Lisa Scottoline. Loyalty. Putnam, 2023.

For a shorter review see: Loyalty by Lisa Scottoline
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lisa Scottoline is known for her legal suspense novels. I have heard her called a female Grisham. Loyalty is slightly different. Yes, one of the main characters is a lawyer, and the novel focuses on various instances of injustice, but the story is neither contemporary nor American.

Loyalty is set in nineteenth century Sicily, the first part in 1810, the second, fifteen years later. We follow in particular the story threads of five people. Their stories are separate and only slightly converge towards the end, but each is an important part of the whole.

We meet young Dante, five or six years old, and son of a prosperous middle class family in Palermo. He is kidnapped and taken to an insane asylum. The family and neighbors are afraid to say anything about it in fear that the child will be killed before a ransom is paid. Except that no one apparently ever asks for a ransom, and the boy grows into a man among the inmates of the asylum. The wardens at the asylum call him Monster, so he begins to believe that is what he is.

Gaetano is probably the most interesting and sympathetic character. He is a lawyer who learns of the abduction of Dante and some other young boys, and begins to wonder if the kidnappings are connected. In his spare time, he begins to investigate these disappearances. The local corrupt police are uninterested and give him a hard time for trying to solve the mysteries.

Gaetano is a member of the Beati Paoli, or society of St. Paul, an informal lay religious order dedicated to the study of and devotion to St. Paul. From time to time different members will quote from Paul’s epistles. According to notes from the author, the Beati Paoli was a secret society in Sicily but we know little about it today because of its secrecy.

At the time of the Reformation, there was an order in Italy known as the Order of St. Paul that, while remaining Catholic, sympathized with the Pauline message of salvation by faith, but they are not apparently related to this Sicilian group. Other members of the Beati Paoli also help with the investigation until Gaetano is imprisoned—possibly for getting too close to the truth.

We also meet the widower cheesemaker Alfredo. We learn that he is secret Jew. In 1492 Sicily was ruled by Spain, so when the Jews were expelled from Spain, they were also expelled from Sicily.

Those who remained either had to convert to Christianity or somehow mask their identity. As far as he knows, he is the only Jew on the whole island. Some of his customers in town claim they were miraculously healed by eating his cheese. Other vendors at the farmers’ market become jealous, so he is forced to go out of business.

Malfada gives birth to an albino baby girl. No one has ever seen such a person before, so virtually everyone thinks the baby is some kind of inhuman creature. Malfada’s husband kicks her out of the house, and she is forced to forage for a living for her and her daughter Lucia to survive.

And then there are the twin brothers Franco and Roberto. They work for one of the aristocratic landowners who raises delicious lemons. They figure that they should be making more money since they are doing all the work. Franco develops a protection racket and gains some followers among other farm workers.

This is seen as the beginning of the Mafia. The Sicilian word mafioso means “manly.” They take a loyalty oath to each other. We see a contrast between the oath taken by the mafiosos and the oath taken by the members of the Beati Paoli.

In each case there is a question of injustice and loyalty.

Dante’s kidnapping and incarceration is most clearly unjust. Gaetano tries to help and is himself treated unjustly. It is not until near the end of the book when the plots begin to overlap do we discover who was behind Dante’s fate and why.

Alfredo’s ancestors were treated unjustly, but so was he. He tries to convince everyone his cheese just ordinary goat cheese, but they won’t listen. Either he is a miracle-worker or a wizard.

Of course, today we can understand the superstitious accusations against Lucia and her mother are baseless. They manage to survive on the fringes of society, keeping Lucia out of sight.

One way or another all these people with the possible exception of Franco and Roberto have one way or another become outcasts through no fault of their own. Franco and Roberto, on the other hand, become prominent and wealthy because of their fierceness. For example, Franco learns that a certain Baron has become bankrupt and must sell his luxurious villa. Franco is told by another Baron that he would not be allowed to even bid on the property because he is not upper class. Let’s just say Franco ends up being the only bidder and getting it for a song.

Franco in some ways has succeeded. He becomes prominent and respected and feared. At the same time everyone seems to know that he has committed some crimes and gotten away with them. Can he be trusted? Is he telling the truth?

Franco and Roberto have things to hide. Lucia and her mother end up hiding from people in general. Dante and Gaetano are imprisoned in some manner. Alfredo also lives on the fringes after he loses nearly everything.

Still, the theme and title of the tale is Loyalty. We discover that Gaetano remains loyal to his cause. Dante develops some kind of relationship with the other inmates. Alfredo remains loyal to his religion as best he can.

Franco and Roberto, well, they have many loyal followers. Today we might call them a gang or cartel. They all expect loyalty from each other. In other Mafia stories we read of omertà, the vow of silence. The root of that word is the Latin for man—homo. Silence about one’s associates also suggests manliness just as the word mafioso did.

