Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Chanticleer Book Reviews

DEEP BLUE ETERNITY by Natasha Boyd – Supense, Romance, Contemporary

When two strangers meet on a small island, they quickly find their destinies intertwined in ways that are painful, and potentially passionate.

Eighteen-year-old Olivia, or Livvy, steals a credit card and some meds from her parents and runs away from home – forever. She is carrying the key to a cottage on Daufuskie Island off the coast of South Carolina, where she intends to retreat.

The cottage is an inheritance from her grandmother to Olivia and her sister Abby. Abby died tragically, and her memory continually haunts Livvy. To add to her problems, the cottage is already occupied. A young man named Tom has been in residence for quite some time. Forced to acknowledge that he has some claim to the place, Livvy accepts the arrangement, and she and Tom begin a strange, strained stand-off of tentative, suspicious acquaintance that very slowly morphs into a kind of trust that neither of them had anticipated.

Interacting with the island folk and gradually piecing together bits of their shared past, Tom and Livvy creep towards romance. It’s no easy road; there are jealousies, misunderstandings and a fair share of subdued rage on both sides. To get to a sense of complete understanding, both must shed their anger, bitterness, and mistrust, and to come to grips with secrets from their shared past that threaten like storm clouds.

Told from the separate, alternating perspectives of Olivia and Tom, Deep Blue Eternity casts light on two tormented souls. Livvy is flippant at times, at other times, almost immobilized by depression, while Tom vacillates between overly guarded and domineering. As they observe one another, the reader learns how burdened each one is, how much they long to exorcise their ghosts and find simple contentment.

Award-winning author Boyd (Eversea) has constructed this psychological romance with admirable patience and skill. The reader sees Olivia and Tom interacting like two people learning to waltz, beginning with teetering missteps and embarrassing stumbles and fumbles, through some moments of shared confidence that quickly fade, until they are finally, gracefully moving as one. Though both are young and wounded, by the end of this engaging story, the reader feels that they have a chance for enduring love. Boyd has a gift for dialog and is comfortable with the setting, convincingly conveying the charms of Daufuskie and its inhabitants.

Readers of intelligent, romantic fiction will be enthralled by this complex exploration of two people forced together by fate, trying to turn what could be a disaster into a lasting bond.

Deep Blue Eternity by Natasha Boyd won 1st Place in the 2015 Chatelaine Awards.

August 27, 2018
A TALL TALE ABOUT a DACHSHUND and a PELICAN: How a Friendship Came to Be by Kizzie Jones – Children’s Books, Tall Tales, Friendship

Goldie the dachshund thinks she’s found a new friend. When she comes upon a pelican on the beach during her walk with her owner, she immediately approaches the strange creature, trying to strike up a new friendship based on their physical similarities.

After she points out they both have long muzzles, Pelican shows how its mouth is made to hold fish, which Goldie cannot do. Undeterred, Goldie points out their similarly long bodies, but Pelican explains how its body isn’t covered with fur, but feathers made to fly. Finally, Goldie accepts how truly different the two are and is about to leave disappointed when Pelican explains that creatures with differences can still be friends as long as they try to learn about each other. Just like Goldie and the little girl who owns her, the two very different creatures become forever friends.

Kizzie Jones has created a whimsical tale celebrating the differences in everyone. Whether human, animal, or bird, differences don’t have to separate. In accepting the differences rather than forcing similarity, people can create a symbiotic existence, just like a dachshund and a pelican. In a world that often condemns individuality and forces an artificial sameness, this short children’s book, A Tall Tale About a Dachshund and a Pelican: How a Friendship Came to Be, embraces what makes people, or in Goldie’s case, animals, unique.

While myths and tall tales typically show fun explanations for how the natural world works, A Tall Tale About a Dachshund and a Pelican takes a more emotional and less physical path. When Goldie is about to leave disappointed, Pelican points out what makes both him and Goldie unique, effectively cheering Goldie on to appreciate those differences while showing how friends don’t have to be the same, only accepting and receptive to diversity.

