The 5th Most Awesome YA Book of 2008 is...

The 5th Most Awesome YA Book of 2008 is
"Sir Kendrick and the Castle of Bel Lione"
by Chuck Black

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Chuck Black first wrote Kingdom’s Edge to inspire his children to read the Bible with renewed zeal. This captivating expanded parable led him to write the Old Testament allegories, Kingdom’s Dawn and Kingdom’s Hope. Chuck added three more titles to the series, Kingdom’s Call, Kingdom’s Quest, and Kingdom’s Reign which were released in May of 2007.

Chuck is a former F-16 fighter pilot and currently works as an engineer for a firm designing plastic consumer products. He has a degree in electrical and electronic engineering and served eight years in the United States Air Force. Chuck and his wife Andrea have six children and live in North Dakota.

It is Chuck’s desire to serve the Lord through his work and to inspire people of all ages to study the scriptures in order to discover the hope and love of a truly majestic King and His Son.


ABOUT THE BOOK

A dangerous new order threatens the mission of the Knights of Arrethtrae. Only loyalty to the King can bring victory!

As the Knights of the Prince await His triumphant return, they are steadfast in their mission to take His story into the kingdom and recruit as many as are willing. But when a new and dangerous threat is revealed, their mission is jeopardized.

Sir Kendrick and his young charge, the impetuous Sir Duncan, are sent on a mission to discover the identity and origin of a secretive new order known as the Vincero Knights. They travel to the city of Bel Lione where Lord Ra has been enticing young people in the kingdom to join his festivals, after which many choose not to return home. Their families keep quiet for fear of repercussion.

When Sir Duncan disappears while trying to discover the truth of Lord Ra’s castle, Sir Kendrick attempts to find and enlist the help of a mysterious warrior. Time is short for he must save Duncan and call upon the knights of Chessington to join in the battle against the evil Lord Ra.

Journey to Arrethtrae, where these knights of noble heart live and die in loyal service to the King and the Prince. These knights are mighty, for they serve a mighty King. They are...the Knights of Arrethtrae!

If you would like to read the first chapter, go HERE

MY REVIEW:
Knights, swords, horses, castles, maidens in distress, good vs. evil! Excellent! Chuck Black has come back with an amazing series of books designed for youth but certainly not limited to. I was blown away by how much I loved this book! It looks like a great start to a fantastic series. This is a book that would be a great read aloud to your family and would keep everyone entertained while giving you good discussion of spiritual truths and ideas. The characters are great and the settings are vivid with imagery that will take you right into the castles and countrysides as the characters go there. This is a series that I will be collecting for my family and I would strongly suggest that you do as well!

Let's meet Chuck...


1) Sometimes people think of authors as being bigger than life and not "real", so I thought we would start off with a very important question, one that will show people just how real you are! "What dessert can you not resist when it is time to indulge?"

I love chocolate…anything chocolate. Unfortunately, I don’t process sugar very well so this is a constant struggle for me because I love chocolate! A hot fudge brownie delight with hot chocolate syrup tops my list.

2) There have been some really great new young adult series coming out lately and you are right at the top of the list. You already have The Kingdom series and now you have started The Knights of Arrethtrae series. One of the things I love about this series is that in addition to being great read alouds for the whole family - boys would really be drawn to this series with the knights and horses and fighting and good vs. evil and castles and secret tunnels - what's not to love! My 10 year old son is getting ready to start this one - did you intend to try and strike an interest and get boys to read or is that just kind of how it worked out (don't get me wrong people... girls will love this too, there are just so many series that are directed towards girls and not as many directed towards boys)?

It was not my intention to write a series that would spark the interest of boys specifically. My sole intention was to write books that would inspire all young people to get excited about their own adventure in Christ. Having boys discover a love for reading through my books was a blessing that I really didn’t expect, but it seems to happen a lot. I wrote the books as I would have enjoyed reading them as a youth…a lot of action, keep the story moving, details where you need them. It is in the nature of boys, and young men, to conquer things. Conquering a book is no different, so when they can turn pages and finish chapters, this encourages them, especially when they are excited about the story. But as you mentioned, some of my most devoted readers are girls. Each book has strong female characters that have become favorites for many.

