Book Review: Beyond The Gloesmur

Reviewed By: Webspinner - RAM

Beyond The Gloesmur     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Kathleen E. Deisher
Class/Genre:   Fantasy   Religious Fiction   Juvenile
Lamp Post; 2002; 265pp

"A stable boy and a flying horse pursue a mysterious quest with a beautiful but pampered princess from a faraway land. Read along as Princess Jondalyn journeys beyond the Gloesmur for an enchanting ‘once upon a time' tale of adventure." I am a long-time fantasy fan, and this sounds like the kind of story I really enjoy. "Coming-of-age" fantasy can be very entertaining, teach lessons in ethics and morality, and include grand adventures, when well done.

So you might be able to imagine my disappointment at being misled into reading this one.

Yes, there is a stable boy, a spoiled princess, a flying horse, and even a ‘Belt of Truth'. It begins with what could be a fine entrance into the genre for elementary school children . . . until the author oversteps the bounds of fantasy and takes what could have been an interesting adventure and uses it as a medium to force-feed Christian Theology. CS Lewis was a master at combining Christian Theology and fantasy [see ‘The Chronicles of Narnia' and his ‘Space Trilogy'], but he allowed the characters to develop slowly, over time, and come to their own conclusions regarding the powers of good and evil. He did not shove "the power of prayer" into a story as an automatic solution to every difficult situation in which one of the characters finds him/herself enmeshed. I can't help but think that either a child will dismiss everything out-of-hand as so much garbage, or use it as an excuse to not have to develop learning and responsibility if you never have to take the responsibility for your own "wrong" decisions, because prayer will solve everything.

Having raised three children of my own, they were enthralled by Narnia. "Beyond the Gloesmur" would not last through the first 50 pages, even when they were ten.

Webspinner - RAM

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