Rachel Starr Thomson

The CSFF Tour for this month is officially over, but before we leave Raven’s Ladder, I want to explore one of its themes. I also have a book to give away, so it’s time for a contest! Scroll all the way down to the bottom of this post for contest rules and deadline.

Warning: there are series spoilers contained herein, though they are not too earth-shattering.

Ever since CSFF first toured Auralia’s Colors, reviewers have been confused about whether or not the Keeper and Auralia represent God the Father and Christ in a straightforward allegory. They don’t, as the author pointed out in my interview with him and has said elsewhere.

(Digression: John W. Otte, blogger extraordinaire, addressed this topic on his blog and was kind enough to reply to my questions to him at length today. He points out that while he doesn’t expect or want every Christian book to be an allegory, these characters have so many God- and Christ-like characteristics that it’s misleading. Overstreet says he isn’t writing an allegory, but his series sure smells like one. Point taken!)

But whether or not we’ll see a clear picture of God in the Expanse, we will certainly see a clear and biblical picture of ourselves.

When we first meet Captain Ryllion in Cyndere’s Midnight, he is recovering from an encounter with beastmen that killed his charge and set his career significantly back. But Ryllion is a passionate believer in the value of his own desires and the inevitability of his destiny. Others may waver in their faith; Ryllion doesn’t. He’s a devotee of the moon spirit religion, whose seers teach that everyone has a moon spirit of their own who comes and shines desires into their hearts. Your religious duty, then, is to pursue those desires, believing that your moon spirit will reward your efforts.

Ryllion comes across as young, sometimes aggravating, but really admirable. He believes so sincerely, so wholeheartedly in his dreams. He’s courageous and smart. He’s an underdog fighting his way back up, and we can’t help rooting for him.

At first.

It’s only as time goes on and more backstory is revealed that we start to realize how much integrity Ryllion has already sacrificed in pursuit of his dreams, how much the desires of his heart have torn down any sense of morality or real duty, how much his courage is nothing but — extremely — selfish ambition. Ironically, Ryllion’s pursuit of personal freedom makes him a slave to the Seers, who slip something into his drink to help him along. And before Ryllion even knows it, he’s changing.

He’s becoming a beastman.

On the flip side of the story, we have Jordam. Born a beastman, with a jutting browbone and three brothers who snarl, kill, and hate, his life is also all about desire. He’s hungry, so he kills. He craves Essence, the power-giving poison that created the beastmen, so he steals, plots, hunts, and does obeisance to the Cent Regus chieftain in order to be given it. There is no real difference between Jordam and Ryllion. Both are enslaved to what the Bible calls “the lusts of the flesh.” It’s just that Jordam’s desires are more obviously, outwardly carnal than Ryllion’s.

But while Ryllion is a man becoming a beast, Jordam is a beast becoming a man. It begins when he encounters Auralia’s colors in a cave by Deep Lake and is calmed by them, able to be at peace for the first time in his life. An encounter with Cyndere and more exposure to colors awakens new desires in him, desires that wrestle with his powerful cravings. Desires to protect, to care, to think clearly, to rise above his carnality. Jordam starts to avoid Essence, even though the cravings twist him up inside. And the longer he stays away from it, the more human he becomes. In a brilliant and beautiful portrayal of what it means to be human, he starts to think in metaphors — to see the world artistically, poetically.

Scripture speaks of the war between flesh and Spirit and tells us that “to be carnally minded is death.” Yet we live in a world that promotes self-advancement above all things, that tells us just to follow our desires in order to be happy. If we want something deeply, it has to be right. But we don’t see that our fleshly desires, like Ryllion’s, are nothing more than carnal cravings dressed up in glitz and glamour. In the end, following them will make animals of us. God calls us to a higher way, the way Jordam begins to take — a way of self-denial for the sake of something greater and more beautiful than ourselves.

It’s in denying himself that Jordam becomes a man. But in what is very good news for all of us, the more human Jordam becomes, the more his desires actually start to change. Perhaps someday there will be no more cravings for Essence. No more ambition for evil. No more carnal drives. Perhaps someday Jordam’s desires will be entirely purified — just as, perhaps, someday ours will. And then, as Proverbs says, God will give us the desires of our hearts.

Christianity is sometimes charged with denying humanity, with trying to pull us all into some ascetic club that sucks all the joy out of life. But that’s not the truth at all. Christianity as Jesus lived it calls us not to deny our humanity, but to really become human again, to return to the fellowship with God that once made us so much more than the animals.

I don’t know how Ryllion and Jordam’s stories will end. I’m eagerly awaiting the final book in the series so I can find out. But in the meantime, they’ve given me a vivid way to think about humanity, temptation, sin, and desire. They’ve given me a new way to think about myself.

————–

And now, the contest details .

As readers, writers need us. We may not realize that, but it’s true. They need us to buy their books so they can keep writing them, and they need us to spread the word about what they write. So here’s how this contest will go:

1. Choose a book you like with an author who is still living. No Jane Eyre or Anne of Green Gables this time.

2. Write a review of said book and post it to your blog or Facebook or GoodReads or Amazon or wherever (or even all of the above).

