If you like religious fiction and fantasy novels, you'll love the Deliverance Trilogy by A.K. Frailey. I had a chance to interview her about the books, and she does a better job describing them than I. I really enjoyed the first two books, and I'm looking forward to reading the third! It's a very family-friendly book for older readers, a series that parents don't have to worry about their kids reading.
What was the inspiration behind the Deliverance Trilogy?
The
Deliverance Trilogy began with ARAM as a simple story which told about a man’s
search for the one true God in a world of chosen evil. It was basically a revelation (man coming to
know the mind of God) as in the prayer the Shema:
“Hear, O Israel:
The Lord is our God
the Lord alone. You shall
love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your might.”
But Aram was born before Israel was in existence…before
there was a united people of God. But I
have always thought that in order for any man to do any great thing God
prepares the way generations before with other faithful men and women who were
open to the will of God.
Book two, Ishtar’s
Redemption – Trial by Fire, simply continues the conversation that ARAM
started. Humanity is broken and prone to
sin. Ishtar is a man who falls not just
once but repeatedly and it is in his weakness that he finally finds the answer
we all need – that we are not strong enough to go it alone against evil and
death. We may insist that we have good
hearts and clean minds but the powers of darkness are too much for any man to
struggle against alone. As both Ishtar
and Obed learn, it is not enough to want to be good, or to be learned, or to be
strong…one needs a real living God or one becomes lost in a maelstrom of horror
which insidiously overtakes our souls.
Book three, Neb the
Great – Shadows of the Past, was written at the request of my children. They wanted to know how the Neb got to be the
way he was. It was a worthy question and
one I could not run from. In looking back
on the forces that formed Neb the Great who was the grandfather of Ishtar’s
father, thus his great-grandfather, I came to realize, in considering my own
family history, how the sins of the past do follow down through generations and
how it takes a special grace to break free from those chains of bad habits and
over reaching pride. Neb the Great made choices and those choices led him to a
certain end….but there is hope because Ishtar made very different choices and
the book ends not with Neb but with Ishtar’s grandson.
2) When you started
writing, did you anticipate it being a trilogy?
No, not
really, it just grew into one. I wanted
to write a story large enough that it would be capable of delving deeply into
the human experience as we journey together on this earth, but I couldn’t
accomplish even a semblance of that end until I had written all three books.
3) What do you consider
to be the main themes explored in the books?
The main themes would be the search of man to discover the answer to his soul’s deepest
longing. Also the consequence of chosen evil. The hope of redemption and the
release from generational sin.
Finally, the undying hope that God instills in the human heart for God will
never abandon His own.
4) Who are some of your
favorite authors to read?
No surprise that I enjoy reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings since I have written a book about the
Christian themes in his books. And I admire his attempt to reflect a splintered fragment
of the true light, eternal truth that is with God. I also enjoy G.K. Chesterton’s works. From a man who said: "Fairy Tales are more than true. Not because
they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can
be beaten.” I
definitely feel a kindred spirit. I also have enjoyed reading Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset for
her grand medieval landscapes and large family interaction. For fun I like to
read anything by Jane Austen.
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