Growing up, I wasn't a fan of fantasy fiction. It wasn't until I was an adult and decided to read C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe to my children that I came to appreciate that particular book. Thankfully my older daughter came to love our read-aloud so much that she read the entire Chronicles of Narnia series.
The Song of the Bear follows those same lines, a Christian fantasy story that is full of metaphors designed to teach us more about our faith. It is set hundreds of years ago and revolves around a farmer, John, and his three young companions. Soman, the great bear, rescues and redeems each one from difficult circumstances and empowers them to battle evil.
As readers follow the story of John and his three young companions, one of the lessons that becomes evident is how God directs our lives. You can also see the enemy for who he is as evil arrives in the form of scary beasts and other creatures, with whom the main characters fight several fierce battles.
I would say that this book is directed toward older children and adults. Descriptions during some of the battle scenes are a bit gruesome and violent, though it makes the story quite realistic. Both of my daughters read it, and my 14-year-old grasped most of the symbolic portions of the story, probably more so than my 12-year-old. The book was very well-written and had me wanting to keep reading to see what happened in the next chapter.
You can read more about the book and its author here.
Do you like fantasy books?
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book to facilitate my review. All of the opinions expressed in this post are my own and I was not compensated for this review in any other way.
I do enjoy fantasy books, clean ones, that is. So many of them aren't. I especially enjoy well-written Christian fantasies. If you're looking for another series to try, I recommend Anne Elisabeth Stengl's Goldstone Wood series, starting with Starflower. It's very good!
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds interesting, and thank you for the warning that it may not be quite appropriate for my children who are younger than yours. I may get it for me now, and let them read it in a few years. Or maybe I'll read it to them, editing out the parts they don't need to hear.
Thanks for that recommendation! I'll check it out for myself and for my older daughter.
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