Another book review!  This is a series I've been interested in reading for some time, and since Toni got the first two for her birthday, I seized the opportunity and had them both read within three days!

The Kingdom Series is an allegorical look at the entire Bible, starting at Genesis.  Leinad, the hero of the first two, represents many prophets and great men of the Old Testament.  His father, Peyton, represents the first man, Adam. 

At the beginning of the story, Leinad and his father are farmers, but Leinad has received a thorough training in the use of the sword.  Curios why has father has trained him so, Leinad eventually discovers that in times past his father was much more than a mere farmer.  Leinad is told of Lucius, the Dark Knight, and his secret war against the King, who dwells across the sea waiting to deliver his people through the hand of one man whom he will choose.  A short time later, Peyton is killed by the Dark Knight and Leinad realizes that he is the one. 

The rest of the book chronicles Leinad's journey to warn the people of his country of their impending doom and protect them from the Dark Knight and his warriors.  The ending is a bit of a cliff-hanger, but is quickly resolved at the beginning of book 2.

In the first several chapters of book 2 (Kingdom's Hope), Leinad obviously represents Moses as he frees his countrymen from bondage to Lord Fairos.  He helps them to establish the city of Chessington, and for some time there is happiness.  Then (moving into 1 and 2 Chronicles) the people demand a king, despite Leinad's warning, and eventually their disobediance leads them into captivity yet again.  They are freed after some time, and Leinad and his knights face the forces of Lucius once more before the book comes to an abrupt end.

I found the stories themselves quite interesting, but I was disappointed that the author did not spend much time on character developement and such.  Towards the end, the book seems to take on a narrative, where the story has much potential to be a wonderful read.  Of course, that's just my opinion, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series, anyway!

~Doodles 

Having eagerly awaited the release of this book, and just having finished it, I am all fired up to write a review.  Nothing formal, please--simply my thoughts on a book I've waited quite some time to read!  (If you are planning on reading this yourself, you may want to steer clear...I make no attempt to keep anything secret!)

"Guns of Thunder" is the sequel (or rather the beginning of a new series) after the Crown and Covenant trilogy, which chronicles several generations of the M'Kethe family in Scotland.  Years later, they have come to America to escape persecution, and Ian M'Kethe (the great-great-grandson of the series' first heroe, Duncan M'Kethe) is growing up in Conneticut.  I found it rather odd that, after two generations in America, the family still speaks in their Scottish brogue, but I'm willing to forgive the author for that, since I enjoy reading Scotch, myself.  In the early stages of the story, Ian is thirteen years old (the year 1740), and has dreams of someday studying at Yale.  The rumors of war with the French are unsettling, and he wonders whether he would ever actually join in the fighting should they come to anything.  In an early chapter, the M'Kethes attend a sermon by George Whitefield, and I must confess that at this time I put the book down for awhile, disgusted that, instead of telling a historical fiction story, the author seemed to be preaching on election and predestination!  Being what he labeled an "Arminian heretic," I was not too pleased with the theological turn the story was taking.  But after a while I got back into it, and was happy that he quickly got back to the real story.  For quite some time after that, Ian, his cousin Roland, and his mysterious Indian friend Watookoog really don't do much besides plowing, planting, and fishing, with occasional spurts of excitement such as an Indian attack which Watookoog averts, more rumors of the trouble with the French and Indians, and Ian learning to shoot with a bow an arrow.   Towards the end of the book (when you begin to wonder when the story will get going !), Roland enlists in the army.  He is taken prisoner, and Ian, now eighteen years old in 1745, enlists as well, eager to rescue him.  To sum up the last several chapters, Ian is promoted, participates in the attack on a major French fortress in Canada, and, oddly, two chapters of the attack are narrated by Ian himself, by way of a letter written to his Grandfather.  I found this a bit anti-climatic--instead of reading about an exciting rescue, you have "and I was overjoyed to find Roland alive and well..." but that's just my point of view.  Together, the cousins return home, and, with his lieutenant's pay, Ian sets off for Yale college.

Goodness, that got incredibly long!  Well, in short, I did not like "Guns of Thunder" as much as the first three books, which I highly recommend, but I am glad I read it all the same.  Hm, maybe the last two books will take a turn for the better...  *wonders when the release date is for book #2*

~Doodles