It is also beautiful that Goldie sees similarities where there really aren’t any. She looks for ways to identify with Pelican before she introduces herself. She works to find common ground even when it means trying (and failing) to fly. What a better place this world would be if everyone looked for the “sameness” in others instead of first attacking the differences!

Scott Ward’s illustrations make the tale come alive with bright colors and whimsical representations of sand and sea. An unusual feature is the illustrations within the written text. Graphic designer, Nelz (Nelson Agustín), who did the interior and cover book design, highlights some important words by making them cartoonish and large, which adds to the overall fantastical appearance sometimes with a sprinkling of stars, sometimes with a rainbow of color.

Perhaps Goldie says it best when she summarizes, “All kinds of creatures can like each other without being alike.” Humans of all ages, not just the children for whom the book is written, can use a little more Goldie attitude.

Simply put, here is a beautifully penned children’s story about friendship and diversity and what happens when a dachshund and a pelican happen to meet one glorious day.

A Tall Tale About a Dachshund and a Pelican: How a Friendship Came to Be won First Place in the LITTLE PEEPS Awards for Kizzie Jones. Congratulations!

July 27, 2018
The VOID: Book 3 in the TANNER SEQUENCE by Timothy Johnston – Sci-fi Thriller, Galactic Empire, Space Exploration Mystery

Homicide detective, Lieutenant Kyle Tanner, successfully captures the brutally sadistic serial killer known as The Reaper, whose modus operandi is to systematically dismember his victims while keeping them alive to suffer as long as possible. Tanner receives orders to transport The Reaper from Pluto, where he and his soul-mate Shaheen are stationed, to the CCF Home System where the killer will stand trial. Tanner, more dissatisfied than ever about the CCF contemplates a way out, a way to fall off the grid to start life anew on some distant outpost free from oppression and the totalitarian military regime of the CCF. At least, that’s the plan as soon as he and Shaheen complete their mission to deliver The Reaper to authorities in The Home System.

Along the way, their small transport ship loses power as some unseen force shuts down the systems aboard the ship. Tanner, Shaheen, and his prisoner are left to drift aimlessly in space with a disabled drive and a damaged communications system whose crippled range won’t allow them to call Pluto or any other station for help.

As the number of failing systems grows, their fortunes change. A research ship in the vicinity, the Phoenix, passes within range to receive their distress call and rescues them. But all is not well aboard the Phoenix, either. They have hit the same anomaly and are battling systems shutdowns of their own, albeit with more success.

As the story progresses, Tanner is sure of three things, none of them good: The crew is hiding a secret. No help is on the way. And he a Shaheen will be dead within three days.

Johnston is a master at blending science fiction, mystery, and thriller genres into a captivating read. The Void is well written in the first person, past tense, from the protagonist Tanner’s point of view. The characters are well fleshed out, engaging, and believable. The does contain mild sexual content, though nothing overly graphic. And there is violence, more than this reviewer expected in light of his previous experience with the Kyle Tanner series. This occurs at the very beginning of the novel and almost crossed the line. Then the story takes over and picks up speed leaving the graphic violence behind. (See Chanticleer Reviews of Book 1, The Furnace and Book 2, The Freezer.)

In deep trouble on an unfamiliar ship with the odds stacked against him, Tanner must determine who is enemy, who can be trusted, and what secrets lurk aboard the Phoenix.

The Tanner Sequence by Timothy Johnston won first place in the 2015 Clue Awards in the Chanticleer Int’l Writing Competitions.

July 24, 2018
AS the RIBBONS FALL by Kara Wolfe – Thriller, Mystery, Suspense

Sam had been a curious, resourceful child growing up in a family torn apart by a contentious past. At a very young age, he’d discovered a fascination with killing. Now almost an adult, he’s anxious to find his little sister who he’s sure is living somewhere with their mother. The mother who had abandoned him. Although he was young when they were separated, Sam remembers his sister well, including the cute green ribbons she always wore in her hair. Now author Kara Wolfe shows readers what Sam really thinks in As the Ribbons Fall.

