Review: Foundlings by Matthew Christian Harding

Foundlings: Book 1 of the Peleg Chronicles, by Matthew Christian Harding
Reviewed by: Lori Twichell
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Publisher: Zoe & Sozo Publishing
Publication Date: 9/1/2009

Lord McDougal is a man of faith. And many, many quirks. He’s a mysterious type. Bold and powerful, he’s built like a tree and he has little difficulty finding trouble. More often than not, it finds him and his faithful sword bearer, Fergus Leatherhead.  Far more than just a servant, Fergus is a friend. A mentor. A guide. It’s his life’s duty to give his life for Lord McDougal and duty. Throughout the adventures, we all get to see how highly he holds this task.

When their paths cross a dwarf, a young girl and some slave traders, life gets very interesting for the group. In fact soon they are the very embodiment of a ragtag army of people from nearly every walk of life.  Determined to be everything that God has planned for him, McDougal backs down to no man and yet fights with honor through a series of unique situations and highly dangerous hijinks. They even take on giants, dark priests and dragon like creatures!

Touting no magic, evolution or humanism, Harding’s books are a vivid adventure fantasy that will delight readers of all ages. As I was reading, I was transported to this world as surely as I was Narnia or Helm’s Deep. I loved this book. One of my favorite parts of Harding’s writing was the way that he included scripture. It’s always felt like a misstep to me when an author has a character suddenly spouting scripture as if that’s the way we all speak in every day language. But Harding’s characters deftly weave wisdom and knowledge from the Word of God into their every day language without it feeling forced or taking the reader out of the story. In fact, the way that he crafts the tale and the dialogue, it gives the reader a strong connection to the characters that helps draw you deeper into the story.

It’s nearly impossible to explain how very much I loved this story. The characters were a delight. The plot twisted and turned in ways that caught me off guard, but left me completely entertained. I enjoyed everything about the way that Matthew Christian Harding crafted this story and I can’t wait to finish the rest of the series. I cannot more highly recommend this book to anyone – of any age. Parents, this is a perfect book to read with your children. And if you have a teenager who enjoys fantasy? Perfect!

Don’t miss this one. It’s a treasure you’ll be glad you found!

Rated PG: This is an extremely entertaining series written in such a way that anyone of any age could enjoy it. I only made it PG because a few things might be over the heads of very young readers. I’d recommend it for any family!

Review copy provided by the author. Thank you!