Ashtown Burials --book series review, Pt. 2

                                                      

          "Now for the storm.

                                    And an end."

                                                                                            --N.D. Wilson, Empire of Bones
 

  Ok, so I have finished reading Empire of Bones, the last book in N.D. Wilson's Ashtown Burials series, (actually I finished it very shortly after writing the first post about it... I'm just now having time to put this one together...) so I thought I'd give you an update on the whole thing.

  I have not had to revolt against the last book.  :P  Which is good!
  I was satisfied with the ending -- thought I was also pretty much not breathing all the way through to the last page...  Whew!

  Now, let me warn you that the rest of this most may contain what might be considered minor spoilers, so don't read the rest unless minor spoilers (ie. no major plot points) don't bother you.  :)  Suffice to say, the whole series is well worth investing your time in reading, and is firmly fixed among my all-time favorites.

  And moving into those might-be minor spoilers...

  Let me just say that Cyrus and Antigone are fabulous characters.  Absolutely fascinating, very relatable, and always growing and inspiring me to follow.
  Empire of Bones (the whole series, really) has really given me a lot to think on--  particularly in the area of courage, and in doing very hard things even when the outlook is grim or impossible.  (those places where my hobbit-like self would much prefer to hunker down in my pantry with a pot of tea...)  Cyrus and Antigone are teaching me what courage looks like, and how it is cultivated.

  You may or may not know this about me, but I am not at all comfortable with Revelation/End-times things.  Not one little bit.  All that stuff really scares me.  I'd much rather skip right to the Rapture and the new Heaven and new Earth without all the really difficult stuff coming first.  I'd much rather not talk or think of any of it at all, as if that somehow could make it happen the way I wish it would.
  But visiting Ashtown is helping me change my perspective.  Slowly, very slowly;  and I don't feel right now like I have even a fraction of the courage of Antigone or Cyrus --and not in a million years that of Rupert Greeves or Nolan or Diana-- but I can slowly feel the tiniest hint of warmth from a little spark of real bravery;  the kind that can learn to stand up against all odds;  the kind our Savoir meant for us to have to live lives of boldness in His name.

                            For God has not given us a spirit of fear,
                                                      but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
                                                                                                  2 Timothy 1:7

  I love the way Wilson handles the heavy subjects of death and the fear of death throughout Ashtown Burials.  He does a great job making the point that death is not something to obsess over one way or the other;  not something to seek or to cower from.  It is simply something that, for the Christ-follower, we have to pass through that confirms yet again that Jesus is Lord of all, and has conquered death once and for all.  It's like the last gate we pass through before we're forever free of mankind's Curse.  In that assurance, we can learn not to be afraid of the power of death, because though we still have to drink the cup, we are immune to any of its effects.

  Wilson also has written (in Empire of Bones) one of the most beautiful, powerful descriptions of love and of real heroism that I have ever read.  I wanted to share part of that with you as I finish this post;

  "Heroes... do not pour out their blood because the one they save deserves such a sacrifice.  [No,]
          Love burns hotter than justice,
                       and its roar is thunder.
                                              Beside love, even wrath whispers.
  Not one of us snatching breath with mortal lungs deserves such a gift, and yet every day such a gift is given.
  ...To love is to be selfless.  To be selfless is to be fearless.  To be fearless is to strip your enemies of their greatest weapon.

  Our goal was never to live; our goal is to love.  It is the goal of all truly noble men and women.

  ...[We are] following in the steps of the one Mortal
                     from whom even the Reaper fled in fear.
                                                    ...Only love can set a man's feet on such a path.  Only love
                                                     can see him through, into rest and the hot light of the sun."

                                                                                            --N.D. Wilson, Empire of Bones

  One more thing;  You would think it would be irritating for an author to hint at and describe things in their story that they never fully explain in the end, which I noticed Wilson does quite often.  But it's not.  I actually think it makes his stories ten times richer, because you don't understand every detail (funny; just like in the real world...), and your imagination can't help but run wild.  It actually just shows greater skill on the part of the author, to know the world you've created that well and be able to pull the feat off.

  So, in closing, get yourself out there and start reading (and growing from) Ashtown Burials!