Rating: My bookshelf (for the appropriate audience, Needs Parent Supervision for younger readers)

Reading Level: Late Elementary, Middle School, High School

A hero faces various challenges to try to save a Kingdom from his evil father and twin brother.

Possible Concerns:

  • Peril. Several shots from arrows, fistfights, death by hanging.
  • Anger. Fistfights, evil thoughts about others, wounding others. A one point ina fight scene a boy gains the upper hand and sits on an enemy and repeatedly punches his enemy in the face until he passes out.
  • Evil. A satanic, snakelike voice tries to lure characters into evil. A specter made of smoke convinces one girl to murder a boy who accidentally killed another kid.
  • Intoxication. Kids become addicted to a magica fruit.
  • Magic. Strange creatures, strange worlds, portholes between them.
  • Peril. The hero is hunted by his twin; several arrows nearly hit him.
  • Theologically incorrect? A mother tells her children they are the light of the world, even before they accept Christ. So the evil twin is told the light is inside him. Although he eventually repents, are we still the light of the world when we are not yet saved? I’m not sure. Admittedly, Romans 4:17 says God calls things that are as though they were…

Things I liked:

  • Forgiveness. One of the biggest themes is forgiveness.
  • Identity. Characters learn they are the light of the world; the light is inside them.
  • Spiritual light; spiritual blindness. There are strong themes that mirror the spiritual reality of blindness to light, seeking power and oppression, and the darkness cannot overcome the light.

The spiritual themes are strong, so I would allow it on my bookshelf with the caveat that it is best for a mature (and not too sensitive) reader who can handle peril.