For my book God and the Problem of Evil, I went through several different images before deciding on the final cover. This was my favorite of the lot, but it got rejected by the people I showed it to. They thought it was a tad too sensational for the subject matter.
But I thought it was too cool not to share.
Behold!
If you’re not familiar with the term ‘theodicy’ it means a justification for God. In particular, it attempts to resolve the problem between the concept of a all-powerful, just, and loving God and the reality of evil and suffering in the world.
I wrote this book because I’m not satisfied with the answers I’ve found to this problem. They’re either inconsistent or terrifying. Inconsistent because they don’t actually solve the problem, or terrifying, because they reach logical conclusions like God creating and controlling evil.
I don’t find either of these solutions comforting, so I’ve attempted to provide a better one. One which is solidly rooted in the Bible, and one that provides a message of hope, love, and redemption.
Spoiler alert: God didn’t create evil, and He’s not pleased by the suffering in our world.
A few months ago, Vincent, my seven year old son, got it into his head that he wanted to write a chapter book. He spent most of a weekend writing and illustrating a thirty-five page book, which he titled The Mystery of the Golden Book.
His idea for a story sparked my imagination, and we decided to work together to turn his book into a full-fledged story. You can see the result below!
This was my first attempt to write something aimed at a younger audience. To my surprise, I had a lot of fun with this project. It was incredibly rewarding to watch Vincent enjoy seeing his story turn into a polished book that other people can read.
I have a seven year old boy and a five year old girl, and they’re both addicted to books. About two years ago, I got to the point that I couldn’t read the same picture book for the thousandth time, so I transitioned them to more advanced books. Some of these books are still for kids, and some are genuine novels.
We operate in a pattern, each one of us getting to pick a book in turn. This is the only way I can avoid reading the same book over and over!
I had to ban all Roald Dahl books for a time because that’s all they would pick.
In the past two years, these are the books I’ve read aloud:
The Hobbit – The Magician’s Nephew – The Horse and His Boy – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia – The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – The Silver Chair – The Last Battle – James and the Giant Peach (x2) – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (x3) – Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (never again) – The Twits – The BFG (never again) – Matilda (x3) – Esio Trot – The Minpins – The Wind in the Willows – Where the Red Fern Grows (x2) – Akiko on the Planet Smoo – Akiko in the Sprubly Islands – Akiko and the Great Wall of Trudd – Akiko in the Castle of Alia Rellapor – Akiko and the Intergalactic Zoo – Akiko and the Alpha Centuari 5000 – Akiko and the Journey to Toog – Akiko: The Training Master
And for a bonus, these are the books I’ve read aloud to my wife in the last two years:
The Fellowship of the Ring – The Two Towers – The Return of the King – Redwall
I used to be a voracious reader. I would read a book a day, if I had the time. But when I started writing, my reading slacked off. I was worried that I’d be distracted from coming up with my own ideas, or that the things I read would bleed over into my own stories.
I’ve since decided that this was a silly thing to worry about, and I started reading again.
Because it had been a few years since I tucked into a fiction book, I had a backlog to tackle. Neal Stephenson is my favorite living author, and it was with eager anticipation that I cracked the cover of his 2019 novel The Fall.
As with most Stephenson books, you never quite know what you’re getting into. This one proved to be no different. I thought I was in for a gripping techno-thriller in the vein of Cryptonomicon or Reamde. Instead, what I discovered was one of the best fantasy books I’ve read in my entire life.
That’s a very divisive statement to make for Stephenson fans. The Fall was poorly received compared to his more popular books. Most of his readers expect and demand weird, pseudo sci-fi futurism with a healthy dose of angsty, overwrought prose. Neal seems to be allergic to writing short books.
So for him to drop what is essentially his take on Lord of the Rings was quite a dramatic shift in what he usually writes.
Personally, I loved it. There’s a mythical quality to The Fall that few other books can match, and the world that he builds is so compelling that I was genuinely sad to have to step away from it once I finished the book. It was fresh in a way that I feel modern fantasy lacks.
I can’t say too much for risk of spoiling the story, but I will say that it’s the best book I’ve read in years, and it might be in my top three fantasy books of all time.
Hello, dear internet wanderer!
If you’ve stumbled across this page, that means you’re deep into the uncharted warrens of the web. Here there be monsters!
Just kidding.
It’s only me down here, I promise.
And I’m still writing! I just published Blood of Druids, which completes the Shattered Son trilogy. I count this a minor triumph, as all three books were published in the same year.
If you read them, be sure to let me know what you think!
Now, on to the next project.
Sandell Wall 