by Jason Joyner | Apr 18, 2007 | Blog, CSFF, fiction, writing craft
I’m continuing the CSFF tour regarding Karen Hancock’s latest book, Return of the Guardian King. It is the 4th and final book in her series Legends of the Guardian King. Since I am new to Hancock’s work, I decided that I would dive into the first book, The Light of Eidon in order to point people to the start of the series (there wasn’t any way I would burn through 4 books in time either). Hopefully my introduction to the series will encourage you to pick up a great storyline!
The Light of Eidon centers on Abramm Kalladorne, prince of Kiriath. He is weaker physically and not in direct line to be an heir to the throne, so he pursues the religious society of Mataio in order to serve his country by protecting the Flames of Eidon.
As he approaches the time for his initiation, he is swept up in political intrigue that sees his whole life turned upside down. Questioning his whole life and what he was taught to believe, he must learn to survive in a savage world, finding the truth amidst all the struggle.
Hancock delivers a wonderfully engaging story that is full of the themes and props that make an enjoyable fantasy – epic battles, struggle for life, heroes and heroines, magic, fierce creatures. Her characterization and worlds are well-developed and rightly praised for their engrossing detail. The action draws you in quickly and rarely lets up the pace, without sacrificing quality development of the plot and peoples of this world. She is also very adept at keeping the reader guessing. The truth is not always what it seems, and old foes spring up at unexpected times.
Eidon is a spiritual tale that stands tall as the premier of Christian fantasy, but also deserves recognition outside of the Christian market as well. She shows true struggle, whether physical combat or emotional battles.
One aspect that I truly appreciated was how she handles difficult situations (writing-wise). As an industry, the CBA (Christian Booksellers Association) has some standards that can be controversial in how sin and the “gory” details should be shown. The unofficial standards can cause problems in describing sexual situations, bodily functions, and violence. My opinion is that Hancock delivers a tale based on reality that sets up the situation that is authentic for the story without being sensationalism . For instance, when two characters are attracted to one another, she writes the sexual tension in a way that doesn’t offend sensibilities, but it is clear what is happening. Often in Christian fiction the stigma forces an author to write something that is less than authentic. This is an observation that is more related to the writing craft than the enjoyment of the story, but it doesn’t pull one out of the fictive world like when these type of situations are poorly handled.
Overall, I see why Karen Hancock has won multiple Christy awards for her fiction, and why she is so highly regarded among my fellow speculative fiction fans. I strongly recommend The Light of Eidon. I also encourage you to check out the links I put in yesterday’s post to find out more about Return of the Guardian King and the rest of her books (though watch for spoilers if you’re new to the series).
by Jason Joyner | Apr 17, 2007 | Blog, CSFF, fiction
The next two days I’m going to feature posts regarding Karen Hancock and her series Legends of the Guardian-King. Today I want to point out various members of the CSFF that have interesting posts regarding this month’s tour. Tomorrow I hope to review Karen Hancock’s first book, The Light of Eidon. Yes, the tour is regarding the 4th and last book in the series, Return of the Guardian King. But who wants to start a series on the fourth book? I certainly didn’t, so I decided to start at the beginning (novel concept there…). Hopefully between my review and others regarding book 4, you’ll figure out what happened in books 2 and 3 – um, never mind. I say I hope to review it because my timing was a little off, thinking I had a couple more days to read, when the tour started yesterday. Oopsie, as my six year old says.
1. Rebecca Grabill has a wonderful non-review of Return, and her 9 thorns that bug her about the book. What’s a non-review? She doesn’t spoil the book, which thrills me to death. I dislike greatly reviews that give away the plot (note to Bethany House – you did this on the 1st book’s back copy – bad form). Some of her thorns are hilarious (BREASTS). Read it to figure that one out!
2. See Wayne Thomas Batson for his review of Return. He hasn’t read the first three, so some interesting insight (he acknowledges his lack of context, which provides a different perspective).
3. Karen Hancock herself is having a giveaway of the whole set of books! Go see her, how can you miss out on something so cool? Beth Goddard is also having a single book giveaway, so see her too. Ditto Mirtika. And hey, so does Tina Kulesa.
4. Chris Deanne has an interview with Karen Hancock, as does Shannon McNear.
5. Becky Miller, the grandmaster of the CSFF has 4 days worth of posts! Start at Speculative Faith, then head over to her blog for the rest.
6. John Otte has an interesting view of the book. Marcus Goodyear calls it “a fine example of high fantasy.” Finally, Heather Hunt is giving reviews for each of the four books of the series! (Watch for spoilers).
I don’t want to take away from all of my tourmates below, but those are some of the more extensive posts that I noted. Also, the links below are for her books on Amazon and her personal sites.
Check out the tour, and I’ll see you tomorrow!
