Review: Talon’s Test & The Shield of Faith by Nicholas Downing
I really enjoyed reading this book. I had trouble putting it down. Here we are introduced to a hero and heroine who are truly inspiring.
The story moved along well with lots of action and excitement. There is a tendency to take quite a few teaching breaks, and to say them with stereotypical conservative biblical church language. In addition, the stilted KJV language regularly popped me out of the world shared in the book. I do not mind the sermonizing or the bible quotes, but they were jarring. I would have loved to have read the words to be rewritten in a language more fitting to the world which has been built.
Using scripture in fiction
There seems to be a real divide in the minds of many, if not most, Christian authors. It is seen especially in the inerrancy believers. I would think that IF the Lord Jesus called a person to write, that author could then also trust the Holy Spirit to provide an accurate paraphrase in the language used with in the book. After all, He caused it to be written in the first place. For most authors, this is a leap of faith too far to be comprehended. That’s sad, because the witness of stories like this would be much more effective expressed in the language of the people.
But this is a truly excellent story and only marred by this personal quibble of mine. I’m really looking forward to Book 2.
