Sir Dalton and the Shadow Heart by Chuck Black - a review

Sir Dalton is a young knight in the service of an unknown King and his Prince. Like all knights Sir Dalton has trained and spent many hours studying the codes by which he swears to live by including pledging allegiance to the King and his son. Chuck Black has created a world that is new to me in this third book of The Knights of Arrethtrae series, but it is not a world with which I am entirely unfamiliar. I have not read the first two books, but my own voracious reading reminds me that Knights live by a code and swear allegiance to a King. These codes go to the very heart of the Knight and he (or in Black's case occasionally she) must believe with all their hearts that the King they serve is truly King of the land of themselves. That moment of doubt is where Sir Dalton falls prey to those that seek to do harm to the Kingdom of Arrethtrae, the Shadow Warriors.

There is something in Sir Dalton that even those who do not know the ways of Chivalry will be able to follow. Sir Dalton is young, but he knows what he wants in life. He has plans and desires that are good and right to have, but he finds himself questioning whether he truly believes in the King. This questioning leads to the fight for Sir Dalton's life in more than one way.

I enjoyed this book on many levels. I think for young readers it is the perfect mixture of peril and hope. There are moments for those of us who are older readers where we could roll our eyes and think how obvious, but Black does a good job of asking the reader to come with him and trust him to lead us back to the path of remembering the King. In one scene (I promise I'm not giving too much away) Black describes a prison with no doors, no bars, and only guarded by a few guards and wild dogs. It seems like a strange thing to think of a prison that way, but when you stop and think about it we place ourselves in those very prisons every time we let fear, doubt, and numerous other thoughts invade the place in our hearts where the King should rule without rival. Chuck Black does not make Sir Dalton's trials over the top or so simple that you cannot root for him. You want Sir Dalton to overcome because as a reader it is good to be reminded that there is evidence of the King all around, we just have to believe.

how not to write a thesis

I don't know if this will ever be anything more than me venting my frustration about the thesis writing process.

I have been researching my topic for a year and a half - I know my topic. What I do not know is how to organize my thoughts and ideas to make sense and then compile them so that they make sense to a reader. I know my topic, what I do not know are the ancillary things that need to be compiled so that reader can also understand my topic. What can I take fore granted with my reader? Who is my reader? Does my reader even care about those things that I think they need to know in order to help them understand the era?

My biggest problem to date has been my inability to nail down my organizing. It has been my chief complaint about my graduate school experience. You take all these classes and then at the end you are supposed to compose a small book that will take you to the next level in your education. Somewhere I feel like I missed the proverbial boat.

I rarely have trouble writing a paper. I do the research and I write. I have tried to think of the chapters as individual papers to no avail. There is something about trying to write the 1st chapter of something that you can't wrap your mind around. I know, I know if I would just write something down that words might flow, but there is something to wanting things to be organized and simplified. That is the way we are taught to write, research, organize, outline, write. Simple. No.

North! Or Be Eaten - a review

There is something amazing in turning the page of a book and not recognizing the phantastical creatures that appear not only in the written word, but the occasional well drawn excerpt from Pembrick’s Creaturepedia. Such is the story in Andrew Peterson’s North! Or Be Eaten the second book in the Wingfeather Saga. N!OBE (as it is affectionately known) picks up quite literally where we left the beloved jewels of Anneria at the end of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness living with their Uncle Peet the Sock Man in his treehouse preparing with their mother Nia, and former pirate grandfather Podo, for a trip that will take them north to the Ice Prairies where the Fangs of Dang cannot follow.



While the first book On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness entertained me with its wit and quick paced movement, I found myself slowing down to capture every moment in this book. I am more invested in the Igiby family and wanted to savour their escape. It was Janner Igiby that I found myself drawn to as I read through the story. It seemed with every page you could see Janner growing into the protector of his family whether he wanted to be or not. It was often times in those moments of not wanting to be protector that he found himself most alone and out of control.



I confess I thought I knew how the book ended, but never was I more surprised when I got to the last ten chapters and knew that my plans would wait while with baited breath, tears of sorrow and joy, I found an end that was most unexpected.



I could tell you about the songs of the Sea Dragons, the stories that Podo, tells about Stranders and toothy cows, I could even tell you how Janner, Tink, and Leeli begin to believe they truly are the Jewels of Anneria; I could tell you all about those things, but Andrew Peterson does it so much better than I. So curl up any where you dare find, carve out a few hours and read: read about adventures and dangers unknown, read about creatures you have never even dreamed about, read about and remember how we (as much as the Wingfeather family) are created for so much more than we dare dream or imagine.

1978

Sleep

It is 2:56am according to the right hand corner of my computer. Now 2:57 and I have no idea why I am awake at this hour on a Monday morning. Maybe it was the pile of school books I rolled on top of that woke me, maybe it was the sudden heat wave that over takes you after you are used to be so cold while sleeping, maybe it was a higher wake up call. I remember being told a long time ago that if you were awake at this hour that it was God trying to get your attention, that He had better plans for you than just sleep. I think about that now. Not that I couldn't use the quiet time, my life is anything but quiet these days. Well, that's not true, I am quiet, but life is not quiet. There is SO much going on with a thesis, conference, family, car, classes, work, friends, church, roommate, that the list could be endless.

I've been reading alot lately (mostly random) so I have no idea where I read this but it went along the lines that worry is a sin. A sin because when you worry you are not trusting God. I do not think that is a fair assessment of worry, true it can get out of control, but is not worry a deeper level of concern? Is not showing concern for our friends, family, and neighbors what we are called to? I feel bad because my friends and family are on my mind, but my mind is so consumed with thesis that I can rarely call them, let alone set hours aside to be with them. I schedule research trips to cities so I can see friends and family in between the open hours of libraries.

The above link in a few days will have a sermon on it from Feb 8, the speaker will be Joel Walker; (I hope, I am typing this before the podcast has been posted and there were technical difficulties in the recording) he talks about being a community focused on the community instead of the individual, along the lines of the Acts 2 community found in the early church. Joel asked the question who outside your spouse knows your heart? Since I have no spouse I can easily answer that question: no one. There are some that are close to it, but now, no one. I have the been there done that attitude that leaves me with the faint traces of pain because for whatever reasons (some good and some bad) they are no longer in my life and what is the point of baring your soul to someone if they are going to leave. Not leave because you did, but leave because life dictates it; moves to new city, falls in love with someone else, etc. You have to keep telling your secrets over and over...

It is 3:24am. I have some clue of what this day will be, long, hard, busy. There are always the unexpected things though that life brings which I guess is what makes life interesting. Like being awake at 3:25am