Sir Quinlan and the Swords of Valor - a Waterbrook Multnomah Review

Sir Quinlan and the Swords of Valor, written by Chuck Black, is a YA fantasy book. It’s published by Waterbrook Multnomah, a Christian publishing company. The novel is 176 pages in length, with discussion questions and answers following. Also in the back is a scoresheet of a song entitled Ride of the Valiant written by Emily Elizabeth Black, Chuck’s talented daughter. (Also if you go to the series’ website, Arrethtrae, you will find a CD of music written and performed by Emily that you can buy! You can also hear a demonstration of music.)

I was a little hesitant to start reading this book (the fifth one in the Knights of Arrethtrae series) without having read the previous four. I’m obsessive about chronology, so I love reading books in the order they were written. However, I delved into the book and had no trouble getting “knee deep” in the story. The action and intrigue is gripping, and it captured my attention quite quickly.

The main character is a young man referred to by friends and family as Twitch. Twitch received his name because of a twitch that would appear in his cheek when he became nervous or stressed. Twitch and his pal Gustav, whose nickname was Tav, lived together with Tav’s family after Twitch’s parents tragically died. Twitch and Tav are learning to become knights for the Prince (aka Jesus).

After a bizarre type of pet infiltrates the Burkfield haven where the boys were training, many of the young knights lost interest in serving the Prince. When Tav’s uncle, Sir Baylor, arrived to recruit Tav as a Sword of Valor, Twitch’s interest is piqued. Tav refuses to follow his uncle, but Twitch wants to go. At Mount Resolve, Twitch kneels and determines to follow the Prince, to give himself to whatever the Prince should want for him. What results from that resolution to the King was a tumult of hardship that he’d never have imagined.

I won’t ruin the story for you, but Twitch, now called by his given name Quinlan, learns that following the Prince isn’t always going to be a bed of roses. The fight is fierce, it’s often nasty, but in the end the journey to the Kingdom Across the Sea (aka Heaven) is what we long for and is worth the wait!

I highly recommend this book for people who love fantasy. It’s a great book for adolescents as well. I plan on purchasing the other books in the series so that I can read them and pass them on to my sons.

Here’s the run-down of what I think of the book:

Ease of reading ………………… 5/5
Supporting Details ……………. 5/5
Sufficient Length ………………. 5/5
Ability to hold my interest … 5/5
Overall Impression …….. 5/5

I received Sir Quinlan and the Swords of Valor as a complimentary gift in exchange for review from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers.