Posts Delayed

My schedule has become a bit jumbled this week. So I will be posting the normal, but they'll be delayed. Look for my post on fiction & faith on Wednesday, a general post on Thursday, and my usual book review Friday.

The Gifted Part 3: The Blessed

Title: The Blessed

Series: The Gifted #3

Author: Lisa T. Bergren

Genre: Adult Historical/Supernatural Suspense

Excerpt from Chapter 1 of The Blessed:

Outnumbered and surrounded, they were lost before it began.

Daria d’Angelo, unable to sleep upon the wet, rocky ground that seeped its chill into her bones, heard their stealthy approach. She removed the twill covering—an attempt to ward off the constant rain—and found her knight, Gianni, already beside her, face taut with tension. Grimly she took his hand and rose, joining the group beside the fire, faces betraying weariness and worry.

Daria’s knights had only drawn their swords and formed a line around the group when the intruders shoved Vito, bound and bleeding at the lip, into their circle. Gianni and Ugo narrowly swung their swords away, barely missing him. The knights held the line around their people, swords drawn. But for each man, three others were before him.

A supernaturally gifted group turn their faces to Avignon—and the church as likely as to condemn them as heretics as to welcome them.

Craft: The writing of The Blessed is clean and straightforward, pulling you in so far that the writing does not exist, only the story itself.

The characters are intriguing and varied, each with their own twists and quirks. The cast is fairly large by this third book, but Ms. Bergren has done a remarkable job with fixing who is who in your mind and reintroducing characters that there is only minor confusion with a couple secondary characters. (Of course, that could just be me.)

The plotting, like books one and two of The Gifted, does a slow wind up and fast pitch, the sudden intensity of the pace catching the reader off-guard and unable to escape after being gradually drawn in.

The Blessed is also the final book in The Gifted trilogy. Many series flub this most important end, but to my relief, Ms. Bergren pulls off the conclusion, bringing great satisfaction to the reader with the right mix of ingredients.

Content: I’ll be the first to admit it—The Blessed is a dark book. It’s not so much the external, like in the other two books, though it has plenty of that. Rather, there is a brooding sense of evil. Even good’s victories are somewhat dampened by the evil’s follow-up attacks, and the way evil twists good characters for its dark deeds—truthfully, it nearly did me in. This is definitely not a book for those who struggle with depressions or are under 16.

But that all said, the light is strong in the novel and never fully overwhelmed. Humor and glimmers of unexpected hope counter the darkness. Redemption of characters thought long lost challenges the evil’s perceived power. The sacrifices and strength of various characters under overwhelming odds is inspiring. And the light at the end! It makes the journey through the night worth it.

Summary: While the darkness keeps The Blessed from those under 16 or ones who struggle with darkness in themselves, this novel is well-written with a message of hope in a dark world. I highly recommend this book and the whole series.

Rating: Craft—5.0, Content—4.0, Overall—4.7 out of 5 stars

Read my reviews of The Begotten and The Betrayed, or order the books here.

A Snapshot of Life

After a month of preparation and anticipation, I have completed my trip to Salt Lake City, Utah. And as always, God proved faithful bringing everything together exactly on time.

Does this mean I sold a ton of books and acquired a hundred new fans of my blog?

No. But schedules came together, shipments arrived, and travel went safely and smoothly. I got to promote a genre I love. I heard stories of people who liked one book I sold them last year so much that they bought the rest of the series. I taught for over five hours on a subject I’m passionate about—discernment in media—to an unusually receptive group of people, who were very patient with my inexperience when I exceeded my time by forty-five minutes

(Yes, forty-five minutes. What can I say? I’ve never prepared a talk longer than 15 minutes before and as I've said, I’m very passionate about this. And in my defense, I gave them the option of ending on time.)

So I learned some and gave some. Expectations were disappointed and exceeded. I experienced highs and lows, failures and successes, illnesses and health. In short, my trip was a snapshot of life, with me dependent on the faithfulness of my God and the generosity of others, as always.

(My book table at the UTCH conference)

Re-sensitization

Desensitization is ugly, both in life and in fiction. We want to avoid it if possible; we want to set guardrails around our hearts to prevent it from gaining access.

