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Silver Bounty, Victoria McCombs
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Aberration, Cathy McCrumb
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147. Why Can Christians Celebrate Stories about Merlin and King Arthur? | with Robert Treskillard
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146. How Did Animators Adapt The Wingfeather Saga For Streaming TV? | with Keith Lango
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145. How Did Edmund Spenser’s ‘The Faerie Queene’ Shape Christian Fantasy? | with Rebecca K. Reynolds
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Lorehaven helps Christian fans explore fantastical stories for Christ’s glory: fantasy, science fiction, and beyond. Articles, the library, reviews, podcasts, gifts, and the Lorehaven Guild community help fans discern and enjoy the best Christian-made fantastical stories, applying their meanings to the real world Jesus Christ calls us to serve. Subscribe free to get any updates you choose and to access the Lorehaven Guild.
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‘Bid The Gods’ Is A Great Genre Mash-up

Bid the Gods Arise successfully blends fantasy and sci-fi, with a bit of Ancient Rome thrown in.
Kat Heckenbach · Jan 28, 2013 · No comments

I’m not sure why, but opening this book I expected traditional epic fantasy. Boy, was I wrong. Bid the Gods Arise is a mash-up of fantasy and sci-fi, with a bit of Ancient Rome thrown in. Yeah, gladiators and everything! Oh, and it’s allegorical, too.

Serious strengths in this novel: characterization, dialog, action, originality.

There’s a pretty big cast in the story, and I could keep them all straight because Mullin really brings them to life. Dialog really adds to this, without being superfluous–everything works both to build the characters and move the story forward. Action is at every turn, and it all works with the plot rather than weighing it down. Originality–did you read my opening comment? Seriously, the blend of genres was flawless.

My only gripe, which is what brought the star rating down to 4.5 instead of 5, is a bit of choppiness here and there. Certain places where if it were a movie, the camera would have just abruptly cut off from one character or scene and jumped straight into something else. It was by no means overwhelming, but it was more than just one or two places and enough to make me want to write in some transition phrases so I don’t get whiplash reading those sections when I read the book again. 😉

Overall, a great story.

(Previously published at Amazon.com.)

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Kat Heckenbach
Kat Heckenbach spent her childhood with pencil and sketchbook in hand, knowing she wanted to be an artist when she grew up—so naturally she graduated from college with a degree in biology, went on to teach math, and now homeschools her two children while writing. She is the author of YA fantasy series Toch Island Chronicles and paranormal romance Relent, as well as dozens of fantasy, science fiction, and horror short stories in magazines and anthologies. Enter her world at www.katheckenbach.com.
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Lorehaven helps Christian fans explore fantastical stories for Christ’s glory: fantasy, science fiction, and beyond. Articles, the library, reviews, podcasts, gifts, and the Lorehaven Guild community help fans discern and enjoy the best Christian-made fantastical stories, applying their meanings to the real world Jesus Christ calls us to serve. Subscribe free to get any updates you choose and to access the Lorehaven Guild.
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