But who are the real men? The real humans?

While this is fiction, Scottoline tells in the afterword that the Mafia actually did start among workers in Sicilian lemon groves, that the asylum (inferno?) that Dante was taken to did exist, and that, generally, Sicily is a distinct place with its own culture. The book’s epigraph is from Goethe. He tells us, “Sicily is the clue to everything.”

N. Jack “Dusty” Kleiss and Timothy and Laura Orr. Never Call Me a Hero. Harper, 2017.

Never Call Me a Hero is an articulate and personal gem. Its subtitle is A Legendary American Dive-Bomber Pilot Remembers the Battle of Midway. It is more than that, but the story does focus on that key battle in the Pacific War.

Kleiss relates what amounts to a naval autobiography. He tells of his family and upbringing and of his marriage, but the focus is on his life in the U. S. Navy prior to and during World War II. We get a good sense of what it was like to attend the Naval Academy. Kleiss always wanted to fly, but back then recently commissioned officers had to wait two years before going to flight school. Kleiss did get some good experience and learned some clear lessons while an officer in the surface fleet, but his goal was always flight.

He became a dive-bomber pilot and was assigned to the aircraft carrier Enterprise in May of 1941. The Enterprise was out to sea during the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but Kleiss got to see the devastation that attack caused. We get a good sense of what the Japanese strategy was at the time, and how the American Pacific command was trying to counter it.

Kleiss would be involved in attacks on the Marshall Islands, Wake Island after the Japanese took it over, and the Japanese base on Marcus Island. He received a medal for his flying in the Marshalls, but he felt like they could have done more damage.

There are a couple of recurring themes. None of the Allies really understood the potential for naval air power, at least not until Pearl Harbor, and even then there was ambivalence. Some of that ambivalence might have been warranted. Another theme was simply that the American torpedoes stunk. Until some time in 1943, missions with torpedo planes were suicide missions. Kleiss would lose some comrades including his best friend who flew torpedo bombers.

The book, though, focuses on the Battle of Midway. Kleiss admits that he knew nothing about how the Americans had cracked the Japanese radio code so that by the end of May 1942, the Americans knew the Japanese were up to something in the Northern Pacific. At about the same time they launched their attack on Midway Island, they attacked the Aleutians. Their plan was apparently to put a naval barrier to approaching the homeland of Japan. Some would say they this was the next step before attacking North American mainland to control the entire Pacific.

Kleiss effectively disputes the common assumption that the Americans were lucky. Yes, in any air engagement there may be individual cases of luck. Kleiss notes that during the Battle of Midway it seemed that more Japanese planes attacked other planes rather than his. But the overall battle was more than luck.

As already mentioned, codebreakers had an idea of what Japanese plans were and where the Japanese fleet was headed. When planes from American carriers did not locate any Japanese vessels where Intelligence predicted, they began a typical search sequence until they were located. (From my own experience in the Coast Guard, a similar sequence is followed in search and rescue.)

The once the Japanese convoy was found, the bombers did their job. Four aircraft carriers were sunk or permanently disabled. Japan only had eight during the entire war. Many men lost their lives. Some because they were hit by Japanese antiaircraft or fighter plane fire. Some ran out of fuel before they could make it back to their carriers. At least three airmen were captured and executed by the Japanese. (Japan, of course, would become notorious for disregarding any prisoner of war conventions.)

Kleiss and his two-man plane would actually make two attacks during the three-day battle. He had confirmed hits himself on three different vessels including two carriers. He gives us a thrilling blow by blow account. Here we note that the husband and wife team of co-authors are well known military history writers (mostly the American Civil War). Together with Kleiss, they keep the interest going.

In so many cases, the perspective of wars we get is from the leaders, the generals and high ranking officers and officials. While Kleiss, as an officer, did interact with Captains and Admirals, he was here one of the fighters, one of the men on the front lines, so to speak. He could tell what things were really like. While he certainly commends most of the military leaders, he also notes where they may have missed things. If nothing else, the Battle of Midway demonstrated that naval power would become in a large part air power.

Yes, even in the 1930s they trained on biplanes, but airplanes had developed a lot since World War I, and would continue to develop in the course of World War II. While Kleiss may have criticized the lousy torpedoes, he commends the designers at Douglas Aircraft for the SDB class airplanes that really were state of the art back then.

Kleiss also, like many of his generation, believed that God had a purpose for everyone’s life. For many years he seldom spoke of his experiences. People knew he had received some medals for what he did at Midway, but until he read a report about two friends of his who were captured and executed by the Japanese he said little. After reading that report which made it sounds like the two men were traitors, he felt he had to set the record straight. (One, a gunner by the name of Gaido, Kleiss sometimes flew with and had reason to respect his judgment.)

