Customer Reviews

Ryann Watters And The Shield Of Faith Vol 2: Book Two in the Annals of Aeliana Series

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

 

 

Would you be willing to show your faith by stepping off a cliff at the request of someone you trusted and knew had the power to keep you from harm? Ryann Watters does just that. Ryann is back with his friends Liddy and Terell. It has been three months since their previous adventure in the enchanted land of Aeliana, as chronicled in Ryann Watters and the King's Sword. Now, the angel Gabriel comes to their home in Mt. Dora, FL, and asks them to return to Aeliana to find the shield of faith. However, they find that 300 years have passed in Aeliana, and a great spiritual darkness has come over the land. An elf named Ireth, whose clan has written down the sayings of the great King of Aeliana, known as the Word, takes them to the capital city of Myraddin where a black unicorn named Narcissus, with the help of a group known as "the Enlightened," has installed himself as king and turned people away from the Word.
However, there appears another unicorn, a white one named Carwyn, who fulfills the prophecies found in the annals of the Word as kept by the elves and who demonstrates special powers to show that he comes from the Word to save Aeliana. Carwyn brings together a group known as "the Chosen," which includes the three teenagers and Ireth, along with the white dragon Sorcha, a Pegasus named Adain, two bull brothers, a dwarf, and a hafling to fight against the evil. It is Carwyn who asks Ryann to step off the cliff. However, it is prophesied that one of the Chosen will sacrifice his life to save the others, one will save his life to sacrifice the others, and one of them will deny that he is a part of the group. Which ones would do which things? And then they learn that the dark angel Lord Ekron, whom Ryann had fought and defeated on his first visit, is working with Narcissus. What can Ryann and his friends do? And what will be the outcome?
In my experience, book sequels are seldom as good as the original. However, in this instance, Ryann Watters and the Shield of Faith is certainly as good as Ryann Watters and the King's Sword, and it could be argued is in many ways better. Not that the earlier volume was bad, but the second definitely has more excitement, a deeper plot development, and a greater degree of characterization. It appears that Eric Reinhold has grown as an author. Given the fact that the story is obviously intended as allegorical, I especially like that way the Reinhold emphasizes the importance of holding to absolute truth as opposed to the humanistic relativism of Narcissus and his "Enlightened" supporters. This has been a problem in our society over the last fifty years or so, and it is gratifying to see appealing youth fiction that is built upon this principle. Grammarian that I am, I noticed what seemed like an inordinate amount of dangling participles, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this is a great book which both I and my fourteen-year-old son Jeremy enjoyed immensely. We can't wait for the next quest, Ryann Watters and the Belt of Truth.

"I am not naïve enough to believe that circumstances will not change. There is a time coming when Narcissus will turn even the Aelianians against dragons, unless -"

"Unless what?" Liddy looked intently into Sorcha's thoughtful light blue eyes.

The dragon's eyes sparkled with an obvious tinge of excitement. "Unless the chosen one comes first."


The above quote sums up Ryann Watters and the Shield of Faith quite nicely. That is what this book is all about. Faith. Hope. Surrender. Trust in the name and power of Jesus Christ. Forgetting the cares and worries of yourself and diving off the edge of the cliff. Standing at the side of one you know the world will hate your for. That's the theme of this book.

It's the end of summer and school begins in days. As vacations come to a close the trio of characters begins to feel Aeliana tugging at them. They want to go back, and strange occurrences bring them to believe that the Word desires their return as well.

By faith they enter back into the magical land, but not all is as it once was. Hundreds of years have passed, while only one has taken place on Earth, and all the creatures they knew have passed away. An evil unicorn has seized the throne of Myraddin through his twisted words and beliefs. Those loyal to the Word have been run out. They are hunted, scorned, and hated. The creatures of Aeliana have turned to themselves and made gods. They no longer worship the King.

But hope is not all lost. Words are spoken of one who will save the land in its time of greatest darkness. And the white unicorn, Carwyn, steps in to save his people.

