Review: Sir Dalton and the Shadow Heart

I've read Book Two in the Knights of Arrethrae series (reviewed here), and the more I read, the more I like Chuck Black's style. He takes Biblical precepts and truths and effectively weaves them into a medieval-style story to make the truths accessible to youth.

Sir Dalton and the Shadow Heart, Book Three in the Knights of Arrethrae series, is more of this allegorical storytelling. Sir Dalton, a young and inexperienced knight recently graduated from training camp, finds his skills as a Knight of the Prince challenged. He becomes a captive of the Dark Knight Lucius and finds that being a Knight of the Prince is very different than simply strapping on a sword and fighting evil.

This book is highly entertaining, but it's meant as much more. The discussion questions at the end can be used by parents, youth leaders, teachers or students themselves to examine and discuss Biblical truths about faith in Christ, true friendship and spiritual warfare.

I plan on teaching my own kids with this series. If that's not a testimony to the book, I don't know what is.


Liner Notes:

Sir Dalton, a knight in training, seems to have everything going for him. Young, well-liked, and a natural leader, he has earned the respect and admiration of his fellow knights, and especially the beautiful Lady Brynn.

But something is amiss at the training camp. Their new trainer is popular but lacks the passion to inspire them to true service to the King and the Prince. Besides this, the knights are too busy enjoying a season of good times to be concerned with a disturbing report that many of their fellow Knights have mysteriously vanished.

When Sir Dalton is sent on a mission, he encounters strange attacks, especially when he is alone. As his commitment wanes, the attacks grow in intensity until he is captured by Lord Drox, a massive Shadow Warrior. Bruised and beaten, Dalton refuses to submit to evil and initiates a daring escape with only one of two outcomes–life or death. But what will become of the hundreds of knights he’ll leave behind? In a kingdom of peril, Dalton thinks he is on his own, but two faithful friends have not abandoned him, and neither has a strange old hermit who seems to know much about the Prince. But can Dalton face the evil Shadow Warrior again and survive?

Get it here.

Author Info:

Chuck Black, a former F-16 fighter pilot and tactical communications engineer, is the author of eight novels, including the popular Kingdom series. He has received praise from parents across the country for his unique approach to telling biblical truths. His passion in life is to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and to love his wife, Andrea, and their six children. He lives with his family in North Dakota.

Never the Bride

If you are one of us who cried, "But I'm going to be forty...someday!"

If you ever asked "But why didn't he wanna marry me?"

If you have ever been in love with your best friend--the one who shares all his heartbreaks with you and tells you about the ones he loves...

If you have sat alone at Valentine banquets, church picnics, and Sunday services directed at smug marrieds....

If you have helped most of your friends with "the most important day of her life"...

If you are still searching for your one true love, or even if you've found him after living through any/ALL of the above, then this is the book for you!

Cheryl Mckay and Rene Gutteridge's book, Never the Bride takes a heartwarming look at a not-so-young-anymore woman who is waiting through her thirties, just as she waited through her twenties, for her life to begin. What does she believe it will take?

A man.

More importantly, a husband.

Follow Jessie, as she talks to you like a beloved friend. Experience her daily meanderings and obsessive thoughts of love and finding love. Perhaps take a few lessons from a fictionalized character who embodies a dozen people I myself know!

There is just enough of Jessie left in me that I wondered if I could stand to read a story about wanting to get married if she didn't find love and happiness in the end. For other readers out there who will feel the same way, and I know you're out there, the ending is very satisfying. Just like the man she meets along the way.


Cheryl McKay is the co-author (with Frank Peretti) of the Wild and Wacky, Totally True Bible Stories series, which has sold nearly 200,000 copies, and the screenwriter of the award-winning film The Ultimate Gift. Rene Gutteridge has published thirteen novels including Ghost Writer, My Life as a Doormat, the Boo Series, the Occupational Hazards Series, and the Storm Series. Together, McKay and Gutteridge are the authors of The Ultimate Gift, a novelization based on the feature film and popular book by the same title.

Amish Love

What’s all the hubbub about Amish fiction? Major media outlets like Time and ABC Nightline are covering it, and authors like Cindy Woodsmall are making the New York Times bestseller list regularly. What makes these books so interesting?

Check out the recent ABC Nightline piece here (http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=7676659&page=1) about Cindy and her titles When the Heart Cries, When the Morning Comes, and When the Soul Mends. It’s an intriguing look at Amish culture and the time Cindy has spent with Amish friends.

And don’t forget that Cindy’s new book The Hope of Refuge hits store shelves August 11, and is available for preorder now.

History or Mystery

In my files I have a dozen stories waiting to be completed. Stories range from the 18th century through the 25th century and I have often pondered what they all have in common. I've been told, as a writer, that I must choose a genre and stick to it! Otherwise you are starting over with your reader base with each new book. The fact that my current reader base is quite small, I am not too concerned. But I must hone my skills.

