A groundbreaking expedition into the uncharted world of Christian steampunk.
When it comes to Christian fiction, few things delight me more than well-crafted allegory. Which makes it seem somewhat odd that Sir Quinlan was my first experience with Chuck Black’s work. But regardless, this book had me hooked from page one, and I couldn’t put it down. The story begins with Tav and Twitch—two young knights in training for the service of the Prince of Arrethtrae. Their training is basically just a hobby for them, an enjoyable pastime. But then Tav’s uncle Baylor, who his family considers just a little bit shy of sane, shows up and tells Tav that he wants him to come and join the Swords of Valor. Baylor claims that a deadly war is engulfing the kingdom of Arrethtrae, and that they need men willing to leave everything and join in the battle.
But no one—neither Tav nor Twitch—has seen any sign of a war being fought, so why leave a comfortable and peaceful life at home to chase imaginary enemies and fight unnecessary battles? Tav refuses his uncle’s offer. Baylor offers him two days to think about it and make his final decision.
It is Twitch, however, who finds himself seriously thinking about what it really means to be a knight of the Prince and what a life of service really looks like. It is Twitch who meets Baylor two days later and offers his life in service as one of the Swords of Valor.
At first it seems like the life he’s always dreamed of… until disaster strikes. It is a disaster so terrible that the Swords of Valor disband completely. And it is Twitch’s fault. Ashamed and convinced that he’s incapable of serving the Prince, Twitch returns home.
But his destiny won’t leave him alone, and before long he finds himself back on the road of service to the Prince. Back on the road to rejoining the Swords of Valor. Back on the road to becoming Sir Quinlan.
As I said before, this book had me hooked from page one and held me until the end. It has a classic plot filled with page-turning drama and delicious, breath-taking action. Best of all, there is a deeply moving and convicting message woven through the story. Unlike a lot of attempts at allegory, the author doesn’t pause the story to ‘preach’. The reader knows the message is there and understands what it is saying, but Chuck Black has done a stellar job of weaving it seamlessly into the natural structure of the story.
Sir Quinlan and the Swords of Valor is a book I will definitely be coming back to for a re-read, and there will be many more of Chuck Black’s books joining Sir Quinlan on my bookshelf!
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I received this book free of charge from Waterbrook Multnomah in exchange for my review. A favorable review is not required; Waterbrook is committed to gathering honest opinions about the books they publish.
The Writer's Lair is pleased to announce the launch of Rhizome Publishing's first-ever "Cultivate" publishing contest. The guidelines are wonderfully simple (and simple is always good, right?): submit your completed manuscript by Sunday, May 29, 2011. Submissions will be sorted according to genre and the best manuscript from each genre will then be sent to the editorial staff. One winner will be chosen to receive a publishing contract with Rhizome Publishing, which includes:1) Cover design
2) Editing
3) Interior Layout
4) Publishing to all E-Book services
5) Set-up and delivery to our Book printer
6) Distribution through Ingram (which makes the book available at all retail book stores)
7) Generous royalties
8) And viral marketing
Rhizome is open to and welcoming speculative genres, as well as most other genres of fiction and non-fiction.
Over the last couple of years I've edited several novels, short stories, and essays for friends, just for fun and, well... because that's what friends are for, right?
I imagine I'm not the only writer of speculative fiction who has been asked a question along the lines of: "How can you use your stories to tell people about God if the stories aren't set in the real world?"
Over the weekend I managed to severely burn my finger and was on limited activity as a result, so I was thrilled when this book arrived and gave me something to do. And if laughter really is the best medicine, my finger will be healed in no time. The Charlatan’s Boy stars Grady, a pitifully ugly boy who travels the country of Corenwald with Floyd—a professional flimflam man. Grady’s ugliness makes him perfect to play the part of a feechie (the wild little savages the people of Corenwald believe inhabit the swamplands), and he and Floyd make a handsome living off of people who are curious to see “a genuine he-feechie; alive and in the flesh!”.
But as the people of Corenwald gradually stop believing in feechies, times get tough for Floyd and Grady, and they’re forced to find another way of making a living. The book follows their hilarious string of schemes and escapades, including an “Ugliest Boy in the World” routine and a stint in the phrenology business. Alas, nothing seems to work as well as the feechie trade did, back when people believed in feechies.
