Heir of Honor

Word, I need Your help.

He squeezed his eyes tighter.

I am not strong enough to face this. Help me.

Book: Heir of Hope (Follower of the Word Book 3) by Morgan L. Busse, Marcher Lord Press, 2015
 

Genre: Fantasy/Allegory

Target Audience: Girls and Boys 16+

Subjects: Faith, Power, Good vs. Evil, Sacrifice, Salvation, Forgiveness

Summary: Rowen is gone, taken captive by the Shadonae and Caleb? He’s still trying to figure out what being a follower of the Word even means! All he knows is that he’s banished from his own home for getting rid of one of the Shadows. When he and Nierne meet up with Lore, desperately lost without Rowen, no way of knowing how to rescue her, they join reluctantly join forces to head for Thyra where the Shadonae rule. Caleb is the one who slew Lore’s beloved master during his days as an assassin and Lore is not convinced forgiveness will or even should ever come for that offense. But he can’t deny the mark on Caleb’s hand, the mark proving him to be an Eldaran, a Son of Truth. Even so, only his need to get Rowen back and recognition of Caleb’s power to help, keeps him from revenge. In Thyra, the Shadonae as fascinated with Rowen, having believed they prevented her existence decades ago. Rather than destroy her, they seek to convert her to evil, showing her the pleasure in living for oneself instead of others. Defeating the evil that holds Thyra will take all of them using all the gifts and power given them by the Word. If one falls, they will all fall. 

Notes: The third in a series, Heir Of Honor is an allegory showing how great the love of God is for His children. The ultimate being in the story, the Word, creates man, gives them free will, then dies in their place, taking on all their evil and suffering to bring them healing from the darkness within them. Some are gifted with special powers to help the rest of the people but even they have to choose to suffer in order to bring any healing or truth. The allegory is very strong and very well written in this story. It does an excellent job painting a picture of Jesus’ sacrifice and the great love it takes to offer one’s life for another. The one drawback is that this story is also very dark with much violence and death. The theme of this story is partially a continuation of the redemption Caleb found in the second book and partly a picture of persecution and suffering and Rowen is offered great freedom and rewards in exchange for turning her back on the Word and offered much misery and pain and loneliness in exchange for continuing to follow.  

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

1 John 5:5 – Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

Revelations 3:5 - He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.

Thank you to the author for providing me with a free review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. I enjoyed it!