Eric Reinhold has crafted a tale here that can shine the light of truth into darkness in an unthreatening way. Bible verses are spoken from characters' mouths and stories are acted out with fantastical creativity. If there are other worlds, how would their savior walk on water? What would he come as? Would he be crucified? Discovering an answer to these questions was a thrill and at times stirred me to laugh out loud and at others caused my heart to skip a beat. The interesting thing is, though I thought I knew what was coming due to the following of Scripture throughout the book the unique and creative writing that Eric Reinhold has done was able to keep me on my toes guessing until the end. I was thrilled and surprised.

What more could you ask of a story? There are strong young characters, loving adults, noble creatures, and wretched villains. Good triumphs over evil, mystery lasts far beyond the last page, epic battles, and holy truths. I ask again, what more could you want? The fantasy is as strong as C.S. Lewis, and at times it is found that Aeliana surpasses Narnia.

I absolutely loved this book. It's fast passed, funny, and simply entertaining all around. It's good clean fantasy in a world where such ideas are scorned. Ryann Watters and the Shield of Faith was a great read, and I'd recommend it specifically for pre-teens as well as young teens. And if you know an adult that wants to get in touch with their youth, hand them a copy of The Shield of Faith, see what it does. May we all hold fast to our confession of hope with the faith of a child. May we put it all on the line for what we know is true.

For if we do, we will have found the shield of faith.

-Nathan R. Petrie

Every once in awhile a really good series comes out that you can read aloud with the family or read to yourself and you just get swept away into another world. I have been fortunate in some of my reading lately to discover some gems that I otherwise might not have been able too... Mike Hamel's Matterhorn series, Robert Liparulo's Dreamhouse Kings series, Lisa Samson's Hollywood Nobody series... and now I've been fortunate enough to have discovered Eric Reinhold's Ryann Watters series.

In book #1, Ryann Watters and the King's Sword, we meet Ryann and his best friends Terell and Liddy. Ryann is visited by Gabriel who gives him a special staff, ring and horn and tells him that he will need to find the King's Sword. He is taken to a world called Aeliana where the animals talk and humans are few. It has a very Narnia-esque feel and is captivating. The beauty of this book to me is the way Eric shows spiritual warfare in such a way that it is easy for kids to understand. Searching the scriptures for answers, praying for wisdom, leaning not unto his own understanding... these are the ways Ryann finds answers on his quest against darkness.

Now in book #2, Ryann Watters and the Shield of Faith, Ryann, Terell and Liddy are back and sent on a second mission - for the Shield of Faith. It is back to Aeliana, but everything is not as it was. The passage of time, dragons, unicorns and evil. Ryann must renew his pursuit of the scriptures to find out what The Word says. Adventure reigns supreme in book #2 and I just love this series. It is a read aloud series for our family and is taking its place among the classics as far as I am concerned.

My son and I really enjoyed "Ryann Watters and the King's Sword" so when book 2 came out, I knew we'd be reading it. Although the story line is completely different, we were NOT disappointed.

It's 400 yrs after Ryann, Terell, and Liddy visited Aeliana. That means we get to meet new characters who parallel the apostles. I spent the entire book trying to figure out who would betray Carwyn and who would deny him.

The kids go on a great adventure and I hoped as a parent that the kids parents would be involved in a new way. Bummer, they weren't. ;o) The kids travel to Aeliana via a different portal than the first time. This time Liddy is given some items of value.

If you enjoyed "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" I'd wager you'd thoroughly enjoy Eric's imagination in his 2nd book "Ryann Watters and the Shield of Faith". Eric's use of Scripture in this novel, is fantastic and will give kids an insight to understand why Jesus had to come and die for us.

You and your kids will be encouraged and strengthened by reading these novels!

Eric has done an outstanding job weaving a tale that captures and keeps the attention of the teenage audience for which this book was written.

After being recommended to me by a friend, I purchase both this book and it's predecessor Ryan Watters And The King's Sword (The Annals of Aeliana). My son completed the first one in three days, and the second one in two days! He is now asking when the next book in the series is coming out!!!?

One of the challenges I face as a parent is finding healthy, wholesome books for my children to read, and these two definitely fill the bill, which leaves me eagerly asking the question: "When is the next book in the series coming out?"