Allegiance

So I finished off Allegiance by Timothy Zahn and, as always, Zahn shows why he's one of the masters of Star Wars novels. I know most people list him as the master, but personally, I think Michael Stackpole edges him out of that distinction.

This book is set shortly after the events of A New Hope, with the Rebellion on the run after the destruction of the Death Star. Zahn juggles four different storylines. First of all, we have Princess Leia meeting with some members of the Rebel Alliance over a brazen plan. Second, we have Han Solo and Luke Skywalker trying to deal with a group of pirates who have been raiding Rebellion supplies.

On the other side of the war, we have Mara Jade, the eighteen year old Emperor's Hand, trying to run down the same group of pirates thanks to some art purchased with embezzled tax revenue. And finally, we have a group of five disillusioned stormtroopers who are on the run after murdering an Imperial officer.

You know all four storylines will collide eventually and they do in a spectacular way. Zahn doesn't disappoint for the most part. Upon further reflection, the Leia storyline was a little on the weak side and little more than a reason for Han and Luke to run into the 'troopers and dance around the borders of Mara's story (and thankfully, Mara and Luke never come face to face, which would have just caused all sorts of consistency headaches).

What had me chuckling were the scenes where Mara and Darth Vader interact. If you've read the second Timothy Zahn Thrawn duology, you know why I chuckled. If not, I won't spoil it for you. But you would have to read the Thrawn trilogy first, so to understand my amusement, you'd need to wind up reading five Star Wars novels. It's not time wasted. Not with Zahn.

Anyway, if you're a Star Wars geek like me, this book won't disappoint. If you're not, probably better not to bother.

Book Review Three-fer

I've been falling down on the job lately. Normally the first thing I'd do after finishing a book is hop onto here and post my rambling, semi-incoherent thoughts about what I've read. But ever since a certain soon-to-be eight month old has come into my life, it's not exactly been easy to keep up with that. I mean, look at this face:

Now who would you rather spend time with? Him or a barely read blog?

But no, I have to get caught up. It's been bugging me. So what have I been reading?

A few months ago I read Speaker of the Dead and Xenocide. I didn't blog about those because, to be honest, I felt a little silly putting in my two cents about two books that are arguably pillars in the sci-fi community. I will say this, though: Xenocide is the last Card book I bought. Part of that is because of finances; I just can't afford to keep plunking down money every time I want to read a book. Part of it is also, though, that I think the quality of writing was slowly going down with each book. Ender's Game almost had me crying at the end; Xenocide, not so much. I'll read the rest of the Ender saga, but I'll just be checking it out from the library is all.

So what books am I prepared to write about? Well, how about the last three that I read?

Let's start with the best of the bunch, namely Renovating Becky Miller by Sharon Hinck. As you might recall, I loved the first Becky Miller book. That hasn't changed with the second book. Once again, Sharon Hinck has delivered a moving and thoughtful book that a lot of people should be reading, not just the moms it's targeting.

Why? Well, Sharon shines a light on some all-too-prevalent beliefs in modern Christianity. For example, does bigger always mean better in a congregation? That's something that gets tossed around a bit too much. Pastors especially are guilty of this. When we get together, we often compare congregation sizes and use that as a standard of success. But is that really the way churches should gauge their success?

The other vital message that Sharon includes in this story is the idea that Christians don't have to do everything. They just have to do what God has put on their plate and not overreach too much. I think some Christians have mistakenly tried to become the Holy Spirit. They feel that they and they alone are responsible for converting their non-Christian friends and family. If it doesn't work right away, they get frustrated.

But take a lesson from Becky's travails with her sister Judy, folks. Sometimes you're at the start of a person's journey to faith. Sometimes you're in the middle. Sometimes you're lucky enough to be at the end.

There's even more, but I don't want to spoil it all. Instead, go and read the book. Like in the first book, every chapter has a small "fantasy sequence" where Becky pictures herself in different movies. Part of the fun for me was trying to figure out which movie I was reading about. I think I got most of them, although there were a few that stumped me.

On to the next book I read: Tatooine Ghost.

I'll admit it gladly: I'm a Star Wars novel junkie. I have a shelf full of them. Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole hooked me. Even the few times I've read stinkers haven't broken my habit. This one just strengthened it.