But we are also human. We make mistakes. Warning signs are ignored; proper guardrails are weakened or completely missing. So while we prefer the prevention of desensitization, that isn’t always possible. However, repair is possible. We can re-sensitize.

Is that easy? No. Will the measures seem drastic? Probably. But drastic measures are needed when a potentially fatal disease takes over the body.

Think of desensitization as the cancer of the heart. Cancer can grow quickly and spread. Treatments include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, depending on the type of cancer and how far it has spread.

Likewise, desensitization can grow fast and can spread to different areas of our lives. So the treatment will be aggressive and sometimes a long process, depending on the type of desensitization and how far it has spread. But in the long run, you’ll be healthier for it.

Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow

Title: Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow

Series: The Codebearers Series #1

Authors: The Miller Brothers (Christopher and Allan)

Genre: Tween (10-14) Alternate Reality/Fantasy

Excerpt from “The Worst Last Day,” Chapter 1 of Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow:

It was the last day of school and I was running for my life. My friends and I had just pulled off one of the best pranks ever. It’s not like we were trying to get in trouble, or anything, it’s just that we were determined to get even with the school bully before summer break. After all, Cranton had gone out of his way more than once to make my life miserable this year so it wasn’t as if he didn’t deserve it. Besides, the last day of school was the perfect time for payback.

Stretch and I had planned the whole thing out weeks in advance. We called it Project: Fireball, an elaborate scheme that required hi-jacking a bag of brownies from my sister’s bake sale and modifying them with a bottle of Stu’s Unreasonably Wicked Hot Sauce. All we needed was a decoy.

A prank gone wrong lands a middle school boy with a magical book and a heap of trouble.

Craft: The writing of Hunter Brown is fast-paced and quick-witted.

Filled with action this novel rushes head-long into danger and adventure. Breathers are more like gulps of air before being plunged back into the latest complications, and swordfights and an aerial chase adds to the excitement. Among all this, a razor wit brings smiles and laughter.

Yet character connections were lacking for me. It wasn’t that the characters were flat. Quite the opposite. The cast is varied and colorful and the protagonists are well fleshed out. But I had a hard time cheering for the main character.

Part, I’m sure, is personal taste. He’s just not my favorite type of character. However, it’s more than that, I think. I missed having that redeemable quality that makes me want to follow this character. Instead, I found an egotistical brat with no respect for rules or authority and an unhealthy interest in magic. While some of this was necessary for plot and character growth, the plotting was almost not enough to overcome my revulsion.

Content: Hunter Brown has many themes in it. Perhaps too many. Every chapter seemed to have a new lesson to teach and while many of these lessons were shown (making them more effective), they remained exactly that—lessons. The problem with stories written to make a point is that few readers, especially young readers, enjoy sitting on them.

For other elements of concern, there is some violence, including a jolting death of a beloved character, and some magical elements. The former is done fairly well, with little seen in detail. For the latter, the difference and source of the power is distinguished. Nonetheless I wished the main protagonist would have bee made more aware of the true difference, as he still treated the good like some magic you could wield at whim (even though the story makes clear it couldn’t be).

Summary: My impression of Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow is of a book that tries too hard. It tries too hard to grab your attention, to connect the reader with a hero through his non-heroic actions, to make a point. So while the story was interesting and well-plotted, it lacked the spark of a story I can’t wait to tell everyone about. Nonetheless, it has much action and may connect with tween boys.

