Review: A Hope Unseen by Nerys Leigh

Excellent!

The first book in this series, No One’s Bride, was one of the best books I read in 2016, so author Nerys Leigh had a keen volunteer when she was looking for reviewers for A Hope Unseen, the second novel in her Escape to the West series … but she’d also given herself a hard act to follow.

But she managed it.

Sara Worthing wants a marriage where she is loved for herself, not for her dowry. She becomes engaged to Daniel Raine, a man she has met only through his letters but who she is confident doesn’t want her for her money. When she meets she is pleased to find he’s as attractive in person as he was in his letters. And he seems just as attracted to her.

But, at the risk of using a cliché, the course of true love never did run smooth and it’s practically a rule of romance novels that trouble must come. As it does. And while I’m not going to spoil the story by telling you what happens, I will say it was great to see both characters turn to and rely on God in their difficulties.

Despite the romance, I think my favourite character was Will, Daniel’s brother who lives on the farm with Daniel and Sara. He is a loveable reprobate who provides a lot of the comic relief in the drama with lines like this:

I do hope Will gets his own happy-ever-after at some point in the series …

The unusual thing about this series is that the books aren’t sequential – A Hope Unseen takes place on the exact same timeline as No One’s Bride. This does provide a few moments of confusion when it references No One’s Bride—while I thought it was excellent, I don’t remember every plot detail and I’ve read dozens of books since then. On the plus side, this concurrent setting means it doesn’t matter what order you read the books in.

Recommended for fans of Christian Western romances, especially mail order bride stories.

Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review.

Review: The Innkeeper of Bethlehem by Scott Roloff

I hope you are all enjoying the Christmas season and your summer (or winter) holidays, and I hope you're spending time with family rather than online. For that reason, I've chosen this week to bury the reviews of the books I haven't enjoyed this year, but still feel morally obliged to review because I said I would. 

Annoying Mix of Stories

The Innkeeper of Bethlehem is described as “the true story of Santa Claus”, a story you will share with your family and create a new holiday tradition.

Uh, no.

First, Jesus is shown to be disobedient as a child. That contradicts the Bible, which makes clear Jesus was without sin. It mixes historical fact with supposition and plain fiction. For example, the book has the innkeeper’s wife helping Mary as she gave birth to Jesus—it’s possible, although we don’t even know from the biblical account if the innkeeper even had a wife. The innkeeper and his wife then go to Egypt with Jesus and his family (unlikely), and the families are lifelong friends, with the innkeeper teaching Jesus about wisdom (Jesus showed his Father’s wisdom from an early age. Why did He need to learn from an ex-innkeeper?).

The end of the story gets even more unbelievable. From the Amazon book description (which now summarises the whole story, although it didn’t when I agreed to read and review the book):

The book concludes with Shai and Adi following the Lord’s Star to the North Pole, where angels have built a palace. Jesus wants Shai and Adi to raise the baby angels there until they reach adulthood. The baby angels, or elves as the grown angels derogatively refer to them, are a mischievous lot. Shai becomes known as Santa Claus when a baby angel mispronounces “Shai, Uncle of Jesus,” claus being the angelic word for uncle.

Jesus also wants to give a present to each boy and girl on his birthday, Christmas Day, a tradition that he began during his life when he gave presents to his family. As part of their training, once a baby angel sprouts wings he or she is assigned to watch children and make toys for them. On Christmas Eve, Santa flies the sleigh to heaven to present the new adult angels to God, and then flies around the globe delivering Jesus’s presents to the children of the world.

As an adult, I think that’s ridiculous, but I could see it appealing to small children who don’t know anything of the truth of Jesus or Santa Claus. But I can't see why any Christian parent would want to teach this to their children.

And I don’t understand why the author has found a need to invent a background for Santa Claus when he’s based on a real historical figure who was known for his anonymous generosity. That’s right, St Nicolas (Santa = Saint, and Claus is a contraction of Nicolas). If you want to know more about Santa (aka St Nick, Kris Kringle etc), read this excellent blog post from author Roseanna White on the origins of Santa Claus.

My biggest concern with The Innkeeper of Bethlehem is that mixing up the stories of Jesus and Santa Claus will teach children that neither is real when they grow old enough to learn the truth about Santa Claus. Parents, teach your children the truth, not half-truths that will confuse them.

I can’t recommend this to any Christian reader except perhaps as an object lesson for teens or adults as to how we can dilute the gospel by misusing words and misrepresenting truth.

The author provided a free copy of the ebook in order for me to give an honest review. He may well wish he hadn’t.

Review: Test of Magnitude by Andy Kasch

Pure Science Fiction

Alien abduction, addiction, a far-off galaxy, space battles, and a mysterious race … what more could any sci-fi reader want?

