The Gift is part two of The Chiveis Trilogy. Last year I read and review book one, The Sword, here. Since The Sword was one of my favorite books of 2010, I eagerly looked forward to the continued adventures of Teofil and Anastatia.
The Chiveis Trilogy is an epic adventure story with strong theological themes. The setting for the trilogy takes place 400 years in the future, in a world that has been ravished by nuclear war, disease, and famine (which happens 40 years in the future). The result is a rise of pockets of civilizations that have taken on medieval culture and level of technology.
Like the first book, this book too had many interesting and engaging plot development and twists. As the two seek out a copy of the New Testament which has been lost through neglect and destruction. After being forced to flee their homeland over a glacial mountain pass, the pair fall in with the Ulmbartians – a thouroughly shallow culture controlled by dark shamans of evil.
The themes of God’s sovereignty, temptation, evil, pride, vanity, and materialism are strong in this book. Like the first book, Litfin does well to avoid some of the typical pitfalls and cliche’s of other Christian fiction. At the end of the book, Litfin even provides discussion questions for individuals or groups to help process these themes.
About