In the past two weeks, I have been writing on the theme of light vs. darkness. Today, I want to share about a book I read this year that perfectly exemplifies this theme in a gripping tale of redemption. How far gone is too far gone? And how much into the dark is too much? This is one of the major dramatic questions in Beth Brower’s The Beast of Ten. In a short note I wrote on Substack back in July, I described this book as not your average Beauty and the Beast retelling. It’s a story about light fighting the deepest darkness, redemption, and standing by someone’s side while…

What if your life has been surrounded by darkness for so long that you begin to wonder if light ever truly existed? In a previous post, I shared how we are all born with an innate desire for the Light (Jesus), because we were created by Him and for Him. And yet, that doesn’t negate the fact that many of us have seen true darkness in this world, and many more have experienced it firsthand in ways that have deeply affected their lives and outlook on the world. For many, they have been so surrounded by shadows that darkness feels more real than light and hope ever will. For others,…

It is no secret that many authors in the general market have taken a shine to writing heroes who are morally gray and make questionable life choices. It seems that for a book to sell, a man has to be dark, brooding, have murky morals, and generally resemble a growling beast more than a gentleman. And let’s face it, this trend has been around for decades, as seen in works by Byron and the Brontes. This begs the question: what happened to chivalrous heroes who would stand up for what was right? I recently read a great Substack article by Elena B. Sato titled “Let the boys be good.” She…

Growing up, there was a popular series I became obsessed with: Left Behind. You’ve probably heard of it. Google describes it as a collection of apocalyptic novels centered on Christian eschatology, particularly premillennialist dispensationalism. (That’s a bunch of jargon for end times fiction with the belief that Jesus will come back to earth to reign for a literal thousand years after a literal seven year tribulation occurring after the rapture.) I absolutely loved this series. So much so that I read all 13 books of the main series, and then a few years later proceeded to read all 40 young adult novellas. Then I got older. My relationship with God…

In The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, there is a part where the Pevensies meet the Beavers. They are speaking about Aslan, and this conversation has always stood out to me: “Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion,” said Susan. “That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.” “Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy. “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King,…