This series is subtly Christian, pro-military, and very engaging. It features the kind of high-stakes storytelling we love here at Right Fans -- and a moral confidence that kicks political correctness in the teeth.
Plot Synopses:
A Prophecy Forgotten
In Heaven's Realm, the cherubians have been fighting a three-thousand year war against the evil mornachts, a race of creatures who rose up in rebellion against Ianoda, the creator. The effects of this battle have spilled over onto Earth, where cherubian guards are tasked with the job of protecting humankind from mornacht possession. (Basically, the cherubian guards act as guardian angels, but don't tell them that to their faces. They are proud soldiers, not waif-like, delicate creatures with white, feathery wings.) An ancient cherubian book of prophecy promises that the Tri-Millennial War will one day end - that a great king will ascend the throne of Elysia and a human child will vanquish evil once and for all - but most cherubians have stopped believing in the Runes and have grown complacent and decadent.
There are a few cherubians, however, who notice the signs and recognize that the end times are close at hand. Among these believers is Davian, a highly respected soldier in the cherubian equivalent of the Special Forces, and Gabriella, a young guard and expert archer. When it is discovered that the human Child of the Runes has indeed been born, Gabriella is sent to Earth to serve as the child's guard. This turns out to be a far more difficult job than one might suppose, as the boy, Tommy O'Connor, often gets into trouble. He is naturally hyperactive, loves to take risks, and is the frequent victim of schoolyard bullies. At seven, Tommy is also in the custody of his "hardened" mother, who lost her cherubian guard long ago when she abandoned what little remained of her human decency. After suffering years of near constant emotional and physical abuse at school and at home, young Tommy is himself beginning to "harden." Fortunately, a holiday vacation with his decorated Navy SEAL father, Jim, comes just in time to halt the hardening process in its tracks. Unlike Tommy's mother, Jim adores his son and showers him with attention and affection.
One day during Tommy's vacation with Jim (which eventually turns into a permanent arrangement when Tommy's mother runs off with a new beau), he gets lost in a sudden blizzard and falls into a nearby river. Gabriella receives authorization to do any and everything to save Tommy's life, and she reacts to the crisis by taking on human form and jumping into the river after the boy. Gabriella successfully rescues Tommy, but in the process, she is knocked unconscious, and when she comes to, she has no memory of her cherubian origins. Fortunately, the extended O'Connor family welcomes her with open arms, and she is incorporated into their Christmas festivities. Indeed, Jim even starts to develop feelings for Gabriella.
Any potential for cozy domesticity, however, is destroyed by changing events in Heaven's Realm. While Gabriella is trapped in her human form on Earth struggling to regain her memory, a conspiracy of treasonous cherubians - among them one of Davian's long-time friends - joins with the mornachts and prepares to attack the City of Ezzer (the cherubian capital city), murder the heads of the current cherubian government, and kill Tommy O'Connor and his protectors. Only the first two objectives are ultimately achieved, but enough damage is done that the cherubians begin clamoring for a king.
Out of the Shadows
Most of the events of this novel take place ten years after the events of the first. In the intervening time, a seraph by the name of Salla has been crowned king of Elysia and has launched a decade-long reign of terror during which many of the more stubborn cherubians have been imprisoned or killed. And the effects of Salla's reign have impacted Earth as well; the evil Elysian king has also reduced the number of guards on Earth, allowing the mornachts greater liberty to influence and possess humans. The increased mornacht presence on Earth has led not only to a raging global crime wave, but also to the formation of an international alliance of communist, dictatorial, and Islamist nations known as the CTA. Since the formation of the CTA, terrorist activity has also jumped markedly; for much of the novel, the threat of World War III is ever present.
In this powder-keg climate, Tom O'Connor, now seventeen, starts his plebe year at the Naval Academy, where he immediately attracts negative attention because of his ability to perceive things beyond the range of an average man's senses. He can, for example, sense when mornachts are in the vicinity (though, of course, he doesn't think of them as mornachts), and he can see writing on the windows of the chapel that no one else can see. Fortunately, he meets up with a group of men and women who have dubbed themselves the "Flaming Swords" - people who have all been called by Ianoda's prophet Jaliel to come to the aid of the Child of the Runes. One of these "Flaming Swords" - a fellow plebe named Jake - takes a bullet for Tom when a possessed vagrant begins shooting up a seafood restaurant, and all of them help Tom fight the mornachts and their human hosts in a climactic battle on the streets of Annapolis.
