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No…. I’m not gonna explain the painting scene. You and everyone else are in the dark and will just have to do your best to figure it out.🙃
WHAT?!
*sob*
How could you do that to us?!
"He who never quotes will never be quoted." ~Charles Spurgeon
~ Was the plot solid and engaging?
Pretty much!
~ Did the pacing feel consistent throughout the book? If not, where did it lag or feel dull?
It seemed that a lot of incidents were happening during the time that Leon and Rolf had their entire slavery journey compared to the rest of the story. There may have been a few lagging moments after that. It wasn’t that bad.
~Was there anything that seemed unbelievable or forced?
Nothing big stands out to me.
~ Were there any plot twists or surprises that stood out to you?
Oh yes. Rolf turning up was a total stun for me. And…*sob* Dietrich’s death!
~ Was the ending fitting and satisfying? (in the unsatisfying way that it was written 😄)
Yes. After I got over my shock of Dietrich’s death, the end had that bittersweet/adventure pull to it.
~ Were any parts of the story confusing or difficult to follow?
Aside from getting characters mixed up…not really.
~ Were there any unresolved plot threads you wish had been dealt with in this book?
I think of Albee’s story, but I enjoy how you left him in a cliffhanger.
However, would you explain the part when Leon is looking at the paintings? I don’t know who he’s thinking about…the girl that used to be with him…
~ Was the balance between action, dialogue and description smooth in the story?
There could have been more dialogue (especially in the journal entries). It would depend on how you want to write as well…and, of course, it can’t be too long…but I think some more dialogue in the journal entries may be nice.
~ Any theological concerns for the story?
No. I loved it! Some of the things encouraged/admonished me as I’m currently discovering some truths in my life with Jesus.
~ What would you say my worldview was?
The Good Spell.
~ What would you say was the message of the story?
Man is a sinner. Men can do nothing to save themselves. But through believing in Jesus’s sacrifice and repenting from their sins, they can be forgiven and change. Jesus is everything.
~Were the characters’ struggles dealt with effectively?
I believe so. Julian’s struggle after Leon was captured was good. I extremely enjoyed Albee’s, Ian’s, and Conrad’s struggles.
Extra:
~ What was your favorite part of the book overall?
When Leon and Rolf were in the other land as slaves. I greatly enjoyed that entire part.
~What was your least favorite part?
The beginning.
~Who was your favorite character?
Hmm…it’s hard to say my 1 top between the first three..but my favorites are Conrad, Rolf, Dietrich, Julian, Dian, and Albee.
~Who was your least favorite? (if you have one)
The priest who killed Dietrich…the guy who ordered Conrad to get whipped…Hassan
~Is there anything that you would say needs to be changed?
Eh, not really.
~ Which scenes would you want to see illustrations for?
OOHHHH!!!! Hmm…when the prince rides through on his horse, when the lion saves Rolf and his friends, when Leon announces he’s the White Knight or is looking at the paintings, when Leon and Julian reunite, when the rain comes down on the burning building, Leon and Rolf chained in the ship, Julian debating with the scholarly fellows.
~ What would you say the target audience of this book would be?
For children/young adults.
~ Any predictions for the next book?
Some people are going to die. Period. Hopefully, it won’t be Rolf. The church is going to get persecuted big time now.
~ Any other thoughts
Nope.
"He who never quotes will never be quoted." ~Charles Spurgeon
For some reason, I didn’t get tagged either!
That’s amazing! I’m so glad two people have reached out already! @esther I’m sure that mention on KDWC helped!
"He who never quotes will never be quoted." ~Charles Spurgeon
My gosh, you have a lot of questions! 😂 Now I don’t feel bad for having a lot of questions for my stories!
"He who never quotes will never be quoted." ~Charles Spurgeon
For some reason, Ian and Albee seemed really well developed, even though we didn’t get to see them for very long.
Yes! That’s exactly what I think as well!
"He who never quotes will never be quoted." ~Charles Spurgeon
~Which character(s) did you find the most compelling/relatable/believable and why?