3. Post a link to your review in the comments section of THIS POST.

You have until May 6, exactly one week. May 6 also happens to be my birthday, so you can consider your reviews a present for me. I will put your names in a hat and pull one out, and if you win, I will send you a brand-new copy of Raven’s Ladder. If you haven’t read the rest of the series yet, hie thee to the nearest library (or better yet, bookstore — remember, writers need you!) and get cracking. Don’t start with the third book; trust me.

Happy reviewing!

The first-ever reader’s choice Clive Staples Award has been given, and the winner is DragonLight, by Donita K. Paul. I haven’t had an opportunity to read this book, but I did have the opportunity to interview Mrs. Paul a while back. You can read the interview here.

Congratulations, Donita!

My friend JoJo Tabares of Art of Eloquence is running a seventh-anniversary contest in which you can win $350 worth of prizes — including Worlds Unseen, Burning Light, Tales of the Heartily Homeschooled, and Letters to a Samuel Generation. Check out this page for contest info!

My friend Felice Gertwitz is hosting a contest through her radio show today:

Listen into the Blog Talk Radio show http://www.WritingandPublishingRadio.com for a chance to win a free book. Your choice of “Information in a Nutshell: Writing and Publishing” OR “Reach for the Stars: Young Fiction Author’s Workbook” … to find out how, listen to the event live or at a later date. Contest begins August 24-august 30th.

Also, you can win a copy of Robin Parrish’s Offworld through this Inklings contest.

This month’s Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy blog tour focused on a sci-fi novel: Robin Parrish’s Offworld, published by Bethany House. It’s an exciting, summer-blockbuster sort of story that generated much comment and controversy on the tour. You can win a copy, but first, check out my tour posts:

Introductory Post (including links to other bloggers): http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/2009/08/offworld-csff-blog-tour/

Review of Offworld: http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/2009/08/a-review-offworld-day-2/

“The Book On Paper and the One In Here”: http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/2009/08/the-book-on-paper-and-the-one-in-here-offworld-day-3/

Interested in winning a copy of Offworld? It’s easy. Visit www.rachelstarrthomson.com and identify a book page, article, blog post — anything — that you’d like to share with others. Post the link to your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or even e-mail. Comment on one of the Offworld posts to let me know where you’ve posted your link. Whoever posts the most wins. The contest ends Friday. Have fun!

Thanks to the generosity of Bethany House, Karen Hancock’s publisher, I have a free copy of The Enclave to give away. Since random drawings of commenters’ names strike me as uninteresting, you actually have to do something to win this one .

First, read my Day 3 post “Men, God, and Men Like Gods,” where I argue that the Great Irony of mankind is that the more we try to become like God, the more we become something entirely unlike Him, while the more we accept our limitations and cry out for grace, the more truly we are transformed into His image.

Leave a comment on THAT POST (not this one) naming another story which you feel illustrates this Great Irony. (This story might be a book, a short story, a play, a movie, whatever — even nonfiction is fair game, since this Great Irony isn’t fictional.) Give a bit of detail about it — in what characters or circumstances do you most see this irony playing out?

Have fun . You have until Wednesday, July 29, to leave your comment and be eligible to win the book.

Calling all teen authors: If you have (or can write) a manuscript of 20,000 to 30,000 words that’s aimed at 8-12-year-olds, check out the Tweener Time Chapter Book Competition! The competition is looking for “a work of fiction that’s fast-paced, action-packed and values-oriented and written for a ‘tweener’ audience.” You can find guidelines and more details at www.TweenerMinistries.org.

I really encourage you to check this contest out. I had the privilege of serving as a judge last year, and in February, our very own Inklings reader Jessica Erksine won third place in the Tweener Time Cover Art Competition — designing a cover for last year’s chapter book winner! I’ll be reviewing some of the Tweener Time winning books in the next few months as well, beginning with the 2007 First Place Winner, Journey to the Homeland by 16-year-old Hannah Stahlhut.

The first-place winner is awarded a $20,000 college scholarship, a $1,000 cash prize, a book contract with Baker Trittin Press, and royalties on book sales. The other awards are pretty amazing too, and I remember writing up detailed comments for the authors whose books I judged last year — so you have a chance to receive professional feedback on your work as well.

The contest deadline is July 1. Check out the Web site — and I wish you success!

Due to an age category mix-up on my part, Aaron F.’s second-place win is now shared: congratulations to Andrea B., Age 12, for her review of “The Phantom Toolbooth.”

Congratulations also to Aaron, Cameron, Raynie, Bethany, and Elisabeth, our other winners — and many thanks to all of you who sent in your book reviews. This contest has been a lot of fun, and it’s been my privilege to share your writing with all of my readers.

Contest winners have been awarded their choice of e-book (for second place) or print book (for first place) from Little Dozen Press or our donors, Christina and Felice Gerwitz and Jessica Erskine.