I must have passed by this book in Barnes and Noble I don't know how many times but finally I decided to buy it. The plot is pretty basic: shortly after their wedding, Han and Leia Solo are off to Tatooine to purchase a painting, a rare Alderaanian masterpiece that was supposedly lost when Grand Moff Tarkin caused the planet to go "boom."

Why is it so important to get this painting? Because embedded in the art is a code key that could be used to unearth one of the Rebellion's most important spy rings. The fledgling New Republic is worried that if the painting falls into the wrong hands, the Empire could kill hundreds of operatives.

But as Leia is chasing the art all over the sands of Tatooine, she realizes that she came to Tatooine for another reason. The Force has brought her there to retrace the steps of Anakin Skywalker. Characters from the prequels pop up in unexpected places.

What made me absolutely love this book was the fact that I momentarily forgot my Star Wars Extended Universe chronology. Not a big deal, you say? Well, in this case, it was. See, because I forgot when Han and Leia were married, I didn't realize immediately who the Imperial officer trying to acquire the painting was. When I realized who it was (and who it always had to be), I was hooked. Especially when the officer in question shows up in an unexpected place. For you EU fans, think about it. You should know exactly who would want an Alderaanian masterpiece. Yeah. He's in this book.

So if you're a Star Wars fan, read this book. You'll enjoy the way that Troy Denning blends the prequels with the EU.

And now, here's the third book, the one that I couldn't finish reading because I was so frustrated with it: 10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You: (But Can't, Because He Needs the Job) by Oliver "Buzz" Thomas.


This one ticked me off. I spotted it on a library shelf and figured I should find out what I've secretly wanted to tell my parishioners but haven't been able to out of fear for being fired.

Now some of what "Buzz" (way to maintain your credibility there, buddy) says is okay. I didn't have a problem with items #2 or #5. I'd even be willing to bet that I'd agree with some of #10 (if I had read that far). But the rest of it was "Buzz's" opinion which he seems to assume that most pastors share. Sorry, "Buzz," but I'd be willing to bet that most don't.

Basically put, this book is nothing but propaganda from the left side of the Church. I found it an interesting read, especially to see what "Buzz" had to say, but part of my frustration is that he basically skimmed the surface of his arguments and then ended every chapter like he had irrevocably proven his points. If you're going to try to present stuff like this, you really need to offer more proof with, oh, I don't know, citations. Otherwise it's just your opinion and, as far as I'm concerned, doesn't make your book worth reading.

So skip this one. It isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

Hopefully I'll do better from here on out. Right now I'm working my way through Allegiance, a Timothy Zahn Star Wars novel. And I have a stack of books to work through. So expect more reviews. But hopefully no more three-fers.

CSFF April Blog Tour: Sin Boldly! (Day Three of "Return of the Guardian King")

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, today’s topic is "Sin Boldly!" Those of you with any Lutheranism sneaking around in your background will recognize that as a Luther quote. Maybe even if you don’t. But this is some advice that I think writers of Christian fiction need to hear. More specifically, their characters need to hear it.

By way of explanation, let me tell you a true story. Way back when the only Christian fiction I knew of was Frank Peretti, I read The Oath and was mightily offended by it. Why? Because in The Oath, the main character, Steve Benson, had sex with a married woman. I thought that was absolutely awful. Benson was clearly the hero of the story. Even though he fought against it, you knew he was going to be a Christian by the end of the book. How dare Peretti have this soon-to-be Christian commit adultery! It was awful! It was scandalous! It was sinful!

Looking back on my reaction, I’m a little embarrassed. To put it bluntly, I don’t agree with the me who reacted so badly anymore, because I understand this simple truth: human beings sin.

They do. I do. You do. We all do. Even after we become a Christian, we still sin. We don’t want to, but we do. It’s like what St. Paul wrote about in Romans 7:15-25. It’s what Martin Luther called "simul justus et peccator" (righteous and yet sinful at the same time). If writers are to create realistic, three dimensional characters in their stories, those characters have to sin, even if they’re on their way to be Christian, even if they already are.

But writers seem to get so hung up on this. I can understand why. We certainly don’t want to condone sin. We don’t want to place stumbling blocks in the path of anyone. Better for a millstone to be tied around our necks and all that. Yet we can’t escape the fact that our characters have to be sinful if they’re to be realistic. So what do we do?

