Thursday, February 14, 2008

Chris WAlley, The Shadow of Night

Chris Walley "The Shadow of Night"---
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 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. From the Inside Flap
Imagine a future that todays generation can only dream of. A trillion people live under the gentle rule of the Assembly on over a thousand Made Worlds. Peace and stability have reigned for nearly twelve thousand years, and war and evil are merely ancient history. But all that is about to change.
On Farholmea Made World at the edge of the Assemblystrange and troubling things are happening. Slowly, incredulously, a handful of men and women come to recognize the unthinkable: Evil has returned once more, and it must be fought. Forester Merral DAvanos and his friends are entrusted with the daunting task of confronting their worlds elusive enemy.
Now isolated from the rest of the Assembly, Farholme must fight its battles alone. It falls to Merral to lead the untried forces of Farholme into war against opponents well-hidden and armed with strange powers. Yet even as he faces extraordinary and terrifying foes, Merral finds he has an unexpected enemyhimself.


What people are saying:

When I watch the news I sometimes wonder what it would be like to live in a world where evil didn't exist. What if we didn't need an army, or police, or weapons? Where no one lied, everyone could be trusted, and envy was unheard of? Well, that's the way it was in Farholme, a Made World, copied from Ancient earth, until Merral Stefan D'Avanos saw what he thought was a meteor streaking against the night sky. Suddenly, the peaceful world of Farholme began to change. At first he barely noticed the changes. There were just hints that something was wrong; a deception, a vision, a show of fear. Then Vero, a Sentinel from Ancient Earth showed up to check out what was going on. As Vero and Merral began the investigation, they became embroiled in a desperate battle agains the powers of evil. At first they didn't understand what was happening to Farholme, but both men believed in God and they were willing to follow wherever He led them. Chris Walley has created a world so vivid it seems almost real. This is a fascinating story of the battle between good and evil with a different twist. Full of action and suspense and engaging characters, it pulled me into the story from page one.


I just finished reading the two books that actually make up this single hardcover - Shadow At Evening and Power of the Night (accidentally rebought this book thinking it was a sequel - it's not). My 13 year old son recommended the books to me and I was extremely impressed with the quality of the story and the way that Chris Walley knits together a compelling sci-fi story with a Christian point of view. As a long time sci-fi/fantasy reader, I didn't think it was really possible for it to be done in a believable way, but he does it. His main character's evolution as he comes into contact with evil is a challenge for all believers! A must-read!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, a 13 yo?! That's some heavy reading (literally and metaphorically) for a young'un that age. I can hardly imagine a time when my kids will be recommending books to *me*!!

Agree, Walley pulled off his premise well.

Mike Lynch said...

How many of us haven't wondered what it would be like to live in a perfect world, especially when we watch the news. Unfortunately, this side of heaven, we can only imagine what it would be like. It's good think we have novels like this that help spur our imaginations.

Mike

Valerie Comer said...

You have one of the most enthusiastic reviews of the book anywhere on the tour! I'm a little less enthused, but entranced by the story in the end, after all.

James Somers said...

This is from amazon...my review might have been less enthused as well...I'm generally more action oriented than this novel is.
I disagree with the theology as well, not that it should detract from the story :)