Until he can find the original object of his desire to kill, Sam tries to satisfy his murderous hunger by stalking and attacking substitutes. These girls are carefully chosen for their look and demeanor as he eerily watches them. The third book in the Savannah series, As the Ribbons Fall, draws to a conclusion the mystery of the Dark-Eyed One, exposing horrors of Sam’s secret past. Is it the past that drives his murderous rage? Or as Sam says, was this desire to kill something that he was born with, an innate part of his being?

The fate of Senior Detective Jordan Kinsey and medical examiner Jena Greene of the Savannah Police Department is darkly in question when they are caught off guard and captured by Sam. Now Detectives Vance and Michael are leading the police team to find their colleagues, and to stop this serial killer once and for all.

The chilling portrait of this killer’s thoughts as the author brings you along to one of his murders saturates the pages with terror and horror. The dimensions of desperation in both the killer and the victim are tangible, making this is terrific writing that takes the reader on a step by step journey to the coldest and darkest purgatory of human nature.

At the same time, the author brilliantly contrasts this evil with dynamic writing about the resourcefulness, intelligence, and tools used by the heroes fighting against the killer.

A passionate and talented author, Kara Wolfe excels at the art of suspense as she offers an unforgettable glimpse into the mind of a serial killer.

As the Ribbons Fall made the Shortlist for the 2017 CLUE Awards!

July 20, 2018
FROM LIBERTY to MAGNOLIA: In SEARCH of the AMERICAN DREAM by Janice Ellis, Ph.D. – Memoir, Descrimination & Racism, Women

From Liberty to Magnolia: In Search of the American Dream, a timely and important book, won GRAND PRIZE in the 2018 CIBAs in the JOURNEY division for Memoir.

As a black woman on a cotton farm in Mississippi in the 1960s, Janice Ellis could have resigned herself to a life full of status quo: never speaking up for herself, never speaking out against injustice or racism. Instead, she never let unsettling times define her or hold her back, even as a witness to some of the ugliest racial violence this country has seen. In her candid and thought-provoking memoir, From Liberty to Magnolia: In Search of the American Dream, Ellis vividly depicts her life in the South during the height of the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights movements.

Through fluid and skillful writing, Ellis recounts the battles she encountered due to her skin color or due to her gender: an abusive husband, discouragement to further her education, sexual and racial discrimination in the workplace, a lack of support from friends and family when she runs for election. Despite these mounting obstacles, she goes on to earn her Ph.D., lands leadership roles and furthers her career, and even runs for mayor in a major US city. Her faith in God and her unwavering belief that the American Dream should be accessible and attainable to everyone are what lead her.

The story is hopeful and inspirational, yet there are painful passages for both writer to recount and reader to absorb. One such incident occurs on a Saturday afternoon in Mississippi when two little white boys spit at her parents as they exited a store. Most hurtful about the event for Ellis was seeing her parents flee to their car for safety; for blacks lived in fear as racial violence was targeted and prevalent during the 60s. Of course, there was the added fear of being female. While she lived fully aware of the color of her skin, she often wondered which came first: her race or her gender.

Ellis is fascinated with the writings of both CBS Newsman Eric Sevareid and political commentator Walter Lippmann, and in Chapter 6, she dives in deep explaining the theories of Lippmann in particular. But she also shares the pivotal moment in her career, and in her life, when she meets Sevareid at his home for an interview. Ellis has gone on to become a political and social commentator and is a prolific columnist to this day, writing about race and gender. Her premise is that race is a modern construct and that we all belong to the human race.

Interestingly, the title of the book comes from the names of two surrounding towns where she grew up. Liberty and Magnolia are stand-in metaphors for freedom and the American Dream, something that seems unattainable to a portion of the American population.

Despite her struggles, she believes the country has come a long way in racial and gender relations. Her overarching message is to stay true to oneself and continue to follow your heart, no matter how unpopular or uncomfortable your choices.

