Tales From Terrestria by Ed Dunlop

The Tales From Terrestria series is written by Ed Dunlop, a child evangelist.  These are meant to be allegories of the Christian faith.  There are currently four books available, I received Book 1 & 4.  Excited to check these out, I decided to go ahead and read one as my 52 Books in 52 Weeks book of the week.  I mistakenly believed that we owned a previous series by this author and enjoyed them, but soon discovered that I was mistaken and the series I was thinking of was written by a completely different person.

These books are meant to be allegory, which I understand.  However, I prefer my allegory just a little less preachy.  I felt the writing was heavy-handed and the message of the book completely over powered the story.  The dialogue was clunky, the characters very flat and one dimensional.  The best kind of story allows the reader to make the connections and understand the "lesson" of the story on their own.  They grow as the character grows, rather than having it spoon-fed to them.

The worldview of the author is extremely conservative and, as the message is so forcefully given, may not coincide with the readers own viewpoints.  Just in case you did not understand his point in the book, he adds an authors note which compares rock music with p**nography and encourages the reader to count his parents as his best friends in life, insinuating that all peer friendships are dangerous and foolish.

The reasons I did not enjoy the series may be the very reasons someone else will.  Although I am not a fan of the quality of writing as a whole, those looking for a story reflecting these very conservative viewpoints will probably be able to overlook that in their desire for a series that reflects their beliefs.     

Tales From Terrestria are available for $7.99 each, or $19.99 for Books 1, 2 & 4.

*Disclosure: I received books 1 & 4 at no cost for review purposes.*

9/52