I reviewed this novel on 19/01/19 on another blog, now defunct.
The Epic of Marindel: Chosen
Long ago, the Kingdom of Marindel governed the realm with justice and harmony. But when a great evil was unleashed, the Era of Peace came to a tragic end. Thousands of years passed, and Marindel was all but forgotten. Conner, a young farmer with a wild imagination, always longed for adventure. When strange events cause him to realize his role in the greatest story of all, Connor embarks on a quest to rescue the Great King's daughter for a wicked sorcerer whose darkness grows with every passing day.
Connor is joined by Tarento the Samurai, and a company of colorful characters. Together they will travel across the realm, uncover the mysteries of Marindel, and face unimaginable odds as they fight to survive. Will they discover the hope of redemption before it's too late?
Perspective by Peter:
I discovered this author and his novel from his GoFundMe advert on my Facebook feed. When I read the campaign, the blurb for the novel, and the Vision he has for it, I was very impressed. This encouraged me to review it for him so I contacted him for a review copy.
I am so glad I volunteered to do this. After reading this novel, I am more than impressed. It is described as epic fantasy and it definitely lives up to this description. It is one of those novels where you become so engrossed you are lost to reality and have a hard time returning to this.
The more I read this novel, the more it reinforced the first impression I had and that was WOW! I was hooked and immersed in this world Keys creates. It became a highlight of my day to return to reading it.
For a debut author, this is novel is very well constructed. Not perfect (no novel is), but has a solid foundation. At the time of writing this review, Keys' manuscript needs a professional edit, hence the GoFundMe campaign. This will no doubt improve the manuscript and enable a much-improved and enjoyable reading experience.
It does not take you long to become immersed in the plot, the characters and the action. All are firmly intertwined. Connor, the main character, is one you centre on and become endeared to. And I guess, you should as he is the main character and everything centres on him until at least he is introduced to his quest of finding Melody and helping her be restored to the Great King. Then everything is expanded and the reader gets a wider view of the plot, much like a camera pans out during a movie shoot and the viewer sees a much wider view.
It is from here that this novel really takes off. And it is here that Keys introduces more of the superb world building of the realm this novel is set in. Fantasy and science fiction will fall flat if there is not any depth and a firm foundation for the world-building to manifest as credible and realistic. Keys have mastered this well. Even if part of his inspiration has come from The Lord of the Rings, he has done it well and it undergirds this novel well and for the rest of the series.
This world-building consists of a pronunciation guide of the many names of the various parts of the realm, the character names, and those of the various events and histories. There is a map of the realm which I found very beneficial. A timeline is explained and applied to each chapter. The prologue sets the stage at the beginning of the novel where Connor is introduced to his quest to restore Melody to the Great King. Keys shines describing the history of the Great King, His undersea world, his son Eli, the special powers and gifts He has bestowed on Melody. Keys describes the various histories of the different kingdoms outlining their origin and the characteristics of their people including any special powers they have. It is a good depiction here that Keys has a member from each of these kingdoms as part of the team the Great King assembles to restore Melody to Him, defeat the Serpent and evangelise the realm about the Great King and His Son, Eli and restoring the Kingdom of Marindel. This means that each of the team has a special ability, talent or power to be used in the quest. It becomes clear that as the Great King has brought them together for this, these attributes are not based on the dark arts or originate from the Serpent but as a normal part of the creation of these people by the Great King. The only exception is the Offspring of Sisesa as these originate from the Serpent.
Another part of this world building is the histories of the kingdoms in this realm. This is explained in the accounts of how the Great King led each team member to become part of Connor's company. While this adds length to the novel (it is 500 plus pages), it does also add depth and much-needed background to the plot and to what defines these characters and what they contribute to the King's quest to restore Marindel and Melody.
The account of The Great Story is another important history. This describes the kingdom of Rhema set up by Melody as a utopia but became corrupted by her pride leading to her pronouncing herself as its Queen. It is here that the Great King sends Eli to this kingdom and it is a wonderful allegory of the Gospel message including the Crucifixion and God's plan of salvation. Keys has depicted this beautifully and his writing of it is superb. Despite its length, it is a necessary part of the plot and placed in the second half of the novel, it builds and adds to the finale of this instalment, laying important themes that will be developed and explored in future instalments of this series. It here in this account that Keys shines in the use of allegory but this is also evident in many other parts of the novel. Keys has definitely depicted Eli as the Jesus of the Bible and for me, this was very convincing. Keys has portrayed Jesus as I have read and experienced from the bible. I imagine that any author depicting Jesus in their novel would find this a challenging feat. Keys has succeeded well here and has done this with ease!
