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L. B. Graham's tale is not as seamless as Tolkien's or his characters as flawlessly rendered. But buy the book; it's eminently enjoyable, and you'll be supporting a brother. (P&R Publishing should be commended for venturing out of their theology and self-help.) Those of us who are intrigued to see how Graham will answer his own question—about a world of warriors populating the peace they fought for—are already looking forward to the next volume in the series.

Newlyn Allison is a writer living in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Beyond the Summerland: Book 1, The Binding of the Blade is available from Amazon.com and other book retailers.

More information is available from the publisher.

More Christianity Today articles on J.R.R. Tolkien are available from our Lord of the Ringsspecial section, and our sister publication, Christian History & Biography, recently devoted an issue to the mythmaker.

Books & Culture Corner appears every Tuesday. Earlier editions of Books & Culture Corner and Book of the Week include:

'Be Happy!' | How the ancient Olympics differed from the modern spectacle. (Aug. 10, 2004)

We've Got Books | The first installment of our new midyear book report. (Aug. 10, 2004)

Rediscovering 'Husbandry' | What Colonial farmers have to teach us about living with the land. (Aug. 03, 2004)

China's Spiritual Hunger | The lessons of Falun Gong (July 27, 2004)

Ambiguous Redemption | A riveting memoir by the author of Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight. (July 20, 2004)

Tending the Garden | Evangelicals and the environment. (July 07, 2004)

How the Monster Grew | A Pulitzer Prize-winning historian looks at the origins of modern media. (July 05, 2004)

Wasn't That a Mighty Fall | Martha Stewart, VeggieTales, and Narnia revisted. (June 29, 2004)

Insect Theodicy | Who sent the locusts? And who exterminated them? (June 22, 2004)

Telling Lies, Telling Stories | Lars Saabye Christensen's The Half Brother reveals imagination as escape. (June 15, 2004)

The Art of Political War | A veteran columnist urges his fellow liberals to take a lesson from those nasty conservatives. (June 07, 2004)

Thou Shalt Not Swap | The uses and abuses of copyright. (May 24, 2004)

Mystery and Message | Must they compete? (May 10, 2004)

Celebrating Faith in Writing | A dispatch from Calvin College's biennial event. (April 26, 2004)

Shabbos, Sheitels, and Yarmulkes | A novel set in the world of Orthodox Judaism. (April 19, 2004)

The Naked City | The story of the 1977 blackout in New York-the occasion of widespread looting and destruction-has some surprisingly timely lessons for America in 2004. (April 19, 2004)

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August (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48