Customer Reviews

Faith of the Unforgotten (Foundations of Hope Trilogy)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As the story begins, Rebekah trains intensely with her father using swords. The mock battle finished, Rebekah leaves for school; while her father, a simple inn keeper prepares for the new day. Festival day arrives with the town anticipting the festivities. Suddenly a troop of lizard men attack, killing all in sight. Only Rebekah's father, Daniel the innkeeper, can stand against the brutal lizards. Rebekah flees to the woods where she is soon protecting a small boy from three of the lizard creatures. A large man carrying an axe crashes through the brush, dispatching more lizardmen follwing the group. Introducing himself as Markos the Axebearer, he informs Rebekah that only the followers of God can see the evil as it truely apprears.
The action and tension increase as the story developes. Rebekah finds the lizardmen aren't only out to destroy a few villages, but the entire surface world. From a simple school girl, Rebekah must grow into a badly needed leader while avoiding the the king's soldiers. Captured, she must escape and still gather forces to fight the lizard men army surrounding the capital city.
Set centuries in the future, Faith of the Unforgotten, tells of a world that has lost the use of technology after years of continious lightning storms. Swords have become the weapons of choice.
What can a single sword accomplish against the entire lizard army? Will a paladin, a weaponsmaster, and a thief be enough to save them all? They just might be, with the faith of the Unforgotten!

Four hundred years have passed since the last person turned on a TV, used a dishwasher, or logged on to the Internet. It is a time when a king outlaws religion, and division and war separate North America among three lands. The perfect time for a fatal strike from an unknown enemy is now.
This is the era in which the Foundations of Hope takes place, the new trilogy from Leathel Grody.
The first book in this series, Faith of the Unforgotten, almost immediately begins with a hostile takeover of the earth's surface by the super-intelligent, overpoweringly strong Saurians. The Saurians, when alive, are disguised as men to all but those who believe in God. All religion has been outlawed in the kingdom of Rembelshem, and those that hold to a belief in God must remain silent or go into hiding for their own safety.
Rebekah Ann Smith is one such girl. She has been trained in the sword forms by her father and fights back these lizard-men. But, more incredible, her faith begins to manifest itself in awesome power. The Saurians are massing and have already taken control of many inner circles; can the faith of the unforgotten save the descendants of the Heroes of the Storms?
Foundations of Hope promises to be a great trilogy and Faith of the Unforgotten has set the stage well for a confrontation between good and evil. Some of the story elements are similar to works like the Lord of the Rings, but Leathel Grody has done a good job creating his own futuristic medieval world. The writing is not as rich as Tolkien's or Lewis's, is somewhat wordy and the sentence structure comes awkwardly at times. However, it makes up for that in its combat and deep story.
I cannot say enough about Grody's incredible description of the swordplay. What adrenaline-imbued choreography was to the Matrix, heart-pounding combat narration is to Faith of the Unforgotten. It really feels as if one is actually at and in the minds of the fighters as they plan and execute each and every move with finesse.
His story does not lack, either. Dragons and Saurians, kings and thieves, Paladins and demonic forces, heirs and outcasts, Unforgotten covers everything.
All chapters are prefaced by relevant quotes and admirable 3D illustrations. The book itself is colorfully bound with durable hardcover ends. I found myself appreciating the cover art more than once.
I would definitely recommend reading this book. In fact, to taste test it, [...]

Unforgotten ends in a major cliffhanger, making April 28, 2006, a date to mark on your calendar for the release of the second book, Into the Darkness.

I was pleasently surprised by this book . I enjoyed the pace of the book as well as the characters and quickly found myself emersed in thier world and struggles. The story really came alive for me and I will now wait anxiously await the continuation of the story in the 2nd and 3rd books.

You won't be disappionted with this purchase.

This is a fantastic book, a must read for any sci-fi fantasy fan. Buy it you will not be disappointed!

To be quite honest the plot was thin and there where few new elements that I haven't seen in other books. However that being said this is probably one of the most focused and fun reads I have had in a while. The book doesn't get bogged down in detail but rushes headlong to the cliff hanger of an ending. If you can enjoy a book that isn't serious and full of its self than this is a good book for you.

Thanks for checking out "Faith of the Unforgotten". As you may have heard, this is a fast paced fantasy without the filler. Every action sequence has a purpose later on in the book and the story line I was writing had to be energetic and entertaining to me personally to put it down on paper. I am very interested in hearing what you think, so make sure to leave a review and also visit the trilogy's website and message board (found on the back of the book).

Thanks,
Leathel Grody

This book translates believable people into a world that is changing in unpredictable ways.
It is a real wake up call to folks who want to believe in something besides the techno-plastic world that most suburban folks dwell - including myself. Few books besides this one have I read in a single 24 hour period - The Hobbit being the other one I recall off hand. Good thing I found it on a weekend!

