Sir Kendrick and the Castle of Bel Lione

All of the Chuck Black Kingdom Series and now the Knights of Arrethtrae series Audio books are superb! This one is no exception. Have immensely enjoyed listening to it.

I have 2 sons in elementary school, and we have read everything Chuck Black has written. His Knights of Arrethrae series is even better than the Kingdom Series, and we loved that! I loved the story, and as we were reading it each night, I found it hard to put down. I confess I'd frequently read ahead after the boys were asleep! Not only is the story line captivating (to little boys as well as their Mom & Dad), the message and "moral" of the story is excellent. We did the discussion questions at the back of the book as a family, and it opened up all kinds of great family discussions about spiritual issues. After reading Chuck Black's books together as a family, the boys like to read them on their own, sometimes multiple times! I give this book a strong 5 star rating.

Sir Kendrick has a hard job training young knights to serve the Prince. One of his biggest challenges is Duncan, who is brash, outspoken, and a royal pain in the neck. The young man has a certain measure of charm, and a great deal of potential, but he's way too impulsive. Sir Kendrick and Duncan arrive in Chessington for a council of the knights, where they see a silver medallion engraved with an image of a sword held by a guantleted hand. Beside the sword is an image of a dragon suspended over the Kingdom of Arrenthtrae, with the words I Will Conquer printed below it. Everyone believes the medallion has something to do with Lucius, the Dark Knight. Sir Kendrick and Duncan are ordered to go to Attenbury and take part in a tournament, trying to identify the mystery knight. I really enjoyed this book. The characters are intriguing and deftly drawn and the reader is quickly pulled into a battle between the forces of good and evil. A strong fantasy story with a great faith message.

Sir Kendrick and the Castle at Bel Lione is thoroughly engaging. I think the author is a genius with an amazing gift of showing through fiction what the heart of man is truly like. I was enthralled with the story and am amazed that the genre is categorized as teen fiction. Adults who love Medieval stories will enjoy this, too. The only thing that tipped me off was the lack of descriptive violence. When someone got killed they "ran into the blade" but that was as descriptive as it got. Even the sickest scene in the dungeon/torture chambers was easy to stomach despite the cat o nine tails being used on someone. I am a bit of a wuss when it comes to gore, so this book was perfect for me. At any rate, I enjoyed Chuck's lyrical style of writing so much I read several portions out loud to my husband. The author has an amazing "voice" for writing medieval fiction with castles and knights and I felt as if I were watching a movie as I read. What made this story unique was the allegory to the New Testament ministry of Paul. Sir Kendrick reminded me of Paul and Duncan was a lot like Timothy. I loved the clear parallel to scripture and the emphasis on good versus evil, minus the witches and dragons and other mystical themes that are often found in fantasy novels. The story did contain some pretty scary wolves, though. I felt the terror from the attacks of evil. The moral lessons were fabulously knitted into the fabric of the story, and I was moved to tears several times over themes of forgiveness. It really isn't about what we say we believe, but it's about how we actually apply our faith in Christ to our lives. The author demonstrates this theme with perfection. You can't help being inspired by reading this book.

I was blown away by how much I loved this book! It looks like a great start to a fantastic series. This is a book that would be a great read aloud to your family and would keep everyone entertained while giving you good discussion of spiritual truths and ideas. The characters are great and the settings are vivid with imagery that will take you right into the castles and countrysides as the characters go there. This is a series that I will be collecting for my family and I would strongly suggest that you do as well!