Anyone facing adversity will be moved by this tenacious woman’s account, which serves as a historical record amid one of the most tumultuous yet empowering eras in American history. Complete with a discussion guide in the Appendix, the book can serve as a text for a college course or a community book club exploring themes of race and gender.

Certainly, From Liberty to Magnolia: In Search of the American Dream is a timely and important book. Highly recommended.

July 17, 2018
The LOST YEARS of BILLY BATTLES, Book 3 in the Finding Billy Battles Trilogy by Ronald E. Yates – Historical Fiction, Literary, Action/Adventure

Congratulations to Ronald E. Yates for winning the 2018 CIBAs

OVERALL GRAND PRIZE – BEST BOOK of the YEAR

for The Lost Years of Billy Battles!

Reviewer’s Note: I’ve begun few books as eagerly as I did this one. Having read the first two volumes of Ronald E. Yates’ extraordinary trilogy, Finding Billy Battles, I couldn’t wait to continue his story in the final volume, The Lost Years of Billy Battles. The third installment lived up to the exceedingly high standard set in the first two volumes. Billy Battles is as dear and fascinating a literary friend as I have ever encountered. I learned much about American and international history, and you will too if you read any or all of the books. Each is an independent work, but if read in relation to the others, the reader experiences that all too rare sense of complete transport to another world, one fully realized in these pages because the storytelling is so skillful and thoroughly captivating. Trust me; you’ll want to read all three volumes.

For those not familiar with the series, Yates presents his books as works of “faction,” a story “based in part on fact” but also “augmented by narrative fiction.” The protagonist, William Fitzroy Raglan Battles, born in Kansas in 1860, lives a full 100 years and takes part in some of the most significant events of his time. He encounters key figures of the day (Bat Masterson Wyatt Earp, President Wilson, Francisco “Pancho” Villa, among others), gives us their backstories, and quietly appraises them.

Yates, a journalist with a keen eye for nuance and subtlety, has created a protagonist with superb critical thinking skills. William, a journalist, and occasional soldier examines people and transactions from every angle. Just as at ease in a Kansas saloon as he is at the captain’s table on a grand ocean liner on the Pacific, Billy Battles is also ruthlessly honest about his shortcomings and feels tremendous guilt when he acts impulsively or inadvertently causes harm to others. Yates has crafted a fully human character who is easy to admire, perhaps because he is admirably cognizant of his own flaws.

This installment of the trilogy opens with William enjoying middle age in Chicago with his second wife, his beloved Katharina, a former German baroness, and his daughter, Anna Marie, now a student at Northwestern University. It is 1914 and World War I is raging in Europe. Germany, late to the spoils of colonialism, is seeking to make up for lost time with its policy of Weltpolitik that advocates for imperialist expansion.

When William is contacted by his friend and former military associate, General Freddy Funston, who informs him that a German merchant ship is bound to Mexico to deliver arms and munitions to its dictator, General Victoriano Huerta, William and Katharina travel to Mexico and pose as tourists while trying to find out as much as possible about the shipment. They learn that in addition to weapons, the ship is carrying a fortune in gold and silver bars. Further investigations reveal that Germany hopes to convince Mexico to engage in skirmishes along the U.S. border, creating enough havoc that America will sit out the war in Europe and thus allow Germany expansionist gains there.

Although in Mexico at the behest of the U.S. military, William and Katharina readily understand why Mexicans feel hostile to Americans; a significant portion of the Southwest used to belong to Mexico. However, President Wilson does not recognize Huerta and is all too eager to engage in big stick diplomacy when he chooses. Also, many Mexicans are desperately poor, the Campesinos working as virtual slaves on haciendas for no pay. It’s not surprising that they cheer on Venustiano Carranza, leader of the Northern opposition Constitutionalists charismatic lieutenants, the intense, intelligent Zapata who yearns to bring about land reform for the poor, and the wild but charismatic Pancho Villa who sparks outrage when his men murder 17 Texas mining engineers.

