by Jason Joyner | Oct 24, 2007 | Blog, CFBA, fiction, reviews, violence, writing craft
Illuminated is the first book from Matt Bronleewe. This guy is amazing. He helped found the band Jars of Clay. He currently writes songs and is a very sought-after producer by artists such as such as Michael W. Smith, international pop singer Natalie Imbruglia and Heroes star Hayden Panettiere. To think that he has added a new career in writing is pretty remarkable. And an added bonus: Matt composed a soundtrack for the book that is available for free download at his website. How cool is that?
Illuminated tells the story of book specialist August Adams returning from a successful trip acquiring a rare copy of a Gutenberg Bible. Little does he know that he holds the key to a secret spanning hundreds of years, and there are people dedicated to getting that secret – at any cost. All August holds dear is at stake in this thriller.
I admire Matt a lot, reading his posts on Infuze and seeing the type of culture-impacting work he’s done. His new novel has several strengths to it. The plotting is very suspenseful. You can’t end a chapter without catching your breath and wondering where he’s going next. The plot was intriguing, with nice insights into history. As mentioned in marketing for the book, it can appeal to those who liked The DaVinci Code or the movie National Treasure. It was hard to tell at times who the protaganists could trust, and this kept me constantly guessing. Overall it is an easy read.
There were some weaknesses as well – many of which I think are the mark of a first novel and should clear up down the road. The writing sometimes didn’t hold up the circumstances of a scene. Whenever a book tackles a historical topic, it is hard not to have a passage of “info dump”, where the narrative slows to catch us up on context. This book is not exempt, although it is not near the problem this was in DaVinci Code. The ending seemed to wrap up quickly with some contrived situations. Finally, sometimes a character does some things that are highly improbable for their situation (an eight year old boy with an incredible amount of fortitude for his age.)
There is one issue in this book that makes me want to discuss it further. It is pertinent to bring it up in a review, and I’m going to spin it off into a discussion on this blog. The issue is violence, specifically the level of violence in Christian fiction. In Illuminated, it is a suspense with secret orders, chases, and narrow escapes. There has to be danger and violence to make it realistic. Yet there is a level of violence and gore in a couple of sections that seem extreme. Body parts are carted around. A rival agent is tortured, killed, and sawed apart to dissolve in acid. Another aspect that made me uncomfortable was violence around Charlie, the 8 year old son of August. He wasn’t harmed, but his frequent association with it made me cringe.
Overall, I think Matt Bronleewe has crafted a unique book for the CBA world, a book with some flaws of style that should improve with experience, and some plot choices that may push some boundaries in the Christian fiction field. It wasn’t my favorite read this year, but it is not a bad thriller for fans of those books. People with a queasy factor may want to give it a pass.
Like I said, this book made me ponder the issue of violence within Christian fiction. If you’re interested, please join me for subsequent posts discussing the topic.
by Jason Joyner | Oct 24, 2007 | Blog, CFBA, fiction, reviews, violence, writing craft
Illuminated is the first book from Matt Bronleewe. This guy is amazing. He helped found the band Jars of Clay. He currently writes songs and is a very sought-after producer by artists such as such as Michael W. Smith, international pop singer Natalie Imbruglia and Heroes star Hayden Panettiere. To think that he has added a new career in writing is pretty remarkable. And an added bonus: Matt composed a soundtrack for the book that is available for free download at his website. How cool is that?
Illuminated tells the story of book specialist August Adams returning from a successful trip acquiring a rare copy of a Gutenberg Bible. Little does he know that he holds the key to a secret spanning hundreds of years, and there are people dedicated to getting that secret – at any cost. All August holds dear is at stake in this thriller.
I admire Matt a lot, reading his posts on Infuze and seeing the type of culture-impacting work he’s done. His new novel has several strengths to it. The plotting is very suspenseful. You can’t end a chapter without catching your breath and wondering where he’s going next. The plot was intriguing, with nice insights into history. As mentioned in marketing for the book, it can appeal to those who liked The DaVinci Code or the movie National Treasure. It was hard to tell at times who the protaganists could trust, and this kept me constantly guessing. Overall it is an easy read.
There were some weaknesses as well – many of which I think are the mark of a first novel and should clear up down the road. The writing sometimes didn’t hold up the circumstances of a scene. Whenever a book tackles a historical topic, it is hard not to have a passage of “info dump”, where the narrative slows to catch us up on context. This book is not exempt, although it is not near the problem this was in DaVinci Code. The ending seemed to wrap up quickly with some contrived situations. Finally, sometimes a character does some things that are highly improbable for their situation (an eight year old boy with an incredible amount of fortitude for his age.)
There is one issue in this book that makes me want to discuss it further. It is pertinent to bring it up in a review, and I’m going to spin it off into a discussion on this blog. The issue is violence, specifically the level of violence in Christian fiction. In Illuminated, it is a suspense with secret orders, chases, and narrow escapes. There has to be danger and violence to make it realistic. Yet there is a level of violence and gore in a couple of sections that seem extreme. Body parts are carted around. A rival agent is tortured, killed, and sawed apart to dissolve in acid. Another aspect that made me uncomfortable was violence around Charlie, the 8 year old son of August. He wasn’t harmed, but his frequent association with it made me cringe.
Overall, I think Matt Bronleewe has crafted a unique book for the CBA world, a book with some flaws of style that should improve with experience, and some plot choices that may push some boundaries in the Christian fiction field. It wasn’t my favorite read this year, but it is not a bad thriller for fans of those books. People with a queasy factor may want to give it a pass.
