Sunday, November 12, 2023

About the Book

Book: Demolishing the Stronghold

Author: Allen Brokken

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Release Date: November 4, 2023

Lauren, Aiden, and Ethan finally found respite for their whole family in the grove surrounding the Wellspring of Life. However, the threat of the Dark One’s forces still looms over the Heathlands, and lighting the tower of Light in Blooming Glen is their only hope of cleansing their land of The Darkness once and for all. While the family plans a surprise attack on the stronghold at Blooming Glen, the Bishop calls forth the Calamitous Drake, a monster forged from the essence of The Darkness in the corrupted heart of the Iron Mountain. In the midst of the battle, the monster scatters the family, leaving Mother, Uncle, and Tye in the hands of Lord Refi’Cul and the evil giant Skull Crusher who aims to make Tye his wife and become the Master of the Heath Wardens.

The children must take to the skies to forge a weapon capable of defeating the Calamitous Drake. Will Lauren, Aiden, and Ethan’s faith give them the strength to Demolish the Stronghold?

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About the Author

Allen Brokken is a teacher at heart, a husband, and a father most of all. He’s a joyful writer by the abundant grace of God. He began writing the Towers of Light series for his own children to help him illustrate the deep truths of the Bible in an engaging and age-appropriate way. He’s dedicated 18 years to volunteer roles in children’s ministry and youth development. Now that his children are off to college, he’s telling stories and sharing clean humor on social media.

More from Allen

As I worked to close out the Towers of Light series, I had to work hard to develop something new and different that still fit the 1800s frontier setting. I had a lot of pressure from my readers to bring a dragon to the prairie. On multiple occasions, I had to remind my biggest fans that there aren’t any dragons on the prairie. But they were insistent that dragons make an appearance.

So, as I put the final touches on the previous book, Wellspring of Life, I thought that the censors spreading evil could bring evil things into the world to corrupt the prairie. So, the concept of a dragon formed from the censor’s smoke made a lot of sense. But what would a “Smoke Dragon” be like? I shared the idea with my Realm Makers critique group, and they helped form something that early feedback says works well. The dragon’s name, The Calamitous Drake, is also an homage to a line from “The Hobbit” that refers to Smaug as a great calamity.

With a dragon flying about, I also had to devise a way for the kids to engage it in the air. This took significant research as I didn’t want to introduce giant eagles or something else that didn’t exist on the frontier. As I investigated different options, I discovered that hot air balloons were more common in the 1800’s than I thought. It turned out they served in minor roles during the Civil War and used a technology they called a gasifier to fill them up. I took some artistic liberty with that, and Lauren, Aiden, and Ethan now had a way to get off the ground to meet the dragon in the air.

This story was so much fun to write, and early reviews from my biggest fans say it was the perfect end to the series.

MY REVIEW

As we come to end of this series I found this book very intense but always geared toward God. There is dark vs light in this adventure which takes our main characters to the unknown. The children are in a battle that will stretch them and show them that they can overcome and find freedom.

The book is geared toward middle school age children and I may not be sure that all the battles and warfare going on would be appropriate for some this age. I would recommend ages twelve and up to read this as there are sone scenes that are not something younger children should be exposed to. The author does do a great job of taking caution in some details so as parents use your judgment.

I like that the main characters are a group of children that work together to as Skull Crusher is once again trying to overpower or maybe I should say discourage the children. His attempt to try to control them and expect them to give in to him was quickly illustrated as a failure for Skull Crusher. The kids hav come to far to give into a weakness they readily recognize.

I love seeing how Lauren has stepped up as a leader and her father tells her, “From what I’ve heard, you’ve had to make some tough decisions , and it’s clear from what the boys say you listened to God’s still small voice to do it.” Lauren has shown that she can handle hard things as long as she puts her trust in God.

There is a war of sorts going on and without giving to much away, the battles, danger and surprises and deceit make this book a great story that shows how darkness will try anything to trick us into following them. Oh but the good news is that the kids faith is strong and never gives in to the tricks that the enemy tries to use. This is a great ending to a series that has entertained me and I appreciate the writing style this author is gifted with.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.