Review: The Swan Maiden

The Swan Maiden grabbed my attention with its gorgeous cover. The contents of this fairy-tale-spinoff kept me (mostly) enchanted, although in all I must say that the cover almost exceeds the story. Enjoy the review, and don't forget to leave a comment below!

Title: The Swan Maiden

Author: Heather Tomlinson

Page Count: 304 pages

Stars: 3 of 5

• 3 = enjoyable. May have minor content issues or flaws in the writing.

Teaser: Doucette wants to be a “swan maiden,” a creature of flight and magic, like her two elder sisters. At last, she has the chance to realize her dream—but the day comes when she must decide between love and magic.

Age level: Teens and up (13+)

Violence: 2 of 5

• 2 = PG-level violence that's a minor theme in the book

Romance: 3 of 5

• 3 = romance is a major theme of the story but is appropriate for teens

Language: 0 of 5

Christian worldview: The magic in this story seems to be hereditary and viewed with suspicion or even dislike. (See this post for my thoughts on how magic in fantasy can or can’t mesh with faith.) The biblical lesson that a little power makes you want a little more is clearly told. The value of faithful love is also evident in the story.

My thoughts: This story was an elegant and enjoyable fantasy. I immediately connected with the feelings of jealousy and longing that Doucette experienced as she watched her older sisters flaunt their magic in front of her. The hero of the story, while a bit cliché, did show a lot of courage and honor and loyalty. Although the setting is a medieval fantasy, Tomlinson manages to deftly sidestep clichés by making the story focused on medieval France and incorporating very vivid details of life to make the setting come alive to readers.

My major problem with The Swan Maiden was a decision Doucette made towards the end of the story. The decision felt too selfish for her and unlike the way she’d behaved in the past. I didn’t think it was completely necessary for the story, either, particularly considering the ending. Still, it taught her a good lesson that I won’t spoil here.

In sum, The Swan Maiden was a light fantasy with good themes. A nice book to read with a cup of tea on a rainy day.

5 Simple Ways to Kill Your Villain

Today's post is easy as pie: five ways storytellers have killed off villains before--and the pros and cons of each one of them. Plus, I've included a bonus point at the end. So pull on your gloves, and let's get down to business to defeat the Huns! Er, villains. Or both.

1. Falling from a height

-- Examples: Tangled, Lord of the Rings: Saruman
-- Pros: doesn't force the MC to kill the villain, which satisfies your reader's sense of justice. The MC doesn't have to resort to morally evil means to kill the villain.
-- Cons: very overused. Can also seem like a "deus ex machina," otherwise known as unrelated elements taking a hand in the climax to provide an instant happy ending. Too easy, in other words.

2. Suicide

-- Examples: Saul in the Bible, Denethor (Steward of Gondor) in Lord of the Rings
-- Pros: the villain is messed up already anyway! Psychologically, if he's set up for it, then it works nicely as a logical result
-- Cons: only works if the character has the psychology and situation for this. after all, villains have ambitions and goals, and they think these goals are justified (in their own view of morality), so they wouldn't be likely to just abandon their schemes and kill themselves on a whim

3. Villain's Plans Backfire

-- This form of death is when the villain's plans are turned completely on their head, and he ends up with the punishment that he was going to bestow on the hero.
-- Example: Jafar from Aladdin wants to become the most powerful genie in the world but does not realize that he will also be a slave to the lamp; in Batman Begins, *spoiler* the villain is caught on train that he was going to use to blow up the city's water supply
-- Pros: satisfies our sense of justice
-- Cons: can be very tricky to set up. Plus there's a fine line in whether the hero has the option of sparing the villain's life

4. Killed by Sidekick

-- Examples: Saruman in LOTR is killed by his henchman Grima Wormtongue; Scar from Lion King is killed by his henchmen the hyenas.
-- Pros: good because hero doesn't have to "dirty his hands" in killing the villain
-- Cons: don't let this be a cop-out option! set the villain-sidekick interplay well beforehand, and make sure the hero still has the main role in defeating villain. Perhaps hero saves villain's life, but sidekick, in a fit of jealous rage, kills villain. The important part is that justice is served in every way.