Kleiss lived to be one hundred. He was the last survivor of Midway. The book actually did not come out till about a year after he died. But he believed the Lord was not finished with him until he told his story. And what an exciting and delightful and sober story it is.

Aila Tasse and Dave Coles. Cabbages in the Desert. Beyond, 2024.

For a shorter review, see Cabbages in the Desert: How God Transformed a Devout Muslim and Catalyzed Disciple Making Movements among Unreached Peoples by Aila Tasse
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Christians everywhere look forward to the time when Jesus returns. However, Matthew 24:14 and Mark 13:10 tell us that that will not happen until everyone in the world has had a chance to hear the Gospel. Cabbages in the Desert shows us how this can become a reality.

The author shares his own experience and the experiences of numerous other men and women in Africa who have led disciple making movements (DMMs). This book perhaps more than some others give an idea of how these can have the Gospel shared. In North America many such groups would be called house churches, but this book has some examples of how leaders of more traditional churches began to use the same principles to expand their outreach and the message of salvation through Jesus.

Jesus did not tell his followers to make converts or proselytes. He said to “make disciples of every nation.” Cabbages in the Desert shows us how this can be done.

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We have reviewed three books with Dave Coles in the credits. All three are worth reading, especially, dare I suggest, for church leaders. Coles coauthored Bhojpuri Breakthrough, a record of the recent move of God in India, detailing the methodology that the believers in that region used to win people to the Lord. Cabbages in the Desert is similar, except that it details a similar move of God in East Africa.

The main author, Aila Tasse, pioneered a movement similar to that in the other book starting in Kenya and reaching other adjacent and nearby countries. After describing the basics of the CPM (Church Planting Movement) or DMM (Disciple-Making Movement) and Tasse’s own experiences, most of the book’s chapters describe the origins and spread of DMMs as told by various men and women who were leaders in the movements. As was true in Bhojpuri Breakthrough, some of the names have been changed to protect the identities of people working in sensitive locations.

The true emphasis of the book is that Jesus did not tell His people to make converts, but to make disciples. Jesus in the Great Commission did not say “convert people to my religion.” No, He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19). That means people who are actively following Jesus in their lives.

If you read or have read our review of Bhojpuri Breakthrough, you understand the basic method described here. Differences are that there is more cross-cultural ministry, though even with that people go to a related culture—one with a similar language and practices, and they make disciples. The point of the book is that disciples make other disciples. As with the practice in India, some groups have made disciples to over twenty “generations.”

Indeed, the language of Cabbages in the Desert often uses the language of reproduction. Frequently the book speaks of the DNA of the DMMs. The books explains:

Many disciple makers use this term [DNA] metaphorically to describe the factors that enable generational reproduction of disciples and churches. (356 n.25)

The techniques are very similar to those used in India. In Africa, there is more likely to be a cross-cultural ministry. Also the circumstances are a bit different. Not only are the dominant religions different (Muslim, Christian, and Tribal), the testimonies are a bit different, too.

Mr. Tasse himself had a Muslim background. The idea of churches and church buildings are nearly anathema in Muslim cultures, so the meetings tend to be what in the West we call house churches or home Bible studies. He also notes that the “person of peace” does not always come to faith in Jesus, “but they always open the way for others to hear the gospel and come to faith” (356 n.26)

Testimonies here let the reader know that in most cases, even when there is persecution, people who know the disciples virtually always note a change in their character for the better.

We read two testimonies of men who were bishops in established denominations. One confessed that he liked the pomp and status of the office, but neither he nor his church were making disciples.

Because of the location of some of the movements, they are connected with established churches. In other cases, churches were reluctant to join with the new churches, but most recognize the new movements as fellow followers of Jesus.

While the methods and approach to discipleship described here are very similar to Bhojpuri Breakthrough, Cabbages in the Desert may be more accessible to readers in the West. In other words, more established churches could learn from this.

Christian believers all over the world speak of the hope of Jesus’ return. But it is not going to happen until everyone in the world has had a chance to hear the Gospel (see Matthew 24:14, Mark 13:10). Cabbages in the Desert give us an idea of how this could come about.

Willamette Sutta. Adamant in Dust. Solid Glory Writs, 2024.

For a shorter review, see Adamant in Dust by Willamette Sutta
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Adamant in Dust is the first installment of what looks like will be a fantasy story with some scope. Without giving too much away, there is a complicated dynastic plot, a mythical beast, a quest, and a “dark lord” type. While some things have become almost stereotypes in fantasy, Adamant in Dust has a bit of an oriental twist to it.

While many of the main characters are royalty, or royal wannabes, we really take note of Fu Ma (Chinese for “noble mother”), an ageless wise woman with martial skills. She comes from Meiwen, this novel’s orient (“beautiful justice” in Chinese) but she is helping out the more occidental kingdoms of Pennith and Bertingold.

