Buster's Legacy: Book Five of the Adventure Chronicles
Four disappearances in Jameston, Missouri, have come before the brutal murder of one of the Renegades. When the killers leave graffiti indicating that the attack was due to the victim’s link to Adventure, Renegade leader Ben Shalley opens a line of communication with Jamie Raleigh that brings the ninja and his friends into town to investigate.
To add to the situation, three friends from Thera have come to the Mother World to find a demonic ruby that may be linked to the troubles. But what does all of this have to do with a short story that Buster Goodman wrote when he was thirteen?
Heroes and villains must join forces to battle a greater darkness. And, in the process, a few souls may be saved.
Four disappearances in Jameston, Missouri, have come before the brutal murder of one of the Renegades. When the killers leave graffiti indicating that the attack was due to the victim’s link to Adventure, Renegade leader Ben Shalley opens a line of communication with Jamie Raleigh that brings the ninja and his friends into town to investigate.To add to the situation, three friends from Thera have come to the Mother World to find a demonic ruby that may be linked to the troubles. But what does all of this have to do with a short story that Buster Goodman wrote when he was thirteen?
Heroes and villains must join forces to battle a greater darkness. And, in the process, a few souls may be saved.
The Guru's Review:
When I finished this latest instament in the Adventure Chronicles, one thing stood out to me. This is book 5 in this series. In some cases, the more books that are added to a series, the more the series losses its flavour and plot and seems to become watered down. Reader's start to consider that this author needs to end it for the series sake and the reader's as well.
Well, I can say that this is not the case with Davis' Adventure Chronicles. This volume is just as fresh as the first but in one sense even more so. I mentioned in the past two reviews that this series has taken off since Davis introduced more of the supernatural, and specifically spiritiual warfare in Volume 3, Gateway to Thera.
Buster's Legacy continues with the fantasy elements from the world of Thera and these spiritual warfare plot lines. It seems that there is not only plot lines from the Earth characters that we have all come to love to continue this series, but there is from the world of Thera as well. These last three novels have been a mixture of plot lines from both these worlds. It is this, and the supernatural, spiritual warfare themes that have made this series such an enjoyable and spiritually uplifting reading experience.
I also mentioned in my review of Book 1, Invasion of the Ninja, that Davis has successfully combined Christianity and martial arts together and they enjoy a symbiotic relationship. Both these elements are successfully continued in all the books in this series, including this one. These two elements form the pillars of success for this series. I pray that Davis keeps this formula as it has proved to be a winner so far.
I found the premise of this current volume unique. Davis has set up this plot cleverly. The reader is not aware of where this demon possession comes from until after the half way mark of the novel. Then when this origin is revealed, you think that not something I would have thought of or guessed. This may have been purely poetic licence on the author's part, which is fine, but how this happens may also be possible with how demon possession works. Either way, it is an effective plot development.
Again, Davis has portrayed spiritual warfare biblically. This is and always will be a winner as it reinforces how a believer can overcome demon possession as well as uphold biblical principles. By overcoming, I mean as the believer who is using these biblical principles to cast out a demon from the possessed. The reader, whether they have a relationship with Jesus or not, will not be lead astray through portraying spiritual warfare in this way. And this is what a Christian author should portray if they include spiritual warfare concerning demon possession in their novels.
I appreciated Davis' portrayal of how confidently Elvara is when she practiced her faith in standing on the Word of God while practicing the spiritual warfare principles in casting out the demons many times in the final confrontation at the end of the novel. There is nothing like having a character in a novel such as this who shows what it is to know who they are in Christ. Elvara is the epitome of this and I find this a great encouragement to myself in this. The bible is rich in the various aspects of who we are in Christ. I am encouraged to see Davis included some of these aspects in novels such as these through characters such as Elvara.
As with the other novels in this series, I have thoroughly enjoyed this new instalment. So glad to hear that Book 6 is on the way as well.
Strongly Recommended.
World Building 5/5
Characterisation 4/5
Story 4/5
Spiritual Level 5/5
Enemy Spiritual Level 5/5
Average Rating 4.6/5
Well, I can say that this is not the case with Davis' Adventure Chronicles. This volume is just as fresh as the first but in one sense even more so. I mentioned in the past two reviews that this series has taken off since Davis introduced more of the supernatural, and specifically spiritiual warfare in Volume 3, Gateway to Thera.
Buster's Legacy continues with the fantasy elements from the world of Thera and these spiritual warfare plot lines. It seems that there is not only plot lines from the Earth characters that we have all come to love to continue this series, but there is from the world of Thera as well. These last three novels have been a mixture of plot lines from both these worlds. It is this, and the supernatural, spiritual warfare themes that have made this series such an enjoyable and spiritually uplifting reading experience.
I also mentioned in my review of Book 1, Invasion of the Ninja, that Davis has successfully combined Christianity and martial arts together and they enjoy a symbiotic relationship. Both these elements are successfully continued in all the books in this series, including this one. These two elements form the pillars of success for this series. I pray that Davis keeps this formula as it has proved to be a winner so far.
I found the premise of this current volume unique. Davis has set up this plot cleverly. The reader is not aware of where this demon possession comes from until after the half way mark of the novel. Then when this origin is revealed, you think that not something I would have thought of or guessed. This may have been purely poetic licence on the author's part, which is fine, but how this happens may also be possible with how demon possession works. Either way, it is an effective plot development.
Again, Davis has portrayed spiritual warfare biblically. This is and always will be a winner as it reinforces how a believer can overcome demon possession as well as uphold biblical principles. By overcoming, I mean as the believer who is using these biblical principles to cast out a demon from the possessed. The reader, whether they have a relationship with Jesus or not, will not be lead astray through portraying spiritual warfare in this way. And this is what a Christian author should portray if they include spiritual warfare concerning demon possession in their novels.
I appreciated Davis' portrayal of how confidently Elvara is when she practiced her faith in standing on the Word of God while practicing the spiritual warfare principles in casting out the demons many times in the final confrontation at the end of the novel. There is nothing like having a character in a novel such as this who shows what it is to know who they are in Christ. Elvara is the epitome of this and I find this a great encouragement to myself in this. The bible is rich in the various aspects of who we are in Christ. I am encouraged to see Davis included some of these aspects in novels such as these through characters such as Elvara.
As with the other novels in this series, I have thoroughly enjoyed this new instalment. So glad to hear that Book 6 is on the way as well.
Strongly Recommended.
World Building 5/5
Characterisation 4/5
Story 4/5
Spiritual Level 5/5
Enemy Spiritual Level 5/5
Average Rating 4.6/5
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Spiritually, based on my review and on the following reference booklet, A Spiritual System for Rating Books by David Bergsland, and that Buster's Legacy contains elements of the criteria of what constitutes Christian Spirit-Filled Fiction outlined in this booklet, I award Jeffrey A. Davis with
The Reality Calling Spirit-Filled Speculative Fiction Award
Congratulations Jeffrey A. Davis!
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