Book Review: The Dragons of Chiril by Donita K. Paul

The Dragons of Chiril,
previously published as The Vanishing Sculptor.

by Donita K. Paul

Genre: Middle Grade / Christian Fantasy

Ages: Suitable for all ages.

I received a copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group as part of their Blogging for Books program in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Description:

Before DragonSpell, on a different continent and a different time, a young emerlindian’s desperate decision threatens to disrupt the foundation of the world.

Tipper has been caring for her family’s estate for years now, ever since her father disappeared, making a living by selling off his famous artwork. Then she learns that three statues she sold were carved from an ancient foundation stone, and the fabric of her reality is crumbling.

She must free her father and save the world. But she can’t do it alone.

Her ragtag band of adventurers includes Beccaroon, a giant parrot; Bealomondore, an aristocratic young artist; a handsome dragonkeeper prince; the Wizard Fenworth; and the tumanhofer librarian Librettowit. Together they travel through valleys and kingdoms and consort with purveyors of good and agents of evil to find and reunite the missing statues. Will they learn to rely on Wulder’s grace and guidance along the way?


My Thoughts:


I loved the DragonSpell series, so when I saw this one I just had to read it. It took me a little longer to get into then Ms. Paul's other novels, but not much. Before long I was adventuring right along with Tipper and her friends, laughing at their silliness and enjoying the fun.


It is difficult to find good Christian fantasy that doesn't either drive you crazy with preachiness or bore you with bland writing. You don't find either of these problems in this book. Ms. Paul's writing is intelligent and witty and she blends Christian values and allegory in with the story perfectly. Her characters are marvelously flawed and likable, even though most of them are not precisely human. It is so easy to praise their successes and cringe at mistakes you know you would probably make if you were in there place.


Full of humor and moments of peril, Tipper's is not a quest you want to miss. I recommend this book to children who want fun and parents who want quality. I also think this book would make an excellent read-aloud.



Rating System: Profanity, Sexuality and Violence
1 (mild) through 10 (extreme).


Profanity:
I rate it a 1.10 for a couple of harmless 'blast's.


Sexuality:
There was no sexuality in this book.


Violence:
I rate it a 3.10 for a couple of skirmishes and moments of peril.

                                         Lieder Madchen

Book Review #77: Petra: City of Stone by T.L. Higley

Petra: City of Stone
by T.L. Higley

Genre: Historical Fiction / Christian

Ages: 15 and up

I received an e-book of this from NetGalley for review.

Amazon Description:

Petra, the wondrous ancient city carved from the mountains of modern Jordan, is at the height of its glory in this gripping historical novel by T. L. Higley. A young widow, Cassia, and her son, Alexander, have arrived there seeking protection with her late husband's estranged family. But when Cassia discovers the man she married was heir to the throne, the power-hungry Queen Hagiru plots to murder Alexander so that her own child will someday rule. The queen, priestess of the sun-god, Dushrat, calls on demonic powers in her quest, but Cassia is prepared for the fierce spiritual battle to save her son, joining a Roman named Julian and his community of believers in the Jewish Messiah. Together they seek a mighty movement of God far stronger than any dark heart or city made of stone.

My Review:

The city of Petra has always fascinated me, so I was very excited to read this book. The idea of a city built into solid rock is just marvelous. This book is not strictly historically accurate, but I have read worse. The author did a good job keeping the flavor of the times.

Cassia was an interesting heroine. She has suffered much in her life, and all she wants is to keep her son safe and by her side. When he is stolen from her, who will she turn to? Will she ask God for aid or will she give in to despair? Her doubts and difficulties were understandable, but there were a few moments when I wanted to smack her.

Julian was equally interesting. After the death of his betrothed in the arena, he fled to Petra to begin a new life. God is calling on him to lead, but that could mean giving up what he wants most. Though he is a firm believer, he has trouble accepting God's plan for him.

I enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to others interested in Christian historical fiction and exotic locales.

Content Ratings: Profanity, Sexuality and Violence
1 (mild) through 10 (extreme).

Profanity:
There is no profanity in this book.

Sexuality:

I rate it a 3.10 for hints, references and an attempted rape.

Violence:
I give this book a 6.10 for murder, attempted murder and a scene of battle violence.

                                          Lieder Madchen

Book Review #71: The Wolf of Tebron by C.S. Lakin

The Wolf of Tebron

by C.S. Lakin

Genre: Christian Fantasy / Fairytale

Ages: 13 and up

I received an e-book of this from NetGalley for review.

Amazon Description:

A young blacksmith must undertake a perilous journey to the four ends of the world to rescue his wife, who is held captive by the Moon. Along the way, he befriends a powerful wolf who encourages, protects, and ultimately sacrifices his life to save his human friend. A stirring allegory of God's love in classic fairy tale tradition.