Mip7 is a guide on Cardinal-4, the spectacular new space station in the Torian system, one of many systems under Erob law. A briefing with the Azaarian ambassador leads to unexpected summons to meet with the governor of the station, where he receives an unusual assignment from a prophet: to revive the Earthlings who have been kept in suspended animation, as they will be needed in the impending interstellar war.

Brandon is one of two Earthlings who are revived. He’s the newest, taken twenty years earlier, and the other is the oldest, and turns out to be a hippie. It’s a complex plot, incorporating several races and dozens of characters (perhaps too many?), but it all draws together well as Mip7 and Brandon have to work together to find the source of the infection and bring the worlds together to defeat the enemy.

It’s always a little hard reading the first of a science fiction series, as the author has the difficult task of introducing the reader to the world he has created without overwhelming the reader with unnecessary detail. Test of Magnitudemanages this reasonably well, and I’m sure the second book in the series (Flash Move) will be better as the reader will have the basic understanding of the Erob worlds.

While Test of Magnitude isn’t specifically Christian fiction (which is what I normally review), there is an underlying spiritual theme, and there is no sex or gratuitous violence. While it’s perhaps not to my personal reading taste, Test of Magnitude is an enjoyable read for science fiction and space opera fans.

Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Andy Kasch at his website. You can also see the book trailer on YouTube:

Indie Review: Fractured Hearts by Krystle Lewallen

Intriguing YA Debut

Fractured Heart opens with Katy in the throes of depression brought on by the unexpected death of her grandmother, who raised her and her brother after their father died and their mother abandoned them. Katy’s problems only grow with the funeral, and when she takes a longed-for graduation trip to New York city.

Fractured Hearts is written in the first person, present tense, from Katy’s point of view. This works best when the viewpoint character is strong, when the writer has the skill to allow the character’s flaws to come out as much through the subtext as through the text. Lewallen manages this well. I didn’t always understand why Katy thought or acted in certain ways, but I believed it was real for Katy, and that’s what counts.

Fractured Hearts was well-plotted, with strong characters (although there's a chance Caleb is a little too perfect). There are  writing and editing issues (a lot of run-on sentences, some typos, and an instance where a scene mentioned Collin and I’m sure it meant Caleb), but these didn’t detract from the overall story, which was original, well-structured and well-written, with flashes of brilliance:

“She was that relative at Christmas parties who drank way too much, made a fool of herself, and passed out early.”

I never had that relative (thank goodness), but it speaks volumes about Katy and her early upbringing. I’d compare Krystle Lewallen with authors such as Michelle Dennis Evans and Diana Symons, who also write edgy but realistic Young Adult/New Adult fiction. All three focus on heroines who have had to face some difficulty, but who have worked through it.

Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Krystle Lewallen at her website.

Indie Review: The Earth Bleeds Red by Jackson Paul Baer

Thriller Debut

Scott, Jessie and Ashley Miller are the perfect family. Scott loves his wife and eighteen-year-old daughter, and little interrupts their idyllic life … until Ashley disappears one night while visiting her boyfriend, Brandon Johnson and the reader realises the early introduction of an ominous tone was foreshadowing her kidnapping … or her murder.

Miller is Catholic and appears to believe in karma as much as he believes in God. In the beginning, The Earth Bleeds Red isn't so much Christian fiction as relatively clean general market fiction written from a Christian world view, but by the middle we see Scott rediscovering his faith. I haven’t read The Shack, but I suspect there are similar elements in the plot. The difference is The Earth Bleeds Red doesn’t have any of the theological ‘issues’ reviewers reported with The Shack, the faith journey feels real, and the writing is good. Better than good.

I did not see her sleep, or wake, or even fade away. I did not see my girls talking, or keeping to themselves. The things I did not see are all I remember.

The first portion of The Earth Bleeds Red is written in first person, from Scott’s viewpoint, and the writing here is strong and full of imagery:

She dreamed in a world where everything was black and white, and no one carried their own shadow.

The second part of The Earth Bleeds Red was written in third person, and the writing here wasn’t as strong. I think these sections could have been better integrated with the first person section to build suspense (as it was, the third person scenes acted almost as flashbacks, which detracted from the forward motion of the story). While the plot was generally structured well, there were sections in the middle which dragged.

However, I really didn’t like the end of the story. I don’t want to give away spoilers, so I’ll try and be vague, but I think there were a couple of a couple of minor plot points that detracted from the overall ending, at least for me. One of these came out of nowhere and (I thought) should have been signalled earlier. In addition, there is some sensuous content and some swearing including use of the ‘f’ word.

Despite this, the story overall was well-plotted and well-written with interesting character who were forced into an impossible situation.

Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Jackson Paul Baer at his website.

