For Christ's Glory, I Dream Devotions, advice, and book reviews from science fiction and fantasy author Andrea Graham

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The Gift Crossway Books (April 30, 2011) by Bryan Litfin

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bryan earned a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from the University of Tennessee as well as a master’s degree in historical theology at Dallas Theological Seminary. From there he went to the University of Virginia, taking a PhD in the field of ancient church history. He is currently professor of theology at Moody Bible Institute in downtown Chicago, where he has been since 2002. He teaches courses in theology, church history, and Western civilization from the ancient and medieval periods. He is the author of Getting to Know the Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction (Brazos, 2007), as well as several scholarly articles and essays. Bryan has always enjoyed epic adventure stories as well as historical fiction, but most of his reading these days is taken up by academia.

Today Bryan lives in downtown Wheaton in a Victorian house built in 1887. He and his wife Carolyn are parents to two children. For recreation Bryan enjoys basketball, traveling, and hiking anywhere there are mountains. The Litfins attend College Church in Wheaton, where Bryan has served on the Board of Missions and as a deacon. He also helped start Clapham School, a Christian primary school in Wheaton using the classical model of education.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Chiveis Trilogy takes readers hundreds of years into the future. War and disease have destroyed civilization as we know it. Much technology has been discarded and history is largely forgotten. Slowly, the few survivors have begun to build new communities, and kingdoms now prosper in a kind of feudal order. But the Word of God has been lost for centuries.

After the finding of an Old Testament in book one of the trilogy, The Gift picks up the story of Teo and Ana. Exiled from their homeland and trying to survive in unknown and dangerous lands, they search for any record of the missing Testament.

Their journeys lead them into the region we know as Italy. An elite society welcomes Ana, who finds she must choose between her new life and her dream of returning to Chiveis. Will Teo and Ana’s relationship withstand the circumstances and new enemies pulling them apart? And can Teo keep ahead of a powerful and mysterious force opposing his search for the New Testament?

If you’d like to read the first chapter of The Gift, go HERE.

Watch the book trailer: The Gift Trailer from Crossway on Vimeo.

Andrea’s Comments: I am looking forward to reading this one as soon as I finish Jill Williamson’s latest installment, and will post a full review then.

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing He Said, She Said Lighthouse Publishing (February 14, 2011)
by Eddie Jones and Cindy Sproles

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Eddie Jones and Cindy Sproles are the cofounders of Christian Devotions Ministries. Their He Said, She Said devotions are syndicated in a number of newspapers across the eastern seaboard and they host the weekly He Said, She Said Radio, Friday nights at 6:00 p.m. est. on Blog Talk Radio. Eddie and Cindy are popular speakers and teachers at Writers Conferences across the country.

Eddie is the author of five non-fiction books and his newest fiction release, The Curse of Captain LaFoote, a middle grade book. While Cindy is the author of one non-fiction and two compilations.

Together they teach writing with WritersCoach.us. Eddie and Cindy have been writing the He Said, She Said devotions since 2008, taking one scripture weekly and looking at it from two perspectives–His and Hers, with the idea that learning more about scripture from two perspectives helps one to delve deeper in God’s word and know Him better.

ABOUT THE BOOK

He Said, She Said: A Devotional Guide to Cultivating a Life of Passion, or How Newlyweds, Couples and Singles Can Draw Closer to God and Their Mate Through Daily Devotions

Do you sense something vital missing from you relationship with your spouse, children and God? Are you easily distracted by the busyness of life and left feeling drained, bored, and discouraged? Do you sense you were meant to enjoy the richness of life, but spend your days feasting on crumbs? This heart-warming collection of stories (54 in all) will inspire you to reach for the true source of joy: a life lived for and through God.

These deeply personal (and sometimes humorous) devotions offer biblical insights and spiritual truths from the unique perspective of one man and one woman. Learn to cultivate a life of passion. Perfect for your quiet time, these moments of meditative reflection illustrate the importance of allowing God to work within you and speak through you. No matter if you are newlyweds or newly retired, this book of devotions will help you put the spark back into your love life and explore the precious relationships God desires for you. He Said, She Said touches the heart, tickles the funny bone and brings you to your knees in worship.