Karen Hancock’s Return of the Guardian-King on Amazon.com
Karen Hancock’s Return of the Guardian-King Blog
Karen Hancock’s Return of the Guardian-King Website
Nissa Annakindt
Wayne Thomas Batson
Jim Black
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Frank Creed
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
Janey DeMeo
April Erwin
Kameron M. Franklin
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Christopher Hopper
Heather R. Hunt
Becca Johnson
Karen
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 – The Compendium
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Shannon McNear
Caleb Newell
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
Robin Parrish
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Tsaba House Authors
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Daniel I. Weaver
Dawn King
Rebecca Grabill
Jill Hart
by Jason Joyner | Apr 17, 2007 | Blog, CSFF, fiction
The next two days I’m going to feature posts regarding Karen Hancock and her series Legends of the Guardian-King. Today I want to point out various members of the CSFF that have interesting posts regarding this month’s tour. Tomorrow I hope to review Karen Hancock’s first book, The Light of Eidon. Yes, the tour is regarding the 4th and last book in the series, Return of the Guardian King. But who wants to start a series on the fourth book? I certainly didn’t, so I decided to start at the beginning (novel concept there…). Hopefully between my review and others regarding book 4, you’ll figure out what happened in books 2 and 3 – um, never mind. I say I hope to review it because my timing was a little off, thinking I had a couple more days to read, when the tour started yesterday. Oopsie, as my six year old says.
1. Rebecca Grabill has a wonderful non-review of Return, and her 9 thorns that bug her about the book. What’s a non-review? She doesn’t spoil the book, which thrills me to death. I dislike greatly reviews that give away the plot (note to Bethany House – you did this on the 1st book’s back copy – bad form). Some of her thorns are hilarious (BREASTS). Read it to figure that one out!
2. See Wayne Thomas Batson for his review of Return. He hasn’t read the first three, so some interesting insight (he acknowledges his lack of context, which provides a different perspective).
3. Karen Hancock herself is having a giveaway of the whole set of books! Go see her, how can you miss out on something so cool? Beth Goddard is also having a single book giveaway, so see her too. Ditto Mirtika. And hey, so does Tina Kulesa.
4. Chris Deanne has an interview with Karen Hancock, as does Shannon McNear.
5. Becky Miller, the grandmaster of the CSFF has 4 days worth of posts! Start at Speculative Faith, then head over to her blog for the rest.
6. John Otte has an interesting view of the book. Marcus Goodyear calls it “a fine example of high fantasy.” Finally, Heather Hunt is giving reviews for each of the four books of the series! (Watch for spoilers).
I don’t want to take away from all of my tourmates below, but those are some of the more extensive posts that I noted. Also, the links below are for her books on Amazon and her personal sites.
Check out the tour, and I’ll see you tomorrow!
Karen Hancock’s Return of the Guardian-King on Amazon.com
Karen Hancock’s Return of the Guardian-King Blog
Karen Hancock’s Return of the Guardian-King Website
Nissa Annakindt
Wayne Thomas Batson
Jim Black
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Frank Creed
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
Janey DeMeo
April Erwin
Kameron M. Franklin
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Christopher Hopper
Heather R. Hunt
Becca Johnson
Karen
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 – The Compendium
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Shannon McNear
Caleb Newell
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
Robin Parrish
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Tsaba House Authors
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Daniel I. Weaver
Dawn King
Rebecca Grabill
Jill Hart
by Jason Joyner | Apr 12, 2007 | apologetics, Biblical worldview, Blog, fiction
I’ve mentioned John C. Wright before (he of the epic Space Princess Literary Movement), but this is a post that I highly recommend.
Mr. Wright is a well-read, thoughtful and articulate man. He is a lawyer, journalist, and currently a science fiction author. He used to be a strident atheist, but between the rationalism of Christianity and an encounter with the living God, he is now a Christian. And is not afraid to state his position. He knows he is losing readers, but he will not back down from discussing the Way.
His LiveJournal is one of the places I have bookmarked through Bloglines, and I always look forward to his posts. They may be ultimately silly or very serious. Today he had a post discussing atheism and Christianity. Not in an attack way, as he holds forth a discussion with a commenter to his blog that he deems a reasonable man asking reasonable, thoughtful questions. However, the counter John has is well worth the read. Below is just a snippet:
I do not assume Christianity is true because I was raised in a Christian society. I know it true because the truth of it was poured into me by the Holy Spirit during a supernatural event in my life. The conviction cannot come to you until the same thing happens to you, and it is beyond my power to reproduce this effect. I cannot pour Infinity into anyone, or show him the cosmos in a teardrop. I am a mortal man, or once was. I am a person who experienced something so full of wonder that it cannot be put into words: I found the Holy Grail. One sip from this cup can grant life, eternal life, and abundant joy. The cup is spiritual, not material, and so I cannot hand it to you. But if you ask for it, it will be given you. And since it is not material, no hand can snatch it from you.