The U.S. military decides to intervene and, once again, William is impressed into service, this time with General Pershing and the General’s aide-de-camp, George S. Patton. While the U.S. Army has the latest in weaponry and travels with motorized vehicles and untrustworthy aircraft, the new technology causes a lot of noise, making it difficult to sneak up on Villa and his light-footed army, one that’s thoroughly familiar with the terrain and beloved by the people. William’s observations and reporting on all of this for his Chicago newspaper are riveting and wryly amusing.

Following this Mexican adventure, William barely has time to catch his breath when his past once again catches up with him. Mason Bledsoe, the son of the man William killed due to complex circumstances when he was just nineteen, abducts Katharina. With the help of his cousin, William determines his wife’s whereabouts and attempts to free her, as well as seek vengeance on those who kidnapped her. The results of his actions necessitate his leaving the country for his safety and, more importantly in his mind, the safety of his family. Over the next decades, he will spend time in the Philippines and Indochina, where he will again grapple with the blatant injustices of colonialism, aggrieved by the plight of native men working 16-hour days on French rubber plantations in intense heat, their flesh bitten and eaten by mosquitoes, oxflies, and army ants.

While abroad, William’s personal life takes some shocking turns that motivates him to return to the U.S. in 1936. His final years in Kansas, his birthplace, are the quietest of his life. Billy often muses on all he has seen and experienced. When he meets his great-grandson, Ted Sayles, he decides to bequeath him his guns, uniforms, journals, and correspondence. In the Epilogue, Ted addresses the reader and shares his thoughts about some shocking surprises he finds amongst William’s papers. It’s a most satisfying conclusion to an extraordinary trilogy.

At his behest, William’s grave includes the simple statement, “He did his best.” The same is undoubtedly true of the author, Ronald E. Yates. The research involved in putting William’s story on the page had to have been immense. In addition to a careful plotting of history, the details he weaves into his prose regarding fashion, food, weather, social class, and technology make this the richest account of a life imaginable.

Ronald E. Yates won 1st Place in the SOMERSET Awards for The Improbable Journeys of Billy Battles: Book 2, Finding Billy Battles Trilogy of this extraordinary series.

July 13, 2018
The DEVIL’S OWN DESPERADO by Lynda J. Cox – Western Gunslinger, Romance, Literary

Can a gunfighter ever truly hang up his guns and settle down in one place? When Colt Evans is wounded in a fight, he flees – as far away as he can get – searching for a place to heal. What he finds has the potential to change his life forever and make him yearn to settle down. But, will his past stay behind him?

Injured and on the run, Colt Evans stumbles upon a remote homestead owned and operated by Amelia McCollister and her two siblings. The orphaned siblings have strong feelings about gunfighters as their parents were shot to death by outlaws several years earlier. Due to this sad fact, when the well-known gunfighter arrives at the homestead, Amelia is reluctant to open her home to the man.

Despite this, she follow her nature to heal rather than harm the wounded Colt against the warnings of the doctor and Marshall of the town. As she nurses Colt back to health, Amelia’s strong misgivings about this stranger seem to disappear. Colt finds that the longer he is with Amelia, he doesn’t want to leave. However, he knows that someone will eventually come looking for him. He does not want to stay and bring trouble to Amelia and her siblings; however, the longer he remains on the homestead, the stronger his feeling for Amelia grow.

As Colt had feared, his enemies find him. The danger is just too severe for Amelia and her brothers, so Colt leaves. However, once a gunfighter, always a gunfighter – at least in reputation. When Colt is ambushed and left for dead, the only thing that keeps him alive is his last drive to find Amelia, the love of his life.

Lynda J. Cox has crafted an enjoyable novel of the Old West. Nelson’s writing is engaging and flawless as she weaves the needs and desires of her two main characters against the brutal reality of the 1880’s into the story. This is a classic romance set-up, and it works to the readers’ delight. The book presents a well-balanced mix of romance and gritty 1887 Wild West action. This combination makes for one page-turning Western epic.