If you would like to read an excerpt from He Said, She Said, go HERE.

Watch the book video:

Cindy and Eddie are not only good friends of mine, but a regular source of my spiritual renewal. It’s a great idea, the he-said/she-said concept and I always enjoy their devotionals. Both are not only grounded spiritually, and super nice people but they both keep me laughing. It’s that humor and heart that makes the spiritual more relatable in the most practical sense.

~Gina Holmes, author of Crossing Oceans~

I’ve know Eddie Jones and Cindy Sproles for a few years. Each has a way of tickling my funny bone, so I wondered what a devotional book by them would be. I can heartily recommend it. The humor is there, but it’s coupled with deep truths that go straight to the heart of the problem. You’ll find a path that winds closer to God through He Said, She Said.

~Ane Mulligan, Editor of Novel Journey~

Andrea’s Comments: A gremlin broke in my house and stole my book while I was in the ER with a concussion, so I didn’t get a chance to read enough to post a decent review. I will say I read the first chapter or so and that portion seemed light on scripture and high on author opinion, which is generally not what I’m looking for in a devotional.I didn’t get to finish so I can’t say whether that was consistent, but I think this one would be best viewed as a simple marriage book rather than a devotional.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ann Tatlock is the author of the Christy Award-winning novel All the Way Home. She has also won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association “Book of the Year” in fiction for both All the Way Home and I’ll Watch the Moon. Her novel Things We Once Held Dear received a starred review from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly calls her “one of Christian fiction’s better wordsmiths, and her lovely prose reminds readers why it is a joy to savor her stories.” Ann lives with her husband and daughter in Asheville, North Carolina.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Eleven-year-old Roz (Rosalind) Anthony and her family have moved to Mills River, Illinois, to escape an abusive situation. Only days after settling into their new home, they are surprised to find the previous owner, Tillie Monroe, on their front porch reading the newspaper.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Promises to Keep, go HERE.

Andrea’s Comments: I found this sweet,  coming of age story and family drama a rather pleasurable, engaging read. Tatlock is great at disarming even readers with a critical eye and sweeping them into the narrative. I even found my gripes about separated women dating (that is adultery) on Tillie’s lips–great old lady, even if her fatalistic attitude that America is doomed is destroying this country. We’re in a mess because the Church quit fighting, not because the darkness has gotten any darker, but because we stopped shinning so bright.

It is a first person narrative, if for some reason someone has a strong distaste for narrators prone to chatting with you in a cafe rather than allowing you to experience it yourself. Tatlock overcomes this common flaw of first person novels wonderfully. (Note I call it a flaw because  1st Person is supposed to be more intimate, and falling pray to telling usually undermines that intimacy.) Divorced women should take note and decide whether they’re in the mood to escape their own reality or find healing through this family’s experiences.

Anyone particularly touchy about divorcing someone over abuse should be aware, if that is a hot button issue, there’s a risk you’ll throw the book against the wall before you get to the point where she disarms you. BTW, my personal understanding of scripture is that it is moral to leave a spouse to protect your safety and/or your children’s safety. It is not moral to both divorce them and remarry while your spouse is still alive because Jesus said it is adultery to divorce your spouse and remarry save in the case of adultery.  Aside from that, abuse victims are also most likely to choose another abuser. But I can’t comment on how the author handles this without spoiling the end.

Did I mention this is a page turner and a great read?

I apologize that there will be no devotional/meditation today, as this marks the last day of the CSFF Tour of The Wolf of Tebron by C. S. Lakin (AMG) and I am finally done and ready to review. (And I don’t have the energy for two posts today.)