Part of the story involves a quest over a mountain range a little reminiscent of the Chinese classic novel Journey to the West. In that medieval fantasy, the small band of adventurers travel through the Himalayas on their way to India. It seems every mountain has a demon that they have to fight. It is not quite the same in Adamant in Dust, but there are echoes.

In one of the other medieval Chinese romances, The Tale of the Three Kingdoms, there are a series of foreign invaders who attack from the north. So it seems here as well. These foreigners in the Three Kingdoms look really alien—some have yellow eyes, some have eyes with two pupils. So some of the invaders here have yellow eyes as well. (When I was a kid, there was a western novel called Yellow Eyes, but it was about a mountain lion.)

Adamant in Dust contains both contemporary politics and ancient prophecies that the main characters have to deal with. The King of Bertingold has two daughters and no sons. The King of neighboring Pennith has a son Teyrnon, his only heir. Both kings would like their offspring to marry. This would strengthen both kingdoms, maybe like when James of Scotland became King of England. But there is also an ancient prophecy (Fu Ma seems to understand these better than most) that promises a kind of golden age when a marriage between the two kingdoms takes place.

Such things are never easily accomplished. Princess Peregrine, the older of the two sisters, simply is not attracted to Teyrnan. Sadira, the younger of the two princesses, says she is willing to marry Teyrnan, but then she elopes or is abducted by the handsome knight Sir Launfal. (Did Helen of Troy go willingly with Paris? Depends on whom you read…) Oh, yeah, Launfal sometimes rides a wyvern.

Such creatures are the creation of Malchor, the evil ancient ruler in this tale. He lives in the frozen far north and has kept somewhat to himself for a number of generations, but seems intent to not only thwart the plans of the two kingdoms, but to begin a conquest of the other lands in the world of Miran, the continent or planet where our story takes place.

An enchanted Silmaril-like stone gives Malchor some of his power. Each king had such a stone, and so did Malchor. If someone could combine the power of all the stones (there were at least four), he or she could have true supernatural authority. Some of the stones had been broken, and fragments apparently show up from time to time. Others seem to have disappeared.

How much does Fu Ma know? What are Launfal’s motives? Will the prince marry at all? These remain to be discovered. Once we get past the introductory material, there is a lot of action. The battles are described clearly and strategies are planned out plainly, even if they do not always work. (The fog of war is real here.)

Fantasy readers will get a kick out of this, and Adamant in Dust may even pick up a few fans of historical romance. There are certainly some reminders of Lt. Wickham in Sir Launfal. Whether Teyrnan finds true love remains to be seen. Peregrine seems more impressed with Adlaren, the prince’s clever and courageous bodyguard.

The author has kindly included a Glossary of Characters at the end. Unfortunately, I did not know this until I had finished the book because I was reading on a Kindle. There are a myriad of names—though only about a dozen are really important. For Kindle readers, I recommend finding the glossary and bookmarking it so that you can consult it if necessary. For those with a paper pages, leaf through the book to locate the glossary. Most readers will find it comes in handy.

Geoffrey Bache Smith. A Spring Harvest. 1918; Edited by J. R. R. Tolkien, Project Gutenberg, 2015.
C. S. Lewis. Spirits in Bondage: A Cycle of Lyrics. 1919; Project Gutenberg, 2013.

Trick question: What is the first book published by J. R. R. Tolkien? By 1918 Tolkien had published some essays and articles—and had already begun keeping notes on what would become Middle Earth. However, the first book he had published was not of his own writings, but a collection of poems by his friend Geoffrey Bache Smith, who was killed in World War I.

Similarly, C. S. Lewis’s first book was a collection of his own poems, many inspired (or perhaps motivated is a better word) by his own experiences in the war. This was before his conversion to Christianity, but we already see things in his content that would appear in different ways in his later writings.

Bache’s A Spring Harvest contains a number of very good poems. This reviewer can see why someone would want to have these poems published. Today, Bache is more of a literary footnote for two reasons: (1) as already noted, he was a skilled writer associated with Tolkien, and (2) he was one of many “war poets” who was lost in the Great War. I confess that I only found out about him when I recently read A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War.

A number of poems in Smith’s collection have Arthurian themes. It seems as though he was seeking noble character even in the horrors of war—a theme of that book just mentioned. Yes, The Lord of the Rings trilogy contains that, but so do many of the King Arthur stories.

One can see how poems like “Glastonbury” could appeal to a medievalist and fantasist like Tolkien. The actual style is very reminiscent of Tennyson. Indeed, many of his poems, both lyric and narrative sound like they could have been written by Tennyson or be taken from something like Idylls of the King.

