What do you think?
Rate this book
The Fire and The Serpent: Book One: Sojourners
2025 Independent Author Network Book of the Year Finalist Awards (Christian/Religious Fiction & Spiritual Fiction)
2025 Readers’ Favorite Finalist Award (Christian Fiction)
“Ahhh, my dear girl,” the creature croons. “I have been waiting for one such as you. How fascinating that my adversary has chosen someone so… insignificant. Who would have thought…”
An invitation to travel a path many have chosen to abandon…
A calling hidden in the weakest vessel….
An enchanting enemy with a wicked agenda…
A king who isn’t all he appears to be…
The path before Kenna is one few choose to follow. Darkness is seeping into the hearts and minds of the people, whispering lies and twisting the truth. Nothing is as it seems. To follow the Path of the King is to risk everything she thought she knew—about the world and about herself. This journey is more than a test of strength; it’s a test of identity. Kenna thought she knew who she was, but it was all a lie.
2025 Readers’ Favorite Finalist Award (Christian Fiction)
“Ahhh, my dear girl,” the creature croons. “I have been waiting for one such as you. How fascinating that my adversary has chosen someone so… insignificant. Who would have thought…”
An invitation to travel a path many have chosen to abandon…
A calling hidden in the weakest vessel….
An enchanting enemy with a wicked agenda…
A king who isn’t all he appears to be…
The path before Kenna is one few choose to follow. Darkness is seeping into the hearts and minds of the people, whispering lies and twisting the truth. Nothing is as it seems. To follow the Path of the King is to risk everything she thought she knew—about the world and about herself. This journey is more than a test of strength; it’s a test of identity. Kenna thought she knew who she was, but it was all a lie.
364 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 25, 2025
7 people want to read
About the author
Dieta Scheidecker
2 books12 followersDieta Scheidecker is a Wisconsin-based author, worship leader, and songwriter. Inspired by stories that stir the soul and challenge the mind, she brings a reflective voice to fantasy adventure and speculative fiction.
Her award-winning debut novel, THE FIRE AND THE SERPENT, launched a series exploring spiritual truth through allegory, suspense, and action. Her short story IN THE BETWEEN offers a powerful glimpse into the emotional and redemptive themes that shape her work.
Dieta is also the founder of Spoken Flame Company, a Christian-based coaching and editing service dedicated to helping authors bring their stories to light.
When she’s not writing, reading, or creating music, you’ll find her exploring the outdoors—hiking wooded trails, camping off grid, or chasing mountain views out West.
Her award-winning debut novel, THE FIRE AND THE SERPENT, launched a series exploring spiritual truth through allegory, suspense, and action. Her short story IN THE BETWEEN offers a powerful glimpse into the emotional and redemptive themes that shape her work.
Dieta is also the founder of Spoken Flame Company, a Christian-based coaching and editing service dedicated to helping authors bring their stories to light.
When she’s not writing, reading, or creating music, you’ll find her exploring the outdoors—hiking wooded trails, camping off grid, or chasing mountain views out West.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 25, 2025
Such a great book to devour! It definitely had me hooked and turning the page. I’m so excited for the second book to come out - such a fun world to lose yourself in!
June 13, 2025
So in this book, the weak say ‘I am strong’ after they have been pointed toward the path leading to the king, fought through dangers and toils and woes – and received a compass. Out of the eater comes something to eat; out of the strong comes something sweet.
It’s a modern fairy tale – a mixture of Pilgrim’s Progress, Lord of the Rings, and the Chronicles of Narnia. Most of the dangers are unnatural (inclement weather is expected) and come from darkness or human beings. Like Aragorn, Watchers hide their identity and couch their words in riddles (Kohnrad’s act of the taciturn caveman is quite a good disguise). There’s a great underlying theme of overcoming bitterness and lack of forgiveness. The people you meet on the path don’t always remain in the same form in which you met them, like the disillusioned businessman wailing about dreams of prosperity, Harold muttering about wimminfolk and their ways, and all of Nola’s immense number of personality layers. She shifts between carefree pink-haired adventurer to ball of anxiety to seductress with dizzying speed. Charlie the German shepherd remains protective, loyal, a good early warning system – and comic relief. What is clear is that all of this neediness to be seen as someone great is really a mask for someone desperate to be loved.