The Wolf of Tebron introduces us to Jordan, er, Joran, the youngest son of woodcutters  (I think) who doesn’t really fit in with his family and is often made fun of. He gets in a jealous rage, believing his wife, Charris, has cheated on him, and sends her away back to her parents. Only she never arrives, whisked away by magic.  A loony goose woman spouting prophetic rhymes tells him his bad dreams about Charris have trapped her and only only Joran can release her. After realistic huffing and doubts, he sets out to verify that she really never arrived, frees a wolf from a trap, and learns, yes, his wife did literally disappear. Joran then sets off on a dangerous journey to the castle of the moon (and eventually the sea) to learn what has befallen his wife.

Oh yes, did I mention he’s Dr. Dolittle, er, can talk to animals telepathically?

The Wolf of Tebron is a beautiful, thought provoking tale that starts a bit slow (even for me) but will eventually capture you and draw you in.

If you’re concerned about such tedious things as theology, she does draw on the philosophies of man (as well as usually sound theologians like Chesterton and C.S. Lewis) and the book makes subtle positive references to the atheists’ creation myth, which is commonly mistaken for sound science and hence some Christians mistakenly think they need to embrace the crown jewel of a fundamentally anti-Christian worldview. Scientifically, the theory is untestable, unreproducible, and hence unprovable. It also contradicted by other proven scientific laws, microbiology, and, yes, the Bible.

The Bible tells us nothing died until after Adam and Eve fell at a point in time the genealogies indicate was a bit less than 6000 years ago. Not only this, everything already existed before the fall in a state of complete perfection, a state from which we and creation can only devolve. No literal Adam and Eve means no literal fall, no literal fall means no sin, no sin means no need for the very Savior that Tebron desires to point us toward.

Sorry for the rant. Commercially speaking, Lakin would have been wise to avoid any references at all to the origins of creation and fossil fuels, since her theme does not necessitate raising that issue. So, if that is a hot button issue you care about, within the book, it’s a  minor reference and shouldn’t factor heavily into your buying decision unless you avoid all literature that contains any references to this bad science–and good luck with that.

Another point some readers might care about is the author slips in human philosophies and accidentally gives them equal weight with scripture by putting them on the tongue of her Christ figure. Though I will admit it took me a while to pin down precisely what was bugging me. So keep watch and be discerning, engage the material and decide what to accept and what to politely disregard.

A few specific points I was concerned she could be taken wrong on, that I want to correct:

• The bible tells us plainly all creation groans under the curse of the fall, and awaits the redemption. Animals do suffer secondhand, and are more innocent than we are, but before we sign them up for sainthood, we should also consider some creatures are known for devouring their mates or even their own offspring.
• Satan is a specific fallen angel, not a nebulous force. Darkness is used to represent the enemy in scripture in the same vein as light represents Christ. Jesus is a specific personality, too.
• Giving up our fallen sinful nature as we exist now would not mean losing our humanity, rather it means becoming fully human.

Relatedly, on further reflection, someone could possibly take the implications her Christ figure had a sin nature to lose badly wrong. Of course, it is only an analogy and one can even get into trouble with Christ’s parables by over-analyzing them. This may or may not be a fair question, depending on  the exact role the Wolf of Tebron plays inside his own story universe, whether he is truly a mere symbol, or intended as a purely speculative alternate incarnation of the Lord, as is the case with Aslan.

I will admit, for my tastes, she imitated a bit too much the storytelling style of traditional fairy/folk tales. Early on especially, this slowed the pace by stopping the forward motion cold to backtrack. The style also regularly distanced me  from an otherwise lovable and relateable hero and cheated us out of experiencing his emotions by simply telling us what he was feeling.

Please don’t get the wrong impression. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Tebron is also a beautiful, entertaining story with positive morals on love, anger, despair, and fear, and, other than the above theological issues, presents as decent a symbol for God as anyone but God Himself can be.