The Devil’s Own Desperado by Lynda J. Cox won First Place in the 2015 LARAMIE Awards!

July 11, 2018
HOW to SET the WORLD on FIRE by OZMA Award-Winning Author, T.K. Riggins – Sword & Sorcery, YA, Coming of Age, Dragons

Are you looking for a magical fix this summer? Pick up the award-winning Young Adult book, How to Set the World on Fire by 2017 Chanticleer Award-Winning author for the OZMA – Fantasy Awards, T.K.Riggins and sink into a worthy example of the “school of magic” sub-genre sparked by the Harry Potter series.

In this fast-paced, good-humored story, Kase Garrick, grandson of legendary warrior Roman Garrick, takes up residence in the Warriors castle at The Academy, reuniting with his older sister Cali, a member of the school’s Scholars branch. From his first day, Kase gains an enemy in Cali’s boyfriend Niveous. Sent to the Disciplinary Room thanks to Niveous’s trickery, Kase makes fast friends with the two girls also in detention: Talen, a sweet but awkward savant, and rebellious Lenia, whose control over fire tends dangerously toward pyromania.

Kase hones his skills in weaponry while he and Lenia flirt themselves into love, while everything is building in anticipation to the Quest Series, the annual Academy competition. The teams are usually made up of four students from a single school, but Cali, Kase, Lenia, and Talen bend the rules to form their own team. They find support from the Grand Master and Professor Bright, the elements instructor, both of whom see the unusual potential in these four students.

When the Quest Series begins, the plot coalesces into an exciting journey, not only into the four corners of the realm, but also into the students’ psyches. Each of the five Events poses mental, physical, and emotional challenges for Cali’s team, The Liberati. Each student’s mental aptitude and fortitude are tested, as well, but not only by their ordeals—some teams join with Niveous’s crew to hamstring the favored four. Their malice, however, turns to alarm when it becomes apparent that The Liberati–Kase, and Lenia in particular—have powers far beyond those developed by The Academy.

Being a school of magic sub-genre, of course, one would be right in expecting the same feel and some of the same elements setting the stage as one would find in Harry Potter. For example, in this book, you’ll find former students turned evil, a headmaster, various schools within the larger school, an exciting and dangerous competition, Kase’s singular magic, and spiders. Another similarity fans will rejoice in, like Harry Potter, the author has just disclosed that this is indeed Book One of a series!

More impressively, the story holds up very well on its own, and author Riggins manages to create a world that has one foot in fantasy and the other in up-to-the-minute reality. Sage mirrors, for instance, are only slightly more magical than smartphones and the kids take selfies to prove their accomplishments. Very smart.

What Riggins also gets very right is the way he integrates words of wisdom into the competition. In one instance, the Grand Master exhorts them to: “Know who you are, but don’t be discouraged by who you are not.” And in another: “Sometimes the hardest part about finding something beyond your reach, is finding yourself first.” But avid readers will find The Liberati’s call to arms the best advice of all: “To the library!”

T.K. Riggins won the 2017 OZMA (Fantasy) Grand Prize in the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards for How to Set the World on Fire!

June 26, 2018
ETHYR by M.P. Follin – Middle-Grade Fantasy, Gamers, Action/Adventure

Twelve-year-old Skyler Beam cops a squat onto his bean bag chair and logs into his favorite game Ethyr – his only real form of pleasure these days. He powers up his avatar, SkyWyz12, and goes in search of his friends across the lunar surface but strikes out. He is alone for the moment. Soon, a nameless player appears, who possesses impressive skills beyond the game’s design, and takes an interest in Skyler. Within minutes, the silent companion gets a bit too clingy for comfort, but SkyWyz12 can’t shake the irritating avatar and then discovers why. “Skyler Beam, I’ve been looking for you.” Skyler freaks, logs out, and slams his laptop cover closed.

Ethyr is a multi-player game offering different scenarios such as the House of Dragon dojo where players spar (clobber) each other to earn colored belts, or Lunarscape, where, propelled by jetpacks, they can fly around the Moon.

