Good Writing, at Last!

By the time they stopped that night, the rain had abated somewhat. But it did not cease. Likewise, the sun never properly set. Robbed of its glory by the day’s grimness, it could manage no grand descent. Instead it simply sulked to its rest that evening.

And:

About a half hour later, the men and their cloaks huddled around a meager fire. The wood that Morumus had collected hissed defiantly at first, but in the end it burned. The overhead branch upon which the abbot had hung his cloak had finally snapped, so they had constructed makeshift drying racks from long sticks found among the trees.

These two quotes come from Jeremiah W. Montgomery’s new book, The Dark Faith, which is the first of three. Jeremiah was recently interviewed at Christ the Center and provides us with some thoughtful insights into Christian novel writing. And as you can see here in these examples, he practices what he preaches. He has a great gift for painting pictures with words, such that you feel as if you are there in the scene. You can feel the cold of the weather, experience the dampness of the rain, smell the burning green wood, and hear the snap of the branch. It seems as if such fine writing is becoming increasingly rare in a literary world of cheap thrills and sensual titillation. This novel, by contrast, has gravitas – it challenges the imagination even as it expands your vocabulary. And along the way, you are gripped by the story and very much entertained. A spectacular book for any time of the year, but especially now with the fall weather setting in. Take up and curl up on the couch and enter into the world of the Dark Harvest.