: The Orphan King and Fortress of Mist. What a deal! Especially because as many fantasy series are, Merlin’s Immortals tells one story in numerous phases.

Originally I’d considered posting separate reviews for each of the two books, but I’m rethinking that idea. It’s hard to separate one from the other. Yes, there is a degree of resolution at the end of The Orphan King, but there are as many questions as there are answers. Continuing on with Fortress of Mist is natural.

Merlin’s Immortals will delight fans of classic, epic fantasy. Swords, knights, castles, a journey, mysterious magic, and the wizard Merlin. And yet, despite the familiar, The Orphan King and Fortress of Mist read like no others.

It is this ability to create a new story with familiar tropes, that makes for great fantasy, from my perspective. But more on that in my review. For now, I encourage you to see what others participating in the CSFF tour are saying about Merlin’s Immortals.

√ √ Gillian Adams
√ √ √ Julie Bihn
√ Jennifer Bogart
√ Thomas Fletcher Booher
√ √ Beckie Burnham
√ Janey DeMeo
√ Theresa Dunlap
√ Victor Gentile
√ √ √ Nikole Hahn
√ √ Jeremy Harder
√ Ryan Heart
√ √ √ Janeen Ippolito
√ √ Becky Jesse
√ Jason Joyner
√ √ Carol Keen
√ Emileigh Latham
√ √ √ Rebekah Loper
√ √ √ Shannon McDermott
√ √ √ Meagan @ Blooming with Books
√ Megan @ Hardcover Feedback
Anna Mittower
√ Eve Nielsen
√ Nathan Reimer
√ James Somers
√ √ Steve Trower
√ Phyllis Wheeler