The spiritual aspects of this novel are very unique. I have not read a novel where there is a direct interaction from God to the characters. The Great King speaks directly into the minds of his followers and even to those who do not know Him yet. With the former, it is to give further instruction to thwart the attempts of the various antagonists, namely the Serpent and those under his control and to encourage, uplift their faith and relationship with Him and with the latter, it is to draw them to Him. Keys also has the believers respond freely to the Great King's interaction. I found this direct interaction between the Great King and His followers a breath of fresh air. It resonated with me that this is how our relationship with God should be. We should be and need to be free with Him in our prayer and relationship with Him. We are encouraged as Christians in our prayer relationship to speak to God as if we are talking to a fellow human, so Keys does this well here. How many times do we complicate this by thinking and speaking to impress Him or to hide what we are really feeling, the good, the bad and the ugly? This is not what we should be doing or need to be doing.
Keys has included two members of the Trinity, the Great King as God the Father, and Eli as God the Son. I at first considered that the Spirit of God could be construed as the voice of the Great King speaking in the minds of the "Christian" characters but the more I read these instances, the more it is apparent that it is the voice of the Great King and not of the Spirit of God. I hope that the Spirit of God is included in future novels in this series. So far we have the allegory of these two members of the Trinity so it would seem appropriate to have the third as we have in real life.
For those characters who have accepted Him as their King and Saviour, there is no sinner's prayer that so many of us are used to in our conversion. Keys has made it so simple that they just need to believe Him to be who He says He is and call on Him or his name for salvation. This is similar to the many Bible references that support this that to be saved, you need to call on the name of the Lord and to believe He is who He is. In this novel, this is tied back to the Great Story that outlines Eli's mission to draw Melody to Himself and was willing to die for her, despite her many flaws and rebellion through her disobedience to the King. Here Keys' allegory has Melody's rebellion representing sin and Melody representing fallen/sinful mankind. When Eli died and was resurrected He then extended this saving grace to everyone and not just Melody.
These redemptive features are counterbalanced by the allegorical symbolism of evilness so well described and depicted through the character of the Serpent. I am sure readers will grow to despise and dislike him and the level of his despicableness, evilness and deceitfulness. Keys has done a great job here seeing as the Serpent represents Satan and his rebellion against God. What Keys has not shown is the backstory as to why the Serpent was imprisoned in the area of the Castle that we are introduced to at the beginning of the novel. This needs to be explained and will make a great plotline in a future instalment. It is the only plot line that is left undone.
One other aspect that Keys has done well is the characterisation. These are characters that you can relate to and become endeared to including rooting for them in their quest. Keys successfully develops this team not only through the events and obstacles they have to overcome but through their interactions and how they get to know each other that then develops into their relationships. Keys have depicted the team with diverse personalities, each with different gifts and abilities and this adds to the team building and dynamics.
These characters are very memorable. I am looking forward to journeying with them in future novels in this series and seeing how they all develop further as a team and individually and how the Great King will transform them more into His likeness as the Bible instructs. There is already the beginnings of this in this volume.
This novel is yet another that has a profound effect on me and meets the criteria I like to see in Christian fiction. This is from the "Why Christian Fiction?" section of this blog:
Generally, I hope at the end of the novel:
- it has entertained me immensely,
- it has encouraged my walk with God,
- it has not deviated from known biblical doctrine, and it will not, I believe, lead a non-believer astray or promote false doctrine,
- it honours God,
- it does not encourage worship of the created (eg angels) instead of the Creator (God).
I applaud Keys for including all the elements in this novel that I have mentioned throughout this review. It is such a joy to read! For a debut novel, he has done well in all its aspects and allowed the Spirit to be present.
Highly Recommended.
The three ratings below are based on my discernment:
World Building 5/5
Characters 5/5
Story 5/5
The two classifications below are based on the booklet, A Spiritual System for Rating Books by David Bergsland:
Spiritual Level 5/5
Enemy Spiritual Level 3/5
Overall Rating: 4.6/5
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Spiritually, based on my review and on the following reference booklet,
Reality Calling Christian Redemptive Fiction Award
Congratulations, Nathan!
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Reviews help promote an author’s novel to potential readers and encourage the author to keep writing. They also help promote the author’s message (and God’s message) to the reader, whether Christian or not, who may need encouragement and support in their lives while being entertained by the story.
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