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 remaining whole.

Let me tell you about it and why I believe that it is such a beautiful story of redemption and light.

The Beast of Ten Explained

The story opens when the Death Bleak, a man bent on the path of destruction and darkness, kidnaps a young woman named Ember after she begs him to take her in her father’s stead. The Bleak (later revealed to be named Sperro) has chosen to follow everything that is broken and evil, all in his pursuit of becoming one of the most powerful and evil creatures in the world. He is on the verge of succeeding in his quest, but Ember puts a slight hitch in his plans.

Ember isn’t an ordinary young woman. She has a special connection to the light and a powerful capacity to embrace it. She is the one thing that could defeat the Bleak. She is also powerful enough that if the Bleak decided to take her blood, he could finally become the dreaded Beast of Ten. Yet something in him hesitates.

The story follows Ember as she makes the Bleak’s home (The Pyre) her own domain. Her mission: to attempt to save the Bleak from himself. She sets about restoring the Pyre’s windows and lighting every candle she can find in order to fill the home with light and combat the darkness that the Bleak has wrapped himself in.

But the major dramatic question remains: how far is too far gone? And how can she help someone who refuses to be helped?

Why I Loved This Story

I will not share the details of how the story ends, as that would spoil pretty much the entire book. But I will share why I loved this book and why I believe it is a perfect example of this month’s theme of light vs darkness. Beth Brower is well known for using symbolism in her books. While I do not believe Brower intended her story to be an allegory of the Christian faith, there are certain ways her story reminded me of our own faith as believers and our calling to be the light of the world. Here are some of my favorite elements and the ways I was reminded of the Light through each of them.

Ember

Ember has a calling as a Virtus Third, someone with a great capacity to embrace the light and release it. When Ember was taken by the Bleak, she found a way to shine all the brighter. She restored the Bleak’s home, bringing back light and making sure all the windows were repaired. On one occasion, Ember confronts all the evil associates of the Bleak and, by embracing the light, she keeps the Pyre and its inhabitants safe.

This is who we are called to be as believers: the light of the world which reflects the One true Light and points others back to what they were originally meant to be. We most likely won’t be taken captive into an evil creature’s mansion and spend our time lighting candles and repairing windows, but we have been placed into this dark world to be the light, to restore hope to people, and to help point those living in the dark back to the light.

Ember’s task wasn’t easy. In fact, it demanded a lot of herself and throughout the story she has to be careful not to give beyond her capacity lest she lose herself in the process. I loved this aspect of the story, because it reminded me that while we are called to be a light and help others away from the dark, we must still care for our own light so as not to lose ourselves. Let’s remember that we can be the light of the world only inasmuch as we remain connected to the true Light: Jesus.

I have seen many people lose themselves in the name of helping others, especially in full time ministry. Ember, thankfully, was surrounded by key people who aided her on her quest to help the Bleak. Like her, we cannot ignore the necessity of having people to hold us up when we grow weak and remind us of the light when we grow weary fighting darkness.

Sperro

Sperro. That’s the name the Bleak went by long before he gave himself to the darkness. His name comes from the latin spero, meaning to hope, and there is a strange poetry in it: Sperro, a man named hope who walked away from it. Before he ever became a Death Bleak, Sperro was a young man with the capacity to carry great light and power. The Pyre, his home and inheritance, was the place in which he was meant to exercise this power. Sperro later turns his capacity for light into a capacity for evil, having been deceived, misled, and sold the idea of greater power.

This struck me as eerily similar to the way that God created us with the capacity of being like Him, but after being deceived and tempted, we turned it away for a temporary promise of power. This is what happened in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve listened to the snake who promised them that they would be like God. They were already like Him! And yet, they gave away their inheritance and ended up falling under the curse of death.

How many of us still do the same today? God promises us life, yet we will embrace our own will and the false promises of the world just to pursue instant gratification and self-importance. Like Sperro, God created all of us with the capacity to carry great light, but it is up to us to choose whether we embrace it.

Another thing about Sperro’s journey towards redemption that struck me was that it wasn’t a straight line. His story is complicated, and messy, and leads up to a climax where he has to confront the truth and decide whether he will embrace it. Everything in Sperro’s life pointed to the fact that he was too far gone, but an ounce of goodness remained. It wasn’t until Sperro chose to embrace this last bit of hope, the hope he was named after, that he was able to find redemption.

This is illustrated when at first he wears a cloak full of patch magiks, or magic bindings he had made with the dark. Ember later makes him a new cloak, embroidered with the stars as a reminder of who he was meant to be and who he can become. It wasn’t until Sperro left behind his old cloak that he could use the new one which Ember made for him.

Redemption works much the same for us. It is free and available for the taking, thanks to Jesus, but often we struggle to simply receive it. And then once we choose it, we are still human enough that we can fail in our pursuit of a new life. Sperro’s journey reminded me that following the Light and embracing the new life Christ offers, is a daily and constant choice. And it can only be truly effective when we decide to leave sin and self behind. But even when it seems we are too far gone, God sees us and offers us a new identity, a new cloak, and we can be made whole again through grace and faith.

Light Always Defeats Darkness

Light always defeats darkness. Redemption is always available, even to those who believe they are too far gone. And becoming a light to those around us is possible without losing ourselves in the process, and without taking up false responsibility for the actions of others. Let us remain connected to the Light and surrounded by people who remind us of who God creates us to be.

I hope that you give this book a read. And I hope that, as you read it, you will be reminded of how powerful the Light truly is, even over all the powers of darkness.