The Power of the Night

The Lamb Among the Stars #2

by Chris Walley

In the spirit of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lamb among the Stars series weaves the worlds of science and the spirit, technology and the supernatural into something unique and haunting. On the faraway planet of Farholme, humans live in peace under the gentle rule of the Assembly. War and evil are ancient history. But suddenly, almost imperceptibly, things begin to change. Slowly a handful of men and women begin to realize that evil has returned and it must be fought.

Genres: Science Fiction, Christian Fiction, Fiction, Christian, Fantasy

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

I was born in Wales in 1954 but grew up in northern England. I studied geology at university, gaining a BSc from Sheffield University and a PhD from University of Wales, Swansea. I taught at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in Lebanon from 1980-84, where I met my wife and where our two boys were born.

From 1984-94, I was based in Swansea, where I was a consultant for the oil industry. I did fieldwork in a number of African and Asian countries and wrote numerous synthesis volumes on the geology of different countries. In the late eighties, I began writing in my spare time. I had two novels, Heart of Stone and Rock of Refuge, published under the pseudonym of John Haworth.

In 1994, I was asked to return to Lebanon to rebuild the Department of Geology at AUB and we were there as a family 1994-98. During that time I managed the department, taught and also did research. I travelled extensively within Lebanon and got to know all the major geological localities very well, partly through interest, and partly through setting innumerable student mapping projects. My wife and I were also involved in setting up a large environmental project in the Bekaa with A Rocha Lebanon.

In 1998, we returned to the UK. Needing to go back to Swansea where there were few geology jobs, and fancying something of a change, I began to make a new career in writing and editing, in particular for the Christian market. I retained my geological interests, in particular in Lebanon/the Middle East, however, and led field trips for Wheaton College, Illinois in the Middle East and the UK.

In September 2004 I started teaching again, at Gower College Swansea (Gorseinon), on the edge of Swansea: geology and environmental science.

My wife and I live in an old cottage on the edge of Swansea and are very much involved in Pantygwydr Baptist church. Our sons, John and Mark, no longer live at home but remain a real blessing to us.

Reviews

[Carissa Norris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book by Walley, but I didn't feel it was as strong as the first. I liked the plot, I love the character of Merral and I enjoyed where he went with the ending--it wasn't what I expected and definitely made me want to read the next book.

For the negative, I felt that some of Merral's struggles were too repetitive. Merral also is way too naive. He's always pushing away any hint that something is wrong. To really get into the book you have to keep reminding yourself that these people have no savvy because life has been perfect for them. Hard to wrap your mind around that when you haven't had that experience at all. I thought the ending was a bit contrived with a mysterious being leading Merral on a quest on his own.

I kept feeling at the back of my mind that something was fundamentally off in the novel. It finally hit me: Walley's world is one where all is perfect, but he seems to also project the idea that perfection equals lack of emotion, especially love. Thus, when Merral starts to feel strong emotion, this is seen as bad. I don't think strong emotion is anti-perfection. In fact, I believe strong emotion and strong love are part of perfection. Anyway, the point is there are some elements of the novel that I believe are theologically off. Still, I did enjoy the book and will continue to read the series.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a faster read than the first book. I don’t know if it had to do with it doing a “better job” of grabbing my attention after the first book or enough of the world was built from the first book that the author could focus more on the story itself. In any case, this was a fast read for me. It held my attention throughout from start to finish. It had moments that were more intense than others. I like the intermixing of “spiritual” and “non-spiritual” throughout the story. The character development was well-done; it focuses mostly on Merral, so it is nice when he interacts with other characters and the reader can see some growth and development in their lives as well.

It is an interesting story, to say the least, considering part of the basis for this society is that all of humanity has not only converted to Christianity but has also moved out to populate various planets around the Milky Way Galaxy (something like 1600 worlds that were terraformed to allow mankind to live on them). This society is presented as being fairly innocent in all things sinful and/or evil (other than what is described in history books and seen as being “a long time ago, during the bad times,” and “not possible today.” Only, a breach in the barrier separating the supernatural from the natural worlds has been opened and humanity is about to be tested like never before (or, at the very least, on particular planet that is the furthest from the center of Humanity’s . . . not “empire” but maybe expansion and not since 8,000 years ago).