Indie Review: Winds of Wyoming by Rebecca Carey Lyles

Exciting Romantic Suspense Debut

Kate Neilson has had a hard life. Orphaned at twelve, in and out of foster homes and reform school, and just out of prison after serving a five-year term. Now she’s hoping to start a new life with a new degree, a new job as a marketing intern on a bison ranch in Wyoming, and a new Christian faith.

The Duncan family are immediately welcoming, but Kate isn’t able to settle in to life at Whispering Pines—it seems part of her past has followed her to Wyoming and is determined she won’t succeed in turning her life around.

Winds of Wyoming was very well written, with a convincing cast of characters and a paced and strong (if somewhat harrowing ) plot with plenty of suspense and a budding romance. The presence of the cliché Other Woman was the main failing, as I found the jealous character to be almost psychotic and the story almost descended into melodrama.

However, I did enjoy Winds of Wyoming, especially getting to know Kate, seeing her conquer her fears, and watching her develop relationships with the people on the ranch and in town—especially Dymple-with a y-Louise Forbes, an old woman with a few surprises of her own. Winds of Wyoming is the first in the Kate Neilson series, and I’ll certainly be interested in reading more.

Indie Review: The Maze by Jason Brannon

Christian Allegory in the style of Pilgrim's Progress

Jamie Burroughs is a family man, happily married with a young son. But one day he is faced with temptation in the form of a very attractive ex-girlfriend, and he somehow finds himself in a supernatural maze that’s a manifestation of his life, complete with monsters and a dawning realisation that he’s not going to get out of this alive.

It is significant (although not stated) that Jamie’s life is symbolised by a maze, not a labyrinth. A labyrinth has only one path (unlike in the movie) and can be seen as symbolic of some spiritual journey. A maze has multiple paths, many of which lead to dead ends. Jamie is most definitely in a maze, one that he may never escape.

Jamie is a man who has made many mistakes in his life (so he’s pretty normal) and The Maze is designed so he can see the consequences of these sins and iniquities. He wasn’t a likeable or sympathetic character, which made it hard to care about his predicament. This wasn’t helped by a plot that moved from the realm of fantasy into the downright unbelievable and meant I was never able to forget that this was just a story.

While there was good use of language, the writing could have been stronger. Jamie talks to himself (which I found annoying), there was a lot of redundant language, I wasn’t comfortable with the reference to karma in a story from a Christian publisher, and I found the shifts between first person and third person took me out of the story. This made it difficult to believe The Maze was real (I suspected it might have been a dream), and meant I wasn’t convinced Jamie was in real peril.

The Maze was full of Christian symbolism and allegory in the same way as classic novels such as The Pilgrim's Progress and Hinds Feet on High Places. But neither of those novels attracted me as stories, and I had the same problem with The Maze. In addition, I never engaged with Jamie as a character, and that made it hard to empathise with his situation.

Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Jason Brannon at his website.

Review: The Disillusioned by DJ Williams

I wanted to like it, but …

Danny Armstrong resisted his ‘destiny’ as the pastor of the California megachurch planted by his famous father. His brother Sam also walked away from the church, and is building a rising career as a producer of up-and-coming musical talent. When their mother commits suicide, Danny and Sam find a portion of the estate has been left to a woman in Zambia, a complete stranger.

And if they don’t find her, the whole estate will go to the church. They need to find her and claim their inheritance, or the ambitious new pastor will make public information that will damage their father’s reputation. But Zambia holds its own perils …

Disillusioned was well-plotted, but the plotting was at the expense of characterisation. It seemed that characters were introduced to and discarded from the book as required by the plot, rather than showing the progression of one or two characters through a series of events to achieve a final victory.

The main characters in The Disillusioned were strong, but their portrayal was uneven, with the story switching focus from Danny to Sam as the story progressed. New characters kept being introduced, and some minor characters were ignored, making me feel there were too many characters. I got mixed up with who was who several times (although this may be related to the point of view—it was not always clear who the viewpoint character was, and there were many examples of confusing head-hopping).

And there were a range of other editing issues, including punctuation errors, typos, excessive adverbs, strange dialogue attributions and (most curiously) the constant use of “he thought to himself” to indicate interior monologue. Well, who else would he be thinking to? This is a Christian thriller, not some mind-reading paranormal romance. The Disillusioned had the potential to be a great story. But first Williams needs to learn the basics of point of view, and to hire a competent editor. Then, maybe, the story will be able to shine.

Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Derek Williams at his website.

Indie Review: Spiralling Out of Control by Michelle Dennis Evans

Stephanie’s family have moved from Sydney to Toowomba, a move that forces her to leave her best friend, her school and her passion in life: dance lessons. While the rest of the family settle easily into their new lives, Stephanie is teased and has trouble fitting in to her new school until Jason, one of the senior boys, asks her out. Stephanie falls in love with Jason, and doesn’t see the way he is manipulating her to the point where she has turned her back on everything she once valued. Her descent is not helped by her parents, who seem to have little time for her and no appreciation of the difficulties she is facing.