Other lyrics such as “A Study” have echoes of Keats with their rich imagery and sensory appeal. Indeed, it has been said that Tennyson is the Victorian Keats. At the same time, the poems also suggest a longing for legendary times in the past. We can almost imagine Tolkien himself being inspired by lines from “The House of Eld”:

Now the old winds are wild about the house,
And the old ghosts cry to me from the air
Of a far isle set in the western sea,
And of the evening sunlight lingering there. (41)

One can almost imagine an elf or human bard singing of the Grey Havens or Numenor…

It does make one wonder what might have been if Smith had survived the war.

Lewis’s Spirits in Bondage has a different tone. Many of these are clearly war poems. There are bloody horrors in some of them, and many have a bitter tone. The first section is titled “The Prison House,” which perhaps alludes to a narrow trench but in many ways describes the whole fallen world.

The first poem in that section is “Satan Speaks.” There is a sense in many of the first poems that there could not be a God because a good God would not allow such evil happen, but there could be devils and bloody pagan gods like Baal and Molech because of what we see around us. His “De Profundis” ends with an appeal to God (if there is one): “Thou art not Lord while there are Men on earth.” (201) Bitter? Maybe, but also an honest reckoning of human nature.

If I were going to compare Lewis’s poems to anyone, it would probably be Longfellow. Yes, Longfellow was definitely more upbeat in most of his poetry, but he also was didactic, and so is Lewis. There is not just an image or a story, but there is a lesson in most of these poems.

The other thing that strikes the reader, especially in the third and final part entitled “The Escape,” there is much about looking or longing for some other world. Unlike Smith (or maybe Tolkien himself) it is not a longing for a legendary English heroic past, but a literal different world such as the one that we read about in fairy tales. The third section in particular, if it reads like any other poet, it is Yeats.

Lewis writes in “Hesitation”:

Out of the toiling sea arose
Many a face and form of those
Thin, elemental people dear
Who live beyond our heavy sphere.
And all at once from far and near,
They all held out their arms to me
Crying in their melody
“Leap in! Leap in and take thy fill
Of all the cosmic good and ill,
Be as the Living one that know
Enormous joy, enormous woe…(436)

This has echoes of Yeats’ “The Stolen Child”:

Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.

As I read these poems I could not help but think that we consider Lewis an Englishman. He wrote in English and taught at Oxford and Cambridge. You cannot get more English than that. Yet he grew up in Northern Ireland. Many of his poems do suggest a Celtic sensibility, one that perhaps we see especially in his Narnia stories, as British as they may seem on the surface.

While these poems are instructive and were worth publishing, most are not as memorable as his prose. It is interesting to note that in his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, Lewis notes that many mythologies, especially the Celtic and Norse, appealed to him; however; he describes the story of Jesus in the Gospels as a myth, but one that happens to be true. As Ecclesiastes 3:11, tells us, God has put eternity into man’s heart.

Because these books are of poems—lyrics and short narratives, and not novels or nonfiction—they do not take a long time to read. They are instructive certainly to give us an idea of where both Tolkien and Lewis came from, as well letting us meet Geoffrey Bache Smith and wonder about what we may have missed by his untimely death in battle.

N. B. The references to Lewis are Kindle locations, not page numbers.

Gordon Korman. Slugfest. Balzer + Bray, 2024.

For a shorter review see:Slugfest by Gordon Korman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Slugfest is another Gordon Korman funfest. Like many of his novels such as Ungifted, it is a fish out of water story, and much of the humor stems from that.

Summer school at Robinette Middle School is for the people who have problems with their subject. A new state law requires that all students pass eighth grade physical education to enter high school in the fall. The students who did not pass gym class, then, have to take phys ed for summer school. if they want to go on to high school.

Now, this does include some of the usual suspects: Kaden, the brainy, but uncoordinated victim of teasing; Arabella, who proudly has skipped gym for three years; the Fidelio twins, Stuart and Sarah, who spent so much time fighting each other in class that they lost credit for not participating; and practical joker Jesse, who flunked after a prank of his flooded the locker room. The middle schoolers call the summer PE students the slugs: stereotyped as slow and lazy and lacking strength.

But the class also includes two athletes. Cleo broke her foot in a skiing accident and missed too many gym classes while she was in rehab. Because of the seriousness of her injury, she has sworn off sports. And then there is Arnold Yashenko. “Yash” was a star quarterback for the high school junior varsity team. If anything, he did more athletics than most of his classmates, but in order to make it to football practice at the high school, he was allowed to miss his last period class. Guess what his last period class was?

There is a great sense of injustice or unfairness among the slugs, especially with the new state requirement. Arabella signs up for an extra credit summer class in journalism. The teacher is a local television reporter who became famous in the town for exposing a car wash that cut corners. Arabella wants to somehow expose unfairness in the summer school program. And she thinks she may have the goods on Mrs. Finnerty, the retired second grade and home economics teacher who is doing the summer gym class.

