Landon Snow and the Auctor's Riddle

Landon Snow and the Auctor’s Riddle by R.K. Mortenson is this month’s selection for the Christian Fiction Blogging Alliance. I have been looking forward to reading this novel because I have a great affection for children’s literature. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I have not read much Christian literature for children outside of George MacDonald and C.S. Lewis. Was I going to be preached at? Was I going to read a “Christian” Harry Potter knock-off? I was more than pleasantly surprised when I discovered that Landon Snow is none of the above. It is more akin to Alice in Wonderland, or perhaps even Phantastes. And in my book, that is a very good thing. While I was reminded in various places of books I have read before, I never felt that I was reading an imitation. And I was delighted when certain phrases leapt off the page at me, clamoring for attention, because they were fraught with meaning.
This book does what has become unusual in much fiction. It makes you use (dare I say it?) your imagination. When Landon falls into the Book of Meanings to search for the answer to the Auctor’s Riddle, he must learn that not every question has an answer, but every question has a meaning. He must come to the understanding that nothing is chance and that the hand of God guides the beautiful order of the universe.
I believe that the gift of Understanding is an important one for the next few generations, as the world becomes a stranger and darker place. Landon Snow guides the next generation closer to the knowledge and understanding of how truly awesome is the Creator.
I am loathe to part with this novel before I read it again, but I really want to let my nephews, ages 8 and 10, read it to get their response. I am often asked to recommend books, and it is a relief to find an intelligent and imaginative work of fiction to recommend to the tween audience. I believe the next installment is due out this spring, and I will definitely be adding it to my collection of young adult and children’s literature. I can’t wait for my children to be old enough to enjoy this novel because I will know that not only are they safe with Landon Snow, but they will also be brought closer to their Auctor.