Spiralling Out of Control is a well-written but challenging read. I think the strong and consistent third-person point of view has captured Stephanie’s descent into mistreatment and exploitation very clearly, as well as detailing the consequences of her decisions. It’s an interesting story, because although Stephanie was forced in some respects, this was still clearly a consequence of the decisions she made, a series of seemingly-insignificant decisions that compound in an almost-ruined life. And she loved him, which was her excuse for going along with everything he wanted. I don’t entirely understand this mindset, but I know it exists, and Stephanie illustrates it well.

Spiralling Out of Control is not a pretty story, nor is it an easy read. There are several unsavoury characters and a number of scenes where Stephanie, Jason and others are falling headlong into sin (to use Christianese—a trap Spiralling Out of Control does not fall into). It’s not graphically portrayed in that there is little or no description. But the images are still there. In fact, parts of Spiralling Out of Control are a study in how much can be implied with a few well-chosen words.

Stephanie’s descent is very well portrayed. But what is missing for me, as a reader, is Stephanie’s change of heart. But this is the first book in a series, so I'll have to keep reading to find the end of the story ... Well worth reading.

Guest Review: Embracing My Father's Shadow by Katya Cole

This is a very special review: it's my first post by a guest reviewer. When Katya Cole approached me to review her memoir, Embracing My Father's Shadow: Beauty from the Ruins of Sexual Abuse, I wanted to say yes, because this is such an important subject. But I didn't want to have to read the book (yes, I'm a wimp). I asked members of an online writing group if anyone would be interested in reviewing it, and was delighted when Kay Marks agreed. As you will see from her biography (below), Kay is the perfect person to review Katya's memoir.

And tomorrow I have an additional post: an interview with Katya Cole.

Review

I am honoured to be asked to write a review about this book as it reflects not only, in part some of my own journey, but also, it offers hope that with time there is healing.

Sexual abuse is evil in nature. It ruins innocence of children and robs them of soul life. It is insidious and the effects can take a lifetime to overcome. Secrets are not easily revealed and it takes courage to step out of the grasp of fear and shame.

Embracing My Father's Shadow gives poignant insight into Katya’s life of pornography, sexual abuse and secrets. She also reveals her search for healing and acknowledges the source of this as Jesus. It is a ‘no holds barred’ book which means that Katya is often brutally honest about her life and struggles both inner and outward.

The abuser in this case was her father. Can you imagine what that would be like? Or have you too had this experience? The person who is supposed to give love, nurture and offer guidance through life has not only betrayed you but has taken the very thing from you that matters most. Your innocence. You are robbed of everything that gives meaning to being female especially in relationships with men. Katya’s never-ending search for love is often found with other men who never satisfy the deep longing in her soul.

This book is not only about sexual abuse. It is a book about a young woman’s journey throughout her life to find meaning and resolve some very deep personal issues. It is a book that relates to Christian women who are also searching for their own truth in a world that often portrays women in a negative light.

As Christian women we can believe that we have it all together and life is perfect. Like Katya, if you choose to go beneath the masks we wear, you might find that this belief is a lie. There is more to find about our lives than you may have imagined. Katya challenges us to pursue this and look deeper into our lives so that we can truly find ourselves.

About Kay Marks

I am a Christian who has been happily married for 38 years and together my husband and I have three children and four grandchildren. I am also a Qualified and Professional Counsellor with my own counselling business called Unshackled. Personally speaking, I am also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and having walked this path I have known fear, rejection, hopelessness, insecurity and rebellion like they were familiar friends. However, I also know that there is freedom from these devastating and confusing emotions that seek to rob you of life.

My passion as a counsellor is to offer hope and encourage others in their journey. Becoming unshackled is a process that at times requires the assistance of a counsellor. I offer a non-judgemental and safe environment where empathy, respect and confidentiality are paramount.

I trained in Newcastle, Australia with the Australian Institute of Family Counselling where I attained my Advanced Diploma in Counselling and have been counselling for 10 years.  I also have my Certificate IV in Assessment & Workplace Training along with Child Protection Awareness and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training.

You can read my professional blogs at www.unshackled.com.au and my personal one is found at www.kaymarks.wordpress.com.

I hope I can be of assistance in your journey.

Kay

Review: Pilgrimage of Promise by Cathy Bryant

In 2012, a diagnosis of cancer impels Bo Miller to address the reasons he didn’t keep his promise to his high-school sweetheart, Mona Beth Adams. She’s not just reluctant to revisit the past: she’s openly hostile about it. They are given a stack of forty-year-old letters, which might just open the doors …

Pilgrimage of Promise moves between the 1960’s and the present as we are shown how Mona Beth and Bo meet and fall in love, and the obstacles and misunderstandings that eventually separated them. It’s an interesting way to tell a story: we know in the present that they were separated but reunited, but we still have to live through the past anguish with them (mentally shouting “don’t do that, you stupid woman” to some of the minor characters as we go).

