Book Review: Finding God in the Hobbit

Finding God in the Hobbit. By Jim Ware. Colorado Springs: SaltRiver. pp. 208. 2006. ($14.99 Hardcover | $9.99 Kindle | 12.98 Audio)

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FIVE STARS!

Few authors have captured the imaginations of millions through multiple generations like J.R.R. Tolkein. His four primary works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy introduced us to Middle Earth, and many of us enjoy travelling there once in a while simply because it challenges and changes us. These books speak to us and call our minds to contemplate bigger things. Books like these are rightly considered classics, worth reading and rereading, considering and responding to.

As believers, our responses to works of art, be they written, painted, or filmed, should necessarily be influenced by our faith. I enjoy one church’s online podcast of “Film and Theology” because it encourages us to view things in light of God’s revelation and to appreciate beauty and art as man’s creativity reflecting God’s creativity. Jim Ware’s book, Finding God in the Hobbit, does just that superbly.

This book carefully considers passages from The Hobbit in light of their context and role in the whole narrative of the entire Middle Earth canon and considers how the story reflects God’s story, how Bilbo Baggins unwittingly plays a crucial role in the ultimate destruction of not only Smaug, but the evil Lord Sauron himself, and how we too are created by God to fulfill purposes in His grand design that we ourselves may never be fully aware of.

This book is written well. I don’t say that about many books. And the audio version is narrated by Simon Vance, a veteran narrator, and his light English accent somehow makes the book seem more authentically Tolkein. Though this book came out in 2006, the audio book version is out just in time for the 2012 film adaptation of The Hobbit. I highly recommend that both The Hobbit and Finding God in the Hobbit be on your reading list in the immediate future. It’s that good.

I received this audio book from christianaudio for purposes of review.

Book Review: The Sword @christianaudio @CrosswayBooks

The Sword. By Bryan Litfin. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books. pp. 448. 2012. ($15.99 Print)

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**For the month of July 2012, The Sword is available as a free download at christianaudio.com, and the other two books are priced at $4.98 each! For less than the cost of one paperback, you can get the entire trilogy.**

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««««« Five Stars, (ages 16+)

This first book in the Chiveis Trilogy introduces readers to an isolated mountainous kingdom in a post-apocalyptic world that has reverted back to medieval technologies and pagan religions. It’s part science-fiction, part fantasy, and part historical fiction.

In the kingdom of Chiveis, a powerful pagan priestess keeps the masses devoted to an unholy trio of gods and their unholy master: Astrebril (a variation of the French for “Lucifer”). Yet, through a series of providential events, Teofil and Anastasia, a guardsman and a peasant farmer, discover the sacred writing of Deu and bring it back into the bowels of Chiveis. Conflict is inevitable as the followers of Deu seek to discover and share Deu’s message while the religious order seeks to hunt them down and destroy them.

The audiobook, read by Ray Porter, is more like listening to a storyteller than just hearing the words read aloud. He pauses, changes voices, and changes his tempo to reflect the mood of the characters and the intensity of the moment.

Overall this is a great book, but it, like the rest of the series, is not for young children, and I would say not for early teens either. There are sword fighting, kidnappings, blood, and violence, but the biggest factor pushing up the age-appropriateness level is the sensuality. Although it’s not too explicit, there’s a discussion about a man’s inability to perform and a pagan revelry with a fairly sensual description of a fairly sensual dance.

Yet, I still recommend it for older teens and anyone who’s had an interest in knight’s tales, European history, and fantastic “what if” scenarios. Additionally, it’s a lot of fun trying to figure out the places and names, almost all of which have real-world equivalents. The Chiveis Trilogy offers a unique blending of genres that makes for a great story.

Let’s hope that Brian Litfin decides to expand on this world with a second trilogy sometime in the future.

I received this audio book from christianaudio for the purpose of review.

Book Review: The Kingdom

The Kingdom. By Bryan Litfin. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books. pp. 448. 2012. ($15.99 Print)

**As of June 16, 2012, the entire trilogy (The Sword, The Gift, and The Kingdom) are available for preorder on Amazon.com for $19.59.**

««««« Five Stars

The Kingdom is Bryan Litfin’s conclusion to the Chiveis Trilogy. In these books, Europe has reverted to a somewhat medieval existence hundreds of years after wars and disasters reduced humanity to almost nothing and most of our advanced technologies have been forgotten. The kingdom of Chiveis, rising from the ashes of a lost civilization, has become closed off from the outside world and is ruled by a king under the strong-armed influence of a pagan priestess. It is in this environment that a young soldier discovers a long-forgotten book about a long-forgotten God.

The Kingdom is the longest of the three books, and for good reason: Litfin takes the reader from the Roma (Rome) to Marsay (Marseille), Jineve (Geneva) Sessalay (Sicily), and back to Chiveis for a climactic battle between the pagan forces loyal to the wicked high priestess and the Christiani willing to stop an evil empire from wiping out all knowledge of God from the Mediterranean world.

The book is full of swordplay, romance, and intrigue. It is wholly medieval, yet with vestiges of a long lost world that was once our own. Litfin gives readers a new experience in an old world, something fantastic filling the gap between the Chronicles of Narnia and the Lord of the Rings, with a decidedly Christian plot and message. Imagine if the world was discovering the message of the Bible for the first time. How would they preach a unified gospel message? How would they organize themselves?

One thing I’ve noticed about great books is the idea of expansion, either through back story or new locations. Tolkein and Lewis did it, and even George Lucas did it with Star Wars. Ever since picking up The Sword, I’ve imagined what kind of stories could be told about the lands beyond Chiveis. Each book further expands on locations and people, adding to the mythos. I’ve been somewhat sad about seeing a conclusion to the trilogy, but Litfin has left the door open for further sequels. He’s sold me on them already. Let’s hope there are more journeys into the Beyond in the future.

I requested this book from the publisher for purposes of review.