![His Mercy Endureth Forever (Bell Mountain Book 12) by [Lee Duigon]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51yAVSXjuSL.jpg)
A guy can go to his friends when he needs encouragement–right? And some of you out there really are my friends.
Bell Mountain No. 12, His Mercy Endureth Forever, is, like, totally bombing. Hardly anyone is buying it. And except for Ina’s review on amazon’s UK page, the few reviews I’ve got are along the lines of “Why don’t you stop writing this stuff already?” Yeesh. Is it really that bad?
Oh, but a writer ought to have more confidence! Yeah? I don’t know about others, but every time I go out there with a new book, it’s like the very first time all over again. You expect to get booed off the stage.
Edgar Rice Burroughs got sick of writing Tarzan, and Agatha Christie got sick of writing Hercule Poirot. But they kept writing those series because the readers kept wanting more. I’m not sick of my series, I’m attached to the characters–but my confidence has been shaken.
So tell me, if you can–does anybody like this book?
Yes!! I really did enjoy reading the book! I especially loved the ending and the preaching of First Prester Orth. The climax made me want to read the next installment of the series!
“The Wind from Heaven” is being edited as we speak.
That’s wonderful! I’m excited to hear that! Do you think it will come out sometime soon, maybe next year?
Well, we also need the cover art, I’ve got to come up with some ideas for that. I would rather it didn’t get published this year, because then I’d have two books published in one year and probably none the next year. So I’m hoping for next year; but really, I have no idea what the publication schedule is.
I’m looking forward to seeing the cover art for the new book! Kirk DouPonce is such an amazing artist!
And sometimes, I don’t know how he does it, he pulls the character right out of the story, right out of my imagination, and brings her to life on the cover.
That’s some talent God has given him!
Well, the first three times I tried to leave a reply, the box to enter it into didn’t even show up. This is quite a mystery to me; Anyway, I have to admit I have not read the book yet, but I will try to get it ordered today, and give it a try. I know it will be good, just as the others are. It would be great if you could have these stories made into a movie series and have something good on TV and disc for people who don’t like the current fare on those venues. There is a writer named Briner, who wrote a book titled Roaring Lambs that discusses this concept.
Yes, I did like this book and I look forward to each new book in the series. I would say, however, that it is nice when a story ties up neatly at the end of a series (e.g Narnia, Lord of the Rings). There is something in us that wants everything to turn out right and the good guys to win! If you decide to keep going, though, or to start a new series, I’ll be in line to read what you’ve got. There are not enough good, Christian authors in this genre.
“The Lord of the Rings” ends with none but the good guys left standing. But my Bell Mountain series is a kind of history, and history doesn’t end like that. There’s always an Enemy: that’s the fallen world, which only Jesus Christ can save. The Bell Mountain fantasy world is fallen, too.
Of course we want good to win out over evil. But that’s something that will not happen until Christ Himself returns. Meanwhile, we have to be satisfied with the smaller victories which God grants us.
Hitler fell, but then we had communism to contend with. Even so, his fall was a victory for good. We continue in our labors, in our struggles–and that’s history.
I haven’t finished it, but what I’ve read so far is engaging and, while there is a sense of familiarity, I would not think of it as repetitive. To clarify, the settings and situations retain their familiarity, but the story is going new places.
These are unusual times. The COVID situation is the visible portion of the iceberg, but there is more to it than that. Even the assaults upon the form of government in the US is part of something greater. Some of the very pillars of our social order are either changing or are subsumed by COVID restrictions and their associated fallout. This leaves us with our faith, and our convictions. That’s it. It’s all we have with which to face the current situation, but it’s all we need.
The book seems fine to my sensibilities. Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised by the freshness of the story. Maintaining continuity without sacrificing freshness is a talent, unto itself.
Thank you. I needed that.
I don’t think that we can judge the events of this period in time by the criteria of the past. This is a bad time and it is bound to rub off in all sorts of ways.
“‘The Lord of the Rings’ ends with none but the good guys left standing. But my Bell Mountain series is a kind of history, and history doesn’t end like that. There’s always an Enemy: that’s the fallen world, which only Jesus Christ can save. The Bell Mountain fantasy world is fallen, too.
Of course we want good to win out over evil. But that’s something that will not happen until Christ Himself returns. Meanwhile, we have to be satisfied with the smaller victories which God grants us.
Hitler fell, but then we had communism to contend with. Even so, his fall was a victory for good. We continue in our labors, in our struggles–and that’s history.”
At Christ’s return, everything will change. The story will be the restitution of all things. The relationship with protagonists and antagonists will be different. The real antagonist will be bound for a thousand years, to be loosed for a short time, then finally given the Second Death. You are writing about this fallen world, or at least a fictional parallel to it, and I agree, the problems will keep arising in this fallen world. There are always new challenges.
I come here mainly for your political and religious commentary, Lee, so I have sort of an outside perspective when it comes to your books. I think for a series as large as yours it can be challenging to attract new readers because there’s so much catching up they have to do. Disney had a similar problem with introducing Star Wars to China. In the West we grew up on Star Wars and it has become a part of our pop culture, but no so in the East. So Star Wars movies have never done well in China. They were unfamiliar with the backstory and would have to watch all the movies to really understand what’s going on. This may be a similar hurdle for you.
Too late to fix that now.
I’ve read through “The Silver Trumpet” and have enjoyed thoroughly all the books! I will eventually read them all. I try to read what the Holy Spirit leads me to read. My wife is making me (she and the Holy Spirit seem to work in conjunction in my life 🙂 ) read the books I have already purchase before I buy new ones.