This was the final book in the Millers Creek series, following Texas Roads, A Path Less Travelled and The Way of Grace. I haven’t read the others, and I found Pilgrimage of Promise can easily be read as a stand-alone, as the focus is on what happened in the past more than the present. Yes, reading this first might ‘spoil’ some of the plot points in the previous novels, but I can also see how it will tie up some of the lingering questions in the earlier books.

The story had a strong Christian theme. What I found particularly interesting was the way teenage Mona Beth was the one with the strong faith, but in the present it was Bo who was stronger. I very much liked the way the book dealt with some difficult subject matter without descending into angst or over-emoting (I can think of one famous author who I no longer read because she hasn’t learned this lesson). That’s one of the reasons I liked Pilgrimage of Promise so much—because of the strong writing. I also really liked the characters, who were so much more realistic and human than many I see in Christian fiction. I even enjoyed the bittersweet nature of the plot. I’ll certainly read more from Cathy Bryant. Recommended.

Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Cathy Bryant at her website.

Indie Review: Zion's Road by Imani Wisdom

Upon his death, aged 86, in Tulla Springs, Mississippi, Harold T Smith, is taken on a voyage through his past where he has to face the truth and the consequences of some of his actions, particularly surrounding his relationship with one young ‘Colored’ woman back in the 1930’s. This short novella addresses the racism and hypocrisy he was brought up with and the impact it had on those around him, enabling him to see things differently in death than he ever did in life.

Zion's Road is a well-written and powerful inspirational story, but misses the crux of the Christian message. This bothers me because I was approached by the author to review this book, and the author was aware that I review Christian novels. And this isn’t. It implies our eternal destination—heaven or hell—depends on the choices we make not while we live but after we die, which contradicts the teachings of the Bible. And while the Bible is mentioned in passing, there is no mention of belief in Jesus or how that impacts our eternal destiny.

Thanks to Imani Wisdom for providing a free ebook for review.

Review: Penumbra by Samantha Bennett

Norla is a slave, living in a hovel and carrying rocks under the eye of violent overseers on King’s Mountain. She is chosen to be the mistress of a handsome young lord, Count Pallo Belany, but will only consent if he will promise to free her mother. This is not something Pallo can promise: only King Vaskel can free slaves. Vaskel consents, on the condition that the pair completes a quest: they must locate the infamous criminal Penumbra, and bring back the book he stole. It seems like an impossible quest, but if they fail, Norla will belong to the cruel king. The quest takes them across half the kingdom, puts them in almost-constant peril, and reunites Norla with a childhood friend. And when they find Penumbra, things are not all they seem.

The two halves of this novel were quite different, and I’m not sure if that was a weakness or a strength. The first half introduced the culture (which was caste-based and somewhat complex) and the characters. It managed that well, without delving into generations of irrelevant backstory or culture; something that can be difficult to achieve in fantasy, especially for first-time authors.

The second half turned more allegorical, and at times it seemed as though the plot was being forced along by the need to stay true to the underlying Christian theme. Note that the story wasn’t overtly Christian: it was more similar to the Narnia stories, in that you could see the Christian themes if you were looking for them. I enjoyed spotting the allegory in the second half, but it might seem contrived to a young adult reader just looking for a good fantasy novel.

Overall, this was a good story, well-told. Recommended for fans of Christian allegory and young adult fantasy. Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Samantha Bennett at her website.

Author Interview and Review: The Heir by Lynne Stringer

Author Interview

This week sees the release of Lynne Stringer's debut novel. Lynne is an Australian author and sci-fi fan, and I'm exciting to introduce her to you.

Thank you, Lynne, for sharing with our readers today. You can find out more about Lynne Stringer at her website.

What was your motivation for writing The Heir?

I have always been interested in science fiction and fantasy, and I love romances that have a fantasy element to them, so this story was one that fascinated me once I had thought of it.

Where did the characters and story come from? What were your influences?

I thought of the idea one day when I was talking to my husband. He is fascinated by cheesy pick-up lines (not that he uses them, then he'd be in trouble!) and he was talking about some of his favourites. I started thinking about some myself, and I thought of the one that says, 'You are the only reason I was put on this planet.' It made me think, what if someone said that to you and they meant it literally? What would be the implications of that? The story grew out of that.

Sarah is very similar to myself, so the writing was a bit vicarious. Dan was someone who seemed to suit Sarah well, and he came out of that. Jillian was born because I needed someone who was a bit pushy in Sarah's life, and Mr Hatchet was originally intended to be the heavy so that he could hit someone if it was required, but he took on a life of his own once I started to write him down.

Who is your favourite character and why?

