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Till the Green Ember Rises, or the End of the World
The worst thing I can say about The Green Ember and its sequels is that they aren’t as good as Tolkien. Actually, I think they’re rather like something Tolkien or Lewis would have written if they’d seen and enjoyed the great action movies of the last 40 years. It is as if the books we never knew we needed have fallen unlooked-for onto our shelves; “You may find friends upon your way when you least look for it,” said Elrond wisely.
Had I world enough and time, I could say something about the Christian worldview that shines through the stories without even a hint (in what I’ve seen so far, being a little over halfway done with the series) of Aslanification.
Not that there’s anything wrong with Narnia.
Instead, let’s just do one simple bit of dialogue that nicely captures how the world is just complicated enough, that the bad guys make some kind of sense sometimes, and yet there is still sufficient clarity on how good is good and bad ain’t.
Published in LiteratureEvil uncle:
You should know, oh great Scribe of the Cause, that we each tell ourselves a story about our place in the world.
Heather:
But the story needs to be true.
Evil uncle:
Who is to say what’s true? All who claim to know it are only seeking power. Which side is right? History will decide in a hundred years.
Heather:
If you’re on the side that murders, betrays, and enslaves, that might give a hint.
(From Ember Rising, page 18)
Some terrible things in the news lately.
It will not be so in the Mended Wood.
I have not heard of this series before. It sounds as if it has great potential to share with grandchildren.
Yes.
Since the day my (now) son came to live with us, I have read to him at bedtime every night. It is now five years and counting and we’ve plowed through a lot of books. We read the Green Ember series and it was, I think, the only series we have read where we both wept at times while we read it. It wasn’t so much that some parts were sad (they were) but the way they were situated within the truth itself made them moving and poignantly relevant. Highly recommend.
Sounds to me like both you and your son have benefitted from him joining your family.
I have never understood parents who think it is a chore to read to their kids. It’s something to live for.
I’m intrigued. I am particularly interested if, as you indicate, it is not as obvious an allegory as Lewis offers (I’m much more in the Tolkien camp than in the Lewis camp in that regard).
Thank you!
Also recommended in similar manner:
The Wingfeather Saga.
I’m tellin’ youz guys, that second comma wasn’t there before.
Tell it to the grammar police, perp.
I am the grammar police.
I regret to inform you that you have descended into pedant hell. Keep your arms and legs and participles inside the ride.
Most vivid and obvious bit of a Christian worldview I noticed: Mrs. Weaver’s lines in The Green Ember.
One thing that makes these books interesting is how well they capture the structure of a religion like Christianity, with or without any clear sense of a supernatural (in the first three books, which I’ve now finished).
Story: You have come into the world at the front end of a long saga.
Inheritance: You have inherited a role in this saga.
Responsibility: Things need to be set right. Part of that is your job.
Creed: “My place beside you. My blood for yours. Till the Green Ember rises, or the end of the world!” “It will not be so in the Mended Wood.”
Ritual: Say the Creeds. Do that hand-mouth-eyes thing. (Probably some rituals I lost track of.)