A nonpreachy but twee tone helps a fuzzy fantasy spread the good news of Christian positivity in troubled times.
Jane lays a thin veneer of sci-fi over a spiritual allegory in her debut novel about a boy war refugee in the future who travels with two extraordinary companions and absorbs tales along with way that illustrate both faith and folly.
This story’s future-speak coins the word “fabutale” as a 22nd-century synonym for “fairy tale”—just what this narrative aspires to be. Earth of the future enjoyed a relatively tranquil century after an international governing body idealistically abolished weapons, downsized polluting industries and technology (especially transportation; walking made a big comeback), and discouraged—without outlawing—organized religious worship. But not everyone cooperated, especially with the part about getting rid of weapons. By 2162, rogue nations have ignited global war. Young Jal Valhyn, a boy in an unprepared society, is left alone after his parents and uncle ominously vanish in military duty. Beckoned by a disembodied voice calling itself Simeon, aka Syntee, Jal embarks on a pastoral footpath in the company of two amazing, seemingly divine messengers: a talking swan named Sammi and a talking butterfly named Bea. While en route to their safe-haven destination, Jal hears parables of places they pass and people they meet. There’s a city-state of arrogant Savants who ruled using pure science, only to become a domed prison with inhabitants frozen in ice; a paranoid population who enclose their boundaries with illusory fire; and people who sacrifice fame, wealth and power to instead serve Syntee (or upper-rank disciples of Syntee) on “missions.” Late in the loose plot, a rather absentee God is mentioned as the “Owner King,” who will ultimately come and heal the suffering planet. In the meantime, Jal is counseled to wait patiently with his new friends. Readers will parse out stand-ins for Jesus, the Holy Ghost and Satan, since metaphors are more pervasive here than in The Shack (2007) or even Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Thankfully, though, sermons cautioning against secularism, cynicism and (possibly) disarmament never get too intense, due to a consistent bedtime-story tone and somewhat cutesy language; characters relish making alliterative phrases and impromptu rhymes. Readers in parts of Kentucky and North Carolina may be extra interested, as the author, a resident of the region, borrowed the Blue Ridge terrain for the landscape of her little pilgrim’s progress.
A nonpreachy but twee tone helps a fuzzy fantasy spread the good news of Christian positivity in troubled times.Pub Date: March 3, 2013
ISBN: 978-1479139071
Page Count: 240
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
Hoffman (The Red Garden, 2011, etc.) births literature from tragedy: the destruction of Jerusalem's Temple, the siege of Masada and the loss of Zion.
This is a feminist tale, a story of strong, intelligent women wedded to destiny by love and sacrifice. Told in four parts, the first comes from Yael, daughter of Yosef bar Elhanan, a Sicarii Zealot assassin, rejected by her father because of her mother's death in childbirth. It is 70 CE, and the Temple is destroyed. Yael, her father, and another Sicarii assassin, Jachim ben Simon, and his family flee Jerusalem. Hoffman's research renders the ancient world real as the group treks into Judea's desert, where they encounter Essenes, search for sustenance and burn under the sun. There too Jachim and Yael begin a tragic love affair. At Masada, Yael is sent to work in the dovecote, gathering eggs and fertilizer. She meets Shirah, her daughters, and Revka, who narrates part two. Revka's husband was killed when Romans sacked their village. Later, her daughter was murdered. At Masada, caring for grandsons turned mute by tragedy, Revka worries over her scholarly son-in-law, Yoav, now consumed by vengeance. Aziza, daughter of Shirah, carries the story onward. Born out of wedlock, Aziza grew up in Moab, among the people of the blue tunic. Her passion and curse is that she was raised as a warrior by her foster father. In part four, Shirah tells of her Alexandrian youth, the cherished daughter of a consort of the high priests. Shirah is a keshaphim, a woman of amulets, spells and medicine, and a woman connected to Shechinah, the feminine aspect of God. The women are irretrievably bound to Eleazar ben Ya'ir, Masada's charismatic leader; Amram, Yael's brother; and Yoav, Aziza's companion and protector in battle. The plot is intriguingly complex, with only a single element unresolved. An enthralling tale rendered with consummate literary skill.
Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4516-1747-4
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
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