Probably Dan. He's going through so much during the course of the story, but unfortunately, the reader misses out on a lot of it because the story's told from Sarah's point of view (which was necessary so you don't find out what's happening too soon!). Knowing him and what goes on in his head makes me adore him, but I like Sarah and Mr Hatchet almost as much.

I don’t want to give too much of the plot away, but we find out that Dan has had a very different upbringing to Sarah, and that’s affected a lot of his beliefs and values. How do you see that relating to teens?

I think it can help them see that other people can have different upbringings and experiences from ourselves and this can lead to different ideas about all sorts of things from the things they eat to more significant issues like morality. Learning that people have these differences can be a helpful lesson especially when we're young.

When I read The Heir, there were a lot of things that I didn’t quite ‘get’, but looking back from the end I can see they were all clues (very clever). One thing I didn’t get is why Sarah continues to trust Dan when he acts very strangely at times. Why does Sarah continue to trust him even when she finds him over-controlling?

Sarah realises that there's something special about Dan and Jillian that she can relate to. Dan, in particular, since she fancies him, receives a lot of trust from her, although she never pauses to assess exactly why she places such a trust in him. She's motivated by her subconscious to trust him in this way.

You post a lot of science-fiction images on Facebook. What’s your favourite Sci-fi show?

I love a lot of sci-fi. I'm a fan of Star Wars, and I have been watching and enjoying Doctor Who since I was young enough to sit in front of a television. Another TV show I loved is a little known show called Roswell.

Do you believe there is life on other planets? Why? Why not?

I think it's likely that there is some kind of life, but sentient life? I'm not so sure about that. I think we would have heard from them in a significant way if there was. I try to be open minded about it, though.

The Heir is aimed at the Young Adult market, reflected by the fact that your main characters are in their senior year at high school. What made you decide to write for this age group?

I didn't want Sarah to be an adult. I thought it was more appropriate for her to be on the cusp of adulthood as she discovers all these things about herself, especially as the teenage years are a fertile ground for angst anyway. Lots of teenagers have trouble finding their niche, so I thought it was a good place for Sarah to begin experiencing the things that make her different from everyone else.

The Heir has been published by Wombat Books, a general market publisher who also has a Christian imprint, Even Before Publishing. Why is The Heir with Wombat, not Even Before?

I couldn't think of a Christian angle for The Heir, and I wasn't interested in forcing it into the story just to make it suit the Christian market. I'd like to think that The Heir is a book everyone can enjoy, and Christian teens can tell their non-Christian friends about it and they can enjoy a book without the explicit content that does tend to go with many books in this genre.

How does your faith influence your writing? How would that be different if you were writing for the Christian market?

I have tried to keep The Heir within a reasonable Christian framework of morality. I wasn't interested in writing something filled with sex or bad language, but I didn't want to make it deliberately Christian, not because I had an aversion to writing a Christian book, but just because the story didn't go that way, and I wasn't going to turn it into something it wasn't. I think my faith has influenced its morality, but not in an overt way.

What can you tell us about the next book in the series?

The next book is called The Crown and should be out either at the end of 2013 or the beginning of 2014. It is the continuing adventures of Sarah and Dan, but I can't say too much more or I'll spoil it for people who haven't yet read The Heir!

My Review

Sarah is a normal American teenager. Well, mostly normal. She goes to a fancy private school where all the other kids are rich, her dad is an inventor who never quite seems to get it right, she’s being stalked at school by a creepy boy, and her English teacher is always picking her for class debates even though she hates them. Apart from that, she’s just a normal kid who loves art, tries to survive high school and has a secret crush on Dan, her best friend’s kind-of boyfriend.

But things are not what they seem, and when tragedy strikes and Sarah’s life changes overnight, things start to get even stranger. Melting tables, windows that don’t open, eyes in the bushes … and then things get even stranger.

The story started slowly but there was a growing sense of foreboding and rising suspense that made me realise it wasn’t the predictable Young Adult coming-of-age kind of story it started out as (but I’m not going to spoil the surprise by saying too much). Strange things started to happen and there were a few left-field comments from Sarah’s friends that made me think I was missing something. I was. So was Sarah. And when we got the big reveal it was both a huge surprise and not, because it answered all those niggles.

The Heir is told entirely in the first person, from Sarah’s point of view (which I know some readers don’t like). But she’s a strong character who can carry the story without being so perfect as to be annoying. She’s a realistic teen, with strong likes and dislikes, hopes and fears, a secret crush, and a secret history even she doesn’t know about…

I really enjoyed The Heir. It was well-plotted with good foreshadowing (but without making it obvious), good characters, and an ending that was both satisfying in the way it completed the current story, but left me wanting more (fortunately, the sequel is expected out at the end of the year). An excellent debut novel, recommended for those who like authors such as Kathy Tyers, or those who enjoy YA dystopian or science fiction.