So, Floyd and Grady decide to cook up another great feechie scare, something to revive the old beliefs in feechies and put them back in business. Unfortunately, as the scare gets underway they realize that they aren’t alone. It seems every huckster and charlatan in Corenwald wants in on the excitement, and before long they’re all claiming to be the only act of their kind, the only one to have a genuine, captive feechie.
If Mark Twain had written fantasy, The Charlatan’s Boy could have easily passed as his work. The settings, the characters, the language and grammar used, and the unique style of humor work together to create a one-of-a-kind fantasy read like none you’ve read before. This is a book to be read aloud in the family room in the evenings; it had me laughing out loud from start to finish.
The plot had a tendency to meander from time to time, but in my opinion that didn’t hurt the book a bit. In fact, I think it only added to the lighthearted and refreshing effect of the story. This was my first time to read anything by Jonathan Rogers, but you can be sure that after this I will be checking out more of his work, including the sequel to The Charlatan’s Boy, slated for release this fall!
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I received this book free of charge from Waterbrook Multnomah in exchange for my review. A favorable review is not required; Waterbrook is committed to gathering honest opinions about the books they publish.
By Bodie Hodge and Laura Welch
The Writing LifeI’ll admit, at first the cover design had me edgy and expecting something dark, more along the lines of paranormal or horror than fantasy. Fortunately, the old adage about judging a book by its cover came through for me and I was delighted to find an exciting story set in a unique fantasy world, built on a very intriguing premise. The dark mood set by the cover doesn’t carry over into the story itself.
The story begins when a haggard young man staggers into a temple courtyard. Melaia, a priestess, offers him shelter, but before the stranger can accept he is attacked and killed by a vicious hawk, which Melaia chases away. Already shocked by what has happened, she is even more stunned to find that the murdered stranger has wings growing from his back.
She moves the body into the temple to be prepared for burial and await the return of the high priestess, Hanamel. Before Hanamel returns, however, another stranger arrives—the hawk that killed the stranger, this time in human form.
His arrival throws everything Melaia thought she knew into chaos, leading her to discover that what she has always been taught about angels is not entirely accurate, and there are many things she has never been taught at all.
As circumstances and events unfold, Melaia is drawn deeper and deeper into an ancient feud between two brothers, now immortal, whose battle destroyed the stairway to heaven, trapping countless angels in the world of mortals, with no way to return to their home.
I had a little trouble understanding the workings of the story world at first, until I realized that I was expecting the angels in the story to be and behave like the Bible tells us real angels do. Once I stopped trying to apply that template to the story’s angels, everything made a great deal more sense and was very easy to follow.
The scenery and descriptions in this book were just beautiful. From towering cities built on the brink of high cliffs, to the joyful dance of a fire angel in the flames of a campfire, you are in for a visual treat with Breath of Angel. And the story’s inhabitants—from green-skinned sylvans to varying ranks of angels, each with different gifts and abilities; from shape-shifting immortals to gruesome draks (spy birds with human hands instead of feet)—form an enthralling cast you’re not likely to forget quickly.
My only complaint is that a lot of the major plot points of the story almost seem ‘too easy’. A piece of earth-shattering, life-changing news arrives, altering everything Melaia thinks she knows about herself and her identity; she acts shocked for a while, and then just moves on, seeming to take everything in stride. And while the story’s ending is fantastic and a perfect conclusion to the rest of the plot, there is little buildup to that ending, so it hits somewhat out of the blue.
Along that same line, Melaia’s character definitely changes, grows, and matures over the course of the story, which is good, but there really isn’t a visible turning point. There doesn’t seem to be a point at which she hits rock bottom and decides “okay, I’m going to stop fighting it, here’s what I have to do, now I’m going to do it”. There were a couple of instances that I suppose could have been turning points, but they didn’t come across that way openly. Melaia does struggle with a lot of the things she’s facing and dealing with, but she seems to be just going along with it anyway, playing it by ear.
Aside from that, Breath of Angel was a very unique and exciting adventure that had me hooked from page two.
You should know that as I sat writing this review, a bird flew into the window behind me; you will have to read Breath of Angel to appreciate the heart attack it almost gave me.
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I am legally obligated to inform you that I received this book in exchange for my review as part of Waterbrook Multnomah's Blogging for Books program. There. I have informed you.
