The Tablet

She rose unsteadily to her feet. Was this really happening> Could this thing… this ‘Tablet’ … really create anything she wanted? Balancing the stone on one hand, she started to scratch in another word until she noticed her fingernail was wearing thin. She changed her mind and wrote F-E-L-T P-E-N instead. Instantly, there was a black felt pen in her hand. Denny’s mind raced with possibilities. What were the limits? Were there any limits?

Book: The Tablet (Book Four) (The Imager Chronicles) by Bill Myers, Bethany House Publishers, 1992

Genre: Fantasy
Target Audience: Boys and Girls 12-15
Subject: Control, Suffering, Trust in God

Summary: No more pain! No more death! No more rules! With Denny in charge, all the mistakes the Imager made in His creation will be changed. The Merchant of Emotions, sister to The Illusionist is only to happy to learn that Denny is starting to think she could do better than the Imager. A carefully planted image in her dreams leads her to a tablet that makes her wishes reality. Whatever she writes on it happens. With her mom in the hospital suffering from a broken leg, the first thing to go is pain. But that doesn’t work. Pain protects people from doing things that lead to death. No problem. Denny just removes death too. Yet, somehow that doesn’t make people thrilled with her either. So she gets rid of rules. Isn’t this the makings of a perfect world?

Notes: The Tablet is the fourth in the series known under three names: Journeys to Fayrah, The Bloodstone Chronicles and The Imager Chronicles. This series focuses on three characters who enter a fantasy world to learn about the love God (known in this world as The Imager) has for them. Each book focuses on one aspect of belonging to Him and trusting Him. The Tablet speculates what would happen if a human tried to run the world instead of God. Denise wants control, doesn’t want to trust the Imager with her life or the life of those she cares about. Yet when she gets the chance to try ruling the world herself, her attempts only lead to the point where a bus is on fire with people trapped inside and a group of people only cares that the view of the event is blocked. No one will die or feel pain and there are no rules so no one sees any reason to care for anyone else. People are miserable and suffering but can’t die. Finally Denny learns that eternal life without The Imager is eternal misery. She learns that letting go of control and trusting the Imager is a much better way for the world to operate. This is a very powerful book that all Christians should read at least once. However, it does get violent and a little bit graphic when everything starts to fall apart due to Denny’s attempts to control it.

Recommendation Scale: 5/5
Reviewer: J:-)mi

Romans 5:2-5 - And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.