Thanks to Wombat Books for providing a free ebook for review.

Indie Review: Crucible Heart by Diana Symons

Jenna’s college days ended before they even began when she ran over a small boy while texting and driving—a mistake that put her in prison for two years. She’s now living in downtown San Francisco and trying to build a life as an ex-convict and murderer, but she is still in a prison of sorts, this one a prison of guilt, nightmares and headaches.

Jenna is sitting in the park one day when a handsome young man sits beside her and tells her Jesus can heal her hurts. Her first thought is that he is crazy, but he keeps showing up and one day, after yet another setback, she decides to listen, becomes a born-again Christian, and sees her life start to change. She finds God is real, and not only is He willing to forgive and heal her, but He has plans to use her to reach those around her.

Crucible Heart isn’t a typical Christian romance. It’s edgy, with real characters who are feel like fallen people with genuine faults—even Jess. They face temptations, have arguments, do stupid things and feel guilty, just like real people. They aren’t the cookie-cutter Christians speaking in Bible verses all the time. Even when they do quote Bible verses it feels real, as though they are genuine discoveries made by the characters. It’s exciting to watch them grow in faith, and I guess that sense of reality and exuberance is why I rate it so highly. Yes, there are a few too many adverbs and run-on sentences, but the story is so real that they are hardly noticeable.

One issue is that the whole falling in love thing happened very quickly and they seems to spend more time apart than together. I also question the wisdom in pursuing a relationship with such a new Christian. And while I like the immediacy of the first-person narrator, the weakness is that we only ever see the story from one character’s viewpoint. There were times when I would have liked Jess's point of view.

At the end, the author talks about melting gold in a crucible: “The gold technician knows when the gold has reached its peak of purification when he can see his face reflected in it. Pure, molten gold is nearly clear. When our hearts are purified by God’s grace, he can see himself in us”. That’s a lovely image, and I think Jenna’s story brings it through well. Recommended for anyone who likes Christian fiction with a bit of edgy realism.

You can find out more about Diana Symons at her blog.

Indie Review: The Discipleship Series by Taka Sande

The Discipleship Series is a series of lessons, all in this one book, about the fundamentals of Christianity—specifically, Pentecostal belief. Although it’s only 90-odd pages, it’s not a quick read. There is some real meat in here.

The strength of The Discipleship Series is that it is written in conversational English, using extensive Bible quotations to back up its arguments. It’s not an incomprehensible theological treatise. It’s simple , just like the gospel is meant to be, and reflects his view that “the decisive qualifications for profitable Bible study are spiritual rather than intellectual.”

There is nothing new here, but that’s the point: it’s an explanation of the central views of Christianity (albeit from a Pentecostal viewpoint). Sande’s not trying to lead the church into a new revelation, but to solidify our understanding of our faith, and reignite (or ignite) our passion for worship and fellowship (I found those sections particularly inspiring). Importantly, I didn’t find any areas where it misrepresented or twisted Christian belief (which is more than I can say for some ‘Christian’ books I’ve read).

The weakness of The Discipleship Series is that while it is a solid discussion of belief, it’s not really clear who it is aimed at: the non-believer, the new believer or the Christian who is more established in their faith. There are also occasional typos or misused words, and some formatting bugs in the ebook, but these do not distract from the central message.

Overall, The Discipleship Series is a very readable work which would make an excellent Bible study for young adults, new Christians, or those who would like to understand evangelical or Pentecostal Christianity better. Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Taka Sande at his blog.

Indie Review: Knowing (A Series of Gifts) by Tammy Hill

Ember is unwillingly stuck in Smalltown, Georgia (pop. 15,000), when her mother divorces Bill. Ember is a Christian, although you wouldn’t know it based on her behaviour over the last four years. She strikes up an immediate friendship—and romance—with Cade, and through him is introduced to Mouse, who invites Ember to her church youth group.

As Ember unpacks and settles into her new home, school and church, she finds that she attracts attention not just as the new girl, but as the strange girl. Because something strange is happening. Sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes when she sees someone, she knows things about them—private things, things no one else would know. This gets her in trouble at first, but then one person believes her. And things change.

Knowing isn’t just a standard Christian novel with an evangelical bent. It goes further than that, as Ember comes to know and understand that the miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit detailed in the Bible weren’t just for Biblical times, but are for now. In that, the novel is more Pentecostal than evangelical, yet it manages to dispel some myths about Pentecostals and normalise them. Us.

Those who don’t believe that God gives people these gifts and talents today might be tempted to discount this novel, but they’d be missing something. And think about it: the doctrine of Cessationism is that “miracles, prophecies and such in the Bible existed to help grow the church. They don’t exist now because we don’t need them any more”.

Yet we live in a society where church attendance is declining rapidly, where large portions of Africa and South America are run by governments that are rife with corruption and human rights abuses, and where the War on Terror against Islamic militants in the Middle East has been continuing for more than a decade.

