Saturday, September 4, 2010

Sir Quinlan and the Swords of Valor-Chuck Black

Sir Quinlan and the Swords of Valor
Chuck Black
Multnomah, Oct 5 2010, $9.99
ISBN: 9781601421289

Across the sea live the King and his son the Prince, who will come once again to Arrethtrae to bring his knights home. Meanwhile, those dedicated warriors who have not been killed by the Dark Knight Lucius, fight him and his Shadow Warriors and the Vincenza a knights. In the bucolic village of Burkfield, Tav and Twitch are close friends until the latter refuses to go with the former to join the Swords of Valor led by Baylorr, in the fight against the encroaching darkness.

Twitcha becomes Sir Quinlan and a member of the Swords of Valor knight. When a mission goes wrong, the survivors blame Quinlan who agrees with their accusations. Feeling self-pity and humiliation he considers quitting and going home. However, instead he is dragged back into the war when the shadow knights take the Kaslite medallion, which delineates who is a Shadow from who is a Silent Knight. The war is coming to Burkfield and after meeting with the prince, Sir Quinlan finds the sacred Sword of Valor as he and the loyal Knights with their allies prepare for battle.

On a surface level, this is an action packed coming of age adventure novel filled with villains, doubters, and heroes. On a deeper level, it is also the tale of two friends who choose different paths at a pivotal point in their lives. On a profound level, the book is a powerful Christian allegory. Sir Quinlan risks his life many times, but rises to being a leader resolute in his goal of finding Lucius to end his dark reign of terror.

Harriet Klausner

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