We make our characters wimpy sinners. They sin in "small" ways (I know, sins aren’t "small" or "big" in God’s eyes, but we humans tend to classify them that way). They might get mildly miffed when something doesn’t go their way. They may have a slightly harsh word for someone they don’t like. But our heroes rarely forsake their marriage vows. They usually don’t kill; if they do, we make sure we explain it away as something they had to do, something that couldn’t be avoided. They don’t rob banks. They lead relatively sanitized lives that are free of the "big" sins.

But is that realistic? I don’t think it is. More than that, I think it robs God’s grace of its true power. When our characters don’t sin boldly, we give the unintentional impression that there are some sins that can’t be forgiven.

Let me give you an example: let’s say that there’s a good Christian girl. We’ll call her Cheryl. She grew up hearing the dire warnings against premarital sex. It’s a sin. It’s wrong. It’s contrary to God’s will for your life. She made a pledge early on to remain a virgin and, through high school, she kept that promise. Of course, it was pretty easy since Cheryl was something of a late bloomer and didn’t do much dating.

But then Cheryl went off to college. There she met Steve, a great looking guy. She can hardly believe it when Steve asked her out. Pretty soon she’s head over heels in love. Even the fact that he’s a Christian in name only doesn’t bother her. She figures there’s plenty of time to get him on the straight and narrow, especially since Steve says all the right words about the future and togetherness and all that.

As their relationship progresses, Cheryl is confused by her feelings for Steve. She always assumed that if lustful feelings came her way, her faith would be enough to drive them off. But when she’s with Steve, giving in to those feelings doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. Finally, one night, Cheryl falls to the temptation. Afterwards, to silence the guilt, Cheryl tries to convince herself it’s all okay because she and Steve will get married someday.

Only that day never comes. A few weeks later, Steve and Cheryl get into a major fight and break up. Now Cheryl is devastated. The convenient excuse she used has been stripped away and the full import of what she’s done comes crashing down. She’s horrified, she’s sickened, she’s angry. And in this time of spiritual anguish, she turns to her favorite hobby for a little bit of solace: reading Christian fiction.

But in the pages of the books she’s reading, she keeps encountering people who have never messed up as badly as she has. Sure, there are people who have sex outside of marriage, but they’re the bad guys. But the good guys, they know better than to have premarital sex. They’re strong. They can resist the temptation. So Cheryl is left with the message that a true Christian would never have given in the way she did and she wonders if she can ever be forgiven.

Is that the message of Christianity? That some sins are too big for God to forgive? Absolutely not! Obviously not! But when we tame down our characters’ sins and make them mild, when we don’t let our characters sin boldly, I think we wind up preaching that gospel instead of the true Gospel that no sin is bigger than Jesus. There’s nothing that can’t be undone by the death and resurrection of Christ.

Instead, we should let our characters sin boldly, not because we’re okay with sin, not because we’re trying to "sin so that grace may increase," but so we can show our readers that God’s grace is so big that it can wipe away all sin, no matter what it is. The bold sins of our characters can help us depict God’s grace all the more clearly, all the more powerfully, all the more beautifully. It’s like what Martin Luther wrote to his friend Philip Melancthon in 1521 – "Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for He is victorious over sin, death, and the world."

Now I realize what some of you might be thinking. "If we put the ‘big sins’ in our stories, we might come across as condoning those sins and saying they’re okay." That’s not what I’m suggesting at all. I’m not saying we should condone sin. I am saying that we should be free to depict sin. We won’t condone it if we depict it properly.

That means showing the negative consequences of sin. By way of another example, let’s say we’re writing the story of a businessman named Bill. Bill is a Christian, a regular churchgoer and a good family man. But due to mounting financial problems, Bill is tempted to embezzle from the retirement funds at work. He knows not only how to do it, he can do so in a way that places the blame on someone else. He also knows that if he does, a lot of his friends will be ruined. And he knows that it’s wrong. But he’s desperate. He goes ahead with his plan. The money is soon safely tucked away in an offshore account and a guy that Bill never really liked is on the hook for the crime.

So we’ve depicted a pretty "big" sin here. What happens to Bill after the crime will determine if we’re condoning his actions or not.

If we say that Bill goes home the night after the crime and sleeps like a baby, that he and his family live high off the hog, that Bill is never caught and lives to the ripe old age of 94, never gaving what he did another thought, we’re condoning it.