My Review:

I was slow to get into this book because Joran was so incredibly whiny and obtuse. At the beginning, you learn that he has sent his wife away for some unrevealed reason and it is pretty obvious that he was an idiot about it. Then, after she disappears, he waits two weeks before starting his quest to find and rescue her. On the journey, he complains about everything and if it wasn't for Ruyah (his wolf friend) he wouldn't have stood a chance. However, in his favor, Joran is always kind to animals and polite to others, and he is willing to find his wife even though he believes her to have betrayed him. Slowly, throughout the novel, Joran's character and personality steadily improves until I almost liked him.

I loved Bryp and Cielle. The quirkiness of those two characters softened my annoyance with Joran and made me laugh a couple of times. It was hard to care much about Charris (Joran's wife) because she was hardly in the story. All references and descriptions of her were dubious at best, and soon after you actually meet her the book ends.

The story itself was a little bit like a dream sequence; I half expected Joran to wake up and find out that none of it had been real. Dreams did play an important part in the plot. Many of Joran's troubles at first and his salvation later were his abilities to make his dreams and emotions into reality without intending to. His anger at Charris kept her imprisoned and other emotions such as despair and grief caused other thing to happen. (I won't give away too much of the story.) It was an interesting idea and well written.

I am glad I read this book. Once I got into it, it was interesting and enjoyable.

Content Ratings: Profanity, Sexuality and Violence

1 (mild) through 10 (extreme).

Profanity:

There was no profanity in this book.

Sexuality:

I give this a 1.10 for some mild hints and brief insinuations.

Violence:

There were a few scenes of violence, some involving injuries, but nothing nasty. I give it a 3.10.

                              Lieder Madchen

Book Review #69: Song of the Ovulum by Bryan Davis

Song of the Ovulum
by Bryan Davis

Genre: YA Christian Fantasy
Ages: 12 and up
Book 1 in the Children of the Bard Series.
I received and advance e-book copy of this from NetGalley to review.

SPOILER ALERT! Do not read any further if you have not read the Dragons in Our Midst Chronicles and the Oracles of Fire Chronicles.

Publisher's Description:
It has been fifteen years since Billy and Bonnie Bannister helped repel the demonic assault on Heaven. Now they and Ashley Foley sit in a maximum security prison where the authorities conduct experiments on them to learn the secrets of long life. Earlier, the world’s acceptance of dragonkind crumbled, and the Enforcers took the infant twins born to Billy and Bonnie and stole Excalibur, hoping to develop a weapon to battle the dragons that are sure to try to rescue their allies. All the while, a great secret from the past is being revealed to Bonnie through a dream. Joran and Selah, teenaged children of Methuselah, have been trapped in a strange world for centuries, yet still able to manipulate certain events in our world during that time.

Walter Foley finds the Bannisters’ son and hopes to use his dragon traits to help him rescue the prisoners. In the meantime, an ancient demon locates the Bannisters’ daughter and plans to use her to help him discover the hiding place of the most powerful ovulum in the world and squelch its protective song. With that ovulum in his possession, he will be able to conquer and control both Earth and Second Eden.

The fate of two worlds now rests on the Bannisters’ two teenagers who must use their dragon traits and their innate courage to battle demons, a sorceress, and soldiers in a military compound in order to rescue parents they don’t even know.

My Review:
My first reaction to the beginning of this book was, What! How did that happen? When? What??? And then I leaned in closer and kept reading to find out. I went through the nearly 500 page book in a just a few hours and then wanted to bang my head against the wall. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate cliffhanger endings when I have to wait for the next one? Well, I do. And Song of the Ovulum, lovely a book as it was, has a terrible cliffhanger ending. And I, silly person that I am, read an advance review e-book. Which means that I have to wait until July before the book is even out, and then who knows how long before the next one is released!

I liked Matt and Lauren, but they were a little too much like a miniature Bonnie and Billy. The rest of the cast of characters was mostly made up of old friends and enemies that, if you have read Bryan Davis's other novels, you have met before. I found Joran and Selah's storyline to be a little confusing at times, but still interesting and enjoyable.

It seems that all of the books I am reading lately turn out to have cliffhanger endings. Bother. Well, this book was quite lovely and entertaining with good plot and characters. I would recommend it to anyone else who has read and enjoyed the other works of Bryan Davis.

Content Ratings: Profanity, Sexuality and Violence
1 (mild) through 10 (extreme).

Profanity:
I give this a 1.10 for some insults.

Sexuality:
This book gets a 2.10 for references involving a prostitute.

Violence:
I rate this book a 6.10 for murder, battle and torture.

