Carolyn
asked
C.J. Brightley:
What is is about your 'Long Forgotten Song' that has you describing it as a "Christian Fantasy"?
C.J. Brightley
In Things Unseen, the first book in the series, the Christian aspects of the story are more subtle. Christian readers will probably see themes of worship and obedience to God, being set apart and made holy, but non-Christian readers can easily enjoy the story without picking up on these themes.
The Christian aspects get more obvious and more essential to the story as the series continues.
In The Dragon's Tongue, spoilerspoilerspoiler* the slippery slope of temptation and letting evil get a foothold. The story also explores what it means to be redeemed by Christ, how to ask for God's grace and forgiveness, and what it means to be made in the image of God.
In the later books, The Beginning of Wisdom (book 3) and book 4 (in-progress), which will be the final book in the series, you'll also see the same themes carried through. There's also an exploration of how being saved should changed us and change how we relate to the world... being in the world and engaged with the world without being of the world. One character is an example of how Biblical servant-leadership could look; he's not a Christ-figure in every aspect, but he is in some ways.
One of my goals in the series is to write a story compelling enough that even non-Christian readers will want to know what happens next, and will see the gospel presented through the books not as a set of rules hitting them over the head and making them feel guilty, but as an expression of God's love and grace.
I haven't read anything like it, but if I had to compare it to something, I'd probably say Ted Dekker's Circle Cycle (although there's no alternate world, and I don't explore the story of Genesis) and maybe Frank Peretti's This Present Darkness / Piercing the Darkness duology (although I don't show the spiritual battle as Peretti does, among other differences). One of my readers said it was "Ted Dekker meets Frank Peretti meets C. S. Lewis", which was a fantastic compliment!
My quick blurb when people ask what it's about at conventions and other events is "It's a darkish urban Christian fantasy with lots of theology and magic and monsters and angels and demons and Fae and vampires and an evil dystopian government that brainwashes people set in DC in the 2080s." It's darkish in that the evil is really evil, but only darkISH in that the reader doesn't have to wallow in every horrific detail of the evil.
If you've read any of my other books, and if you like Kemen and Cadeyrn in particular, you'll love Owen.
*spoiler tags aren't working. Sorry.
The Christian aspects get more obvious and more essential to the story as the series continues.
In The Dragon's Tongue, spoilerspoilerspoiler* the slippery slope of temptation and letting evil get a foothold. The story also explores what it means to be redeemed by Christ, how to ask for God's grace and forgiveness, and what it means to be made in the image of God.
In the later books, The Beginning of Wisdom (book 3) and book 4 (in-progress), which will be the final book in the series, you'll also see the same themes carried through. There's also an exploration of how being saved should changed us and change how we relate to the world... being in the world and engaged with the world without being of the world. One character is an example of how Biblical servant-leadership could look; he's not a Christ-figure in every aspect, but he is in some ways.
One of my goals in the series is to write a story compelling enough that even non-Christian readers will want to know what happens next, and will see the gospel presented through the books not as a set of rules hitting them over the head and making them feel guilty, but as an expression of God's love and grace.
I haven't read anything like it, but if I had to compare it to something, I'd probably say Ted Dekker's Circle Cycle (although there's no alternate world, and I don't explore the story of Genesis) and maybe Frank Peretti's This Present Darkness / Piercing the Darkness duology (although I don't show the spiritual battle as Peretti does, among other differences). One of my readers said it was "Ted Dekker meets Frank Peretti meets C. S. Lewis", which was a fantastic compliment!
My quick blurb when people ask what it's about at conventions and other events is "It's a darkish urban Christian fantasy with lots of theology and magic and monsters and angels and demons and Fae and vampires and an evil dystopian government that brainwashes people set in DC in the 2080s." It's darkish in that the evil is really evil, but only darkISH in that the reader doesn't have to wallow in every horrific detail of the evil.
If you've read any of my other books, and if you like Kemen and Cadeyrn in particular, you'll love Owen.
*spoiler tags aren't working. Sorry.
More Answered Questions
Montzalee Wittmann
asked
C.J. Brightley:
Will you be putting your books on kindle unlimited at any time?
Fëalórin
asked
C.J. Brightley:
Does your "Long Forgotten Song" series contain much graphic violence/scary scenes? I read the first chapter of "Things Unseen" on your website, and while I like what the book sounds like it's about, I'm not certain I wanted to get it, as it sounded rather dark, which is a quality my mother may not like very much.
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