But if we say that Bill is wracked with guilt afterwards, that Bill knows he’s done wrong and can’t live with himself, and finally, after finding forgiveness at the foot of the cross, turns himself in so his patsy can go free, we’re not condoning sin but we are demonstrating that God can forgive it.

So what does any of this have to do with Return of the Guardian King? I think Karen Hancock struck that delicate balance where her characters could "sin boldly" without crossing the "condoning" line.

In the first book, Light of Eidon, before Abramm becomes a Terstan, he spends a passionate night in the arms of a slave girl named Shettai. They’re not married. And Abramm doesn’t seem to think it’s that big of a deal.

At least, he doesn’t until the third book, Shadow over Kiriath. Then, as Abramm is preparing to marry Maddie, he’s suddenly overcome with guilt over what he did with Shettai many years ago. He can’t believe that Eidon has forgiven him and he tortures himself over his sin. Trap finally helps Abramm through the guilt by pointing him to Tersius’s atoning death, reminding him that Eidon’s grace is more than enough to take care of that sin.

Abramm sinned boldly. But because he also believed and rejoiced even more boldly we were given a true picture of what grace is all about.

The heart of Christian fiction shouldn’t be moralistic tales of right and wrong (do this, don’t do this, etc.). Instead, the heart of Christian fiction should be God’s heart as well; His incredible, overpowering, incredibly rich, sin-overcoming grace.

Now I’m not saying that we have to have our characters commit every imaginable sin. I’m not even saying that every hero should commit one "gigantic" sin either. Instead I think that rather than be intimidated in writing about sin, we should "sin boldly." By depicting sin realistically, by letting our characters sin boldly, by remembering that Christian characters are saints and sinners at the same time, we can demonstrate "how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ."

Or at least, that’s my two cents. Errrrr ... more like two bucks. I just realized that I’ve been writing a sermon to y’all. Danger of my chosen profession I guess.

Be sure to check out the rest of the blog tour participants:

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
Rebecca Grabill
Andrea Graham
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Christopher Hopper
Heather R. Hunt
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Karen
Dawn King
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

Oh, and if you want to read the "Sin Boldly" letter for yourself, there’s a translation at "Project Wittenberg" here. This translation is a little different than the one I used in writing this essay, but it still gets the point across.

CSFF April Blog Tour: Day Two of "Return of the Guardian King"

We're continuing our look at Karen Hancock's Return of the Guardian King. As I promised yesterday, I'll say a few words about Karen's depiction of Christianity. But first, let me dip back in the mists of time to when I was reading the first book, Light of Eidon.

I started reading the story of how Abramm was about to join the Mataians, how Tersius sacrificed his body to make the Holy Flames, about how the Terstans were evil and corrupt wizards. And as I read, a brilliant idea for a story struck me:

I should write a book, set in a fantasy world, that parallels the Reformation. When the book starts, people will think that Religion A is the analogue for Christianity but in reality, it's a corrupted version of the truth. Religion B, an off-shoot, will turn out to be the real version of Christianity, one that's trying to convince people of the truth.

But then I made it past chapter five or six and, well, that idea died a very fast and horrible death.

One of the reasons why I loved this series was because Karen Hancock did something different with the Christianity analogue. In most fantasy series (or at least, the ones I've read), we're either presented with a nebulous concept of a Christian-like Deity or, as happens more often, we see the unfolding of the Christ-event but in fantasy terms (think Ted Dekker's Circle trilogy or even The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe).

But in Karen Hancock's books, the Christ-event is something that happened a thousand years earlier. The religion has progressed beyond its roots and there's even a corrupted off-shoot of it. It was a good reminder that while Christianity may be instituted by God, He didn't give the faith to perfect beings. He gave it to sinful buggers (I'm counting myself in that class; sometimes I think I can give St. Paul a run for his money) who get it wrong, sometimes horribly so. But seeing a fantasy version of Christianity a thousand years after the "Christ-event" was part of the fun for me.

That's part of the reason why I like speculative fantasy. We don't have to stay confined with what is or has been. We can reinvent the past, juggle things around, look at things in a fresh new light. The trick is that we can't stray too far from the truth, and in my mind, Karen Hancock didn't.