5. Killed by Hero

-- Examples: Maleficent was killed by a direct stab from the prince's blade; in the Star Wars saga, Anakin {a hero at this point} kills Count Dooku under prompting by Darth Sidious/Palpatine
-- Pros: it shows the hero has the strength to do what it takes to defeat the villain; he's not willing to let someone else do the dirty work for him.
-- Cons: morally...a tough question. For Anakin in the example above, Count Dooku was begging for mercy and Jedi laws said that unarmed foes should not be killed. After all, when you kill your enemy after he's down, doesn't that make you just as bad as the villain? There could also be lingering guilt questions and unsolved tension in your reader (and that's the last thing you want at the end of your story! You want the reader to finish with deep admiration of your hero. Or, you probably do.)

Bonus Point: Killed by Fantastic Powers

-- Hey, guys, this is fantasy, and we are the writers. We can kill our villains however we want to!
-- Examples: the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz dies by melting
-- Pros: works brilliantly in fantasy books. After all, you have magic, so why not use it for the best possible use--killing the bad guy?
-- Cons: unless the powers are set up well beforehand, this can seem like a cop-out, like you're taking the easy way out. You still need to make it difficult--in fact, almost impossible--for hero to kill villain.


Naturally, countless more ways remain to kill villains. What are some of your favorites? Can you think of other examples? Happy writing!

What Would Jesus Say? Fantasy, Writing, & the Bible

You can never get enough of God's word, period. In my last blog post (Magic: 5 Questions to Ask & Answer), we only really skimmed the surface of what the Bible has to say about writing and fantasy. So, today, you get the treat of a whole post exclusively devoted to digging in the Scriptures for guidance about magic, faerie, writing, and everything in between!


1. What is fantasy, really?


Before we really plunge into the discussion, let's build the framework by defining fantasy itself. According to good ole' Google, fantasy is "the faculty of imagining things that are impossible or improbable."


Well, when you look at it that way, the Bible is simply stuffed with fantasy!


Now I don't mean to imply that any of the history of the Bible did not take place--quite the contrary. No matter how "improbable/impossible," the events of the Bible really did occur. However, what is "fantastic" in the Bible is found, for example, in Revelation 12:9, which says, "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan." This is fantasy at its best and purest: using the fantastic to help us visualize something in our own reality.

2. Magic


Let's continue by building on what we learned last time about magic. There were some passages I didn't have time to cover, so here they are.


First, Leviticus 19:31 tells us, "God told His people, 'Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.'" In addition, Deuteronomy 18:10-12 warns, “There shall not be found among you anyone who…practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD.”


"But wait," you say. "I thought you said magic was okay last time?"


Sorry for the confusion, folks. Let's make this really clear: magic from evil sources (apart from God’s power) is evil in God's sight. This should be all the more encouragement for you to think deeply about what source the magic in your writings comes from.


3. What's in a Name?


Next, what about specific terms like "wizard" or "seer"? Can we use those, or Are they inherently evil?


In a way, yes, seers and wizards are "evil." As defined Biblically, wizards and seers were/are pagans who used various unbiblical sacrifices to see into the future and preform unnatural "miracles."


Well, funny thing about these terms: the Bible doesn't only use them to describe pagans. Oddly enough, the term "seer" is used in the Bible to describe both good guys and bad guys, saved and unsaved alike (see I Samuel 9:9, II Samuel 15:27, and II Samuel 24:11). Similarly, the term "prophet" is used to describe both pagan prophets like Balaam and Israelite prophets like Isaiah.

4. A Note on Talents


In general terms, if God has given you the desire to write, then don't ignore that call. But be warned by the fate of the third servant in Jesus' parable of the talents: "'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.'"


This passage actually tells us a lot about the Biblical nature of "talents": your talents include all the resources God has given you (including time, energy, Internet connection, or anything else), and the use of those resources in the way God calls us to (whether that's writing or plumbing or something else entirely). So if God gave you a keyboard and time, plus the desire to write, then, Biblically, you'd better follow His call and start writing!


And another thing--if you're worried that you don't have enough skill to write, then stop worrying now. If you are a great writer, than that's fabulous. But don't be discouraged if you're not. If God has called you to write, then you must practice and hone your writing until you do have skill. Practice, as the old mantra says, makes perfect.


5. Final Warnings


As fantasy writers, it's especially important for us to remember the grave warning that Isaiah delivers in Isaiah 5:20. He writes, "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."


When we imagine and create, we must be particularly careful that our words clearly define darkness and light. Even in fantasy, there is evil and there is good. There is what glorifies God and what does not. And, as writers, we have the grave task of preserving this distinction.


So, with those weighty thoughts in mind, go and write!