The main reason I read fantasy in the past is because my school days were otherwise unchallenging and boring. My most memorable teachers were Tolkien, Piers Anthony, Heinlein, Asimov, C.S. Lewis, etc read discretely beneath my desk. When I graduated to the world of work, I could read them on my cell phone during equally boring meetings. Now my kids want to play them on PS2 / XBox / Nintendo. So I preview all my kids' books - "it's for the children" I tell my wife. Like Raising Dragons and Dragonspell, Faith of the Unforgotten is a handful of books I can trust to by kids, and not have to be driven to insanity by the drivel that passes for quality fiction currently on the market.

The end result of reading should be to change the way you think about problems in the real world, not escape it.

As for the content, I am pleased that it expands the expectations of both literature and end user experience. I am a computer guy by trade, so reading (and occasionally writing) technical material requires stimulating the creative side frequently. The writing is pointedly simple while allowing for profound revelations. This is a great kid's book for adults who wish to stay young at heart.

As many works in the fantasy genre, there are several requisite activities: solving puzzles and fighting. They are expertly intertwined in Faith. Common wisdom for putting a puzzle together is 1) get the box top, and 2) find the edges, then 3) build big chunks. This book builds on that heritage by quickly putting the characters in context, push their limitations to work together, while leaving room for the unexpected.

The opening vignette has profound implications throughout the rest of the book, and prepared me for the many character interactions that were initially deemed inconsequential. The planned festival was interrupted by war, just like the real world, and people's reactions were telling. A favorite quote in the news today is "The best peace time leaders make the worst war time heroes", and this book pointedly demonstrates that. To clarify further, sometimes is the common folk realizing that the peace time leader is a real turkey, and it took a war to clearly demonstrate their ineptitude.

On the subject of war, there is more to fighting that either gory swordplay or dark destruction. How and why you fight is more revealing of your values than perhaps any morality survey. Economics is another mirror of values, and Faith shows the inexorable linkage when society is optimized on the wrong variables.

Addressing the "out of the box" experience, I have read both eBooks and paper versions of many books. This is the first time I did both at the same time. - (...). I was able to get a better understanding of what the author meant. Now the graphics are included in the book, but I liked to be able to see many pictures in whatever part of the book I'm in for context - like visual bookmarks.

In the inevitable metamorphosis of any good book to movie / videogame / toy miniatures, sometimes the author's vision is compromised in the multimedia version. The painful memory of the half cartoon / half live action version of Lord of the Rings of many years past was only exorcised by Peter Jackson's rendition.

Likewise, the excellent Narnia version by Disney was somewhat lacking the video game version - mostly because it was a hack and slash forced fit, instead of a explore and fight game, like the Xbox version of the Hobbit.

With the author overseeing both the story line and graphics, this is the first book that was designed for animation, but stands on it's own in print.

In summary, buy the book, put the game on your wish list, and spread the good word!

This novel is one of the better fantasy novels that I have read recently. It is based on principles and morals and a belief in God by some of the characters. You will find no profanity or lewd sex scenes within, so you can feel comfortable letting teens and adults who object to those things read this novel. If this novel has any weaknesses, it is very infrequent, repetitive statements or concepts. That's about it.

Overall, the varied races, characters, creatures, Gifts, and other concepts make an enjoyable read. The details have been pointed out in other reviews, so I won't relist them all. I agree with what others have said about the battle descriptions being very exciting and detailed. The author focuses the main violence against the Saurian enemies and seems adverse to human against human killing in the story, though there are some human versus human sword battles -- good ones! The way many of the characters are linked together over the course of the story was a nice touch to the fairly intricate plot. You feel as though you not only know the main characters, but the secondary ones as well. I had a hard time with the electricty concept, but once I took the ionized, electrically-overcharged atmosphere as a given and didn't over-analyze its effects in relation to the armies' armor, swords, et cetera; the whole war against the Saurian race became enjoyable. The dragon and its relationship with one character was a neat twist. I felt early on that one character's sword-wielding ability may have come too abruptly, yet the author leaves the impression that a Gift is at work here. That character was one of my favorites. The ability of the believers in God to see the Saurians for what they truly are, was also a nice touch. The novel ends with a nice setup for book two.

If you are a fantasy fan, pick up your copy today!

Leathel Grody is a promising writer. He builds a compelling story. However I would not put this title under the Christian catagory. The main character is encouraged to build her ability to read minds and speak into other's minds and such. Revelation tells us these types of abilities will become more prevelent during the latter days. Anytime we try to exercise powers outside ourselves without looking to God we are in deep danger. For more information on that danger please read "The Latent Power of the Soul" by Watchman Nee. Its an excellent little book. I hope Leathel reads it - its a great eye opener to the pitfalls of the sometimes subtle dangers of the new age.

This book is truly excellent! I am looking forward to reading more by this author.