Rise of the Dibor (The White Lion Chronicles) [Kindle Edition]

Christian fantasy and science fiction is starting to make a niche for itself. Powerful bestsellers are rising fast since the Left Behind Series made its appearance. With the movie version of C.S. Lewis' immortal The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, more Christian based books are beginning to surface.

Add into the mix a small publishing house and a bright new author by the name of Christopher Hopper you get the feel more Christian allegory is on the way.

The premise of Hopper's first book, The Rise of the Dibor, ask a simple, yet thought provoking question, "What if Adam and Eve had never sinned? What if mankind knew no wrong? Would we still have an enemy?" Hopper answers that question with an emphatic yes!

There is an ancient evil out there bent on destroying all that is good. It will stop at nothing to see that paradise is turned into sinful chaos. As in all good and evil storylines, good has a champion, or in this case champions. Luik, son of Lair, along with his friends are given a commission by the King of Dionia to stop this evil. With the guidance of a skilled master warrior, Luik and his friends are molded into strong and well versed fighting men. Dark days are approaching and many have to rally to save their world.

Rise of the Dibor is a hard book to get into. Though the Dionian language may prove difficult (the use of footnotes helped) it has some flavor of Tolkienese.

One wonders what happened to the editors on this first edition? Did this get passed over on a lunch break or something? One may expect some editorial mishaps from a small press, but this was very poorly edited. Reliance on the spell-checker is not good enough. The human touch and eye were needed on this. Most of the errors were homophones, the meaning could be deduced by the context, but one would hope that these mistakes will be corrected in later editions. The book layout is very nice and effective. However, a more dramatic cover might have been implored to lure readers to buy.

The writing seemed very weak at the beginning. However, by the middle of the story, it had improved enough to carry the remaining of the book. Several of the characters introduced in the beginning simply fail to show by the end of the book. Anorra is one such character that had a hopeful beginning and became a phantom by the final page. Despite all this, Christopher Hopper weaves a story filled with grand characters and stunning scenes with threads dealing with spiritual warfare, discipleship, and the inevitable need for a savior, all standard elements in popular Christian fiction.

Beyond the weak beginning, this is a good tale and Christopher Hopper has created a world filled with believable and likable characters. Hopefully the next book in the series will be better edited and have a much stronger beginning.

"What if Adam and Eve had never sinned? What if mankind knew no wrong? Would we still have an enemy?"

With this premise firmly in hand, Christopher Hopper spins a yarn guaranteed to captivate the armchair adventurer.

Luik, son of Lair, and his band of friends and acquaintances must grow strong, wise, and cunning in order to deal with an ancient evil that threatens destruction and ruin of epic proportions. Along the way friendships are strengthened, alliances are forged, and love blossoms.

Rise of the Dibor, book one in The White Lion Chronicles, was difficult to get into. There is a definite learning curve as one is introduced to the language of Dionia, but the accompanying footnotes smoothed the way.

This first edition was poorly edited, with what appears to have been too much reliance on the spell-checker. But as most of the errors were homophones, the meaning could be deduced by the context.

By the middle of the story, I was thoroughly engrossed. And while the story can be read by adventure lovers of about ten-years-old and up, as an epic adventure, Christopher Hopper takes mature readers to a deeper level, handling such subjects as the origin of evil, spiritual warfare, discipleship, and the inevitable need for a savior, with a clarity that springs from familiarity with his subject.

An added bonus for the computer savvy reader is a dedicated website complete with story background, story trailer (QuickTime is required) and author's biography.

Although initially skeptical (another reviewer compared Rise of the Dibor with both King Arthur and The Lord of the Rings), Christopher Hopper has won me over with a saga that is both more fantastic and more believable than either Middle Earth or Camelot.

Armchair Interviews says: Look forward to this and the next book in this series.

After having read the original edition, which could have been improved in several ways, this new edition is fantastic! Hopper's writing has matured; the plot has thickened, as it were, and the series is all the better for it. Featuring new cover art, a personal note from the author about the publishing ordeal, and more, this isn't a book you ought to miss. If you own the first edition, or even if you don't, this one is definitely worth buying.