Rating: Craft--2.0, Content--3.0, Overall--3.4 stars out of 5

Starring The Miller Brothers

CSFF blog tour is back. This month we are featuring Christopher and Allan Miller and their novel, Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow. I've been extra busy this past weekend, so I won't be posting my review until Wednesday this week. But there are plenty of other bloggers with much to say, so have a look:


The Miller Brothers’ Web site and blog

Brandon Barr, Keanan Brand
Valerie Comer, Amy Cruson, CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale, D. G. D. Davidson, Shane Deal, Jeff Draper
April Erwin, Karina Fabian,
Marcus Goodyear, Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart, Ryan Heart, Timothy Hicks
Jason Isbell, Cris Jesse, Jason Joyner
Carol Keen, Mike Lynch
Magma, Rebecca LuElla Miller
Nissa, Wade Ogletree, John W. Otte
Steve Rice, Crista Richey
James Somers, Rachel Starr Thomson, Steve Trower
Speculative Faith, Fred Warren, Phyllis Wheeler, Jill Williamson

Ripple Effect

Title: Ripple Effect (formerly published as Sudden Switch)

Series: Time Thriller Trilogy

Author: Paul McCusker

Genre: Tween (10-13) Sci-fi Alternate Reality

Excerpt from Chapter 1 of Ripple Effect:

“I’m running away,” Elizabeth announced defiantly. She chomped a French fry in half.

Jeff looked up at her. He’d been absentmindedly swirling his straw in his malted milkshake while she complained about her parents, which she had been doing for the past half hour. "You’re what?"

“You weren’t listening, were you?”
“I was too.”

“Then what did I say?” Elizabeth tucked a loose strand of her long brown hair behind her ear so it wouldn’t fall into the puddle of ketchup next to her fries.

“You were complaining about how your mom and dad drive you crazy because your dad embarrassed you last night while you and Melissa Morgan were doing your history homework. And your dad lectured you for twenty minutes about…about…” He was stumped.

“Christian symbolism in the King Arthur legends,” Elizabeth said.

“Yeah, except that you and Melissa were supposed to be studying the…um—”

“French Revolution.”

“Right, and Melissa finally made up an excuse to go home, and you were embarrassed and mad at your dad—”

“As usual,” she said and savaged another French fry.

Jeff gave a sigh of relief. Elizabeth’s pop quizzes were a lot tougher than anything they gave him at school. But it was hard for him to listen when she griped about her parents. Not having any parents of his own, Jeff didn’t connect when Elizabeth went on and on about hers.

A teenage girl swaps places with her lookalike in a parallel world.

The Craft: The writing of Ripple Effect was less than what was desired. While I brought my normal edge of skepticism to the book, the night I read this novel I was really hoping that it would pull me into the story.

It failed to do so.

While the premise is intriguing and some of the plot twists exciting, my attention kept wandering. The story never seemed to settle into any kind of rhythm. The characters fail to flesh out and connect with me. The voice falls frequently into telling what happened instead of showing, distancing the reader further.

Overall, the story didn’t provide the exciting adventure it promised.

The Content: Several themes wind in and out of the Ripple Effect—loyalty, the importance of friendship, the connection of family no matter how strange or embarrassing they are, to name a few. All are good, solid themes, appropriate for the age targeted. Most of them are shown effectively too.

That said, the spiritual thread felt forced. It didn’t flow with the rest of the story, but felt tacked on in a way that felt like the author felt it necessary to mention God a certain amount. If these references were removed, nothing in the story would have been affected. The result is a preachiness that will turn off most readers.

Summary: Ripple Effect is an okay story, clean but without those elements to make it a truly engaging tale. It can fill well a gap of time in the voracious reader’s schedule, but is not worth the effort to go out of your way to find.

Rating: Craft—1, Content—3, Overall—3.1 out of 5 stars.

Order Ripple Effect here.

Books for UTCH

I’m now only a little over a week out from the UTCH (Utah Christian Homeschool) Conference. I can tell. My house is showing the evidence of it: My coffee table is stack with books to pack. A suitcase sits open on the floor next to the closet, already overflowing with things I don’t want to forget. Handouts, lists and other miscellaneous items litter floors and tables in different rooms. In short, everything is a bit chaotic around here.

But I am making progress forward, and among other things, I have a tentative list of the books I’ll be promoting (though it’s still subject to change). So what will be on my vendor’s table this year?