For me, I would say I related the most to Conrad. That’s probably because I’ve had doubts before, like him, and faced fears and uncertainties.
I would also relate to Julian in certain areas since I am kind of like him.
I thought that Dian was a very believable character since there are so many people in the world who know a part of God…but not the fullness of Him.
~ Were there any character that need to be more engaging? If so, how would be some good ways for me to do that?
Well, Roland, Rolf, and Aelic kind of feel like tag-along characters to me. They have interesting stories when you first meet them…and Rolf really had some development when he was captured…but I feel like you can forget they are there…and if they were cut out (minus their salvation stories and Rolf’s capture) they wouldn’t be missed that much.
Perhaps you could show more character development for them…more levels of growth as they grow in Christ (which you did have for Aelic)…but that might make the book a lot longer…I think I feel like there are too many characters as a whole, but this story is about a lot of people…well, truthfully, I lose count of some of the characters.
~Where the characters believable?
Perhaps you could have had some slower character arcs for some of the minor characters, but I think Leon, Julian, Dietrich, Rolf, Roland, Aelic, and Conrad were all believable.
For writing’s sake, Albee was one of my favorites. I loved how you wrote him! He seemed very alive and real, and I loved reading about him.
~Did they have good, individual personalities, or were they clones?
*chuckle* Well…I get Roland and Rolf mixed up. They seemed pretty much the same to me as well, except that Rolf had a capture experience. For a bunch of the Christians only slightly in the book from the different towns…they seemed mostly the same to me. I just knew they were different people by their different names.
Dietrich seemed a bit like Marius, but that was very small.
I would say Aelic, Julian, Leon, Ian, Dian, Hassan, and (most definitely) Albee had very good individual personalities. Dietrich’s seemed fairly excellent as well.
For personalities, Albee jumps out at me from all the other characters. It was very enjoyable to read about him. He seemed very real and refreshingly different? in my mind. I hope that doesn’t sound bad… Dian was very neat as well.
The two young men from the university had good distinctions. I nearly forgot about them! (That’s why I feel like there are too many characters…it’s hard to keep tabs on all of them…but that may just be me)
Ugh…more guys I forgot about: Simon and Joran seemed like clones to me. Gareth would have been too but for his age. I knew he was the youngest and that set him apart from the other two. Especially since you called him: “Young Gareth”.
~ Were the relationships between characters well-developed and meaningful?
I loved how you portrayed Leon’s relationship with Albee. I knew all along that Albee greatly needed Leon…though he never mentioned it until the very drastic end…which was perfect! I think Leon and Ian’s relationship was developed well, too.
I also liked how you strengthened Leon and Julian’s relationship with each other and God when they got separated. I think the growth was more on Julian’s end…but still I was so happy when they met again!
~ Were there any characters you wanted to see more of?
My favs of course: Julian and Rolf. I like Rolf more than Julian now…because of his capture story, so I’d like to see more of him. Albee was very interesting as well, and (I think) one of the best characters you wrote in that story, so I think it would be cool to see his arc further developed. But, he’s fine where we last saw him as well. It leaves it up to the reader to imagine his path.
Omar was neat as well…but I think he would fit better in his own book.
~ Did any characters feel unnecessary to the story?
Roland. period. If Rolf didn’t have the capture part…he could get cut out as well…but you probably do want someone from that first village…so he can stay.
One of Rolf’s friends. Simon or Joran…either way doesn’t matter.
There are probably other characters…but I can’t even remember them.
~Did it work having two MCs
I think so. Sometimes, when they are writing I forget who is who…since they sometimes write very alike. Other times, it’s easier to tell who’s writing. Perhaps trying to distinguish their individual personality in their writing more may help?
~ Was the plot solid and engaging?
The very beginning seemed a bit slow to me…but I’d just entered the 3rd book without reading the first two…so I think that’s what it may have been. Once a bit in the story, it was very intriguing!
I’ll send the rest of my answers later.