Like I said, this book made me ponder the issue of violence within Christian fiction. If you’re interested, please join me for subsequent posts discussing the topic.
by Jason Joyner | Oct 23, 2007 | Blog, CSFF, fiction, speculative fiction
This month’s CSFF tour features the YA (young adult) novel Bark of the Bog Owl by Jonathan Rogers, first of the Wilderking trilogy. It is geared toward kids from 8-14 from the sounds of things, though I think my boys who are younger ought to like it. I am intrigued by all I’ve read about it.
I must confess that I didn’t do anything for this tour as I had major personal commitments this month. I really enjoy participating in this tour, and haven’t been really involved the last two tours. That will change next month.
However, I can participate by highlighting certain blogs that offer something special. At the bottom of this post are all the participants. Sometimes they, like me, don’t have time to post much. At least posting helps promote the book. I’ve gone through all of them and pulled out specific posts to highlight for this week (as of Tuesday afternoon). Also, Mr. Rogers has a great website for his books that offers a little more in-depth into the world he’s created out. So check these following folks out:
Leave it to Steve Trower to give a list of top ten “king” songs.
See Deena Peterson’s blog for a chance to win a copy!
James Somers has a mini-review and interview with the author. Plus a review of book 2 in the series. And Janey DeMeo has an interview as well.
The best blog post title of any CSFF tour (and a succinct overview) by Eve Nielsen.
A good overview is done at Karen McSpadden’s blog.
Mike Lynch gives a man’s perspective.
Interesting thoughts and some critique at Andrea’s blog. Just ask!
Chris Deanne thinks the book would be good for both Christians and those who aren’t so Christian-y.
Finally, see what is on Brandon Barr’s mind regarding the book and the possibilities for fantasy and using the Bible as inspiration.
Also see an introduction video of the series by the author.
Brandon Barr Jim Black Justin Boyer Grace Bridges Amy Browning Jackie Castle Valerie Comer
CSFF Blog Tour D. G. D. Davidson Chris Deanne Janey DeMeo Merrie Destefano or Alien Dream Jeff Draper April Erwin Marcus Goodyear Andrea Graham Jill Hart Katie Hart Sherrie Hibbs Christopher Hopper Becca Johnson Karen Dawn King Mike Lynch Rachel Marks Karen McSpadden Melissa Meeks Rebecca LuElla Miller Eve Nielsen John W. Otte Lyn Perry Deena Peterson Rachelle Cheryl Russel Ashley Rutherford Hanna Sandvig Chawna Schroeder James Somers Steve Trower Speculative Faith Donna Swanson Daniel I. Weaver Laura Williams Timothy Wise
by Jason Joyner | Oct 23, 2007 | Blog, CSFF, fiction, speculative fiction
This month’s CSFF tour features the YA (young adult) novel Bark of the Bog Owl by Jonathan Rogers, first of the Wilderking trilogy. It is geared toward kids from 8-14 from the sounds of things, though I think my boys who are younger ought to like it. I am intrigued by all I’ve read about it.
I must confess that I didn’t do anything for this tour as I had major personal commitments this month. I really enjoy participating in this tour, and haven’t been really involved the last two tours. That will change next month.
However, I can participate by highlighting certain blogs that offer something special. At the bottom of this post are all the participants. Sometimes they, like me, don’t have time to post much. At least posting helps promote the book. I’ve gone through all of them and pulled out specific posts to highlight for this week (as of Tuesday afternoon). Also, Mr. Rogers has a great website for his books that offers a little more in-depth into the world he’s created out. So check these following folks out:
Leave it to Steve Trower to give a list of top ten “king” songs.
See Deena Peterson’s blog for a chance to win a copy!
James Somers has a mini-review and interview with the author. Plus a review of book 2 in the series. And Janey DeMeo has an interview as well.
The best blog post title of any CSFF tour (and a succinct overview) by Eve Nielsen.
A good overview is done at Karen McSpadden’s blog.
Mike Lynch gives a man’s perspective.
Interesting thoughts and some critique at Andrea’s blog. Just ask!
Chris Deanne thinks the book would be good for both Christians and those who aren’t so Christian-y.
Finally, see what is on Brandon Barr’s mind regarding the book and the possibilities for fantasy and using the Bible as inspiration.
Also see an introduction video of the series by the author.
Brandon Barr Jim Black Justin Boyer Grace Bridges Amy Browning Jackie Castle Valerie Comer
CSFF Blog Tour D. G. D. Davidson Chris Deanne Janey DeMeo Merrie Destefano or Alien Dream Jeff Draper April Erwin Marcus Goodyear Andrea Graham Jill Hart Katie Hart Sherrie Hibbs Christopher Hopper Becca Johnson Karen Dawn King Mike Lynch Rachel Marks Karen McSpadden Melissa Meeks Rebecca LuElla Miller Eve Nielsen John W. Otte Lyn Perry Deena Peterson Rachelle Cheryl Russel Ashley Rutherford Hanna Sandvig Chawna Schroeder James Somers Steve Trower Speculative Faith Donna Swanson Daniel I. Weaver Laura Williams Timothy Wise
by Jason Joyner | Oct 23, 2007 | Blog, miscellaneous, praise
Whoo-hoo. I passed my major recertification test with flying colors.
Thanks for praying gang!
by Jason Joyner | Oct 23, 2007 | Blog, miscellaneous, praise
Whoo-hoo. I passed my major recertification test with flying colors.
Thanks for praying gang!
I admire Matt a lot, reading his posts on Infuze and seeing the type of culture-impacting work he’s done. His new novel has several strengths to it. The plotting is very suspenseful. You can’t end a chapter without catching your breath and wondering where he’s going next. The plot was intriguing, with nice insights into history. As mentioned in marketing for the book, it can appeal to those who liked The DaVinci Code or the movie National Treasure. It was hard to tell at times who the protaganists could trust, and this kept me constantly guessing. Overall it is an easy read.