For Mid-grade (8-12) Readers:
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson
The Wilderking Trilogy by Jonathan Rogers

For Tweens (10-14):
Dragons in Our Midst by Bryan Davis
Oracles of Fire by Bryan Davis
The Shadowside Trilogy #1 & #2 by Robert Elmer
The DragonKeeper Chronicles by Donita K. Paul

For Teens (13-16):
Isle of Swords & Isle of Fire by Wayne Thomas Batson
Echoes from the Edge #1 & #2 by Bryan Davis

For YA (14-18):
The Outcasts of Skagaray by Andrew Clarke
The Lamb Among the Stars by Chris Walley

For Adults (16+):
The Gifted Series by Lisa T. Bergren
Mars Hill Classified by Austin Boyd
A Lever Long Enough by Amy Deardon
Legends of the Guardian-King by Karen Hancock
Sword of Lyric by Sharon Hinck
City of God #2 & #3 by Randall Ingermanson
Double Vision by Randall Ingermanson
Oxygen & Fifth Man by Randall Intermanson & John B. Olson
Adrenaline by John B. Olson
Fossil Hunter by John B. Olson
Shade by John B. Olson
The Threads of Auralia #1 & #2 by Jeffrey Overstreet

And that’s not all. This year is an experiment year. I know sci-fi and fantasy isn’t everyone’s taste. So this year I’m providing a sampling of books in other genres:

Buchanan Series #1 & #2 by James Scott Bell
The Gresham Chronicles by Lawana Blackwell
Kanner Lake by Brandilyn Collins
Dark Pursuits by Brandilyn Collins
A Bride Most Begrudging by Deeanne Gist
The Measure of A Lady by Deeanne Gist
Courting Trouble by Deeanne Gist
Deep in the Heart of Trouble by Deeanne Gist
Sisterchicks Series by Robin Jones Gunn
Danger in the Shadows by Dee Henderson
The O’Malleys by Dee Henderson
Becky Miller series by Sharon Hinck
Symphony of Secrets by Sharon Hinck
Stepping into Sunlight by Sharon Hinck
Ladies of History by Nancy Moser
A.D. Chronicles by Brock and Bodie Thoene
Mission: Russia by Susan May Warren
Deep Haven by Susan May Warren
Noble Legacy by Susan May Warren
Team Hope by Susan May Warren

That should be enough books to make things interesting, don’t you think?

The Prevention of Desensitization

Desensitization is ugly. Oh, it might look acceptable, even nice on the surface for a little while. But the longer you deal with it, the deeper you delve—it is an insatiable monster that drives those it holds.

So how are we to deal with this enslaving monster?

The simplest and most obvious answer is prevention—to never let the monster enslave you in the first place. Of course that’s easier said than done, with variables dependent on the person. But here are five things I’ve found to help me keep this monster at bay:

1. Know your weakness and personal limitations. The point of vulnerability is the point of most likely attack. So if you know of a breach in your heart’s wall, set up extra patrols and provide more security in that area. Do you have an overactive imagination like me? Then tiptoe around the scarier films, limiting how often you watch some and avoiding others completely.

2. Research the questionable. Is a book or movie highly recommended but sounds questionable in some way for you? Find out from reliable sources about that area. For example, I use movieguide.org to check out the latest film releases. The movies are duel rated for craft and content, like I do my books reviews, so I can weigh whether good craft or content overcomes the bad opposite. Also the ratings are accompanied with a thorough analysis of problem areas, like sexuality, violence, and false religion. So depending on the why, I may go to a -1 or -2 for content (the content rating is based on family friendliness) because the craft is good and the problem area is not one I struggle with.

3. Provide yourself a way out. Still not sure if this story is right for you? Then don’t see that movie in theater, but wait to rent it so you can turn it off and walk way without feeling bad. Or barrow that book from a friend or library instead of purchasing it yourself.

4. Stay accountable. Talk about what you’ve read lately. Take a friend to see the movie. And listen: If a trusted mentor or mature Christian questions your habits or a change in your life, it may be a red flag of desensitization setting in—especially if you feel compelled to rationalize or justify your actions.

5. Be sensitive to God. Pray, read Scripture, and be open to His prompting. He knows you better than you know yourself and will let you know when you’re headed in the wrong direction.

But basically, all these rules of thumb can be summed up in one sentence: if in doubt, walk away. You can always go back if your doubts are proven wrong.