Skyler tells his friend and fellow Ethyr enthusiast, Ellie, of his encounter with the silent avatar and asks her to join him in the game later that day. She agrees, and they meet inside the dojo, along with two friends from his old school, Eddie and Brian. Soon, a mysterious, silent opponent appears, and the game morphs into something real. Skyler’s friends disappear, and he is locked in hand-to-hand combat with his opponent – with actual swords. Skyler gets his butt kicked and ends up with a sword point tickling his throat. His opponent, Neshama, suddenly allows him up and begins to answer a few questions. Once Skyler escapes the game, he grows more determined to learn more about Neshama’s and his secrets.

Now Skyler’s world begins to tilt off its axis. Unexplainable incidents and events occur all around him. He craves answers, but there is only one way to find them: he must re-enter Ethyr. Unfortunately, to do so, may come at the incredible cost of his life or lives of those closest to him.

Follin excels at creating the settings for Skyler’s everyday life both inside and outside of Ethyr. Her smooth prose, realistic dialogue, tension and conflict between the characters, descriptions, surprising twists and turns, and solid pacing make for a delightful read for all ages.

Ethyr – the novel – is a real pleasure to read!

M.P. Follin won 1st Place in the 2016 Gertrude Warner Awards for Ethyr.

June 18, 2018
HOPE of AGES PAST by Bruce Gardner – Historical Fiction, Thirty Years War, Historical Romance, Family Saga

A saga writ large on the stage of 17^th Century Central Europe, Hope of Ages Past portrays the deeply personal impacts of religious faith and love amidst the brutality of war.

Peter Erhart and Hans Mannheim are teenagers when they first meet in the Bohemian capital city of Prague at the outbreak of the Thirty Years War in 1618. These are two of the three central, fictional, characters in Bruce Gardner’s noteworthy interweaving of fact and reasoned conjecture set during the first half of the war. The boys represent the two religious factions in that conflict: Peter is Protestant; Hans, Catholic. The meeting in Prague, based on a real event including actual historical participants, provides the backdrop for a fictional drama that is set in motion when Peter reaches beyond the sectarian divide to help Hans at a moment of deep disgrace. Hans will never forget that kindness.

As rebellion and conquest fire up across Europe, Peter, in his twenties, becomes a contentedly married Lutheran pastor in Magdeburg, Germany. Opposed by powerful rivals and threatened by the Catholic imperial army now approaching the city, he encounters Anna Ritter – a country peasant girl of uncommon beauty and inner strength who has secretly admired him for years and who is destined to share his trials. Each must fight bravely for the survival of their families and friends when local villains invade countryside cottages and the army, led by an awe-inspiring Black Knight, besieges the city. At the pinnacle of their trial, unthinkable tragedy brings Peter and Anna together and links their fates with Hans, now a grown man with a reputation to prove. Events eventually bring the three together in the siege’s aftermath, and a strange and unexpected reconciliation occurs — one that is put to the ultimate test in a final, horror-filled ordeal.

Gardner, delving deeply into the philosophical issues at the core of the Thirty Years War, very deftly maintains an over-arching theme of religious differences – and similarities – in the midst of a thrilling, continually evolving panorama of warfare, intrigue, and romance. Interlocking the two storylines – interpersonal and international – is the repeated possibility for human compassion to emerge despite deep religious disagreements. Gardner’s skillfully drawn characters, both Catholic and Protestant, are confronted with choices – to kill, to help, or to ignore their fellow human beings in times of terrible suffering. Gardner fairly and intelligently presents the positions of both groups.

Love conquers hate and uplifts two great faiths in Bruce Gardner’s Hope of Ages Past, contrasting romance, religion and family cohesion with the upheaval of battle and blood, all balanced by a thought-provoking, well-considered overview of the western world’s Christian heritage.

Ultimately, Gardner has gifted us with an epic novel of enduring faith and love set amidst the brutality of the Thirty Years War in Europe. A very good read.

June 18, 2018