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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

3 Powerful Reasons I Can’t Love or Hate This Book

by Chautona Havig · 5 Comments

I didn't know what to expect when I started reading The Seer, but what I found inside left me unsure what to think. So many thoughts and emotions... via @chautonahavig

Somewhere in 1992 or early 1993 she gave me the book.  “Read it,” she said.  I feel like Ridgecrest is Ashton–the town in this book. Reading it changed how I see spiritual warfare.”  As if that wasn’t enough to convince someone who never needed convincing to read anything, she repeated herself.  “Read it.”

I did. This Present Darkness.  The next morning, I called her, asking for the sequel.  While it wasn’t as good, I still did what I always did when confronted with a story that made me think about spiritual issues.

I went to the Word. Studied it in conjunction with what the fictional words had said.

While I can’t say I would have come to the same conclusions, it did do one crucial thing for me. It made me aware of spiritual warfare in a way I’d never seen it before.  Until I read that book, I saw the “sword of the Spirit” as something used in an intellectual battle–truth versus lies rather than God’s people versus Satan’s minions.

A while back, I had the opportunity to read and review a new YA book dealing with spiritual warfare. I don’t read many of these, but it had been quite a long time since I’d read one I liked so I thought I’d give The Seer a read.  Maybe it would be better than recent offerings.

And it was.  Still… As much as I wanted to just love this book, I don’t. On the other hand, I don’t hate it, either.  Instead, I have things I liked and some that left me in a weird state of… “Hmmm…”

The Seer Review

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3 Powerful Reasons I Can’t Love or Hate This Book

Characters:

As much as I wanted to, I never connected with Thea as a character.  For example, I just finished reading the book and had to go look up her name.  I could name every other character, but not the protagonist who happens to have a name I love.  That feels… significant, somehow.  I can’t say what is wrong with her (for me, anyway), but she feels… meh.  There.  What I did like is that she wasn’t automatically amazing at what she needed to do or totally incapable, either.  She did just take off with an angel and a demon after a terrible experience awfully easily.  That didn’t ring true.

But while the other characters all drew me in, what bothered me most (and is possibly the most brilliant thing the author did) is that I liked the character of the demon, Viktor, most. I liked both of his pasts warring within himself.  That, like the apostle Paul, he had trouble with the part of himself that wanted to do what he knew he must fought against the part of him that just wanted to do what he wanted.   This is a serious issue, though.  And I’ll get to that in a minute.

Writing:

While the author is a good writer, this book needed a good editing.  I’m not talking about typos (there were a few but nothing horrific.  “Too” instead of “to” once–piddly stuff.  No, I’m talking about her tendency to use repetitive words and phrases.  It got old reading, “We’re going to head down the hall” and the next sentence informing us, “They headed down the hall.”  Um… okay.  No variance.  And if it was just now and then, I might not have noticed, but it felt like it was on every page.

Add to that and the “explaining” style of “telling” instead of showing us, and it got draggy.  We’d be told of some thought or emotion, have it shown to us, and then be told again as if an introductory community college class where essays tell you what they’re going to tell you, then tell you, then tell you what they told you.  That happened… a LOT. I found myself having to work not to skip stuff.  I can’t always say I succeeded.

The Theology:

Because this is speculative fiction, I’m uncomfortable addressing the theological issues I see in the book.  However, when spec fic includes things happening in our world, I have trouble ignoring where the world of the book clashes with the world of the Bible. In The Seer, the demon, Viktor, wants a new chance in a “sanctuary city” where apparently demons can be rescued from their deserved fate.  I don’t claim to be a Bible scholar, but I’ve never found anything in Scripture that hints that demons can be redeemed or saved from their eternal punishment.

And yet, on the allegorical side, I can see that demon being the part of ourselves who needs the sanctuary of Jesus to free us from our rebellion.  I can even see the angel Matthias being a picture of Christ, helping the castaway to the city…

But then it breaks down, because the demon strikes a deal with the angel. They have to work together to save the girl, and only by working to his own end is this demon able to be rescued himself.  And… well… that is the opposite of what Scripture teaches.

Add to that, the “neutral” grounds and societies that are brought into the mix and…

The result is a book that waters down the pure truth of the Gospel.

Still, this is book one of three (or more?).  And it’s well enough done that I want to read the next book.  I’m not sorry I requested the review copy of The Seer (and thanks to the publisher for sending it), but I can’t say I loved it… can’t say I hated it.  I… don’t know. What I do know is that I will be buying the next in the series, hoping it’ll settle some things for me.  If I change my mind about this one as a result, I’ll amend my review.