Others on the Tour:
Noah Arsenault
Amy Bissell
Red Bissell
Justin Boyer
Keanan Brand
Grace Bridges
Beckie Burnham
Jeff Chapman
Christian Fiction Book Reviews
Carol Bruce Collett
Valerie Comer
CSFF Blog Tour
D. G. D. Davidson
April Erwin
Nikole Hahn
Katie Hart
Ryan Heart
Bruce Hennigan
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Dawn King
Shannon McDermott
Matt Mikalatos
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Nissa
John W. Otte
Chawna Schroeder
Tammy Shelnut
Kathleen Smith
James Somers
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler

The Charlatan’s Boy: A Novel by Jonathan Rogers (WaterBrook) is a first person narrative following the adventures of a young boy known only as Grady, who is kept in deplorable conditions by a charlatan named Floyd, who made money by sticking Grady in a cage and charging people money to view a “genuine feechie man,” passing him as a grown native of their island home even at two years old.

Poor Grady is also told by everyone he knows that he is ugly because his chin is weak to the point of being nearly nonexistent, his ears stick out, and he has a unibrow. He also has no idea who his parents are or where he really comes from, as Floyd changes the story of where he got Grady as it suits him.

Disaster strikes when the audiences for feechie shows dry up, due to the “civilizer” populace no longer believing in the native populace they never see. In response, Floyd tells Grady he is not a real feechie, an identity Grady deeply mourns losing. Floyd adds insult to injury by changing the act to the Ugliest Boy in the World. This lasts until an even less physically attractive young man in found in a mining town. After floating unsatisfied from various cons, including reading the bumps on your head and I believe selling snake oil, they decide there’s only one thing to do to get back the show life they loved: invent a feechie scare.

The reasons some protective parents might not care for this book should be fairly obvious. If it’s not, you’re not in that group, and the warning wouldn’t apply to you, anyway. If you’re curious, though, the only positive element in the book that this sort would see is Grady’s desire to find his family, which takes a back seat to conning and scaring the people out of their money. But they can pretty much happily quit reading now, so let’s move on.

The most remarkable thing about Grady is, despite being reared by such a despicable man as Floyd, Grady is anything but ugly on the inside. He has a good heart and a desire for an honest life, even though fear of the unknown and emotional dependency on Floyd keeps him bound to the dishonest life he has always known. Another remarkable thing about Grady is the way he shares his story with the reader. It pretty much is the reader sitting with him in a treetop somewhere, listening to him storytelling in the first person for much of the book, which could have been quite dull, but Grady is strong enough to carry the technique and keep the pages flipping.

I am divided on the emotional abuse content. The book does show some things well, in Grady’s dependency upon Floyd and fear of leaving him, but he is water off a duck’s back about the repeated insults about his appearance. We admire Grady for his attitude, but I am doubtful that it is realistic at his age. Oh, a child like Grady might say ”it’s no big deal,” but on some level, it is a huge deal. Only very late in the story did I spot any hint of the deep emotional wound such words would realistically inflict on that poor innocent baby. Some might find that enough, though. We’ll have to see how things develop along those lines in the next book.

This book does have much value to parents not  immediately put off by Floyd and Grady’s profession and deceptions. I think it does a good job showing (and hence teaching) children the anatomy of a hoax and a scam so they can be more wise and not be deceived. Floyd’s professor persona as a Feechie expert in particular plants seeds that charlatans scaring you into actions that benefit them personally can come to you dressed in the robes of an authority/expert. That is no small lesson to learn in this day and age when fear-mongers can be found raving, and manipulating others, on both sides of the political aisle.

CSFF Tour Participants’ links:

Sally Apokedak
Amy Bissell
Red Bissell
Jennifer Bogart
Thomas Clayton Booher
Keanan Brand
Beckie Burnham
Jeff Chapman
Christian Fiction Book Reviews
Valerie Comer
CSFF Blog Tour
D. G. D. Davidson
April Erwin
Andrea Graham
Tori Greene
Katie Hart
Bruce Hennigan
Christopher Hopper
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Shannon McDermott
Allen McGraw
Matt Mikalatos
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Nissa
Donita K. Paul
SarahFlan
Sarah Sawyer
Chawna Schroeder
Tammy Shelnut
Kathleen Smith
James Somers
Donna Swanson
Robert Treskillard
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
Nicole White
Elizabeth Williams
Dave Wilson