Her problem is that everyone likes Mrs. Finnerty. Yes, she does have them do elementary school games like duck-duck-goose sometimes, but she is really sweet and every day she brings delicious desserts. Even Arabella likes her, she just does not think taking the class is fair.

Meanwhile, prankster Jesse has developed some fake news regarding toilets. For his journalism project, he wants to see if his social media posting gets any traction.

Things get complicated for Yash. Sure, he does fine in the gym class, but while he is taking summer school, the rest of next fall’s J.V. football team is practicing. Even though he played for the coach last fall, the coach refuses to let him come late to practice. He learns that there is a new kid in town who is every bit as good a quarterback as he is. That newcomer already has a nickname, Nitro Nate. Even Yash’s two best friends on the team become more distant as Nate’s speed and skills impress the whole team.

As with so many of Korman’s stories, the mixed ensemble cast provides a lot of humor and conflict. At the same time, the kids each in their own way try to make the best of a bad situation. But it takes time. And they have a lot to teach each other. Slugfest is a lot of fun.

What will Arabella do about her research on Nate and Mrs. Finnerty? Will Jesse’s big prank work this time and give him credit in the journalism class? Watch how Yash learns to play the twins off each other to get them to play football. And Kaden really is a poor athlete, but he can instruct Yash on the best trajectory for a football pass.

And there is a big climax that affects everyone. It may not be the same as a truckload of Vuvuzelas floating down the river as in The Unteachables, but it is fun with a purpose. Gordon Korman has crazily creative mind.

Joseph Loconte. A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and a Great War. Nelson, 2015.

For a condensed review of this see A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-18 by Joseph Loconte
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Readers might be able to guess what A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and a Great War is about from the title. Yes, fantasy writers J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis both survived the First World War. This book not only recounts their war record, but it shows how their war experiences affected and colored their storytelling. Because both authors wrote powerful stories, this book itself is one powerful book.

The author cites many reputable historians in describing the general experiences and effects of the war. At the same time it focuses on the two men. Lewis, a few years younger than Tolkien, did not reach draft age until 1916, but that was the same year Tolkien joined up. Both men became junior officers, and both men served on the lines for about a year each when they were sent home: Tolkien suffered a severe illness while Lewis was badly injured. The Armistice was signed before either man had fully recovered. But both men lost many or most of their friends. Lewis was very thankful that his older brother Warren (“Warnie”) survived.

The main thrust of A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and a Great War, however, is literary. Loconte observes that most war veterans such as Remarque, Hemingway, Graves, or the early Dos Passos had all become disillusioned. They saw such horrors of war that any Victorian optimism or scientific evolution could no longer be seriously believed. This reviewer cannot help think of the fractured Lord’s Prayer in Hemingway’s “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”: “Our nada who art in nada…” etc.

Tolkien and Lewis were different. Just yesterday I was listening to a podcast from a fantasy writer. He said that the main difference between fantasy and science fiction is that science fiction often is amoral while fantasy notes that good and evil exist. The few fantasies such as the Game of Thrones series which are exceptions to this prove the rule because Martin will never be able to bring the tales to a close.

Loconte notes two key differences in Lewis and Tolkien from most of their contemporaries. The first is that they wrote from a Christian worldview. Lewis’s conversion came later as an adult. He had already written some things that were more typical of his generation. The author quotes Virginia Woolf when she heard that T. S. Eliot had converted and been baptized. She wrote:

I was shocked. A corpse would seem to me more credible than he is. I mean, there is something obscene in a living person sitting by the fire and believing in God. (125)

Whew! Talk about strong language! Loconte says that “such was the tide of elite opinion in much of postwar Europe.” How countercultural were such things among the elite, the literati. Both Lewis and Tolkien were Oxford professors; Eliot, a celebrated poet. All three found something in the “waste land” of the postwar West.

The second is that they believed in the noble potential of people. No, neither Frodo nor Ransom were flawless. Frodo, after all, did not voluntarily toss the ring into the pit of Mt. Doom. Ransom thought there was little he could do about the N.I.C.E. The stories may have been fantasy or science fiction, but the motivations of the characters were things we could all relate to.

Middle-earth is not, Tolkien insisted, an imaginary world, but rather our world—with its ancient truths and sorrows—set in a remote past. Indeed, any legends cast in the form of a supposed primitive history of this world, he said, must reckon with the tragic reality of human frailty. (122, emphasis in original)

Christianity explains that frailty more honestly and accurately than any modern utopian scheme. I recall a friend once asked me if I believed in Adam and Eve. At the time I was still searching, but even then I could tell him, I don’t know if it is true, but it is real. It explains why things are the way they are. It makes more sense than Rousseau or Nietzsche.