I think the author has done a nice job at trying to create a society in which people have “always” behaved appropriately towards each other, not sinning against each other by using other people or abusing relationships or acting inappropriately or disrespectfully (at least since the “Intervention,” which was around 10,000 years ago). So while it is a little frustrating at time that Merral behaves the way he does and is pretty naïve at times, he truly is only acting in character for him. He and his other fellow citizens of their planet are facing situations they have never faced before – be those situations physical, spiritual, emotional, or whatever. It is a time of testing, and this testing was truly unexpected. Which is why it is funny how a reader can internally "rant and rail" when a character makes what seems clearly to be a poor choice and "reveals all" to somebody he or she feels they can trust and then that trust is betrayed by the other person (78 / 380). For example, I feel like Isabella is going to betray Merral somehow and yet despite prior misgivings and concerns over how she has changed, he tells her everything he and "his group" know to this point in the book despite being told to tell her not a thing. And yet, afterwards, he finds himself wondering if Isabelle has manipulated him into revealing the information anyway. I don’t see why he does not break things off with her, especially as their parents do not currently approve of their being a couple and how she essentially manipulated him into making a promise of some kind of “special commitment” that never should have been made in the first place. We’ll see how things turn out in the next two books, if Anya and Merral end up together in the end, as the two of them seem to be a better match than Isabella and Merral, in my opinion. It can be easy to forget while reading that the inhabitants of this now-isolated planet do not have and have not had the same experiences that human have had in “the real world” and thus are ill-equipped to handle what they are facing. I think the author is also doing a nice job of describing how different people are coming to terms with what this society is facing and how they are handling it corporately and individually.

There is a part in the book, on pages 119–120 / 419–420, where Anya is describing the physical characteristics and abilities of the creatures encountered by Vero and Merral. The comments she makes made me wonder a few things, like, how does she know what she has discovered about the creatures? How does she know the cockroach-creatures can see into the ultraviolet wavelengths? Is there something about the creatures’ DNA that allows her to make these deductions? They do not have a live or dead specimen upon which to “operate” or perform an autopsy. They do not have any live creatures to test and study. I suppose it is one of those things you have to accept.

There is quite a bit of humor in this book. A good chunk of it revolves around Vero using different phases (like putting something like a spaceship “in mothballs” or “pulling a ship out of mothballs” or “pulls the plug”) and then trying to explain it to Merral and/or other people. I just find those moments hilarious mostly because of the reactions, I think. For example, when talking removing the freighter from storage they plan to use, Vero comments they have “pulled it out of mothballs.” When asked what that means, he starts to explain that is the term they use referencing ships but then gets a funny look on his face as he beings to question why they would place ocean-going vessels on a bed of liquified cotton balls / methane balls (or something like that), not realizing that the term refers to storing something in a certain way to help ensure that it lasts longer and can readily be reactivated at a quicker rate. Or how he tries to describe “pulling the plug” but thinks it refers to pulling the plug in a bathtub filled with water to drain it and not realizing it refers to removing the source of power for an electrically powered device.

I also thought the author did a nice job of describing how this society which has never known warfare or fighting is trying to learn all that it can from the history books and how well they were able to adapt “normal, everyday” tools and devices for warfare. It was also interesting to read how various individuals were able to process the situation. Vero only called for an initial thirty-six volunteers but received well above that number (possibly several hundred above that number). Instead of turning them away, he found positions for all of them. In some ways, it reminded me of The Lost Regiment by William Forstchen (except the characters in Forstchen’s books were from the Civil War-era and quite familiar with both civilian life and military life and so able to create society as they knew it on the new planet upon which they landed). Some of the characters are able to readily adapt to the situation they are facing whereas others (including Merral, despite what he has seen and experienced) have a harder time with it.

