Name: Oath of the Brotherhood
ISBN: 9781612915876

C. E. Laureano

Conor Mac Nir is a gifted harpist who is hopeless with a sword, but as an ancient evil engulfs the isle of Seare, a reclusive warrior brotherhood thinks he may be the answer to an ancient prophecy if he can be trained to fight.

Oath of the Brotherhood

Celeste Richardson

Full review now posted!

Rating: 3.5 stars, rounded up.

I apologize in advance for the first six hundred or so words of this review not being an actual review, but instead being a discussion of the Christian fantasy genre in all its glory and failures. It’s a subject that is dear to me, and I can’t help myself!

When I was younger, it was difficult to find good Christian fiction. There was plenty of Christian fiction out there, of course, but outside of classics there weren’t that many that were actually well written and compelling, in my opinion. If you weren’t interested in historical or Amish fiction, there just really wasn’t that much fiction out there that could edify your faith without becoming boring. 
And then I found Christian fantasy. There wasn’t a whole lot of it when I was a teen, but it was a genre on the rise. The likes of Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti radically impacted my life, and continue to do so. But these weren’t high fantasy or epic fantasy. They tended to lay more on the horror side of things, becoming spiritual thrillers for the most part. I loved these, as they made me think deeply about what goes on in the spiritual realm around us. 

But epic fantasy, fantasy that takes place in another world radically different from our own, is my favorite genre and it was very underrepresented in the Christian fiction world. Outside of Narnia (still a favorite, by the way), there just wasn’t that much offered in this area. In this past 15 years or so, this tiny subgenera has exploded. Christian fantasy is now a big market, as fantasy fans have begun looking for cleaner, more hopeful reading options that reflect their faith and worldview. Are all of the new offerings in this still budding genre actually good? No more than every secular fantasy novel is successful. Some of these are pale reflections of their secular cousins, basically just using fantasy settings to preach. 

I don’t want my fiction to preach at me. I want it to uplift me in my faith, yes, and to make me think deeply, but even as a Christian I have zero desire to have religion shoved down my throat. Finding Christian fiction that can balance this, can uplift and inspire without preaching, is difficult in any subgenre. But Christian fantasy in particular has been plagued with problems, especially regarding the use of magic. Also, every genre of Christian fiction is a mixed bag when it comes to the quality of the writing. I don’t think something should be considered a book worthy of the name just because it’s been printed. There has to be a standard there, and I personally feel that Christian artists should be held to an even higher standard because their work is supposed to reflect Christ. Often, however, Christian authors seem to sadly just slap some prayer onto the page and call it good enough. I think this is like an architect building a super shoddy house, cutting all kinds of corners, and then slapping a fish or a cross on the door and saying he did it for the glory of God. Shouldn’t we give God our best in everything, including our art?

But even though there are issues with this subgenre both in the content and in the quality of the prose, there are gems here. And as the years progress and more and more Christian fantasy series are published, there are better and better offerings available. Besides C.S. Lewis, we now have Patrick W. Carr, Anna Elizabeth Stengl, Jill Williamson, Karen Hancock, and more in the genre that are a pleasure to read and who I feel can hold their own with their secular counterparts. Will C.E. Laureano join that list for me? I’m not positive yet. Onto the actual review. (Sorry for the long lecture before I even mentioned the book I was supposed to be reviewing!)

This first installment in the Song of Seare trilogy had a lot of things I really liked. The writing wasn’t clunky or slow. Conor, our main character, is well rounded and believable and interesting. I loved his interest in and talent for music, and how that talent held magic for him. Music was presented beautifully here, which is one of the quickest way a writer can worm their way into my heart. The setting felt Scottish, and reminded me a lot of the setting of John Gwynne’s The Faithful and the Fallen series. Which I loved. But my favorite aspect of the book was the faith element. The religion was a clear renaming of the Christian faith, with the names of God (Comdiu) and Jesus (Balus) merely changed. But that faith was vibrant and real, and it was a giant part of the lives of the main characters. Faith was never an afterthought, but rather an incredibly important building block of life. It was relied upon, and I loved how faith was presented as so vital to everyday life.

The things that bogged me down a bit were the training and war elements (which is normal for me as I almost always get bogged down with these) and the romance. I felt that the romance element became too central to the plot, but it was still well handled. All in all, this was a good book, and it’s definitely a series I’ll be continuing in the future!

For more of my reviews, as well as my own fiction and thoughts on life, check out my blog, Celestial Musings.

Oath of the Brotherhood

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