Hardwired for Hope

I skimmed the second book in a series the other day. The story was a fascinating concept and well-plotted with a rich cast of characters despite the negative content. Good enough to skim. Skip a few pages here and there.

But when I closed the book, I discovered one more fatal flaw.

There was no hope. Zero.

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The bad guys were caught, yes. All was “good”, or at least looked good. The best friend who had been manipulated into betraying the main character was safe now. But not forgiven. Not proven to have changed.

I searched the internet high and low for the next book. Surely this was only book two in a trilogy? After all, book one sets up the problem, book two rocks the characters’ world beyond recognition, and book three brings things to a head with a final battle and a wonderful victory, right? There was no third book.

I may be the only reader who was dissatisfied. After all, the story is pretty realistic. Broken relationships very often never get healed. Lies stay hidden. Our world is fractured.

But when I pick up a new book, I read to see what could be and more importantly what should be. I read for “good conquers evil” and “second chances” plots. (Ignore the Disney-fied terms, ya know what I mean.) I am hardwired for hope, and so are you. We live life in the middle book, in the broken pieces between the fall of creation and the New Creation, and sometimes we need a story to remind us that the Prince of Peace is coming.

What stories have inspired hope in you lately?