God is being dismissed as irrelevant by the majority of the population. At the same time, large portions of the church believe we don’t need His miracles any more, because we don’t need to grow the church. Are we stupid, or merely ignorant? Hmm. (Rant over.)

The title, Knowing: A series of gifts, implies this is the first book of a series covering some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit as seen in I Corinthians 12:8-10. Ember has shown us the gift of messages of knowledge. I look forward to seeing what’s next.

Thanks to Tammy Hill for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Tammy Hill at her website.

Indie Review: Trust Me Twice by Alison Stanley

Alana Johnston and Zac Whitehouse had been best friends since they were children in Oakley, New South Wales, Australia, and discovered the shared the same birthday. But then Zac’s parents moved. Seven years later, Zac came back. He was cute and cool. And Alana wasn’t. And while Alana thought they might become best friends again, she then overheard something that confirmed it wasn’t meant to be.

Ten years later, Alana and Zac are both back in Oakley. It seems super-cute Zac is now a TV star, on the soap, ‘North Shore’. Not that Alana knew, as she’s too busy with her career to watch TV. Meeting Zac again… the attraction is still there, but she’ll have to work out their new relationship, and review her relationship with God.

I really enjoyed Trust Me Twice. It was an easy and relaxing read, perfect for summer sunbathing (or curling up by a winter fire). There is quite a lot of detail about Alana and Zac as teens, and it was almost too realistic. Remember those times when you said things you didn’t mean, or you said something and it came out totally wrong?

The adult Alana and Zac were much more mature (thankfully). They’d both worked out who they were a bit better, and while there were still a whole bunch of issues to work through before Alana especially could trust Zac again, it was well done. A good read and I’ll look forward to reading more from Alison Stanley.

Thanks to Alison Stanley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Alison Stanley at her website.

Review: Don't Judge a Book by... by Kate Policani

After discovering a strange book (imaginatively called 'The Book') in her local library, Seattle high school graduate Colleen Underhill starts seeing visions. Her first thought is that she has gone insane. She soon finds out that she is 'broadcasting' and gets into trouble when she won't say a simple spell to prevent this, because taking part in magic and witchcraft is against her Christian faith.

Colleen is immediately whisked away to Seattle Pacific Regional University (‘sproo’ to the students), where she learns that Tximar energy flows through everyone, like the concept of Chi energy, but is like the old Magic eye books in that it can't be seen by everyone. Reading The Book has unleashed this previously-unknown power in her (unfortunately, The Book is never mentioned after the beginning, which seemed a bit strange in hindsight). It is working in the spirit realm, but even the professors are unsure what spirits—which makes Colleen even more reluctant to use spells.

What follows is Colleen's first-person account of her first months at Sproo, learning about Teimnydduus and Txenar. adjusting to the new rules, joining the Sproo version of a sorority, getting her first boyfriend, singing in the music show and working out how to deal with unexpected financial issues.

It's well-written with believable characters, a well-thought-through back story, an interesting plot and some very good imagery (e.g. “her shoes resembled government building architecture”). It’s a quick and enjoyable read, incorporating elements of the worlds of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, but there were some problems.

As in other fantasy books, the author has invented a range of words to describe concepts outside our everyday reality. But these aren't words like 'muggle' or 'hobbit' that are easily written and pronounced in English. These words look like a combination of Welsh and Anglicised Greek, words like ‘Skupdyn’ and ‘tiemnydduus’. I have no idea how to even begin pronouncing that. Is the 'dd' a 'th' sound, as it is in Welsh, or a 'dd' as it is in English words like 'hidden'? (At one point, Colleen comments that many of the words were ‘spit-rich’, indicating to me that the language is definitely Welsh.)

The author does at least acknowledge this problem, saying of The Book that “The author spelled all the terminology in the book so outrageously. It felt like the author wanted to mess with his readers by making up names for things that were impossible to pronounce.” There was a glossary at the beginning, but this is easier to access in a paper book than an ebook. The story got very interesting very quickly, and trying to work out which T-word was what was confusing and just slowed the story down.

Did Don't Judge a Book By Its Magic work as a Christian novel? Yes, and no. While there was nothing anti-Christian, it changed tack part-way through, moving away from the spiritual aspect of The Convergence into a teenage dating and relationship focus. There was insufficient discussion around whether the spirits or forces being used for magic were good or not, and I think this needed to be made clearer.

And then Don't Judge a Book By Its Magicjust ended. It wasn't even a cliffhanger (although it left a fair few things unresolved), but it wasn't a clear ending either. I don't mind a series, but I like each book to contain a complete story arc, and to finish at a natural place. This didn’t. Enjoyable while it lasted, but there was something missing.

Thanks to Kate Policani for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Kate Policani at her website.