                           Lieder Madchen

Book Review #56: Raising Dragons by Bryan Davis

Raising Dragons
by Bryan Davis

Genre: YA Christian Fantasy
Ages: 10 and up
Book 1 in the Dragons in Our Midst Series.
Billy Bannister has lead a fairly normal life, except for the fact that his breath is impossibly hot, which sometimes gets him into trouble and led to the nickname of "Dragon Breath." But what if it isn't just a nickname? Billy is shocked when his father reveals that he is a dragon, making Billy a half-dragon.

Bonnie Silver has led a less than normal life. At school, she constantly wears a backpack. No matter how much the other students tease her, she never takes it off. If she did, they would see her wings.

The dragons changed into human form centuries ago in order to escape the slayers. Now, the slayers are back and targeting the Bannister family and Bonnie.

This book is a bit predictable, but still good. Billy and Bonnie are likeable, interesting characters. I like that they do not have the modern, exaggerated teen-age attitude of so many books. Billy is the doubtful one, always questioning, while Bonnie's faith is so strong you can almost taste it. The secondary characters were also good, particularly Professor hamilton and the Foley family.

This is the second time I have read this book, and I actually like it better now than I did then. The first time, I thought it was a little stiff, but on my second read-through I noticed no such thing.

I am a huge Arthurian fan, so I liked that this book had some of those legends mixed in. I cannot resist a book that has both Merlin and dragons.

I would recommend this book to kids who like fun, adventurous, wholesome reads. Raising Dragons is the first in a long series and you will have to read them all. You are warned.

Content Ratings: Profanity, Sexuality, and Violence
1 (mild) through 10 (extreme).
Profanity:
There is no profanity in this book.

Sexuality:
There is the tiniest hint of sexuality, so I give this book a 1.10.

Violence:
There are several scenes of violence in this book, including murder, attempted murder, and serious injuries. I rate it a 6.10.

                                Lieder Madchen

Book Review #55: The Resurrection: The Disciples in the 21st Century by Henry Parker

The Resurrection: The Disciples in the 21st Century
by Henry Parker

Genre: Christian Science Fiction

Ages: 14 and up

This book was sent to me in an advance, uncorrected PDF by the author for an honest review.

Author's Synopsis:

Nothing stops Bancroft Enterprises from developing the best in scientific technology, despite the harsh competition. At the height of its power, biomedical technician Clark Ravensdale performs the nearly-impossible: raising six New Testament figures.

Though criticisms from the religious and scientific communities persist, both groups use this project as an opportunity to advance their agendas. In the midst of division, Clark shies away from discussion, hoping that the fierceness subsides and won’t deter his workaholic life. However, those mixed feelings change.

While some have characterized the disciples as primitive, others like Clark notice the abnormal behaviors and uncanny intellect. As more time is spent living with the disciples, a realization comes to mind: perhaps there is more truth to the New Testament than some thought.


I found the premise of this book to be interesting. Not the idea of resurrecting biblical figures, but rather the way those biblical figures would react to the modern world if they were to find themselves here. What would they think of us? What would they say?

This is one of those rare books where both the plot and characters are secondary to the conversations. It was fascinating to read the interactions with between the modern characters and the resurrected disciples. I found it particularly interesting how they responded to such subjects as evolution, art, tolerance, and the Catholic Church. I also found it especially interesting how simple and straightforward the disciple's beliefs were compared to the complicated and sometimes confusing ideas in modern theology.

The one problem I had with this book is that the characters could have been developed a bit more. The disciples seem more like a group than individuals, and you don't really get to know Clark as well as you might like.

There are several loose ends and a rather irritating cliffhanger ending (grr), so I am looking forward to Book 2. I would recommend this book to those who are looking for an interesting and thought-provoking read.

This is not a book for those seeking an action or sci-fi story. The explanation behind the resurrection of the disciples was vague and unlikely. I, personally, did not mind that. When it comes to sci-fi, there are times when the less things are explained the better. There is little by way of "action" in this novel, but that in no way makes the story boring.

Check out the Resurrection Blog for more information about the series and the author.

Content Ratings: Profanity, Sexuality, and Violence

1 (mild) through 10 (extreme)

Profanity:
There was some mild swearing in this book, so I rate it a 2.10.

Sexuality:

There was a scene where a guy gawked at a woman's legs, so I give it a 1.10.

Violence:

There were multiple threats of violence in this book, so I give it a 2.10.

                                 Lieder Madchen

Book Review #46 No Shame, No Fear by Ann Turnbull

No Shame, No Fear
by Ann Turnbull

Genre: YA Historical Fiction / Religion / Romance
Ages: 13 and up

Susanna Thorn is a Quaker during a time of great persecution in England. Quakers are being imprisoned, including Susanna's own father. Susanna has longed to go to a city for a while, so she volunteers to get work. A fellow Friend, Mary, runs a printing press and agrees to take her on as a servant. So Susanna sets of for the town of Hemsbury, and a new life.
Will Heywood is about to be apprenticed when he meets Susanna. His father hates Quakers and would never approve of their growing relationship, but how long can Will keep it a secret? Especially as he becomes as interested in the religion as he is in the girl. As the persecution grows worse their friends are arrested one by one and even their youth will not protect them.