One of the last subheadings in A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and a Great War reads “The Realism of Fantasy.” That perhaps in a nutshell is the crux of this book. There is a lot more. It is very quotable and highly recommended to anyone who is even a casual fan of either author.

John C. Rankin. The Screwtape Text Messages. TEI Publishing, 2019.

We have reviewed a few books by John Rankin, and have mentioned him in other posts. This book was a little sad for me to pick up because I had known and occasionally worked with Dr. Rankin for over thirty years. He passed away two years ago. His face is on the book’s cover. I saw him in my memory every time I picked the book up.

The Screwtape Text Messages clearly borrows from the C. S. Lewis classic The Screwtape Letters. The Screwtape Letters first introduced me to C. S. Lewis. (I did not learn about his kids’ books till years later.) The Screwtape Text Messages takes the same concept a generation later, beginning in the nineties up to the time the book was written and published. As the book progresses, Screwtape complains more and more about having to use an old Blackberry when newer tech works better, but that is life where he comes from.

There is, however, a major difference. The Screwtape Letters is fiction. The Screwtape Text Messages is a memoir, really. One could call it creative nonfiction. Besides mentor-devil antagonist Screwtape and student-devil Wormwood, the protagonist is John Rankin, the author. In effect, this is a story of Rankin’s spiritual battles over the course of his life. That part is not fiction.

It begins with flashbacks to his childhood, especially after he went away to a boarding school. There he encountered some of the “initiation rites” typical of such places, but he also ended up encountering both God and evil spirits. We see his conversion and spiritual growth—and backsliding—from the perspective of Wormwood and Screwtape. Yes, there is humor. If anything, Screwtape’s language has gotten more colorful since Lewis wrote about him, but we soon understand this is a serious book. It is very much an autobiography. Yet, it is one that makes us understand there is an unseen world.

The Bible gives us glimpses, for example when Elisha prays that God opens his servant’s eyes, and we see the chariots of fire surrounding the valley of Dothan. (See II Kings 6:15-17). Rankin reminds us that:

…we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

Time and again the tempters try to work on a personally perceived strength, which can also be turned into weakness if our pride or other deadly sin gets in the way. Rankin’s tunnel vision optimism (TVO) helps him persevere and overcome many obstacles. But it can be twisted by the enemy to wear him down. As the Bible warns, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (I Corinthians 10:12)

As has been noted on our blog, Rankin served in an area that few Christians in ministry serve. He was active in the pro-life movement and also conducted many forums with atheists, academics, and activists who oppose Christianity and/or religion. His ministry overall was effective in getting at least some people to see things in a different light, just as this book does even to a reader who is a believer. This book definitely reflects deeply onto our own lives, but from an infernal perspective.

At one point Rankin becomes involved in what would politely be called a marginal or pseudo-Christian cult. Ironically, Rankin is doing this because he thinks he is researching other groups which are cults. This gets Screwtape excited:

Remember—Hierarchy not Freedom! Now, we do not necessarily flee the possibility of such studies, but if we can, we do everything possible to help the subject get sucked into the “deceptions” he thinks he is studying, thinking he is above “deception” himself. (50)

Later, Rankin comes to his senses, so to speak (see Luke 15:17 HCSB). Screwtape worries:

Then there was the dangerous idea and initial work where Rankin started writing a book called “No Coercion in the Gospel” (a nasty attempt to counterpunch the Motto of Hell: Hierarchy, not Freedom!) (60)

Rankin pulls no punches:

So, when he began pro-life (we prefer to call it “anti-abortion” because a double negative is easier to degrade than a double positive) ministry in late 1983, we shuddered (Oh how we desperately hate anything that affirms women and their unborn as equally human, for we hate marriage, we want women to be treated as property by chauvinistic men, who love the abortion, the killing ethos, and we hate children, all of whom are the seed of woman out of whom the Redeemer came). (67)

We see that The Screwtape Text Messages are quite pointed and very honest. Rankin himself comes across as a flawed individual, one who does sometimes fall into sin. In some ways this may be most serious spiritual autobiography since Bunyan’s Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. Ultimately grace is all we have, but still we can see the Lord working out his salvation in the life of one of his people. Not trivial at all.

Carol Schlorff. How to Kill a Giant. Elk Lake Publishing, 2023.

How to Kill a Giant is a middle grade or young adult novel that kids should get a kick out of. Readers may find echoes of Stories from Grandma’s Attic or the Magic Treehouse books—with maybe a touch of The House of the Seven Gables.

In this case Hugo and his friends, brother and sister Stefan and Julia, find a secret room in the old farmhouse of Stefan and Julia’s grandparents. In the room, which clearly has not been occupied in a long time, they find an old family Bible and soon are transported to Ancient Israel near Bethlehem where they meet up with young shepherd David.

