Weekly Reader: The Prophecy Has Begun: Donum by Alexandra Lane; Suspenseful and Fantastic Faith Based Dark Supernatural Fantasy (and My Views on Faith Based and Conservative Literature)
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: This is the second of four Faith Based works that I am doing closely together so I feel that I must make a true confession.
I am not a Christian, regular Readers of my blog know that. But it is worth repeating.
I grew up in a Christian household and was figuratively beaten over the head with scare tactics about Hell, The Rapture, The Last Days, and "You must be saved or suffer the consequences of burning in the Lake of Fire."
I was a kid who already had Depression and Anxiety. I was undiagnosed until my first year of college. The religious threats only made my fears worse and I often suffered untold psychological stress including nightmares, trauma, crying jags, mood swings, and other negative emotions over whether I was saved or "saved enough." I replaced what I was told was God's love with God's Judgement.
As if the fear factor wasn't enough, by the time I reached high school, I developed some very strong political opinions which were very different from what I was being indoctrinated with from the pulpit. The views I heard were often racist, homophobic, misogynistic, and were forceful towards who "Good Christians" were supposed to vote for, much of it was espoused by people that my family knew for years. (This was during the '90's when religion and politics were becoming intertwined only to tighten ever further.)
When I entered college, I realized that since I no longer lived with my parents, then I needed to find a spiritual/philosophical path that was more in line with what I believed and made me feel accepted and welcomed. I realized that I no longer wanted to be a part of a religion that speaks more of judgement and exclusion rather than acceptance and understanding, that has to guilt trip, scare, proselytize, or browbeat a person into joining. In 2002, I became and still remain a Solitary Wiccan.
Now where does this leave the books that I read and review,
you may ask. Well, I consider myself open minded and accepting of many paths. The various myths and legends share many common tropes, themes, names, and characters and parallel many scientific occurrences so much that they are all telling the same stories. They just use different words to describe them. If you accept me and others then I have no problems with you.
I am an avid reader of History and certainly understand that religion definitely has its place in history, for good and bad. Many schisms, debates, and wars were and still are fought over different religions, many times the same religion but different denominations. Many people used religion as a standard for their society's rules and regulations or at least allowed their people to have freedom of and from religion. So of course, religion has its place in Historical Fiction and Nonfiction.
For modern times, that can vary depending on book, author, and intent. I find that I can enjoy a religious book if it is well written. I have reviewed a few for this blog including An Elegant Facade by Kristi Ann Hunter, Amora by Grant Halloran, Unraveled and Made Whole Again by Deanna Wood Priddy, and most recently The Book of Uriel by Elyse Hoffman. If a book is well written from a storytelling point of view and a character is fully focused without just being a mouthpiece for the author to insert their religious or political views. If they aren't seen as this perfect model of paragon and virtue because they accepted their faith and all the liberal or disagreeing characters aren't cardboard, then I will read the book. I may even like it, even if the author and I have very different views.
However, the religious books and works that I don't like are the ones that try to force a conversion out of the Reader. If the character converts after a hard life and this is seen as an individual choice, then that's fine. However, if every character is either practically forced to convert or become a one dimensional villain shilling for the evil "Atheist/Pagan/Other Religion" antagonists then that is just poor writing. If the author then ends the book by turning their words to the Reader and orders them that they must be saved too or suffer God's wrath, then I'm sorry. I will hate it. Works like that include Jack Chick Tracts, Pure Flix films, or the Left Behind Series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.
For one thing, the author doesn't trust the Reader to make their own connection so it treats them like they're stupid. For another thing, that religion may have worked for the creator but like it or not, it may not work for everyone else. People do not need to be indoctrinated to make decisions. They are smart enough and should be allowed to find their own path in life without someone forcing them down their road.
The other reason is more personal. It takes me back to that anxious and depressed young woman who was constantly being scared and verbally chastised by adults who seemed to care more about injecting fear and judgement into their young listeners,viewers, or readers than whether their tactics were actually working. (News flash: They didn't and still don't.) I'm sure that I'm not the only one who feels that way.
On a similar note, since religion and politics are so interconnected these days, I am going to mention one more thing. There are certain recent Conservative political books, not just nonfiction but novels, and even children's books, that promote certain views that I absolutely cannot and will not condone and refuse to review. I won't even name them in this review so they don't get any more publicity than they already have. Regular Readers of this blog and my social media accounts like Facebook know what those titles are or can take a good guess.
Call me "woke," a "snowflake," or whatever the latest name is which has no real meaning except to show that rhetoric hasn't changed beyond schoolyard taunting that you want. I know what I believe and where I stand. To be truthful, I don't think that I could in good conscience give a fair, unbalanced, and unbiased review. Normally, I try and say "This book is not for me but Readers who like this type of thing will….." But I draw the line somewhere.
You may ask me and I might read it. (Don't worry, I don't charge until after the review airs). But now that you know who I am, what I believe, and how I feel, it's on you whether to ask me for a review. There are other bloggers and reviewers that might be more inclined towards that perspective and you are free to check them out. I am just letting you know.
Okay now that confession is over. On with the review.
