THE YEAR OF THE WARRIOR by LARS WALKER

I stumbled across THE YEAR OF THE WARRIOR by LARS WALKER on the following blog: CHRISTIAN SCIENCE FICTION Brandon Barr's post regarding THE YEAR OF THE WARRIOR is here.

I was pleased when I followed the directions on that post, and I emailed the author for the book (which is out of print). Lars Walker promptly sent me an autographed copy.

This was an emotional read for me. The world is hard core and realistic. But the days of the Vikings were hard core; were they not? The characters are rich. They are flawed heroes struggling to live in cold world.

The main character, Aillil, is ripped from his family and home in Ireland and forced into slavery. The slave owners can ask a greater price for a priest than any other slave, so they give Aillil a catholic priest makeover and sell him to the highest bidder.

The Norway conqueror, Erling (A Christian), snags the preist at auction and sails to his home to bring God to his people. Aillil pretends to be a priest. Erling works to convert his people to Christianity by any means -- even the sword. The two men go through the greatest, most difficult but realistic "baptism by fire" that I have ever read.

This book is not a bon bon and Bach read. It is soulful to the point of darkness, but the farther down you go, the greater the highs, right?

Some of the lines in this book will stick with me for a lifetime. They aid me in my spiritual journey:

Why the good and the bad seem to prosper:
"Does that make {God} your enemy? Does God give pleasant lives to His friends and pain to His enemies? I haven't seen that to be true."

Sacrifice:
"They will sacrifice even their children before they will sacrifice themselves."
(sounds much like abortion today, eh? Frightening.)

Regarding heaven:
". . .the Beloved lives outside Time itself. He goes back and forth in it when He wills. And when we go to be with Him, we too will be outside of Time."

There are plenty more lines I will take with me. Those unanswerable questions that will forever go unanswered -- and be filled with Faith; and if not Faith, with Hope; and if not Faith or Hope; Love.

If you are looking for a hauntingly real Christian Fantasy tale, pick up THE YEAR OF THE WARRIOR by Lars Walker.

Purchase used here.
Or email the author and purchase from him: lars@larswalker.com