I especially appreciated the fact that Karen emphasized that being a follower of Christ (or Tersius in this case) is not exaclty a cake walk. Her depictions of Abramm's struggles, especially as his longings to return to Maddie and the children are thwarted and he's put through incredible trials, remind us that in spite of what the "health, wealth, and happiness," "name it and claim it" Christians may teach, we're not guaranteed to be a cake walk in this life. We will struggle. We will suffer. We will be tempted. We may even fall. But the good news is, God is there to pick us up again, perhaps restoring us in this life (as Eidon did with Abramm) but definitely restoring us in the world to come.

That may not be as deep as I first intended it, but my brain's a little addled right now. I was up late last night reading "just one more chapter" (which turned out to be about six or seven chapters) of Sharon Hinck's Renovating Becky Miller, so my brain is a little fuzzy right now.

But never fear! Tomorrow's post has been bouncing around in my head for a few years now and has just been waiting for an outlet. Tune in tomorrow for "Sin boldly!" Yes, that is the title I'm going with!

And be sure to check out the rest of the blog tour participants. I particularly enjoyed Rebecca Grabill's "Top Ten List" for today. See you tomorrow!

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
Rebecca Grabill
Andrea Graham
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Christopher Hopper
Heather R. Hunt
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Karen
Dawn King
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

CSFF April Blog Tour: Day One of "Return of the Guardian King"

This month we're going to be talking about the conclusion to Karen Hancock's Legends of the Guardian King books, namely Return of the Guardian King.

I've absolutely loved this series. From the very first book, I've been hooked. You may remember that a few months ago, when I came across the cover art for this final installment of the series, I posted it on this blog and gushed about how excited I was and how I couldn't wait for April to get here so I could get my grubby little hands on the book and find out what happened to Abramm, Maddie, and the land of Kiriath.

This book makes a wonderful cap to an excellent fantasy series. Hancock's world is rich and evocative and you can tell that she did a lot of work on the backstory for the world, giving it a detailed history that she only hints at (and is really all she had to do). The relationships in the book are fascinating, especially the bizarre romance between Trap and Carissa (I don't want to say too much more than that). When I set down the book after devouring it, I was, for the most part, satisfied.

But not completely.

It pains me to admit this, but I thought the ending kind of fizzled. At first, I couldn't place my finger on it, but after reflecting on it for a few hours, I realized what the problem was. Just as a warning, if you haven't read the books, you might want to skip down to the links of other participants. I'll try to avoid the spoilers as much as I can, but I'll have to inevitably reveal some stuff to explain my slight disappointment.

The problem with the way this story ended lies in the conflict between Abramm and his younger brother Gillard. Throughout the series, it's been made clear that Abramm and Gillard don't like each other. Throughout the series, this conflict grew and grew until, in Shadow Over Kiriath, it reached an explosive climax. Gillard seemed to triumph in a major way (I want to say how, but personally, I hate spoilers, so I'll try to refrain).

All throughout Return of the Guardian King, I was looking forward to the final showdown between Abramm and Gillard. I was expecting some grand final clash between Terstan and Mataio as Abramm reclaimed what was lost. At the very least, I was expecting more of the story to focus on Gillard and what was happening in Kiriath.

But that's not what happened. Instead, after only a brief appearance in the beginning of the book, Gillard disappears until almost the end. After that, no conflict, no confrontation, just a series of deus ex machina moments that, to me, fell kind of flat.

Now I know what Karen Hancock was going after. I personally loved the allusions to Job that were woven throughout the book and given those themes, the ending tied in well with them. And maybe I'm guilty of "Monday morning quarterbacking" here but I would have done things differently.

All of this doesn't mean that I didn't like the book. Far from it. I loved this book and I would enthusiastically recommend it to anyone (along with the other three books, namely Light of Eidon, The Shadown Within, and Shadow Over Kiriath). It's just that instead of an absolute perfect end, it had a good ending. In my opinion. There we go.

Go check out the other blog tour participants to see what they have to say:

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
Rebecca Grabill
Andrea Graham
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Christopher Hopper
Heather R. Hunt
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Karen
Dawn King
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

Tomorrow, I'm planning on discussing Ms. Hancock's depiction of Christianity in the series. But by far, Wednesday's post should be the most interesting. I'm tentatively entitling the post "Sin boldly." Why? Come back and see.