"He who never quotes will never be quoted." ~Charles Spurgeon
Not sure why…. but for some reason I’m not understanding this. Is there a typo…. or am I really crazy?
26 How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for [a]edification.
When the church came together in the early days, there wasn’t just one man teaching. I wouldn’t say Leon is like “the pastor,” but with the early church compared to nowadays, the early Christians didn’t have pastors. If the men had a revelation or a teaching for edifying, they would share that with the others to build them up. I wasn’t paying 100% attention to how you wrote the meetings…but I just thought maybe more of the growing Christian men had truth to share as well. This is some food for thought. What do you think?
WOW!!!! I can’t believe that!!!! OH MY WORD LIBERTY!!!! THAT is EXACTLY why I wrote these books! If you are getting anything out of it that draws you closer to the Lord then I am 100% satisfied!
I know!!! WOW! I’m so glad God is using your stories! For me even!
"He who never quotes will never be quoted." ~Charles Spurgeon
Okay…
I was not expecting that. Especially at the end of the book!!!! You just crushed my heart again by killing another favorite character…
Despite the heart-wrenching deaths of *sob* the prince and his friend…it was a great ending and I’m intrigued by this mysterious character who wrote the letter.
"He who never quotes will never be quoted." ~Charles Spurgeon
NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! 😭😭😭😭
I was utterly shocked…stunned…I even started to cry again!!!!!!
I said I hoped you didn’t kill him…..*sobbing*
That’s all I can say right now…
"He who never quotes will never be quoted." ~Charles Spurgeon
Diedrich said.
Um…its Dietrich?
“I can’t get up,” Julian moaned. “I need to take my boots off.”
I love these lines!
At that moment, Leon knew what he had been missing the whole time. “Yes,” he whispered. “This is war.”
*pumping my fist in the air* This is Awesome!!
“Someone shot it at me last night.” He rose and stumbled to the wash basin, splashing handfuls of the cold water over his face. When he turned around, Julian and Aelic were both staring at him.
This is so hilarious! He nonchalantly says those words and Julian and Aelic are shocked.
“Yeah,” Leon replied, rubbing his face dry with a cloth.
“Yeah” seems a bit…modern? Perhaps “yes” would fit Leon/the era better.
Then he stopped, placing the crossbow bolt in the crack between the pages. He read in silence for a moment and then looked up.
Something just hit me…in the New Testament, didn’t Paul say that every man have a word, admonishment, or teaching to edify the church?
You may be called upon to lay down your life— but never lay down your sword!
W.O.W. Leon gave one sharp sword of a speech. He’s really hit some things home for me. Wow, Ellette! How long did it take for you to write that? How much studying?
Those truths he said were extremely convicting…it was truly something I needed to read. Thank you, Ellette!
"He who never quotes will never be quoted." ~Charles Spurgeon
That was awesome!!! I really got sucked into the story again! I was shrinking inwardly for Leon! I thought he really was going to get whipped…again! Then when Dietrich came…I celebrated!!! So awesome!
I also like how you show Leon and Julian admonishing and encouraging the believers from the previous towns. It’s nice to see how they continue their communications and help sort through rising problems because there will be problems! Leon felt like Paul when he was writing about the slaves and masters.
"He who never quotes will never be quoted." ~Charles Spurgeon
Wilhelm took another breath to steady himself. “My name is not Wilhelm Baumann. I am Prince Dietrich, son of Emperor Haidronias.”
That is so funny! When Wilhelm was first introduced, I actually thought, “That may be the prince…but in disguise!”
“One day, when I am Emperor, I will cleanse this land. I will destroy ever idol and temple.
Oooh!!! He’s about to become the Josiah.
"He who never quotes will never be quoted." ~Charles Spurgeon
“Careful?” Leon laughed. “Julain, I never thought those words would cross your lips.”
😂
"He who never quotes will never be quoted." ~Charles Spurgeon
*squealing with excitement* I can’t wait to hear about it!
"He who never quotes will never be quoted." ~Charles Spurgeon