3) I love seeing Sir Kendrick mentoring Sir Duncan - there are so many young men out there that don't have a good solid father figure in their lives. How did you choose to make that such a strong theme in the book (or I am reading more into it than is there :-)?

You picked up on a very important theme in the book. I have a Sir Duncan in my life, and he happens to be my son. It was very natural for me to incorporate many lessons that both my son and I have learned from each other into the relationship between Sir Kendrick and Sir Duncan. My heart aches for the youth that do not have a father figure to mentor them; however there are Christian men in the church that often are willing to be a father figure to the fatherless.

4) Lord Ra at the Castle of Bel Lione chooses to wreak havoc on the people of the land by enticing the young generation to leave home and party, party, party at his castle. I read in another book (The Book of Names) where the evil one chose to try and wipe out a people by taking away the young generation as well. I see this as so true in our society today. Instead of drawing closer to God and feeling welcomed at church our young people are leaving for parties, alcohol, drugs, rock music, etc.. do you see this as Satan's way of trying to wipe out our young generation?

Absolutely! I heard an alarming statistic that over 75% of evangelical youth lose their faith when they leave home. This isn’t an accidental tragedy of happenchance, but a purposeful assault by Satan on our young people, and unfortunately he seems to be winning. We need to decrease our attrition rate significantly and that can only happen if we wholly devote ourselves to raising up young men and women who are prepared for battle. The Bible commands us to “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” For the most part, I don’t think that parents, let alone our youth, understand that Satan takes no prisoners. He comes to kill and destroy. Sending our youth into the world without a keen understanding of this battle and of who our enemy is sets them up to fail. Allowing youth to play near the gates of rebellion will destroy them as it did to so many in Sir Kendrick and the Castle of Bel Lione. I want to open the eyes of our young people to the victorious power we have through Jesus Christ. Greater is He what is in you, than he that is in the world…even a roaring lion!

5) Your Kingdom books are very allegorical. Is there a particular story that you based Sir Kendrick on?

This series is allegorical on biblical principle and not necessarily on a specific bible story. The principles taught in Sir Kendrick are the dangers of a rebellious heart and the blessings of forgiveness.

6) How many books are going to be in The Knights of Arrethtrae series?

There are six books currently planned for The Knights of Arrethtrae, but I am seeking the Lord’s will and direction here.

7) What new things are you working on now that we can be looking forward to?

My company, Perfect Praise Publishing, also produces the audio dramas for each of the books I write for Multnomah Books. We have just finished the production of the first two audio dramas in the series, Sir Kendrick and the Castle of Bel Lione, and Sir Bentley and Holbrook Court, which will release on February 17^th. Each audio drama features a professional voice acting cast from Cheltenham England, an original music score, and sound effects that bring the stories to life. Oasis Audio will be the distributor for each production. Along with the audios, I am still on a very tight schedule to write the next few books in the series. Sir Dalton and the Shadow Heart releases May 19^th.

8) Where can readers find you online?

Your readers can find me at www.KingdomSeries.com or at www.Arrethtrae.com. My email address is kingdom@perfect-praise.com.. I would love to hear from everyone who wants to share their heart with me. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to share my heart with you!

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Okay readers! Chuck has agreed to giveaway a copy of this book "Sir Kendrick and the Castle of Bel Lione"! This is the start to an amazing series and I encourage you to enter. Here is what you do...

1) Leave a comment telling me who you know that might like this book (it can be you) with your email address and you get 1 entry

2) Blog about this giveaway yourself and leave another comment here and get 2 entries

3) Tell someone else about this interview with Chuck and when they leave a comment with your name in it you will receive 3 entries

4) Become a blog follower (on the left of my blog you can do that) and receive 1 extra entry

Good luck!!!