Have you noticed the lack of good, Christian fiction for boys and men?  Go to the bookstore, or check out on line sites and you'll find racks upon racks, page after page listing what appears to be "Christian Romance".  Sorry, but I'm looking for something to engage my *son*.  Something not only entertaining but also true to Biblical standards.  It also has to be well written.

So just by chance my wife picked out the 4 books in the Dragons in our Midst series by Bryan Davis for my son's 11th birthday.  Having no idea really about these books, we decided to let our 11 year old give them a try. 

He finished the last one less than a week later.

This month I finally got around to reading them myself.  There's no way I can keep up with either my son or my daughter in the number of books they read. My wife throws her back out every week with the weight of all the books they check out from our local library and we are personally responsible for saving several dozen books from the dust bins.  It's sad to see a good book that hasn't been checked out for over a year.  So, in short, my children are voracious readers.

As I said, I finally determined to read these 4 books and see why my son enjoyed them so much. 

Where to start?

Book one, Raising Dragons, introduces all the major players and sets the scene and tone for the entire series.  Our main hero - there are several - is William Bannister, or Billy as he is often called.  At age 14 Billy is wondering when he'll have to start shaving, how to deal with the school bully, and other typical teenage concerns.  But Billy also has been keeping a secret from his parents:  His breath has become super hot!  He soon discovers he's not the only one to keep secrets.  His father, Jared, is well over a thousand years old and used to be a dragon.

Soon everyone is battling dragon slayers, discovering their dragon abilities, and finding that faith in God is essential to humans as well as dragons.  Billy must learn to trust in God, his friends, and his father to defeat his enemies and save his loved ones.

The entire series is so full of excitement and adventure that I was beginning to wonder how any of the characters would survive.  Each novel is a real page-turner.  The battles rage, the escapes are harrowing, and the perils indeed quite perilous.  The Christian faith is completely woven throughout and fills every little space.

There is some romance, but it is very respectful and appropriate for young readers as an example of how young men and women should treat each other.  Billy overcomes temptation in various forms throughout the series and gains strength from each victory.  The violence of battle is not overly graphic and is necessary as good must battle against evil.  These Christians aren't wimpy but instead stand fast in their faith.  They get bruised and bloodied to be sure, but they persevere and triumph in the end.

Now for the bad news:  I cannot fault Davis for his vision nor his storytelling.  He has produced a compelling and entertaining world of faith, magic, and just a little science that almost reaches the level of Asimov, Niven, and Tolkien.

I did say almost.

It's not the style.  The stories flow like a wild roller coaster and all you can do is hang on for the ride.  There is good, evil, and those that are redeemed. As I said earlier, Christian faith is woven throughout and is vital to our heroes.  Don't expect a work of fiction to be one-hundred percent consistent with every brand of Christianity, however. This is fiction, not doctrine and certain liberties must be taken. 

Some may wonder about bending Biblical truths too much.  Again, this falls under the heading of "literary license" and we must put on our "willing suspension of disbelief" for both science fiction and religious fiction.  While there isn't anything specifically Biblical about the alternative dimensions in Circles of Seven, there are enough references to different levels of Heaven and Hell for us to allow for fictional accounts.  If we didn't, we'd have to throw out Pilgrim's Progress and other great works.

It's not the characters.  Each one struggles with their inner doubts and has a unique personality.  Sure, the professor seems to know just a bit too much about EVERYTHING, but that's why he's a professor! And Walter is definitely there for comic relief as is the supercomputer, Larry.

Hmm... Let's talk about the Larry the supercomputer.  Those scenes and those involving the pseudo-science described in The Candlestone tend to sound a lot like the techno-babble used in Star Trek.  You're left saying "What?" while rolling your eyes. These scenes are definitely "B-movie" quality and stick out from the rest of the books.

I'm a big fan of Star Trek and other works of science fiction and I can overlook the techno-babble.  Really, every science fiction writer at some point has to make something up.  Otherwise we wouldn't have time machines, transfer booths, or faster-than-light travel. Why bring it up then?  The sudden change from fantasy and adventure to science fiction took me by surprise.  Something just didn't fit together well and stopped the flow of the story.

Also, I was a little disappointed that Billy's coming to faith in Christ happens in the background and isn't overtly described.  In fact, there are no outright examples of conversion.  That's not all bad, as I've waded through several stories where the authors present you with a seven-point essay on how to get saved in the guise of one character witnessing to another.  I don't expect fiction novels to be tools for witnessing and I don't want to be hit over the head with four or five examples of explaining the Gospel. But Billy is our HERO and his faith in Christ is a major weapon in his battle against evil.  He struggled with doubt for so long and then suddenly, POP "I'm a believer".  I do wish this part was fleshed out just a little bit.

The main reason these novels almost, but not quite, reach the top level is a failure in editing.  There are a few loose threads that aren't completed, leaving me wondering "why?" and "how?".  Also, there are a few internal inconsistencies that should be cleared up, such as when one villain is destroyed yet their number doesn't decrease. 

Every fault I can find with Dragons in our Midst can easily be fixed in the second edition and will turn this series from great to fantastic!  I specifically chose Asimov, Niven, and Tolkien for comparisons as each one displayed similar issues with their works.  Asimov had a planet with a pure oxygen atmosphere - not possible but he left it in because the story would have to be completely reworked otherwise.  Niven had to reengineer the Ring World to make it stable. Tolkien had to edit his works to fix inconsistencies as well.  We don't remember them for the corrections but for the overall quality of the work.  Bryan Davis fits in that category as well. 

Overall, Dragons in our Midst is exceptional.  The novels are easy to read yet highly engaging and are just right for young readers and completely enjoyable for older ones as well. I look forward to more works from Bryan Davis.