As part of the TOS Crew I was sent The Crown of Kuros Book 4 and The Dragons Egg Book 5 of The Terrestria Chronicles to review. These books are Christian allegories. There are seven books in this series written by Ed Dunlop. The books are available for $7.99 each or $39.99 for the entire series. Recommended reading age 10 and up.
These stories take place in a medieval type setting. There are knights and dragons and ladies and lords throughout these books. You will meet characters such as Prince Josiah (the main character) Sir Faithful, Sir Dedication, Sir Wisdom, Lady Prudence. You will also hear about places such as The Castle of Faith, The Castle of Compromise, The Golden City of the Redeemed and much more more.
The Castle of Faith is in an uproar when the priceless Crown of Kuros is stolen in broad daylight from the castle keep. All evidence points to Morphina who is in league with Argamor. Prince Josiah, Prince Selwyn, and the other knights of the castle engage in a quest to find the crown before it falls into the hands of Argamor. But Josiah alone can recover the crown, and to do so he must engage in an impossible battle.
When Princess Gilda and Prince Selwyn refuse the offer of a gift forbidden by King Emmanuel, Prince Josiah accepts, not realizing that his actions will impact the Castle of Faith. For a time, the young prince is able to conceal his act of treachery, and it seems that all is well. But when a Cararian Greatwing—the fiercest of dragons—begins terrorizing the kingdom, Josiah learns too late that he is powerless to control the beast that he has unleashed upon Terrestria.
What we thought: These books are very heavy on the allegories. I decided to read these books myself rather than read them to Justin or have him read them. If you have a sensitive child I would agree with the reading age of 10 and up.
I found the names of the characters and places very distracting. Characters such as Captain Covetous, Captain Confusion, Captain Discontent and places such as The Forest of Decision, The Village of Indifference and others I have mentioned above. The writing is good but not what I would call high quality literature.
A couple of things in the book that did bother me is that Argamor (the devil in these stories) wants to introduce spellavision (television) and stone music (rock music) to the people who love and serve King Emmanuel (God). This implies or gives the impression that television and rock music are inherently evil. I do not believe that. I personally love rock music and I think that television has its place as well. True these things can be used for evil but it is man that makes it evil. While I am sure Mr. Dunlop may not have intended it to be this way. That is the feeling I get from reading these books.
These books are stand alone stories, however there were parts of the stories that I felt I was missing because I had not read the previous books. Such as how Josiah came to be a son of King Emmanuel? How the book/sword that Josiah uses came do be. There was part of the story that had had me confused when I read that Josiah’s book was glowing. I had really no idea what this book was or what he was referring to. I did figure it out. For me personally I do not like to start a story in the middle of a series even if the books are stand alone. But that is just me. You may feel differently.
All in all I would say while I did not love these books I did not dislike them they just were not my favorite. Will I buy the rest of the series? Probably not. Does this mean you will not like them? Absolutely not. What does not fit my family may fit yours.
You can decide for yourself and visit The Terrestria Chronicles site. You can read an excerpt from both books as well as the other books in the series.
Be sure to visit my TOS Crewmates to read more reviews of the the Terrestria Chronicles.
Disclosure: This product was provided to me free as a member of the The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew 2009-2010. All reviews and opinions expressed on this blog are my own
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