Kestrels Midnight Song, Review

Some of you might recall the interview I did a short while ago with author, Jacob Parker. Those of you who don’t recall it, I suggest finding something to improve your memory. Anyways, I recently was able to get my hands on a copy of his book, Kestrel's Midnight Song, I found it somewhat different than I expected but very much to my liking.
Micah is a young shepherd who is very attached to his sheep, however small his flock may be. When Micah’s master sends him and his sheep to the Castle of the land of Gable to pay for the taxes with wool, Micah has no idea what to expect. Along the way he encounters many dangers to him and his sheep along with a mysterious but somewhat simple man named Bart. He also meets two travelers who have learned of a secret plot by a secret group of men known only as the Marauders to free their head captain, Kestrel, from a tower prison and take over the kingdom of Gable. Micah and his sheep may unknowingly be part of the secret plot to free the ruthless Kestrel and reunite him with the legendary Caelum flute.


If you’re expecting a typical fantasy of huge-battles/legendary-weapons/romance/mystical-creatures/one-ring-to-rule-them-all type of thing, you might be a little disappointed, or you may like it. Not to say that this doesn’t have awesome stuff like the Aegre Bird (see the cover) and the Caelum Flute, but it seems to be much more about the people than about armies. In some ways Kestrel’s Midnight Song seems to be a parallel of us and Christ, Micah the shepherd seems to have an irrational love for his sheep, climbing down a cliff in a blizzard to find a lost lamb. Just think about how much more Jesus loves us.

KMS is an excellently written book, although there are a few misspelled words, they aren’t too obvious. One of the things I really liked about KMS is how Parker displayed his faith, I’ve noticed in some Christian novels that “Christian” pretty much means “clean” while other books practically shove Christianity down your throat (not that either of these are necessarily bad), Parker seems to have taken the path of just assuming it’s true, there’s no huge back-story about the Jesus figure of this world, just Christians. I also love his display of the forgiveness of sinners and what it can do, it all comes down to one line “He loves you”

I highly recommend reading Kestrel’s Midnight Song by Jacob Parker