As I mentioned before, if a religious book is well written with good characters and is the type that can genuinely be read by more than just the choir in which the author preaches, then it actually is a good experience. Thankfully, Alexandra Lane's The Prophecy Has Begun: Donum is that type of book.
You might wish to think of it as Left Behind: The Correction. In everything that the LaHaye and Jenkins' Best Selling Millennialist Tribulation period series failed at, Lane excels. Like them, she writes a Supernatural Dark Fantasy about the end of days from a Biblical perspective. She hits the high points that these types of works often include: natural disasters, angels, demons, a sinister charismatic figure who has a direct line to Hell (not Michigan) AKA The Antichrist, divine miracles, Biblical prophecy, The Mark of the Beast the whole bit. The type of stuff Readers of the Book of Revelation watch and repeatedly debate on.
However, Lane makes it a decent well written book with interesting characters, genuine suspense, and adds other touches to these works that focus more on friendship and human compassion rather than fire and brimstone.
In Capers, North Carolina, Noigel Braddock,a new Tech CEO, has moved in. He is handsome, charming, charismatic, but there is something….off about him. Local pastor, Frank Wright feels this as a distinct chill fills him whenever he sees the man or his tinted black car. The realtor, Allison Kennedy feels this when he asks if his new neighbors, Drs. Charles and Katy Leonardis have had their baby…yet.
Okay the Leonardis are public figures. Charles is a medical researcher on diabetes and Katy is a well respected psychologist. Allison reasons that Braddock might know about them.
But their fertility problems are hardly a matter of public record and why is this his business anyway? The CEO's hypnotic stare with solid black eyes that emit pure evil are enough to freeze Allison in her tracks, but a good sales commission steadies her hand. She sells the house feeling vaguely like she made a deal with the Devil, before she gets the Hell (pun not intended) out of town.
Meanwhile, true to Braddock's question, Katy Leonardis learns that after over a decade of trying, she is pregnant. She gives birth to a son named Charles Leonardis Jr. However, he is an unusual boy to say the least. After he is born, his parents are stricken by his strange teal colored eyes that seem intuitive and wise, like he can see right through anyone who is looking at him. Because of his strange eye color, he is nicknamed Teal. As Teal grows, many strange things happen around him. He talks to an angel that only he can see. When he is still a child, a sick little girl touches him and is miraculously healed. Other people such as a terminally ill woman are also healed by his touch. Others see Teal in their dreams and call him "Donum dei," Gift from God.
On the other end of the spectrum, strange bad things seem to happen around Braddock. His girlfriend, Chris leaves her husband and daughter and is reduced to an anorexic abused alcoholic mess for years. A local pharmacist who invests in Braddock's company fills his sadistic urges by molesting and killing young girls. In fact, crime goes up in Capers with several murders, domestic violence reports, and missing family members reported, all by people associated with Braddock.
It becomes clear that Teal Leonardis and Noigel Braddock are on opposite sides of the struggle between good and evil. Soon these two polar opposites will have to use all of their abilities, human and supernatural, to face each other in a final showdown.
What makes this book stand out is Teal himself. He has great awesome powers and is a selfless kid slowly becoming aware of his role in this supernatural war. However, he is also a regular kid. He argues and disagrees with his parents. One of the more dramatic confrontations between parents and child occurs after the illness of the family dog. Teal argues with his mom and dad, refuses to accept the dog's inevitable death (Teal can heal but can't bring the dead back to life), and refuses for a time to bond with the new pup that they later get.
Teal also grows into a typical adolescent with typical adolescent friends and interests. He and his best friends James, I.Q., and Stilts hang out and talk about-what else will hormonal heterosexual teen boys talk about but-girls. They also protect Teal from the dangers around him.
Also, Teal goes through two major relationships in the book. Unfortunately, he does not break cleanly with Carry, Chris's unstable daughter, to date James's sister, Bree. James behaves like a teenager acting on impulse and does not think about the consequences.
There are some strong spiritual passages spread throughout the book that are pretty suspenseful. One is when Braddock sends a legion of demons through Capers to hunt and kill everyone around. Teal orders the residents to go in their houses, lock the doors, and don't even look outside through the windows. The few that do suffer gruesome fates.
It's true sometimes what you don't see is as terrifying as what you do. Most of the night, Caper's residents are treated to hoofsteps climbing over roofs, glowing eyes peering inside the windows like searchlights, and the tortured screams of those who were unfortunate enough to be caught outside.
What is particularly nice about the book is that even though the book is very Christian based, there is no over emphasis on doctrine. No one gets "saved" and they don't discuss punishment in Hell. It's clearly the Revelation inspired version of the end of the world but it is written like a situation you would find in secular horror films like The Exorcist or The Omen.
In fact, the Christian characters are not concerned with beating other characters and Readers over the head with the religious talk of salvation. Instead, they let their actions do the talking.
Katy's sister, Marlene had a troubled past in which someone helped her get clean. She does the same for another character that changes them for the better.
Another time, Teal and his friends help a family during a natural disaster. The Christian characters are the type that you wish would exist in real life, buy don't always: Kind, giving, and committed to helping all people, even those not in their religious spectrum, not preaching to, shunning, and excluding them.
The Prophecy Has Begun: Donum may be based on Christian literature but there is enough in there for any Reader.
