4/11/2023 0 Comments The green ember series christian![]() Lewis did it in The Chronicles of Narnia by creating the great Lion, Aslan, as an allegorical figure representing Christ. How do you write a “Christian fantasy” without invoking the name of Christ? Indeed, the fantasy writer is usually presenting another world, an imaginary world very different from our own.Ĭ.S. Nevertheless, the story seems to breathe forth Christianity. The rabbits don’t have a church, nor do we see them performing any religious rituals. But you will notice that God is never mentioned in this novel, nor Jesus Christ. Smith is a Christian, as you will shortly discover if you visit his Facebook page ( ). How refreshing to find a book built around something solid, something that really, truly matters! One gets so desperately tired of invincible female warriors, know-it-all elves, kids with super-powers, and all the rest of fantasy’s rusty old impedimenta. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia are more than just exciting stories. It’s an exciting story, but it’s more than a story-even as C.S. This vision, this faith, is at the core of The Green Ember and lifts it high above the other fantasies I’ve been reviewing. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. And we prepare with all our might, to be ready when once again we are free.” (p. We are heralds … saying what will surely come. A window into the past and the future world. We make crutches and soups and have gardens and weddings and babies. So do all in this community in our various ways. They are really seeing, but it’s a different kind of sight. Those painters are seeing what is not yet but we hope will be. “Here we anticipate the Mended Wood, the Great Wood healed. Speaking of the rabbits’ current secret refuge in the mountains, one of the characters explains: The Great Wood, their former home, has been ravaged and polluted but they have a vision of a Mended Wood-with all the harm undone, the shadows hurled back, and peace and innocence and industry restored. Smith’s fantasy world focuses on talking rabbits who have lost their glorious, beloved king to treason and to his merciless enemies (birds of prey, and wolves), and now, as a defeated, hunted people, must struggle to survive in a ruined world.īut it’s not just survival that drives them. With these words the bravest and truest of the rabbits’ knights and vassals pledge loyalty to their king. ![]() Till the green ember rises, or the end of the world.” “My place beside you, my blood for yours. ![]() We hear them at a very early age and remember them forever. But fantasy is more like poetry, in that it interacts so intimately with the reader’s own imagination and brings his emotions into play. Try reading aloud Henry James’ The Ambassadors to any twelve-year-old, and he’ll run screaming to the sidewalk, bored beyond endurance. Young readers like stories of adventure, marvels, action, and passion. ![]() That it’s not generally considered important doesn’t mean it’s not important. Secondly, because it’s a significant part of our culture, fantasy helps shape our opinions, our attitudes, and the way we live our lives. Far from being a trickling backwater, fantasy is a mighty tributary flowing into the mainstream of our popular culture. Add to that the collective input of self-publishing, fantasy fan sites on the Internet, and the vast number of works already published and still in print, and you’ll see that this is no small enterprise. ![]() I can’t even guess the number of new titles published every year. “The world’s on fire-and you’re twiddling around with children’s books?” But there are two things they haven’t considered.įirst, children and teenagers consume a prodigious amount of fantasy. To some it may seem a trivial pursuit to try to reclaim territory for Christ’s Kingdom in the realm of fantasy literature. My first reaction, once I’d finished reading this book, was to say, “Oh! Now we’re getting somewhere!” (Story Warren Books: 2015) Reviewed by Lee Duigon ![]()
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