Lee Duigon's Bell Mountain series

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Jerusalem Blade

Puritan Board Professor
Anybody here read any of Lee Duigon's Bell Mountain Series? Ostensibly children's books, I found them quite addicting last year when I read the extant 11 books in the series (the 12th one, His Mercy Endureth Forever, is about to come out any day now). I read them on Kindle (via Amazon) as the price of the paperback was too high for me (tight budget), plus I get credits on Kindle buys if I order Amazon stuff with deliveries a week or so later.

It is really high adventure, and Lee's faith (he's a believer) powerfully informs the entire work, especially the various protagonists' hearts and lives. They're published by the Chalcedon Foundation, so you might expect their theology to be present in his presentation. The one thing I noticed in that area was that almost all of the main characters didn't die in the terrible conflicts and adventures they went through, and I realized that this reflected the Postmil view of things.

That said, I very much appreciated the stories (stories with the larger story), and the characters. It was far more Biblical than LOTR, though it was not actually Biblical, but not what you'd call fantasy per se. It's almost a genre unto itself. As soon as I read the first in the series, Bell Mountain, I was hooked. Highly recommended.
 
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I've seen them advertised back when I was receiving newsletters from Chalcedon, but I've never read any of them.

Thanks for the review! I'll keep these in mind.
 
The two main characters, Jack and Ellayne, when we first meet them in Book 1, Bell Mountain, might be 10 or 11 years old — both from very different strata of society — are caught up in an adventure which has them leave the relative comforts of home for a hike to the summit of a distant mountain to ring a mystical bell orphaned Jack has become aware of in his dreams, the existence of which is verified by a tutor he has, who's familiar with ancient books and lore.

A wicked head priest from the capital city, learning of this quest sends his best assassin to kill the both of them, although the assassin has a change of heart, and becomes their friend and protector. Many are the remarkable characters the author, Lee Duigon, a man of prayer and Scriptural wisdom, creates in this ongoing saga. It is the kind of work that is eminently suitable for children, although as I said above, I was quite taken by it, and I don't have childish tastes.

The gospel can seen throughout the books, and the evangelism of wild peoples and tribes who then seek godliness, not to mention some notable villains who develop into profounder depths and heights of malice and wickedness.

I'm not really a lover of fiction any longer (I used to read widely), but there is so much truth in these books it overcame my fiction-aversion.

The cover art-work from book 4, The Last Banquet, picturing here a conclave of evil, aggressive shamans, and their armies:

The Last Banquet cover, book 4.png
 
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Steve, Thanks for bringing this series to light. I find myself quite intrigued. (Just wish I had more time for reading.) What about for read-aloud to family? Would Bell Mountain Series lend itself well to that, in your opinion?
 
Hello, Brian, yes, I certainly think it would. There are no illustrations save the excellent covers, but Duigon has a gift with words so that he "paints" characters and scenes to be vivid in the imagination. You can check out the Kindle version of the first book to get an idea yourself - only $1.99 - the following are slightly higher.
 
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