The next dilemma is that writers must read. So, I consider my reading tastes. Again a huge range of time periods and and genres.

Whatever am I to do?

Every now and then I think--what would happen if I combined the things I love to write? A modern novel with a historical/suspenseful twist. Hmmm.

Time for a little research.

Review: Enduring Justice

When I picked this book up, I had to steel myself. Within the first few chapters it was clear that this book addresses some very difficult topics: kidnapped children, evil racist men who hurt children and the FBI's National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

However, as I read on, I found that the story is more about healing and Godly attitudes than the atrocities themselves.

Hanna Kessler is a barista in her father's coffee house. She has a dark secret that she has never discussed with anyone. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents Michael and Steven (Hanna's former boyfriend and her brother) are investigating a case that brings Hanna's secret to light.

However, this isn't Tom Grisham's A Time to Kill. Rather than writing about vengance and anger, Mrs. Wallace tells a story about love, healing and moving on. This story answers the question: what should be the Christian's response when bad things happen?

You can find this book here.

Publisher's synopsis:

Hanna Kessler’s secret remained buried for decades. But when the shadows of her past threaten those she loves and the system fails FBI Agent Michael Parker, setting a white supremacist free, they must learn the difference between vengeance and justice is their choice to heal.

Author bio:

Amy Wallace is the author of Ransomed Dreams and Healing Promises, a homeschool mom, and self-confessed chocoholic. She is a graduate of the Gwinnett County Citizens Police Academy and a contributing author of several books including God Answers Moms’ Prayers and Chicken Soup for the Soul Healthy Living Series: Diabetes. She lives with her husband and three children in Georgia.

Review: A Flickering Light

My wife and I have been fans of Jane Kirkpatrick for a couple years now, and we eagerly anticipate the new books as they come. A Flickering Light certainly lives up to Jane's reputation.

This story is about a young woman in the Midwest who dreams of being a photographer, despite the field being very male-dominated. She realizes her dream, but at the risk of her honor and his family.

I found myself fussing aloud at and about the characters, which never happens as I read a book. Of course, I knew that the characters were based on real people and only realized after I was done that Jessie was actually Jane's grandmother.

This story really draws you in and gets you involved with the characters, as is the case with all of Jane's stories. It will make an excellent addition to the Jane Kirkpatrick section of your personal library.



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Summary:

Returning to her Midwest roots, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick draws a page from her grandmother’s photo album to capture the interplay between shadow and light, temptation and faith that marks a woman’s pursuit of her dreams. She took exquisite photographs, but her heart was the true image exposed.

Fifteen-year-old Jessie Ann Gaebele loves nothing more than capturing a gorgeous Minnesota landscape when the sunlight casts its most mesmerizing shadows. So when F.J. Bauer hires her in 1907 to assist in his studio and darkroom, her dreams for a career in photography appear to find root in reality.

With the infamous hazards of the explosive powder used for lighting and the toxic darkroom chemicals, photography is considered a man’s profession. Yet Jessie shows remarkable talent in both the artistry and business of running a studio. She proves less skillful, however, at managing her growing attraction to the very married Mr. Bauer.

This luminous coming-of-age tale deftly exposes the intricate shadows that play across every dream worth pursuing—and the irresistible light that beckons the dreamer on.

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Author Bio:

Jane Kirkpatrick is a best-selling, award-winning author whose previous historical novels include All Together in One Place and Christy Award finalist A Tendering in the Storm. An international keynote speaker, she has earned regional and national recognition for her stories based on the lives of actual people, including the prestigious Wrangler Award from the Western Heritage Hall of Fame. Jane is a Wisconsin native who since 1974 has lived in Eastern Oregon, where she and her husband, Jerry, ranch 160 rugged acres.

Review: Aurora

Wrap yourself in a fantastic journey, a remarkable commitment, and a spare and splendid story. Master storyteller Jane Kirkpatrick extols the beautiful treasures, unknown to a wider public, rediscovered in the Old Aurora Colony of Oregon’s lush Willamette Valley.

The people and legacy of Aurora, a utopian community founded in the mid-1800s, will stir your imagination, hopes, and dreams; and remind you that every life matters—that our lives are the stories other people read first.

~Featuring~

• Unique and treasured quilt pattern variations
• More than 100 photographs, many never-before published, from 1850 to today
• Cherished stories from Aurora descendants
• Rich images of fine crafts from the Aurora Colony and private collections
• An introduction by renowned American artist John Houser

Aurora is about the difference every ordinary life can make—and a beautiful celebration of a time and place in which people expressed their most cherished beliefs through the work of their imagination and hands.

Buy this book from Random House.