CFBA: The Gift by Bryan Litfin

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing:


The Gift


Crossway Books (April 30, 2011)



by



Bryan Litfin

MY TAKE:

The Gift was a long awaited sequel for me. I was hooked by Bryan's first book in the series, The Sword and couldn't wait to find out what happened after Ana and Teo's exile.

Bryan has a gift of his own for story telling. He's woven a brilliant story with the perfect balance of faith, adventure and romance. I think the flash forward 500 years into the future to see a post apocalyptic world as a medieval land is genius. His descriptions are so clear, I know exactly where Teo and Ana are, even if the names of the locations are different.

The best part of the story though by far, is the story of faith and trial, the journey that Ana and Teo make both personally and spiritually. It makes me look at the gift we have of scripture in a more appreciative light. I'll admit to taking for granted at times how good we have it, to have all of God's word readily at hand and have the ability to read it in almost any language. To think of how life would be to lose that gift, that is heartbreaking. Of course, the true gift, was discovering Jesus Christ, and learning the both the Suffering Servant and the Promised King were one and the same. Those scenes were very powerful.

This series is masterful, here's a hearty Well Done to the author. I can't wait for book 3.


ABOUT THE BOOK:

The Chiveis Trilogy takes readers hundreds of years into the future. War and disease have destroyed civilization as we know it. Much technology has been discarded and history is largely forgotten. Slowly, the few survivors have begun to build new communities, and kingdoms now prosper in a kind of feudal order. But the Word of God has been lost for centuries.

After the finding of an Old Testament in book one of the trilogy, The Gift picks up the story of Teo and Ana. Exiled from their homeland and trying to survive in unknown and dangerous lands, they search for any record of the missing Testament.

Their journeys lead them into the region we know as Italy. An elite society welcomes Ana, who finds she must choose between her new life and her dream of returning to Chiveis. Will Teo and Ana’s relationship withstand the circumstances and new enemies pulling them apart? And can Teo keep ahead of a powerful and mysterious force opposing his search for the New Testament?

If you'd like to read the first chapter of The Gift, go HERE.

Watch the book trailer:



The Gift Trailer from Crossway on Vimeo.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bryan earned a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from the University of Tennessee as well as a master’s degree in historical theology at Dallas Theological Seminary. From there he went to the University of Virginia, taking a PhD in the field of ancient church history. He is currently professor of theology at Moody Bible Institute in downtown Chicago, where he has been since 2002. He teaches courses in theology, church history, and Western civilization from the ancient and medieval periods. He is the author of Getting to Know the Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction (Brazos, 2007), as well as several scholarly articles and essays. Bryan has always enjoyed epic adventure stories as well as historical fiction, but most of his reading these days is taken up by academia.

Today Bryan lives in downtown Wheaton in a Victorian house built in 1887. He and his wife Carolyn are parents to two children. For recreation Bryan enjoys basketball, traveling, and hiking anywhere there are mountains. The Litfins attend College Church in Wheaton, where Bryan has served on the Board of Missions and as a deacon. He also helped start Clapham School, a Christian primary school in Wheaton using the classical model of education.