It is also interesting to read about how the slow deterioration of their society is beginning to increase. Merral is sent on a fact-finding mission, as it were, and discovers quite a bit is afoot as the two sides of a seaside town are becoming bitter enemies of each other after centuries of living in peace and harmony. Merral also questions an ocean-going research vessel that had some strange peculiarities amongst the crew when it returned to port. That was an interesting moment for him, as he learned what actually happened to some members of the crew and how it impacted them. Upon his return, Merral is given the task of trying to find the alien spacecraft that landed in the far North. He pours over charts for three weeks without success. Then he has the idea (or is given the idea by a Higher Power) to look at animal migrations in the area. This is what allows him to find the resting place of the mysterious spacecraft. So that was pretty cool how he used natural methods to find a hidden enemy force after the “modern technology” failed him. Sometimes low tech is clearly better than high tech, hahahah! But I digress. The deterioration reaches the point that his great-aunt who has been a believer all her life is suddenly afraid of dying and “discovering” that there is nothing waiting for her on the other side. Merral’s parent are acting completely out of character, with his mother beginning to nag his father more and more, treating him contemptuously and like a child, whereas he begins to withdraw into himself and pull away from everybody and everything that he loves and holds dear. Isabella is becoming more aggressive with Merral, wanting to consummate their “commitment” sexually (it is implied) before they are actually married and in complete defiance of their respective parents’ wishes. Merral even discovers the rot of sin inside himself, based upon his thoughts, actions, and intentions, and it is very troubling for him indeed, as he sees himself as an imperfect champion for his colony/planet/society.

The “alien creatures” are pretty crazy. There is the ape-creature and cockroach-beast introduced in the first book. In this story, it is discovered there is a flying dragon-thing (that is called a “sheet dragon” by Merral) that helps guard the enemy’s interdimensional spacecraft. Furthermore, there is a host of creatures called the Krallen that resemble “highly evolved wolves” or wolf-like creatures but are made of synthetic materials and artificially alive. They have immense strength, are nearly inexhaustible, virtually indestructible (especially with the weapons available on the planet),and will kill without mercy. The creature that steers the vessel is a blend of physical and spiritual entities/bodies. A demonic spirit inhabits the physical body of the Steersman and is able to physically manipulate the physical body so that the shell takes on whatever form is necessary or desired or required by the spirit inhabiting the shell. So at one point, when Merral faces the Steersman after being told to kill it, the physical body transforms into that of a beautiful woman who is naked and promises Merral a lifetime of pleasure if he will but give himself to this new form and assist it as needed. He nearly succumbs to the creature’s temptations before killing it and is soundly rebuked for not listening to the heavenly messenger right away.

The messenger from God does tell Merral that he has to get his house in order and serve God faithfully in order to ensure that righteousness does truly win the day and that Merral’s potential victory does not replace one source of evil with another. This envoy is referring to how Merral unintentionally made a commitment to Isabella without fully considering the consequences of the doubts that were being raised in his mind as she manipulated him into their informal “agreement” followed by his declaring to Anya that he was truly uncommitted and there was nobody else he wanted in his life as much as he wanted Anya in his life. The envoy told Merral he was living a lie because of his actions and he needed to resolve things between both women before he could proceed any further or be used any further by God. He needed to be clean, to be pure and holy before God and not have any blemish on his soul. His behaving like he did with both women was dishonorable in the eyes of God and he needed to rectify that situation, that of his lying to one or both women (depending on how one looks at it, I suppose). The envoy is quite clear that Merral made poor choices and needed to make things right; it was amusing but not amusing to read the envoy’s rebuttals to Merral’s excuses, equating what Merral was doing (or trying to do – to justify his actions) with that of Adam and Eve from the very beginning. I think it does effectively show how Yahweh views sin differently than we do, how holy and righteous Yahweh truly is and how we do not understand it. It is like what Jesus said regarding adultery – if we have lust in our heart, Yahweh is so pure that the very thought of committing the act is the equivalent of actually performing the act in His eyes. Harboring anger in one’s heart towards another is the same as actual murder in the eyes of Yahweh. I hated reading how Anya took it because of how it hurt her so deeply, especially with how the author has been developing their relationship over the course of these two novels. Hopefully, he will be able to break things off with Isabella and the relationship between Anya and Merral can be restored. We shall see how things turn out.

It is funny – this book is longer than the first book but it definitely took me quite a bit less time to read it. I think that is in large part to how I read the first book during breaks at work and this book I had large chunks of time I could devote to reading it. Or, it just moved at that much of a faster pace. Again, I think the author does a great job of creating tension throughout the book when it is called for. Not only tension, but he does a great job at creating different moods and atmosphere for different moments in the book. It is well done. The book has a good/great flow to it; it held my interest from start to finish and I had a hard time putting it down. I know Merral was a “reluctant warrior,” and that was probably the part of the book I liked the least, how it took him so long to reach certain points that he needed to reach in terms of development for the book to continue. There were times I felt this development could have been cut shorter without sacrificing the quality of the story or the depths of his development. I also found myself wishing he would have devoted more time to the other characters and developing them a bit further or revealing what they were doing. But that is just me; the author still does a great job at bringing the reader up-to-speed on what else has been happening in the lives of other characters. This series sat on my bookshelf for over ten years, and I am now regretting not having picked it up sooner to read it. Granted, I might not have been ready before now to read them, so there is that to consider as well. In any case, I am thoroughly enjoying this series so far and hope the next book is as good as the first two in the series.

