The Juice Bar

My muses, thoughts, ideas, and whatever

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

My reading list - December 2008

This month I read two books from Marcher Lord Press, the coolest new little publishing house in America, specializing in fantasy fiction that takes faith seriously.

Summa Elvetica by Theodore Beale

An intriguing mix of fantasy and theology that takes place in a world that is ruled by an organization much like the Catholic church. Fortunately, the church here isn't depicted as absolute evil like Phillip Pullman would. Here, a young is dispatched by the church's pontiff to find the answer to a thorny theological question: Do elves have souls. On the way to Rome, he gets caught up in an adventure where he is rescued by corrupt officials in the Elven kingdom and learns the truth about the Church and about the nature of God and the soul. An interesting look at the fantasy genre.

Hero, Second Class by Mitchell Bonds

A fun fantasy tale influenced as much by Monty Python and Terry Pratchett as by Lord of the Rings a nd Eragon. A quest involving a self-narrating swordsman, a wise-cracking dragon, a fair maiden that happens to be a cat-like species, an apprentice hoping to one day become a Hero, Second Class (and probably by the time of the next book in this series, a Hero, First Class). The author is only twenty years old, but shows a lot of imagination and wit, which will hopefully lead to a successful career, fame, money, all that stuff.

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