From the title readers can guess the general trajectory of the story. Stefan, Hugo, and Julia are twelve, thirteen, and fourteen respectively. David is a few years older. But much of the story tells us how David takes care of his sheep. We also see how he handles a lion attack and an attempt by some Philistine marauders to sell the three young time travelers into slavery. Our modern youngsters do experience some culture shock, to say the least.

David tells his new friends: “Listen, I know it is not easy. I’m often terrified, too, but little by little, my courage has grown with each test of faith” (856).

We know the basic story of David and Goliath, but this shares more insight into what makes for a good shepherd. As Hugo comes from a broken home and has been victimized by a couple of bullies at his new middle school, he comes to see what courage really means. The junior punks who torment him have nothing on Goliath. But David may have been bullied as much by his older brothers. We know that at least a couple of them looked down on him.

David admits, “My brothers never really cared for me because I am the youngest, but something happened to make them hate and resent me” (1032). He then proceeds to tell them about the visit of the prophet Samuel and how Samuel anointed him—and not one of them.

In the hands of many this could be a somewhat saccharine moralistic story that accomplishes little. Schlorff makes it real. We begin to admire David even apart from his giant-slaying, and we begin to root for Hugo and his friends as they find themselves in various jams. To retell the David and Goliath story is hardly treading new ground, neither are stories of time-traveling teenagers, but this gets beyond the routine and helps us see some things with new eyes.

In her notes at the end, the author acknowledges Bill Myers for some help. Many readers of late elementary and young adult books recognize the name. He is one of the most prolific and popular writers of books for those age groups. Any writer would be wise to pay attention to suggestions that he may have made. Miss Schlorff was not taking Mr. Myers’ name in vain.

N.B.: References are Kindle locations, not page numbers.

Hank Philippi Ryan. One Wrong Word. Forge, 2024.

One of us at English Plus has read a number of Hank Philippi Ryan novels, but I never had. I figured that her latest would be a good introduction.

If you like fast-paced thrillers, you will like One Wrong Word. The writing is very effective. Few chapters are more than four or five pages long, but they always end with a surprise or a cliffhanger. In other words, it makes the reader want to keep on reading.

Arden Ward works for a Boston public relations firm that specializes in fixing reputations. The wife of a prominent real estate developer comes to her for help. Her husband Ned Bannister had been on trial for running over a twenty-something skateboarder late one night in his firm’s parking garage. The local press followed this case closely, and the district attorney zealously wanted a conviction. While he was found not guilty, he still had public opinion against him. Mrs. Bannister wanted them to move on with their lives and was looking for help.

Arden sympathized. Her father had been governor of Pennsylvania when some government officials were involved in a scandal. While her father was in no way implicated, the scandal put an effective end to his political career. With this week’s news, one might think of O.J. Simpson. He was acquitted of murder, but he could never face the public in quite the same way after his trial. One might also think of Donald Trump, a real estate mogul who seems to be in the crosshairs of two or three district attorneys who dislike him.

Arden also finds herself on the wrong end of a scandal. Her boss, Warren Carmichael, fires her because a client noted Arden uses the same brand of perfume that the client’s philandering husband gives to his paramours. It is strictly coincidental, but Mr. Carmichael explains that he cannot lose the client’s business. He promises that if she handles the Bannister case well, he will give her good recommendations as she searches for work elsewhere.

Ned’s defense attorney suddenly gets run over by a car on her way to see Ned. Before she completely loses consciousness, she says his name. Now it looks like Bannister may have run her over as well—though Arden asks, logically, why would he want to harm the person who just successfully defended him in a murder case? Monelle Churchwood, who works for the D.A. and was Ned’s prosecuting attorney, is eager to find evidence to implicate Bannister in another case.

Meanwhile, Monelle and Arden get occasional text messages implicating Ned in other crimes. These texts are anonymous, but seem to carry some legitimate information. At one point Ned and Arden visit Ned’s mother in rural Vermont only to find out they have been followed.

There is much more action. As I noted, nearly every chapter has some kind of twist or revelation. The surprises keep coming right up until the end. One Wrong Word is truly entertaining. While more of a mystery than a suspense thriller—reputations, not lives, are endangered here—One Wrong Word keeps the reader guessing and likely misdirected. But isn’t that what good magicians do?

P.S. Ryan is a news reporter for a Boston television station. Her given name is Harriet, and Hank is a nickname for Harry. This reviewer enjoyed the book partly because of its Boston setting. At one point, though, I felt bit disoriented. I said to myself, “I do not recall Route 2 going where they were going.” But in the note at the end, Ms. Ryan admits that she did take some liberties with the geography of the Boston area. For the sake of the story, who will notice?