Tag: Medieval

I was trying to find Christian fiction to read, and I found this series listed on the www.christianbook.com website. I thought that it was a Christian fantasy series, but it is more of a medieval fiction series with historical liberties.

Title: Tahn: A Novel
Series: The Tahn Saga
Serial: Book 1
Author: L.A. Kelly
Published by Fleming H. Revell
Year: 2005
Format Read: Kindle
Pages: 337
Language: English
ASIN: B00B85CMR0
Dates Read 2022 November 24 to November 26

Before the story begins, Kelly includes an author’s note explaining why she wrote the book. She was propelled to write it, and she hoped that the message of God’s mercy, love, and forgiveness are evident throughout the work. She does state that the book cannot be defined as truly historical fiction that takes place in Europe. The story “claimed a place and time all its own…” (page 8).

Within the first chapters, there is a lot of action and violence; Tahn kills a few people just within the first few pages. Tahn has to do the bidding of his evil mercenary master Samis. Samis took Tahn from a city as a child. Samis trained him to steal, kill, and destroy at his request. Even before the woman Netta, who Tahn kidnaps, shares the gospel with him, he is already somewhat redemptive. He had made the decision to disobey Samis and rescue several children from his lair. Tahn is trying to protect Netta’s life, honor, and he is not mercilessly mean. Despite all that she goes through, Netta is very devout: she teaches and preaches about the Christian faith throughout the entire novel. There are a lot of mini sermons and lessons; this book seems like something that Lynn Brooks could narrate on BBN radio during the time slot that they have her narrate a Christian story. There are several characters in this novel that have more characterization and emphasis in the next two novels. Not everyone accepts Christ, but a lot of the characters do. The events do have a good resolution, and a person could stop reading the series at the first novel.

Title: Return to Alastair
Series: The Tahn Saga
Serial: Book 2
Author: L.A. Kelly
Published by Revell
Year: 2006
Format Read: Kindle
Pages: 369
Language: English
ASIN: B00B85CN8I
Dates Read 2022, November 27 to December 5

As of writing this, the book series is still out of order on Amazon. The website has this book listed as the last book in the series, but it is the second. There is no author’s note in this one. This book has many of the same characters as the first one, and it introduces some new characters, namely Tahn’s sister Tiarra. You learn how Tahn is related to nobility, and it’s another adventure. However, Tahn is sick for several pages, and it seems like the dreams he has while sick reveals a lot of the plot’s mystery.

Title: The Scarlet Trefoil
Series: The Tahn Saga
Serial: Book 3
Author: L.A. Kelly
Published by Revell
Year: 2007
Format Read: Kindle
Pages: 305
Language: English
ASIN: B007TV0VVG
Dates Read 2022, December 9 to December 17

This book was more perilous and darker than the last two. It was hard to pause reading because many chapters end pitifully, and I kept wanting to take a break from reading on a happy note. It was a bit anguishing to read about Netta’s kidnapping and Tahn’s abuse at the hands of the bandits and others paid by Lionell Trent. Throughout the story, there is such an overwhelming amount of thoughts and emotions that to me, it started to get a bit repetitive. I know how all of the characters feel, please let’s continue advancing the plot. In my opinion, it was too much talking and feelings and not enough action.

 

Overall Impressions and Other Comments

This is a decent Christian fiction series. I thought that the series had a lovely ending. Although several priests are mentioned, and the setting is loosely based on Medieval Europe, there is emphasis on general themes of Christianity common to Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox. There is no mention of Mary, saints or The Five Solas. There is emphasis mainly on God’s providence, trust, prayer, assurance, forgiveness, stewardship, and redemption.

If any of the characters are memorable to me, they would be Tahn and Lucas. I loved their platonic relationship the most. I appreciated the camaraderie that Tahn, the Trillets, and others had with the children.

The one thing that I found confusing is what dialogue belonged to which character. Usually, when a different character speaks, a new paragraph is started, but here not so:
“What can you tell us?” Netta whispered to Amos. “He rests well. Breathes stronger.” This is on pg 195 of The Scarlet Trefoil and it was hard for me to see that Amos started taking after Netta because both sets of dialogue are in the same paragraph.

There were some unrealistic elements to me. This could be historically accurate, but I did find it weird that people wear boots without stockings, socks, etc. Also, another odd thing is how Tahn’s relative complains about being barefoot throughout several pages, but I kept wondering what does she do during the winter. It was odd that Tahn is forced to walk barefoot for miles, but his feet do not hurt, just other parts of his body from injury. The scene where Tahn takes off Netta’s shoe to examine her ankle just seemed really forward of him, and I felt it could have been written better. The series increasingly has a lot of dialogue with a lot of emphasis on the various characters’ thoughts and feelings; I started to desire more action. The plot and story advancement takes a halt in order for us to review every thought and mental process of various characters.

Unfortunately, the author passed away in 2011 years ago with one of her children in a car accident. She wrote other books under her name Leisha Kelly. They look interesting, and I may try to read her other works.