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Comments

  1. James Robert says

    July 27, 2020 at 12:07 am

    I appreciate getting to hear about a new book. Thanks so much for taking time to share.

    Reply
  2. Joy @ Real World Bible Study says

    July 26, 2020 at 8:26 pm

    Chautona, you bring up some good points. There is a lot we know about the spiritual realm, and a lot we don’t know. I can see God offering forgiveness to a demon who submits to Him. To my knowledge, Scripture isn’t explicit about whether eternity is already “locked in” for demons and angels, or if, like us, they have second and third chances. Forgiveness for those who return to him is definitely in line with God’s character. I don’t know that I can see an angel collaborating with a demon for any reason, though, and the sanctuary city idea applied the way you described gets a little messy.

    Fiction about the spiritual realm is so important. For many of us, it may be the tool God uses to make us aware of what is going on around us, what is already described in Scripture. In order to do that well, we have to use our God-given imaginations. But we also have to make sure that our stories are “true” in the sense that they line up with Scripture and point to THE story.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      July 27, 2020 at 12:14 am

      Exactly. My biggest problem was the “make a deal” to get there and a girl’s life hangs in the balance if the demon doesn’t help so the angel is kind of at the demon’s mercy and… how is that any sort of repentance? I don’t know. I think it is supposed to be allegorical but the truths start breaking down. And I don’t see anything in scripture about second chances for demons. I’ve always assumed that we don’t see that because these were angels who knew perfection, worshipped in the world of God most high. And they rebelled. Kind of like man in the garden, and yet I don’t see anywhere that is says God loved the angels so much that he was crucified for them. We are the bride of Christ, but scripture says nothing about the angels being so.

      Still, that part I could leave to creative license if the rest wasn’t there. The longer i think about it, the more bothered I am.

      Reply
      • Joy @ Real World Bible Study says

        July 27, 2020 at 7:32 am

        Right? The idea of repentence for a demon is in the category of “Scripture isn’t explicit, so it could be true or not,” which is fair game for fiction. The idea of having to make a deal with a demon to accomplish something good? Not so much.

        Reply
  3. Debbie P says

    July 26, 2020 at 12:29 pm

    I think this sounds like a great read.

    Reply

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Episode 204: A Chat with Sarah Sundin about The Sound of Light
byChautona Havig

A chat with Sarah Sundin is always fun, so when I learned we’d be discussing her upcoming release, The Sound of Light, last October, I was excited. Well… we chatted, and it’s finally time to share that interview. Listen in to what the title means, where Sarah came up with it, and the delightful story that she’s got waiting for us. I’m glad this episode came out in time for me to get the 40% off and free shipping deal from Baker because I apparently didn’t order it back when we chatted!

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

How I Fell in Love With This Haunting Title

I didn’t know much about Denmark and WWII, so chatting with Sarah about The Sound of Light shed definite light (no pun intended) on the history of the Danes and how they stood up to Hitler… and got away with it (for the most part).

The Sound of Light tells the story of a physicist who meets a “slow, dull” guy who intrigues her in spite of herself. Come on… if that doesn’t grab you… Maybe the fact that this slow dude is really an Olympic rower in disguise who uses his father’s company as a front for who he is and how he helps Jews escape?  Yeah. That.

As always, Sarah Sundin has done her research and the result is a gripping story of resistance, protection, and ultimately love for God, our fellow man, and maybe… each other.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for my copy of The Sound of Light to arrive.

The Sound of Light by Sarah Sundin

When the Germans march into Denmark, Baron Henrik Ahlefeldt exchanges his nobility for anonymity, assuming a new identity so he can secretly row messages for the Danish Resistance across the waters to Sweden.

American physicist Dr. Else Jensen refuses to leave Copenhagen and abandon her research–her life’s dream. While printing resistance newspapers, she hears stories of the movement’s legendary Havmand–the merman–and wonders if the mysterious and silent shipyard worker living in the same boardinghouse has something to hide.

When the Occupation cracks down on the Danes, these two passionate people will discover if there is more power in speech . . . or in silence. Bestselling author of more than a dozen WWII novels, Sarah Sundin offers pens another story of ordinary people responding to extraordinary circumstances with faith, fortitude, and hope for a brighter future.

You can also grab this book from Baker Book House at 40% off with free shipping! (which is cheaper than the Kindle version!)

And you can learn more about Sarah Sundin on her WEBSITE.

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