I really liked this book. It is set in a fascinating time period and is about such a strong group of people. They are not any stronger in anyone in else in a physical sense, but their faith helped them to endure terrible hardships without fear.

I liked Susanna, but it was Will's storyline that interested me the most. He grew and changed throughout the story while Susanna remained basically the same person as she was at the beginning. A little older and wiser, but the same. I liked how the story told of Will's difficulties in facing his father. He was willing to brave the authorities and risk arrest for his new friends and faith, but he was afraid of how his family would react.

This story is less about religion than it is about those who's lives are changed by it. This is a book about human beings with ordinary lives who make ordinary mistakes, but their beliefs help them make it through the troubles and misunderstandings of ordinary life. They endure horrible persecutions, but the book always seemed to be more about the characters than it is about any of the bad things that happens to them.

I would recommend this book and its sequel, Forged in the Fire, to anyone who is interested in history, religion, or young people growing up.

Content Ratings:

I give this book a 4.10 in language for some insulting terms for women and brief mild swearing.

This gets a 2.10 sexuality for some mild references and innuendos.

This rates a 4.10 in  violence for several scenes of  brutality and beatings.

                                         Lieder Madchen

Book Review #40 By Darkness Hid by Jill Williamson

By Darkness Hid
by Jill Williamson

Genre: YA Christian Fantasy
Ages: 12 and up

Life as a stray is miserable. You are treated like a slave and despised by all. Achan Cham  has spent his whole life being beaten and ordered about, until the day Sir Gavin arrives. Sir Gavin seems to see something in Achan that even Achan is not aware of, and begins to train him as a squire. Then Achan starts hearing voices in his head, and he learns that he has the magical ability to bloodvoice, to speak to and see people with his mind.
Vrell Sparrow has a secret. Disguised as a boy and a stray, she is desperate to hide her true identity lest she be sent to marry a man she loathes. When she is taken by men who think she is simply a boy who has the talent of bloodvoicing, she puts her faith in Arman to protect her.
I am always on the lookout for new Christian fantasy novels, but I am often disappointed by their stiffness. There was no such disappointment in By Darkness Hid. Their was faith without preachiness and Achan and Vrell had human flaws that make you empathize with them more than any exaggerated purity ever could. By Darkness Hid is a promising beginning to Jill Williamson's fantasy trilogy.
I gave this book to my little sister (now thirteen) and she read it very quickly, coming to me immediately for Book Two, To Darkness Fled (which I haven't even finished reading yet). So now I have to wait for her before I can read it...

I give this a 1.10 in profanity for the use of a completely inoffensive made-up oath that is used a few times throughout the novel.

There are some brief, mild innuendos and references for which I give this book a 1.10 in sexuality.

There are several scenes of violence in this novel, including bullying, fighting and multiple beatings, so I give it a 5.10. 

                                     Lieder Madchen

Book Review #11 The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson

The Healer's Apprentice
by Melanie Dickerson

Genre: Fantasy, Fairytale Re-telling
Ages: 12 and up

Once again I must thank people at the SurLaLune blog for posting that this book was available for free on Kindle, I had never heard of The Healer's Apprentice until then. :)

The Healer's Apprentice is the story of young Christian girl named Rose. Her family is poor, so her mother is constantly trying to marry her off to this merchant or that, but Rose will have none of it. She intends to be the healer when her mentor, Geruscha, gets too old, and the healer doesn't have to marry anyone.
Lord Wilhelm Hamlin, the Duke's heir, is betrothed to the Lady Salomea, whom he has never met. She has been in hiding for years, sent away by her father who wished to keep her safe from the evil Moncore. Wilhelm has been trying to find and neutralize this threat, but he is always one step behind.

This is a lovely re-telling of Sleeping Beauty, the characters are wonderful, their personalities rich and complex. They struggle to fulfill their duties to their families even while they are desperate to break free, which keeps one hoping that somehow there will be a miracle for them. The minor characters are also interesting, Hildy, Gunthor, Rupert, and Geruscha especially. I liked how realistic it was in the medieval sense of how important reputation and honor was, and how horrible a loss of either would be. This is Melanie Dickerson's first novel, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for any more.

There is no profanity in this book.

There are some sexual references and innuendos, as well as one aborted assault, so it rates a 6.10.

There are several scenes of violence scattered through this novel, mostly mild but with one that was a little disturbing, so I give it a 5.10.

                                                                Lieder Madchen