Christian Fantasy Review: Emissary and Merchant of Alyss by Thomas Locke
Christian only in that Davis Bunn is a Christian author, these books are supposedly a clean read fantasy. I can see why he chose a pseudonym.
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Technically I guess this is true. Bunn is a superior writer, entertaining, with well-developed characters, a compelling storyline, and enough drama for anyone.The second book carries on a tale which was summed up and closed at the end of book one.
The Merchant of Alyss is a slight disappointment. In this book, Hyam is basically damaged goods after the battle in Emissary. As a result, we have a hero who is in more trouble mentally and emotionally. That’s too bad. I suspect it will be resolved in the third book.
If you like epic fantasy, you’ll like this one.
If you like high fantasy, this will do it for you also.
Spiritually, it doesn’t do nearly as well
Though it’s excellently written and very entertaining, this clean read has some definite problems spiritually. This has led me to add an Enemy Spiritual Rating. This one rates the evil at 3 stars. There’s a clear battle with Satan, though it’s never spelled out.
As far Hyam and the various magicians, wizards, and so on. They are entirely dependent upon their own strength. They can learn how to wield magic. But there is no spiritual component to it. So, spiritually, it’s a one-star book.
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I love Davis Bunn’s other books, and I’m on a very tight budget, so–after reading this, I went looking for these books at the library. Amazingly, they had them!
Given some of the other book options at the library, especially in the genres that I prefer, it is very nice to have a clean read by an author I can respect, even when it isn’t particularly spiritual in nature.
Oh, did you know? If books aren’t sufficiently checked out and read in a 6 month time span in our library system, they’re pulled from the shelves to make room for new material, and sold through the local Friends of the Library program.
Checking out Christian authors’ books helps to keep their books available and in circulation.
Other libraries have similar policies.
I have to agree, but that’s not my job as a book reviewer. I’m to rate them spiritually. I’m glad you found them. Let us know what you think.