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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

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

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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The Because Fiction Podcast

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Episode 283: A Chat with Debut Author Denise L. Barela
byChautona Havig

Having the chance to chat with a dear friend about her book is always a treat.  So when Denise L. Barela chatted to me about her mystery, Silencing the Siren, I knew we’d have a lot of fun. Boy, did we. From the first ideas on this mystery through the new series she’s considering, and where she wants to take her writing in the future, Denise has a lot to share.  Listen in to learn about her writing and how you can listen to her book free!

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

Why an Almost Love At First Sight Mystery Actually Works!

Denise L. Barela’s debut novel is the seventh in the Ever After Mysteries. These fairy-tale retellings set in the twenties (and now the forties!) feature fun mashups of those beloved tales with some kind of mystery. Denise chose “The Little Mermaid” and went to town combining 1920s New York City and Coney Island with that fairy tale and a freak show attraction that causes all kinds of trouble in various ways.

One thing I liked is how the “love at first sight” aspect of the original story played out in Denise’s. She focused on Annabel’s character and, being so different from the superficiality he lived with, it drew him in.  No, it’s not a romance, but this mystery does have romance in it, and Denise made that tough trope work.

The research Denise did involved widely differing topics–from novelty gifts (doorbells, folks!), to car technology advancements, to just how hard it was to find a map of New York City for the era!

Of course, that sparked a discussion on research for her other book and how she discovered rewritten history ruining her plans for it.  Enter rewrites. Sigh.

Finally, we discussed the sorts of books she wants to write, her conversation with Jaime Jo Wright, and where she plans to take things after she does one more mystery-themed series.  Clue is coming like you’ve never seen it.

Silencing the Siren by Denise L. Barela

Andrew Grayson thought he had everything… until he met her.

The indulged son of wealthy parents, Andrew has always gotten whatever he wanted almost before he knew he wanted it—clothes, gadgets… even a car! What more could a young man desire?

Enter Annabel Thompson. Freakshow mermaid extraordinaire… in a wheelchair!

Of course, her beauty attracts him. How could it not? Add to that a kind heart, and Andrew can’t help but fall for her.

Annabel’s connection with the freakshow repels his parents and their society friends. They want him to sever all ties with her and his new friends. Oh, and marry the “right” girl with the “right connections.” But he won’t do it. He’ll defy them and marry his little mermaid.

When Annabel turns up missing, declared dead, things don’t add up, Andrew begins asking some difficult questions, the most important being, “What happened to the little mermaid of the Coney Island freak show?”

Find out in this next book in the Ever After Mysteries, combining beloved fairy tales and mysteries. Silencing the Siren offers a retelling of “The Little Mermaid” that will keep you gripped to the edge of your seat as you watch the story unfold.

Learn more about Denise L. Barela on her WEBSITE and follow her on GoodReads and BookBub.  You can listen to Silencing the Siren free on her YouTube Channel.

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