The Gifted

But Cathros turned to the companions, and said in a quieter voice. “We must know.”

“Know what?” Elynna asked.

Cathros ignored her. His tone was urgent as he posed his question to the men. “When did this happen?”

“Yesterday evening,” the man replied. “As the sun was setting.”

A long silence followed as the men walked through the village and disappeared. Elynna understood all too clearly the implications of their words. Still, it was painful for her to hear Cathros speak it aloud. “Yesterday evening. After our battle. And so the Daegmon still lives. We have failed.”

“Perhaps we failed to kill it,” Cane Acquiesced. “Or there were more than one.”

Or both, Elyanna thought. The idea struck her for the first time. Maybe this creature was not alone; maybe there were more than one. And maybe they could not be killed.

Book: The Gifted (The Daegmon War Series) by Matthew Dickerson, Living Ink Books, 2015

Genre: Fantasy

Target Audience: Boys and Girls 14-18

Subjects: Faith, Good vs. Evil, Fear, Spiritual Gifts, Truth

Summary: Rejected. Denied. Disbelieved. And therefore hopeless. That’s the condition of the small band that sets out in pursuit of the Daegmon, trusting that Elyanna’s gift of sensing the enemy, Cane’s gift of being able to conjure up the Sword Flame when the enemy approaches, Cathros’ gift of Battle Strength coming upon him when facing the enemy and Tienna’s gift of healing to conquer the powerful creature who is destroying entire villages. Gifts untried, untested, untrained and in such a few number. If even the king doesn’t support them, how can they stand a chance? If only there were more knowledge of this creature! But it seems that nearly all knowledge from times so far back has vanished, along with most of the gifts and knowledge of them. Elyanna is not just fearful, she’s completely terrified and is confident they don’t stand a chance.

Notes: The Gifted is the first in the Daegmon War series. The series sets up a time when much knowledge of the past has been destroyed or hidden. Like times past, an enemy is on the land, destroying the innocent. And the Ultimate Being has bestowed “gifts” – special abilities on certain people to help fight the evil. The evil takes the form of a dragon-like creature or a man that influences the king. The spiritual element is in the struggle to have faith in the Ultimate Being, called the All-Maker. One character has strong faith in Him and sees history and current events in light of that faith. Elyanna lacks that and is ruled by fear. She doesn’t turn to that or accept it in the story, it’s just kind of there. General understanding is that the All-Maker exists and the gifts come from Him, but it’s almost as if knowledge of Him is as lost as knowledge of the enemy.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 3.5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Isaiah 40:28 – Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.