The mythical elements are mixed well with a sort of coming of age story about friendships, family and loss. While it isn't exactly a thriller there is a nice mix of mystery, suspense and reflection. The characters are filled out enough to make the story work but there isn't a constant attempt to fill in the details and give everyone a complete backstory.
Tag - Christian Fiction
While I am not in any way offended by his unorthodox views on these issues and/or his attempts to explore them in fiction. I found the overall effect rather flat. It seems a little too much like a CS Lewis Pilgrims Progress mashup.
All in all, an enjoyable start to an intriguing series. It will be very interesting to see where it goes from here. If you are looking for a creative read for middle graders check out the start to this new series.
It has a simplicity to it but I felt like it captured the characters well and gave the reader some sense of what it might be like to live in that time and place. Also some interesting exploration of relationships and family life.
It has a simplicity to it but I felt like it captured the characters well and gave the reader some sense of what it might be like to live in that time and place. Also some interesting exploration of relationships and family life.
The world needs more writers who take Christians and their world seriously and attempt to capture those characters and ideas in interesting ways. Otherworld shows promise in this even if it doesn't quite pull it off in my mind.
I said of Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalatos that “the book walks the fine line between slapstick comedy and insightful spiritual commentary – and in my opinion manages to pull it off for the most part.” Mikalatos follow up, Night of the Living Dead Christian, attempts to walk that same line – with less successful results. What starts out as a slapstick spoof on cheesy horror movies suddenly turns into a very serious story and spiritual commentary. The transition is...
As part of the Tyndale Bloggers Tour I am giving away a free copy of Night of the Living Dead Christian by Matt Mikalatos. Simply leave a comment on this post and I will randomly draw a winner Look for my review of the book later today. watch on tyndale.com
In the end, I think The Narnia Code is a well intentioned attempt to take a detailed academic literary thesis and bring it down to a popular level. For a variety of reasons I am not sure I am best able to judge its success. But it is an interesting subject and will be of great interest to Lewis and Narnia fans.
