Callapidder Days

It’s the third Tuesday of the month, which means 5 Minutes for Books is hosting their monthly Kids’ Picks carnival, where bloggers share about what their kids have been reading or enjoying recently.

C.  — my 10-year-old son — is joining me this month, sharing about a series he offered to read and review for Callapidder Days. We decided an interview format works best, so I’ll get out of the way and let our interview take it from here…

So, C., from what I gather, an author recently sent you a few books to read and review. What are those books?

These two books are the first books of the Annals of Aeliana series, by Eric Reinhold. Book 1 is Ryann Watters and the King’s Sword. Book 2 is called Ryann Watters and the Shield of Faith.

Wait – the Annals of Aeliana? What’s Aeliana?

Well Aeliana is another world, in a sense. Like Narnia from C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. In the first book of the series, Aeliana was represented as a perfect place – sort of like the Garden of Eden. But later, in the second book, dark forces had taken over.

So, who are the main characters in this series? I’m guessing there’s someone named Ryann?

The main characters are Ryann Watters, Liddy Thomas, and Terell Peterson – kids from our world.  One night, Ryann was visited by an angel, Gabriel, who told him to seek the king’s sword – the opening of the first book. Liddy and Terell are Ryann’s friends from school and they joined him on his quest. The school bully – Drake Dunfellow – was also pulled into Aeliana, by Lord Ekron (he’s bad), who told Drake to stop Ryann and his friends in their quest to find the sword.

Gabriel and Lord Ekron – are they from Aeliana?

Not necessarily. They are from a spiritual realm and can abide in either world – our world or Aeliana.

Book 2 – Ryann Watters and the Shield of Faith – just came out this year. Can you tell us a little bit of what that book is about?

This book, which takes place 400 years after the first book (in Aeliana time), occurs during the rule of Narcissus, who appointed himself king. (He had been a well-known Enlightener – one of a group of creatures from Aeliana who taught that Aeliana had power in and of itself, thus leading them away from The Word – The Word is kind of like their name for God.) Narcissus ruled with Lord Ekron and most people supported them.

But then… Enter: Carwyn. Carwyn is a unicorn (I should mention that Narcissus is also a unicorn) who came to Aeliana and chose seven followers (the Chosen) who all appeared to trust his teachings. It soon became clear that Carwyn and Narcissus were good and evil.

In summary, the book tells the story of Carwyn’s struggle (along with the Chosen) to overcome the evil forces in Aeliana.

So how do Ryann and his friends fit in to this one?

Liddy found a book in her attic…and then later there was a blue glow in her attic. She told Terell and Ryann about it, and when the three of them walked into the blue glow, they were transported to Aeliana.

Later, they met up with Ireth (an elf who had written the book in Liddy’s attic) and Sorcha (a dragon they had met during their first journey to Aeliana). Soon, they found Carwyn and Carwyn picked all five of them  — the kids, Ireth, and Sorcha – to be members of the Chosen.

Ah, so they found themselves right in the thick of this struggle between good and evil. Let me ask you this: you’ve mentioned spiritual realms, good and evil, and God. Would you say these books have an allegorical component?

The first book – I don’t know. But the second book definitely seems like an allegory. Carwyn seems to represent Jesus. Carwyn told mirroring parables to Jesus’ parables, and did many things similar to things that people might remember Jesus doing. Also like Jesus, Carwyn was betrayed by someone close to him and cruelly beaten at one point in the story.

What did you think of the book overall? Was it a page-turner? Or kind of boring?

I’d say it was a page-turner, at least! Lots of adventure and excitement. It was very thrilling and it makes me want to get Book 3 soon!

Overall, both books were very good and I would probably recommend them for kids 9 to 14.  Some scenes (especially in book 2) were intense and might be overwhelming for someone younger.

Thank you very much, C. — for reading these books and for sharing about them on Callapidder Days.

You’re welcome.

Note from Katrina: I haven’t had a chance to read these books, but C. and I have been discussing them a bit as he’s gone through them. They really captured his attention and imagination — dragons and unicorns, good and evil, adventure and intrigue. But more than that, I didn’t have to worry that they might have questionable content. As C. mentioned, they definitely have a Christian slant, and incorporate biblical values throughout.

You can learn more about the Annals of Aeliana at the Ryann Watters website, and you can find both books — Ryann Watters and the King’s Sword and Ryann Watters and the Shield of Faith – at Amazon.com.