Saturday, February 21, 2015

Book: Beneath the Forsaken City

Book blitz ventures into the Fantasy World…

I have not read the first book in the Song of Seare series, a fault I will definitely seek to remedy after reading Beneath the Forsaken City. C.E. Laureano has crafted a fantasy world that fits well into the Christian allegory/fantasy genre. It’s not straight allegory like Pilgrim’s Progress, but still carries some of the ideas of Christian life wrapped in a good narrative.

Having not read the first book, I was a tad bit lost as I started on this book. Fortunately, the adventure stands decently on its own. One is not entirely sure what’s going on in the universe of Seare, but I was able to fill in the gaps.

Laureano’s characters, Conor and Aine, are presented well. Further, the “bad guys” are clearly bad—there are no doubts about good and evil. That is a positive for fantasy literature. I would suggest having a quick thumb to the back pages with the pronunciation guide…

How well does the allegory stand up? I find no fault in the theology presented through the allegorical moments. It is, most certainly, not perfect. But overall, one ought not get your theology from fiction anyway. As an illumination of the ideas of grace and commitment to God, this one hits that just fine.

Is it worth reading? Absolutely. I’ll be adding this to the shelf for my kids as they hit middle-school reading ranges. There is action, there is good versus evil, there is romance. Everything that a good movie would have…but it’s in your imagination instead.

Sounds like a win to me.

Free book from the publisher.

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