The Foundlings, Peleg Chronicles, by Matthew Christian Harding
Genre: Pre-historical Fiction, Action/Adventure
My rating: 7 out of 10 stars
I first ran across The Peleg Chronicles in the Vision Forum catalog, shortly before VF closed down. At the time I was extremely interested and coveted all three books. The descriptions were intriguing and I felt that they would satisfy my taste for rather fantastic fiction while still in a possible and realistic setting - i.e. they included elements like dragons, giants, dwarfs, and priests (who seemed an awful lot like magicians.) You may be wondering how dragons, giants, and dwarfs could possibly be combined in a realistic setting, but the answer is really quite simple: the time frame of the story is during the days of Peleg, who lived approximately 101 years after the flood. There are strong indications from the Bible, ancient traditions, archaeology, and paleontology that there were still dinosaurs and giants on the earth. Dwarfs? Well, I haven't researched that point, yet.
I have read only the first book: The Foundlings, and the free Kindle sample of the second book, but I decided not to purchase the second and third books, though possibly I may do so in the future.
Summary:
Lord McDougal and his faithful servant, Fergus, travel across ancient Scotland toward the fabulous city and fortress of Hradcanny. Along the way they fall in with various adventures (which include dragons/ dinosaurs and giants.) Thiery, a young boy with a natural talent for woodsmanship and working with animals, finds his life suddenly turned upside down when he is targeted by the evil Dragon Priests, and he is thrown upon his own resources - and the gracious protection of Noah's God. Suzie, whose childlike faith and overflowing love and joy in the worst of circumstances make her a light to everyone around her, is separated from her adopted older brother, Thiery, only to find new friends raised up for her just when she needs them most.
A troubled count, a ruthless and wily priest, and a stubborn and confused, but grateful, pagan soldier play varied and important parts in the story. The Dragon Priests are determined to serve their false gods and stamp out the religion of Noah's God wherever they can, but help comes to Thiery and his friends in the most unexpected places and at the most necessary times.
My thoughts:
The plot twists and turns, making for a fast-paced and exciting read. It is difficult to guess what will happen next and there are plenty of adventures. The godly characters are very open about their faith and the Christian teaching and worldview is very strong, without dominating the book to the point that it is no fun to read. In fact, the Christian witness is one of my favorite aspects of the book. The action is clean, and while there is fighting/ violence (especially with dragons) it is not overly scary, though I would not recommend it for children under 8-10.
There are a few things that really bug me, though. The language is very modern, including expressions like "Okay," "Wow," and "Yep." That just about drove me crazy, being one of my personal pet peeves, especially since there are some grammatical errors, but I can look past it for the sake of the message and story line. The writing style is a bit jerky at times, and there were multiple places where I had to re-read a section to make sure I understood it, and there are actually still a few parts where I feel like I missed something. In some places, though, the author's words just flow with natural eloquence, especially where one of the characters is sharing his faith. (In fact, Harding's writing style reminds me of Lord McDougal's manner: a bit awkward until he gets to a place which really means a lot to him, then graceful, decisive, and well-developed.)
The characters are fairly well developed. I love Fergus' protecting devotion to his enormous, ungainly, noble master, Lord McDougal. I also like the fact that McDougal completely breaks out of the handsome, highly intelligent, striking personality mold. He is a completely unusual hero. Suzie's joyful trust was a good example of childlike faith and joy in adverse circumstances. Count Rosencross is intriguing to me and I look forward to finishing the later books, if I ever do that. Thiery is like a breath of fresh air, in some ways. I like his bold, loving witness.
One unique aspect of this book is the way that Harding incorporated Scripture, most of which had not been written yet. In some ways, this is a bit confusing to me. Frequently, the characters would quote or pray Scripture verses, but the only Scripture which had yet been written, as far as we can judge, was the Book of Job (which is referenced multiple times.) So, using Scripture quotations is an obvious anachronism, but the message which is communicated is so good that I am glad the Scripture was included.
The only other criticism I have is that the transition between books is so abrupt (at least, between the first and second.) The break is more like a chapter break than a continuation from one book to the next, which means that you have to buy the whole series if you're going to find out what happens. In fact, half of the characters are left in serious danger, giving the first book a cliffhanger ending - rather annoying if you are someone like me, who does not like to feel pressured into buying the next book of a series.
Conclusion:
Overall, judging from the first book, these are a fun, exciting, and clean read. There is a lot of speculation involved as to what ancient Scotland - and it's dinosaurs - may have been like, and the grammar, writing style, and language are not the grandest, but the story line and message are excellent. You do not want your children to develop a taste for books of this type (fast paced, poor language choice, etc) but they are overall good books.
Not available for free anywhere, as far as I can find. Buy in ebook or paperback format on Amazon.
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