If you’d like to see more about the prizes, check them out at these links:

Theodore Pharris Saves the Universe: http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/books/theodore/
Bible Battles: http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/2009/02/contest-prize-bible-battles/
The Missing Link: Found!: http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/2009/02/contest-prize-the-missing-link-found/
Worlds Unseen: http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/books/worlds-unseen/
Burning Light: http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/books/burning-light/
Tales of the Heartily Homeschooled: http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/books/heartily-homeschooled/
Heart to Heart: Meeting With God in the Lord’s Prayer: http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/books/heart-to-heart/
Letters to a Samuel Generation: http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/books/samuel-generation/

Until next time, keep reading, thinking, and writing!

With today’s posting of Rebecca, Elisabeth F.’s excellent review, the Book Review Contest entries are all posted and winners announced. On Monday, I’ll do a final contest post, giving prize details and announcing one last surprise winner!

On Tuesday, you can expect another comma tip as Inklings falls back into its regular rhythm. I’ve got some fantastic interviews and features lined up. Thanks for coming along on this writing journey!

Review by Elisabeth F., Age 19

“She was still in the house as Mrs. Danvers had said, she was in that room in the west wing, she was in the library, in the morning-room, in the gallery above the hall. Even in the little flower-room, where her mackintosh still hung. And in the garden, and in the woods, and down in the stone cottage on the beach. Her footsteps sounded in the corridors, her scent lingered on the stairs. The servants obeyed her orders still, the food we ate was the food she liked. Her favorite flowers filled the rooms. Her clothes were in the wardrobes in her room, her brushes were on the table, her shoes beneath the chair, her nightdress on the bed. Rebecca was still mistress of Manderley. Rebecca was still Mrs. de Winter.”

I don’t think I would necessarily call Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca my absolute favorite novel, but it was one that I greatly enjoyed the reading of and one that taught me some important things about writing. I relished the writing style immensely. One develops a taste in literature just as in anything, and before I had read two chapters of Rebecca I sensed that it was just to my own particular taste. I was sure I was going to enjoy the book if only for the sake of the writing. The author combines keen descriptive power with economy of words – nothing superfluous, just enough to give you a startlingly clear picture with seemingly little effort.

The story you may be familiar with, especially if you’ve seen the movie version. A young girl, shy, awkward and unsure of herself, becomes the second wife of an older widowed man whose first wife was legendary for her beauty and personality. The ‘second Mrs. DeWinter,’ the narrator of the story, whose name is not even given, feels overshadowed and even haunted by the memory of the first Mrs. DeWinter, Rebecca—she feels that her husband can never love her in the same way he loved Rebecca. As revealed in the quote above, she feels like a stranger and intruder in her own home. I read that the author herself described this book as basically ‘a story about jealousy, pure and simple,’ or words to that effect, but I got much more from it. It has a lot to do with imagination and how a person can torture themself with it if they let it run away with them. It also has a good deal to do with hiding things, in not speaking out about how one feels at the right moment and what effect that can have. It’s partly a tale of mystery and suspense, partly a love story and also a good part about everyday life and how that can be the most difficult thing of all.

I saw the movie, a classic directed by Alfred Hitchcock, before reading the book. It is an excellent adaptation that portrays the story well. There is one major difference in the plot, probably because of 1940s production codes, but strangely enough it does little to change the actual ending of the story.

The thing that fascinates me the most about this book is the way Daphne du Maurier captures so effortlessly the way the human mind works. Reading this book was one of the major influences in forming my personal theory of what makes a great writer. I think one of the hallmarks of being a good writer is to be able to put into words the things everyone thinks but no one knows how to explain. In Rebecca we are inside the mind of the narrator, almost thinking her thoughts along with her. We are experiencing her conflicting feelings while standing outside the door of a room full of people she hesitates to meet, her inexplicable sensation of melancholy when packing to leave a hotel, the way she allows her thoughts to run away with her when she has an apprehension of some disastrous happening in the future. It all seems so real because we’ve all felt the same things ourselves, maybe without knowing it. The little practical details that always intrude even at tense moments are all there—I particularly remember a scene in which the narrator and her sister-in-law, during an awkward conversation, avoid looking at each other and busy themselves by petting a small dog who is delighted with all the unexpected extra attention. Or how the narrator notices trivial things—like a worn place on the carpet—while listening to the most important revelation of the story from her husband.

Of course, the trick in writing fiction like this lies not in directly imitating the successful work of another author, but in having or developing a sensitivity to the drama that can be found in ordinary and everyday things, and not always depending on the melodramatic to give your story interest. That’s not to say there’s no melodrama in Rebecca; quite the contrary! But the unusual events seem to have equal value with the ordinary ones, fitting into the general scheme of the story rather than being the cause of it.

When a book can combine this kind of insight with good writing, it is bound to offer enjoyment to an eager reader and writer like myself.

Elisabeth’s review was the only entry in the 18 and up age category — yet her chances of winning would have been excellent even if it had not been. She explores the fine writing and insight of a famous author, using fine writing and insight of her own. As Elisabeth herself puts it, “One of the hallmarks of being a good writer is to be able to put into words the things everyone thinks but no one knows how to explain.” Elisabeth, you’ve done a marvelous job of explaining the impact of this classic. Congratulations!