The Dark Forest has overtones of Mirkwood – my favorite part was the destruction of Raoul’s creepy eyes (like Bilbo whacking the spiders and making up songs to annoy them). Denethor, aka King Durmad, is convincing in his posturing and peacocking – I wanted to clock him just as much as the remnant sojourners. It’s a comfort to know that everyone must give an account, and sometimes the grace clock really does run out. It’s also a comfort that someone small and unexpected (like Bilbo or Frodo) can carry out the task to completion, despite their waverings and misgivings. Truly, the weak are around to confound the mighty.
This is a solid fantasy novel about spiritual warfare. Well-written, only a few quotation marks missing. Kudos!
It’s a modern fairy tale – a mixture of Pilgrim’s Progress, Lord of the Rings, and the Chronicles of Narnia. Most of the dangers are unnatural (inclement weather is expected) and come from darkness or human beings. Like Aragorn, Watchers hide their identity and couch their words in riddles (Kohnrad’s act of the taciturn caveman is quite a good disguise). There’s a great underlying theme of overcoming bitterness and lack of forgiveness. The people you meet on the path don’t always remain in the same form in which you met them, like the disillusioned businessman wailing about dreams of prosperity, Harold muttering about wimminfolk and their ways, and all of Nola’s immense number of personality layers. She shifts between carefree pink-haired adventurer to ball of anxiety to seductress with dizzying speed. Charlie the German shepherd remains protective, loyal, a good early warning system – and comic relief. What is clear is that all of this neediness to be seen as someone great is really a mask for someone desperate to be loved.
The Dark Forest has overtones of Mirkwood – my favorite part was the destruction of Raoul’s creepy eyes (like Bilbo whacking the spiders and making up songs to annoy them). Denethor, aka King Durmad, is convincing in his posturing and peacocking – I wanted to clock him just as much as the remnant sojourners. It’s a comfort to know that everyone must give an account, and sometimes the grace clock really does run out. It’s also a comfort that someone small and unexpected (like Bilbo or Frodo) can carry out the task to completion, despite their waverings and misgivings. Truly, the weak are around to confound the mighty.
This is a solid fantasy novel about spiritual warfare. Well-written, only a few quotation marks missing. Kudos!
September 12, 2025
Sin darkens every human heart—no one escapes its shadow. Yet, within each of us remains the imprint of God, though often blurred and out of focus. This novel is about that search—the journey to discover His light within and the hope that, even in the deepest darkness, His truth can break through when we refocus on Him.
The story reflects the reality of our own spiritual walks—how even after choosing the path toward light, we stumble, wander, and face both suffering and joy in the process of learning what is lasting and real.
For readers familiar with Scripture, biblical themes are evident, especially in how the enemy wages war on the mind. But for those less acquainted with the Bible, the novel still resonates through universal themes: the struggle against inner darkness, the redemption found in sacrifice, the power of found family, and the urgent call to save what is worth preserving.
The Fire and the Serpent is not a story I will read once, but will return to later—because its layers of meaning run deep, and another visit promises fresh insight.
The story reflects the reality of our own spiritual walks—how even after choosing the path toward light, we stumble, wander, and face both suffering and joy in the process of learning what is lasting and real.
For readers familiar with Scripture, biblical themes are evident, especially in how the enemy wages war on the mind. But for those less acquainted with the Bible, the novel still resonates through universal themes: the struggle against inner darkness, the redemption found in sacrifice, the power of found family, and the urgent call to save what is worth preserving.
The Fire and the Serpent is not a story I will read once, but will return to later—because its layers of meaning run deep, and another visit promises fresh insight.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews