Mr. Brouwer has given us an idea of what it is like to live in a police state. Rather like 1984 and Brave New World, the citizens of Appalachia are regimented, monitored and kept in total subjugation. Even when they realize that God and the Church of Bar Elohim are not synonymous and try to reach the Outside, they are relentlessly hunted and punished for their ‘heresy’.
We are given a chilling depiction of Appalachia and quickly come to the conclusion that it is just one more dictatorial state in a long line of such regimes. Even the fact that it masquerades as a religious community is not unique. We are reminded of the Spanish Inquisition and the fervent tirades of Hitler in support of a supreme Aryan race, decreed by God.
That this Appalachian nightmare is ‘chillingly near’ as the book jacket states is a matter of opinion. We can see in present day politics that the far, far right has lost the political clout it enjoyed for a few years. And, the thought of an entire nation or part of such could remain in power for as long as this one would appear unlikely. We have had Russia and China, under the impress of Communism, rule as such a state. But the Spirit of God, through the underground Church, acts like roots growing deep into the fissures of a rock, breaking it from within.
I would have liked to hear more about the Outside; more about its ethos and rules of morality. What brief glimpses we are given make us wonder if it is the exact opposite of Appalachia. That is, the rule of ‘every man a law unto himself’. I hope Mr. Brouwer writes a sequel to this work, set in the Outside, so we can better understand it.
Tomorrow I would like to discuss the child, Caitlyn, and her metamorphoses.
Thank you, Mr. Brouwer, for making us think.
Posts Tagged: ‘Sigmund Brouwer’
BROKEN ANGEL Review
BROKEN ANGEL
by Sigmund Brouwer
Brouwer hooks his readers immediately with the mystery of Caitlyn’s birth. Although the lump on her back is easily recognized, you are left with the second mystery of how it came to be there. We are taken on a wild get-away before we have time to catch our breath.
Being dyslexic and strictly limited in my sequencing, I found it difficult to keep up with the twists and turns both in characters and topography. It was hard at first to sort out the bad guys and good guys.
The description of Appalachia is very sketchy and you learn its nature more by inference than by description. I came to the conclusion that Mr. Brouwer is as afraid of right wing fundamentalists as Republicans would be of left wing fanatics.
The book is a page turner, as much because you think surely he will clear up the twisted plot as your interest in whether Caitlyn will survive her journey.
More about the two civilizations in tomorrow’s post.
To read what other bloggers are saying, check out a few of the posts below.
- Broken Angel - Amazon.com listing
- Sigmund Brouwer - CoolReading.com
- Brandon Barr – Christian Science Fiction @ Blogspot
- Justin Boyer - FantasyFreak@Blogspot
- Jackie Castle - JackieCastle@WordPress
Valerie Comer - InvalsLittleWorld@Blogspot
Karri Compton - KCReviews@Blogspot
CSFF Blog Tour - CSFFBlogTour.com
Stacey Dale – Word-Up-Studies@Blogspot
D. G. D. Davidson - SciFiCatholic.com
Janey DeMeo – Janey-Demeo@Blogspot
http://scriptoriusrex.blogspot.com/ Jeff Draper – ScriptoriusRex@Blogspot
http://projectinga.blogspot.com/ April Erwin – Projectinga@Blogspot
http://virtualbooktourdenet.blogspot.com/ Karina Fabian – VirtualBookTour-de-Net@Blogspot
http://www.goodwordediting.com/ Mark Goodyear – GoodWordEditing.com
http://askandrea.adamsweb.us/ Andrea Graham – AskAndrea.AdamsWeb.us
http://writingchristiannovels.blogspot.com/ Katie Hart – WritingChristianNovels@Blogspot
http://fantasythyme.blogspot.com Timothy Hicks – FantasyThyme@Blogspot
http://www.christopherhopper.com Christopher Hopper – ChristopherHopper.com
http://www.faithfiction.blogspot.com/ Joleen Howell – FaithFiction@Blogspot
http://www.spoiledfortheordinary.blogspot.com/ Jason Joyner – SpoiledForthTheOrdinary@Blogspot
http://carolkeen.blogspot.com/ Carol Keen – CarolKeen@Blogspot
http://sparksoflava.blogspot.com/ Magma – SparksOFlava@Blogspot
http://cherryblossommj.blogspot.com Margaret – CherryBlossomMJ@Blogspot
http://shenandoahdawn.blogspot.com/ Shannon McNear – ShenandoahDawn@Blogspot
http://forstrose.blogspot.com/ Melissa Meeks – Forstrose@Blogspot
http://rebeccaluellamiller.wordpress.com/ Rebecca LuElla Miller – RebeccaLuEllaMiller@WordPress
http://linalamont.blogspot.comNissa – LinaLamont@Blogspot
http://www.leastread.blogspot.com/ John W. Otte – Leastread@Blogspot
http://ansric.blogspot.com/ Steve Rice – Ansric@Blogspot
http://godslightuponme.blogspot.com/ Ashley Rutherford – GodsLightUponMe@Blogspot
http://hannaslifeiscool.blogspot.com/ Hanna Sandvig – HannasLifeIsCool@Blogspot
http://www.chawnaschroeder.blogspot.com/ Chawna Schroeder – ChawnaSchroeder@Blogspot
http://mirathon.blogspot.com/ Mirtika – Mirathon@Blogspot
http://mirtika.livejournal.com/ Mir’s Here – Mirtika@LiveJournal
http://seanslaglebookmarkcafe.blogspot.com/ Sean Slagle – SeanSlagleBookMarkCafe@Blogspot
http://www.jamessomers.blogspot.com/ James Somers – JamesSomers@Blogspot
http://www.mindsinger.com/mindsinger Donna Swanson – Mindsinger.com
http://christiansf.blogspot.com/ Steve Trower _ ChristianSF@Blogspot
<a href=”http://www.AdventuresInFiction.blogspot.com/“> Keanan Brand – AdventuresInFiction@Blogspot
<a href=”http://specfaith.ritersbloc.com/“> Speculative Faith – SpecFaith.Ritersblock.com
<a href=”http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com“> Laura Williams – LauraWilliamsMusings@Blogspot
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