In the meantime, Davian and his friends, with the help of a gnome nicknamed Klous, stage a daring escape from the mornacht Dungeon of Enbed and proceed north, gathering a rebel army of cherubians, unicorns, and dragons as they go. With this force, Davian is able to defeat Salla's much larger army, recapture Ezzer, and kill the tyrant Salla himself. Davian then sends reinforcements to Earth, thus turning the tide in Tom O'Connor's battle.
In the denouement, Tom firmly commits himself to the quest to find the legendary Sword of the Vanir, which is prophesied to be the weapon with which Tom will vanquish the deceiver Jacobi and bring peace to both Earth and Elysia. At the same time, Davian at last accepts his identity as the true king of Elysia.
(I have in fact glossed over a lot of details here. Still, the above should give you a general idea of the setting and plot.)
The Skinny:
As I understand it, Ms. Weston set out to write a series that echoed the high fantasy of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. In my opinion, she's succeeded beautifully. The Elysian Chronicles contains all the high-stakes, fate-of-the-world plot elements that drew me to the Lord of the Rings - and at the same time, the series manages to include the immanent Christianity that was the hallmark of Tolkien's masterwork.
Many of the themes we find in Tolkien can also be found here. For example, in both A Prophecy Forgotten and Out of the Shadows, we are confronted with the certainty that Providence - Ianoda - is directing events. Just when Davian is about to succumb to the horrors of Enbed, for example, a beast attacks the prisoners, and in the ensuing struggle, Davian sees a shaft of light and realizes there is still a chance he can escape. Gabriella also escapes from prison through Ianoda's intervention, and we learn that Jaliel, Ianoda's prophet, saved Jim O'Connor from certain death during the Gulf War to ensure that Tommy would be born. In fact, as I mentioned above, every member of the "Flaming Swords" has been called by Jaliel to serve. At times, the characters question Ianoda's role in events, but what Davian says to Zephor towards the end of the first novel expresses the general attitude of the author best:
"Where is He? Look at what's happened! My charge decides to run home from school, and I just happen to walk in on Picante right before he could kill Gabriella -- and she just happens to snap out of her amnesia! I just happen to enter Heaven's Realm right next to the unicorn slaughter, which is how we found out about this whole battle to begin with! Without these two coincidences, you and I would be drinking honeywine at the Treetop right now, blissfully unaware that this army was even coming. And look at Tommy! Seraph, he was almost hard until she became human, and you know what I think? I think she was destined to knock herself out. She was supposed to become human so she could save Tommy from hardening - and if she didn't knock herself out, we wouldn't have found out about this whole thing to begin with. All of these things seemed bad at first - but Ianoda used all of them for good."
Another Big Theme Weston tackles in this series is the problem of pain. At the end of the first novel, there is a conversation between Jim and Tommy that, in my opinion, provides one of the most moving answers to the challenge of heartache and suffering I have ever read. In the scene in question, Tommy asks his father why bad things happen to good people. After Jim tells Tommy that humans have free will, and that our bad choices often lead to pain (very true), he then adds the following regarding his disastrous marriage:
"If I hadn't married your mother, I would never have had you, and I think I'd rather experience the pain of a divorce and have you than have no divorce and not have you at all."
Wow.
I've been slow to post lately because Dad has been in the hospital with septicemia. He is now in a rehab center getting some intensive physical therapy to regain his strength and seems to be well on his way to recovery, but the fact remains that he might've died - or lost his right foot - if it hadn't been for the skill of his doctors and the prayers of his well-wishers. Why am I relating this story? Because Dad's reaction to his infirmity has been remarkable. He could be spending his time in bed railing at God for His unfairness, but instead, he has decided to return to the Catholic Church after a very long time away. I think Dad would agree that his suffering seems to have brought about something positive.
Do I think my severe rheumatoid arthritis has brought about something positive? Well, I haven't experienced any conversions because of it; my own conversion to Catholicism was spurred more by an intensive study of C.S. Lewis' Christian apologetics. On the other hand -- on the Thursday morning before Dragon*Con this year, I stopped at a gas station in North Carolina to fill up and discovered that my hands were too stiff and swollen to twist off my gas cap. Fortunately, an African-American gentleman happened to be walking by, and when I called out to him and explained that I had arthritis, he came over and helped me without a second thought. That morning, at least, my suffering had elicited the compassion of someone else, and that too, I think, is positive.
"Throughout my life, I've found that something beautiful always comes out of bad circumstances. We just have to look for it."