Also, check out his books! I read Orphans of Chaos this winter, and enjoyed it greatly. It is not always up to CBA sensibilities, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing either.
Mr. Wright is someone to pay attention to, whether it be his blog or his writing.
by Jason Joyner | Apr 12, 2007 | apologetics, Biblical worldview, Blog, fiction
I’ve mentioned John C. Wright before (he of the epic Space Princess Literary Movement), but this is a post that I highly recommend.
Mr. Wright is a well-read, thoughtful and articulate man. He is a lawyer, journalist, and currently a science fiction author. He used to be a strident atheist, but between the rationalism of Christianity and an encounter with the living God, he is now a Christian. And is not afraid to state his position. He knows he is losing readers, but he will not back down from discussing the Way.
His LiveJournal is one of the places I have bookmarked through Bloglines, and I always look forward to his posts. They may be ultimately silly or very serious. Today he had a post discussing atheism and Christianity. Not in an attack way, as he holds forth a discussion with a commenter to his blog that he deems a reasonable man asking reasonable, thoughtful questions. However, the counter John has is well worth the read. Below is just a snippet:
I do not assume Christianity is true because I was raised in a Christian society. I know it true because the truth of it was poured into me by the Holy Spirit during a supernatural event in my life. The conviction cannot come to you until the same thing happens to you, and it is beyond my power to reproduce this effect. I cannot pour Infinity into anyone, or show him the cosmos in a teardrop. I am a mortal man, or once was. I am a person who experienced something so full of wonder that it cannot be put into words: I found the Holy Grail. One sip from this cup can grant life, eternal life, and abundant joy. The cup is spiritual, not material, and so I cannot hand it to you. But if you ask for it, it will be given you. And since it is not material, no hand can snatch it from you.
Also, check out his books! I read Orphans of Chaos this winter, and enjoyed it greatly. It is not always up to CBA sensibilities, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing either.
Mr. Wright is someone to pay attention to, whether it be his blog or his writing.
by Jason Joyner | Apr 11, 2007 | Blog, CFBA, fiction
I’m excited that the CFBA blog tour this week features Brandilyn Collins and her new book Coral Moon.
I’ve been keeping tabs on Ms. Collins for a couple of years now. I’ve mentioned her blog, Forensics and Faith, as a prime writing resource before. That’s where I first found out about this wonderful author, following along with her entertaining blog posts and signature cliff-hangers. Last year I was privileged to be a part of the marketing for her book Violet Dawn, the initial book in the Kanner Lake series. She devised a clever aspect to her books – a real-time blog created by one of her characters in Kanner Lake. Various denizens of the town would post about life there, with different readers playing the roles. I was on the tag team (along with Bob Edwards) that wrote Pastor Hank Detcher. The initial commitment to participate there is over, but I’ve contributed a couple of posts since then, the last one commenting (vaguely) on the circumstances of Coral Moon.
Anyway, Coral Moon continues the adventure started in Violet Dawn. It seems that a new hotel has been proposed for the lakefront, and residents are predictably torn on the benefits of progress versus keeping Kanner Lake the quaint little Idaho town it is known for. With that backdrop, hot-shot reporter Leslie Brymes is heading out to interview proponents of both sides when she finds an unexpected situation in front of her – a body in her VW!
The quiet town explodes with intrigue once again, as various citizens wrestle with keeping the village safe from an insidious evil…
Brandilyn Collins has a very strong, identifiable style – her Seatbelt Suspense. This book will not disappoint fans of heart-pounding fiction. She does not leaving you wanting AT ALL in the beginning, establishing the tension from the first page. Her strengths are in weaving believable characters into the backdrop of suspense that has spawned the Big Honkin‘ Chicken Club, a group of writers who can’t read Collins’ books due to the intensity of the story!
You don’t *have* to read Violet Dawn before reading Coral Moon, but it definitely helps. The characters established in the first book become more alive, making the book very interesting. I like how she keeps you guessing about certain characters until the end of the book. I lost sleep the night before I finished the book, trying to work out “who did it” all night!
Coral Moon does have some intense scenes, and it have a fairly different vibe from the first book. The spiritual component, which was light in Violet Dawn, is much more front and center, due to the nature of what is happening in the story.
I have some very minor quibbles – I wouldn’t bring them into a different review, but as a “student” of Brandilyn’s via her blog, I can’t help myself. Rarely Leslie slips out of her early 20’s character and says something not appropriate for her age. Also, a couple of metaphors keep repeating, and they are so striking that they jumped out at me as they came back. (If you’re up for a game, look for how many times the idea of something “zinging through veins” or “knocked/kicked up the spine” shows up throughout.)
Overall, the book is a very enjoyable continuation of the Kanner Lake saga, and is a great read for any fan of good suspense. Keep an eye out for Crimson Eve, the 3rd book due later this year.
