Book Review: Choice of the Mighty

[image error]Those who follow my blog know that I do book reviews, but I don’t post or review every book I read. I post about book that gets me really excited. Sometimes I say both good and bad things about the books, but these books stick out from the blah of average writing. I received Choice of the Might by Kenyon T. Henry as a review copy. I often read these books and post reviews on GoodReads and Amazon; this is the first time I was so excited about one to post a more extended review on my blog. I find lots of books good and interesting, but that is typically all I have to say about most of them. This one was a wow, and my husband is probably sick to death of my talking about it. That means you all get to hear my opinion on it, and if you don’t decide to rush out and buy it by the end of this post, you’re missing out.

This Christain urban fantasy/spiritual warfare novel was probably one of the most fun books I have read in a couple of years! Seriously, if I could give it a bonus star, I would. If you like Frank Peretti’s novels, you will love this one more. I had flashbacks of myself in high school reading under the covers all night and trying to take my math exams the next day with no sleep; it was that good.

I started this book mildly intrigued by the whole David’s Mighty Men of Valor idea. The concept of them passing on the torch to their child and continuing as a secret society in the modern day world is something I had never seen done, so I was expecting some cool creative mystery and intrigue. Secret societies are a fun standard fantasy theme. I was taken entirely by surprise by how much I really liked all the characters and how many times I was surprised and delighted. I have read a lot of books and to surprise me with who is really the good guys and who is really the bad guys the way this book does is just awesome!

Most Christain fiction likes to draw a line in the sand and say these are the people to root for and these are the villains. In this book, it isn’t so clear. You think it is at the beginning. I thought I had picked out the sides pretty early on, but then I found myself questioning things. A few surprises I did figure out before they were revealed and others just slapped me across the face. Looking back, though, the clues were there.

I was dragged along without the artificial relationship conflicts and brattiness that so many authors today think drive stories. Instead, I was compelled the same way the main character was compelled, I wanted to learn more and make a choice. The main character Stephen deals with very believable (for fantasy) internal conflicts. Nothing is just thrown in for suspense sake. He doesn’t just burn bridges for the sake of it. I love honest disputes that have nothing to do with people just being jerks.

I the fact that all the characters were very human with flaws and mistakes. No one is perfect, and their merit as Christians doesn’t come from their perfections. The significant mistakes various characters make or have made carry heavy consequences, but God redeems those mistakes for those who turn to him. All the characters are compelling, complex, and surprisingly human and likeable. To be honest, I really liked Vincent. Almost anything I say about why would probably ruin the fun of learning about him. Still, I was entirely prepared to see him as a flat, dull character at first, but it turns out, he is one of the most complicated in a very believable way.

This is a story about redemption, but not is a cheesy preachy sort of way. The character really struggles with significant character flaws, mistakes, guilt, hang-ups, anger, and all the other things real people feel all jumbled up. At the same time, this is an optimistic book in which I felt like I could conquer the world by the end.

I loved how many times I was reading along expecting typical Christian fantasy tropes and then get sideswiped with a twist I hadn’t expected. Even at the very end, I was trying to hurry through the last chapters because I had people waiting on me, and then I got slapped in the face with a tremendously delightful surprise. Well done! I didn’t see some of the events in the last chapters coming, and yet it was always there.

Fantastic beginning, a focused middle, and a resolution at the end that finishes this story arch and yet has me eager to buy the next book so I can see what this character does next in a new conflict. If the next book is as good as this one, Mr Henry has found a loyal fan. Well done!

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