Finally, I will end with this. There was one quote that I remembered to jot down that I especially liked. It is towards the end of this book in which Merral is working with a stranger who identifies himself as a warrior and an envoy from the Most High:
“Didn’t God send his angel to shut the mouths of lions for Daniel?”
“There are precedents. But lions are easier.” (269 / 569)

[Collin Huelgas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, It's way of conveying the story was a bit too complicated and for me, it went around too many bushes. That's my only bad comment for the book.

On the other hand, it's metaphors and connection with religion made it superb for me cause nowadays, teens are a bit lost and far away from God. This book is one way for God to come to teens and make them realize the truth, for this book is a Teen Fiction one.

Merral Stephan D' Avanos was a great captain!

Arrivederci,
Collin

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sequel had parts that felt very repetitive of the first. It's difficult because the setting is that of a 'perfect' society or at least a 'morally good' society which has begun to feel the effects of sin/evil. This becomes frustrating when things from our 'fallen' society are being pointed to as evil in this new grand society of the future. I just found it hard to accept the 'perfect' society as something good when they seemed so hopelessly naive and foolish at times. If it was not an overtly Christian novel I could say that it was pointing out the folly of such a society but it's definitely claiming that this society is the way Christian Culture should be, which made me a little uncomfortable. On the other hand, elements were introduced in this novel that made me feel that the conflict is getting more complex and larger in scope, which is encouraging as I continue in the series.

[David Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once a year I re-read these books by Chris Walley. Much like I do with Tolkien's trilogy. Each time I have the sense of being grounded in the narrative of triumph over darkness and a glimpse of what the book of Revelation provides. Both entertaining and comforting.

[Faye Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good book -considering the fact that it had an obvious Christian theme. I enjoyed the innocence of the theme. the idea that people can live in a completely christian and carefree world. Its an interesting thought, I guess. different. naive. but a good read nonetheless.

[Micah Sharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a bit better than the first. There were a handful of scenes dealing with spiritual conflict that landed really well. I also suspect he’s drawing some plot and perhaps ps even imagery from the Gog and Magog texts which is clever.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding new genre of Christian SciFi

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books were better than I expected.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the destruction of the Gate that linked it to the rest of the Assembly, the world of Farholme must face just isolation to face. There is something in the north—something evil—that challenges and corrupts all the Assembly stands for.

As the influence of this mysterious and threatening presence grows, Merral D’Avanos and his friends are entrusted with the daunting task of finding, and confronting, their world’s elusive enemy. It is a race against time as evil spreads like a plague across Farholme.

When the Intruders are found, it falls to Merral to lead the untried forces of Farholme into conflict. Four hundred generations have passed since the Assembly last fought a battle, much less a war. Now Merral and his allies face opponents who are well hidden and armed with strange powers. Yet as he faces extraordinary and terrifying foes, Merral finds that he has an unexpected enemy—himself.

[Sara Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second in the series (sometimes published as one volume, The Evening and the Night), this story picks up when the first book left off--the gate has been destroyed, the world of Farhome is on it's own, cut off from the Assembly. And then there are the intruders--the impending evil like no one has ever faced. The love triangle deepens and gets a few barbs. And there is still some heavy-handedness in regards to the spiritual aspects, but now I have to know who ends up together.

[Oyinlola · Rating 2 out of 5]

The power of the night is a book that captured my entire mind. Wonderful story line, believable settings, loaded with suspense. And it brings you to the picture in the book through your imaginations. While reading it, it was difficult for me to drop it because i was always eager on what would happen next.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

How consequences spin out of control.

[Dion · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting ideas. These aren't often allowed to take flight and set the imagination alight. The stakes need to be greater.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, love the series

[Megan Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful imagery and intense story plot.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

see my review of #1--basically have the same comments