Book Review: The Serpent Slayer by Champ Thornton and Andrew David Naselli
Book Review: The Serpent Slayer by Champ Thornton and Andrew David Naselli
16 August 2022
In The Kambur Chronicles, the Bible comes to life for children as the characters travel through stories and learn about God’s overarching story for humanity.
Is it possible to mix fantasy and science fiction with Biblical literature? Absolutely. In the new children’s series, The Kambur Chronicles, authors Champ Thornton and Andrew David Naselli take us on a time-hopping quest through some of the Bible’s key stories.
And while siblings Nomi and Emmet can’t change the events they witness (too bad they can’t reverse that Edenic encounter with the snake), they become part of God’s greater story – witnessing how Christ has worked to overthrow Satan since Genesis chapter 3.
Children aged 9-13 will love this book. It is simple yet full of adventure and riddles. Twelve-year-olds Nomi and Emmet, siblings by adoption, find a mystical Tolfandlit and fall into an old scroll – which just happens to be the Bible (or the Kambur Scroll) – and they quickly get caught up in the metaphor and humanity of the Scriptures.
From an encounter with Adam and Eve (which espouses a complementarian view), they must solve a riddle identifying the snake and the serpent slayer (Christ). From one Bible story to another, they cross the Red Sea, meet a young David, and have a run-in with the Pharisees – all the while, they are challenged to identify the difference between what is truly good and true and what appears to be good due to power, wealth or bravado.
This is an excellent resource for young people who want to understand how the narrative of the Bible goes together, and we are even given a glimpse into the final overthrow of Satan in Revelation. But don’t worry, there’s no time-travelling to witness the blood and gore of Armageddon. This is strictly G-rated.
Look, the idea that the entire Bible can be encapsulated in the phrase, “Kill the serpent, get the girl”, which they lobby at the end of the book, is a little clumsy. ‘The girl’ is meant to represent the Bride of Christ, aka the Church. And it really does enforce gender norms hinted at in the Edenic portion of the book. But the crux of the story is pure, true and a lot of fun. What more could you ask for in Christian children’s literature?
The Serpent Slayer and the Scroll of Riddles is available now at Christian bookstores.
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