Weston also emphasizes the importance of mercy in dealing with others. The second novel, for instance, features a character named Lorne who cooperated with Salla for several years before defecting and joining Davian's army. Indeed, Lorne is present when Salla cruelly breaks Gabriella's wings and does nothing to stop him. Given Lorne's past, it would've been perfectly understandable if Davian had tossed Lorne in a cell and thrown away the key. Instead, this is what Davian does when Lorne surrenders himself:
Davian stared at the young captain for a while. He needed no unicorn to see the remorse in Lorne's eyes. "Yet you risked your life to leave Salla's army to fight for me."
"My first act of decency since Salla took power."
"It takes a strong cherubian to admit to himself what he is. It takes an even stronger cherubian to admit it to others. And it takes a humble cherubian to decide to change." Davian picked up Lorne's sword, held it by its blade, and handed it to Lorne. "I need a strong cherubian to lead my infantry. Whatever crimes you have committed under Salla are forgiven -- and forgotten."
I noted above that Weston's Christianity is an immanent part of this series rather than an overt feature. This is a perfect example. No character in these novels professes a belief in Jesus Christ. In fact, the mythology seems on the surface to be drawing from pagan sources. But the characters in this series all behave as if Christianity is true. If Christianity is true - if it is true that God sacrificed himself to accomplish our salvation - then we should forgive each other as God has forgiven us. This is what Davian does even though Christ is not explicitly a part of his world.
What's particularly refreshing about this series is that, while Weston does highlight the power of Christian forgiveness, she also manages to craft a very martial story:
"This one's heart is as evil as a mornacht's. Do you think reason or negotiations will change that?"
"What will change it?"
"Evil only fears reprisal."
No where in this series does Weston ever question the truth that evil must be challenged and destroyed - that sometimes war is a necessary evil. Sometimes the characters question this truth, but they are usually smacked down in short order. Davian, for example, is particularly reluctant to accept his role as the true king of Elysia, and the idea that he will have to kill fellow cherubians to rid Elysia of Salla's evil tortures him in his sleep. He frequently expresses a wish that he be left alone to tend a vegetable garden and dares Jaliel to tell him to his face that he really is the king foretold in the Runes. Sure enough, Jaliel eventually shows up and essentially tells Davian to suck it up and do his duty. It is a great scene that is blessedly lacking in pacifist nonsense.
No where is a character assumed to be evil simply because he is military; it all depends on whose side you are on. Marcus, one of Davian's trusted friends, sets a kill quota for himself whenever he goes out to fight mornachts or their allies -- and he is never portrayed as demented or damaged because he does this. Jim O'Connor is a Medal of Honor winner, and the narrative treats him as a strong and morally-centered hero, not as a brute or as a vet crumbling from his PTSD. And whenever the question of motivation comes up - several human characters are asked why they joined the Navy, for example - Weston always allows for the possibility that people join the military because they really do want to make the world a better place:
Tom watched [the visitors] proceed through Bancroft and thought about the men, women, and children who walked through Annapolis daily, trying to live their lives [despite] the constant threat of terrorist attack. He remembered the looks of fear on the faces of those who ran out of Crabby Jack's and the evil he constantly felt. War surrounds us. A war most people don't even know about. And innocent people are losing their lives because of it. He thought back to the question Jake asked him months earlier. Why did you join the Navy? I joined the Navy because of Dad, thought Tom. I'm staying in the Navy because I want to save the world. I want those children to be able to laugh in here when they grow up.
Again, I think Dad needs to read this. I'm about ready to lend him my Kindle so he can read it, because its treatment of the military is just that good and that respectful.
Lastly, Weston demonstrates an excellent understanding of sin and temptation. Pride leads Gabriella to disobey Davian and join the battle for Ezzer before she has fully healed. Davian has a difficult time overcoming his sloth and becoming the leader Elysia needs him to be. Tyce has his own problems with lust; Marcus has problems controlling his wrath. All of them are susceptible to Jacobi, the Deceiver; no character is perfect. The guardian angels Weston is writing are not strictly Biblical angels, but that's okay. she has stated that they are supposed to represent fallen humanity, and they do.
On the whole, I don't regret spending my money and my time on this series. In fact, I can't wait for the third book to be released.
Characterization: 9.0
The characterization is generally superb. I think I would be just a little happier if Davian weren't romantically interested in Gabriella, but that's a very small quibble.
Plot/Pacing: 10.0
I was reluctant to put these books down to do other things. That's the sign of a good plot.
Concepts/Themes: 10.0+++++++
See above. What impresses me most about this series - obviously - is its Christian and military-positive themes.
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