Magic: 5 Questions to Ask & Answer

First, what is magic? Merriam-Webster defines magic as, "the use of means (e.g. charms or spells) believed to have supernatural power over natural forces." In other words, magic is something that can't be explained through modern-day earth's science. Magic is the impossible.

On the surface, it may seem as though magic is a power that contradicts God's supremacy over all the forces of the universe. But is magic truly evil or contradictory to the Bible? Can we fantasy writers actually include magic in their stories? What follows is five of the most important questions for you to consider and answer when it comes to writing magic.

1. What is the source of Magic?

Let's consider each situation separately. First, what if magic was created by God, and thus "good"? Well, there are theological implications and complications to consider in this instance (we'll get to those later), but on the surface level, I don't see a problem with magic stemming from God.

Next is magic from nature--either through genetics (which would stem back to God's creation, clearly), or through scientific laws rather like the force of gravity (in which case, it also goes back to God's original creation as including the possibility for magic). As long as the proper glory for this "natural phenomenon" is given to God, again, there's no inherent problem with this form of magic.

Now we get trickier. What if magic was created by men or came through advanced technology? This portrayal of magic, if executed with care, could provide an excellent foundation for exploring questions of man's power versus God's power. Or, on the flip side, we can reason that since God created man with the capacity to "create" magic, then God ultimately created magic.

Last but not least, magic can be caused by Satan and/or the forces of evil. Modern-day Wiccans and other people serving Satanic powers clearly illustrate this point. Evil powers are out there, and they have the power to harm. This is a clearly Biblical principle, and could be used Biblically in a story.

2. Is magic moral, immoral, or amoral?

Let's consider the first possibility: magic could be completely good, only able to be used for good by good people. It would be almost akin to the gifts and insight of the Holy Spirit, which are for Christians alone and can never be evil. However, this approach might not work very well in a story, since every story needs conflict, and conflict is often a result of the hero's powerlessness. A "righteous magic" might thus give too much power to the hero.

What if magic was immoral? What if magic was all bad, and could only be used for evil by evil people?  In this case, the magic would be a result of evil forces, or perhaps a good force twisted in the Fall. This possibility could work quite nicely in giving the villain powers above the hero. However, it must be used carefully so as not to imply that evil has all the power and good can do nothing.

The last case--magic as amoral--is the most common among fantasy authors, for good reason. In this last case, magic acts like a force of nature, used by good people and bad people for good or evil purposes. If magic is amoral, it levels the playing ground, allowing heroes and villains to fight it out not based on an imbalance of power but through strength, intelligence, character, and other means of struggle.


3. What are the limitations on magic?

All magic needs limits. It's just like the real world--some things are just plain impossible. If anyone can do anything with magic, the world is not believable. After all, all forces in nature are governed by scientific laws. Magic should be too.

Here are a few examples to get you thinking: in the Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini, magic drains a person's strength. The more difficult the magic, the more strength it drains. Thus, in Paolini's world, certain acts--for example, raising the dead--are beyond the strength of magicians.

In Harry Potter, magicians study and memorize spells and movements, practicing them carefully over their 7-year-long education at Hogwarts. Also, certain spells require rare or illegal ingredients, which makes them hard or impossible to execute (consider, for example, Voldemort's horcruxes, which require murder to create and yet deliver him with a form of "eternal life").

4. Does magic provide salvation?

This question may sound obvious, but, believe me, it's not. We must recognize and clarify that, however powerful the magic may be, no magic can be used in place of Christ's saving power. Forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God, and eternal life (however you sculpt these in your work) can be attained only through the perfect sacrifice of God's Son.

However, you could use this concept to explore the effects of relying on magic as a crutch and form of salvation rather than relying on God's power.


5. Final Word: What does the Bible say about magic?

Note that all cultures who had so-called "magicians" (Egyptians, Babylonians, etc.) are condemned in the Bible. They profess to have power from idols, which as we know are truly powerless. Let's not take these powerless pagan magicians as our role models!

Acts 19:19 also warns against magic, saying that after conversion, "A number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all." This is clearly a strong warning against hastily or thoughtlessly including unbiblical magic in any written work.


And, as a final note, let's remember that God's power always trumps all other powers, magical or otherwise. As Daniel 1:20 tells us, speaking of Daniel and his companions who served the Lord, "And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom."


This is clearly an issue that needs a lot of prayer, so pray hard and think deeply. God bless as you embark on the journey of writing magic in fantasy!