Fool's Errand
Chadash Chronicles Book One: Fool’s Errand – Second Edition
Copyright 2015, FaithXFiction Press and David G. Johnson, all rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the author. Exception is made for short excerpts used in reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to persons living or dead is coincidental.
The Scripture references/quotes used in this work draw from either the Complete Jewish Bible (1998) or the New American Standard Version (1995) with the context-appropriate name changes from either Yahweh or Adonai or God to “One Lord” as He is known in the context of this novel series.
To God and His Son, Jesus Christ, without whom nothing in my life would be possible.
To my daughter, Ariel, who was a constant encouragement and inspiration to keep writing.
To the fans whose support inspired me to do this second edition.
Thanks to my brother in Christ, Zerubbabel, whose help with Hebrew and culture knowledge was invaluable in painting parts of this picture accurately.
Thanks also to Ariel, Stanley and Sharon for your proofreading and feedback during the creation process.
Special thanks go out to my wife, Amy. Without your support and assistance in keeping the rest of our lives going I would not have found the time to write and complete this work.
Thanks to Mary C. Findley for her invaluable help with formatting and creating the amazing look and feel for the insides of this book, and her help with cover design work on this series and on so many of my other works. You are a blessing, Mary.
Finally, thanks to Ralf Schemmann (www.mapsandmore.com) for his amazing cartography work on the maps included in this book. Being a visual person myself, having a view of a fantasy world helps the reader put things into perspective with a picture, or map in this case, being worth a thousand words.
Chapter 1 – Struggle in the Dark
Chapter 2 – Disturbing Mysteries
Chapter 3 – Council in Aton-Ri
Chapter 8 – A Meal to Remember
Chapter 13 – Unexpected Allies
Chapter 14 – Into the Mountains
Chapter 15 – Return of the Berserkers
Chapter 21 – A Long, Hard Road
This book is intended as many things and was written with several purposes in mind. First, it is a fantasy adventure story written by lifelong fan of fantasy and science fiction novels. As such, for those who also are fans of the genre, you will find this book to be an engaging, exciting, and enjoyable fantasy adventure. Should you choose not to engage with the particularly Christian back-story upon which the story’s setting is built, then skipping the prologue and moving straight into the story will not result in losing any of the enjoyment or understanding of the overall storyline.
Second, this book is intended as a bridge between those who love fantasy literature and Christian readers. Often I found, not only during my own spiritual journey but also during the last several years as a Christian and a minister, that a chasm exists between these two groups. Often, fantasy fans are not Christians, and their encounters with Christians have been generally judgmental and negative experiences. The love of the fantasy genre is often misunderstood or condemned by mainstream Christianity without taking the time to understand it or to get to know the people who love it.
If a work or author such as Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings or Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia comes out upfront from a known Christian, then things like wizards, magic, etc are tolerated by mainstream Christianity. If the author, for whatever reason, chooses not to come out up front with their faith, then generally, the work is condemned without bothering to look deeper. I found it somewhat discouraging in reading the work of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series that mainstream Christians were very critical of the work because of its blatant focus on wizardry and magic. I, however, spotted in the works many subtle Christian or biblical parallels, which seemed to go unnoticed by most of the critics. It was not until the final book was out in print that Rowling openly spoke about the themes that were apparent to any Christian readers who bothered to look for them earlier.
While I openly present this work from a Christian worldview and perspective, I also incorporate aspects of various encounters I have had both as an unbeliever on a spiritual journey and now as a Christian whose life focuses on outreach. I hope in this series to present, through the believing characters in the book, a perspective for fantasy genre fans of what a Christian should be like toward those who do not believe. This life-witness is as important, or I should say even more important, than anything we can say about our faith. The Bible tells us that our actions need to match our words, and I hope to portray in this series that while Christians have their own flaws and failings, overall, the experience of encountering a Christian should be a positive one.
Third, I hope this work and the believing characters in this work will serve as a mirror and a reminder to Christians how we need to behave when dealing with those who may have radically different understanding or values from us. We need to be a living witness of Christ’s love as we make our sojourn through this world. Remember, our Lord did not spend his time always around those who thought and believed and lived as He did. He left those familiar surroundings and chose to eat and socialize and reach out to Gentiles, tax collectors, prostitutes, and all types of those who society had written off as a bad element. If we are truly to obey the great commission of our Lord, then we must be prepared to leave the comforts of familiar surroundings and be a living, incarnational witness among those who do not live and think and believe as we do.
Whatever other success comes from this work, if it can serve as a bridge of understanding and outreach between those who love fantasy fiction and those who love Christ, then in my mind, the book will be an overwhelming success. If even one person finds an encounter with God through the story told in these pages, then everything will have been worthwhile. If even one Christian takes an honest look at themself through the mirror of the believing characters in this story and it changes their view, drive, and approach to outreach to others, then the work will have served its purpose. If beyond that, this story proves an engaging and enjoyable tale, which captures the imagination and hearts of readers—both Christian and non-Christian—then that is an even greater bonus and blessing.