Title Between Two Kingdoms Series --- Author Joe Boyd Cover Art Michael Erazo-Kase Publisher Standard Publishing - 2010 First Printing Standard Publishing - 2010 Category Christian Warnings None Main Characters Tommy, Mary, Bobby, Luke, Freddie (Pops), Roger Main Elements Angels, devils

The Dark Prince of the Lower Kingdom is plotting against my Father and me. Freddie is one of my best leaders, but I need more. I need you in the Lower Kingdom right now." Tommy tugged at his lower lip. "This is really what you want me to do, Prince?" "Tommy, this is what you were born to do."

There is a land of two kingdoms, but only one true King. A living land, where foundations grow in trees and rivers sing and breathe. A dying land, where the darkness of a false prince threatens to swallow everything in its shadow.

Enter Between Two Kingdoms with Tommy, and eternally seven-year-old child of the Great King, as he and his friends accept the challenge of the Good Prince to live as grown men and women in the Lower Kingdom - where hope is hidden, vision is clouded, and pride twists truth into a beautiful yet deadly deception.

A friend of mine won this book from some promotion, and she passed it along to me. Now I am not a religious person, and I don't usually read religious books, actually probably had never read one before other than parts of the Bible. But this book was meant to be an allegory, the religious bits wrapped up in fantasy. Instead of Heaven you have the Upper Kingdom. The Lower Kingdom doesn't so much seem like Hell but rather our realm. The Good King of course is God, and his son the Prince is of course Jesus. The Messengers are simply angels without wings, the Phantom Messengers the Fallen. I never did figure out what the River represented? Probably Faith now that I think about it. And the Tree Houses? That one I'm not sure, I thought at first churches but I think they are more abstract than that.

Anyway, it reads like a Christian tale, both in tone, writing style, plot, etc. Now the funny thing was, the other book my friend had won and passed along was called The Dead Janitor's Club, a book about a guy who cleans up crime scenes. It was terribly graphic and I made it about a third of the way through and had to stop because it got so gross. And I often watch shows like CSI and Bones so that's saying something. So when I switched to The Two Kingdoms it was a bit of a comforting relief. I actually enjoyed the message of goodwill that was being portrayed after attempting to read such a disturbing book before it.

Of course I found the story to be simplistic, there wasn't really any question about whether or not the allies of the Good King would triumph over the Dark Prince. And I don't know it if is part of the Bible that everyone in Heaven will be seven years old...but that sounded rather nice actually. A kind of feel-good book even though there are a lot of not-feel-good scenes. People get hurt, people die, but all for a good cause (and a reunion with cookies!)