Penury City -- A Trilogy by Thomas E.

 Penury City -- A Trilogy 

Author: Thomas E.

Publisher: Wounded Crow Publishing, Rochester, N.Y., 2016-2021

I recently reviewed each of this Trilogy's three volumes [you can catch those write-ups here, here2, and here3, respectively] but I feel so strongly about the general message of the series that I wanted to share my thoughts on the entire work.

Author Thomas E. is a devout Roman Catholic. He teaches Catholic doctrine for the Church and is not afraid to speak up on what is right with the church and what is wrong with it. More recently he penned an open letter to the Roman Catholic Church leaders, from Deacons to the Pope, because of his great love for the church. [You can read that Open Letter here4.] Thomas enjoys and accepts other Christians from non-Catholic churches. He enjoys talking theology and about his Lord with anyone who will engage him. And that's the very reason he wrote this trilogy in a way that would not only captivate our imagination, but more importantly help us, people of faith and people without any faith, to understand the possibilities of what lies ahead for us.

In this Trilogy, we not only have our eyes opened to what is going on in the world today, but also what we can expect in the next two or three decades. The backbone of his plot is based on a vision of the beginning of the End Days.

All three volumes are well written with lots of action, suspense and emotion. Mr. E. has a considerable liking for the supernatural and he applies it well, in the appropriate doses, and in a way that most of it, if it were necessary, could be backed up by what many believe is possible and is predicted in our sacred writings, and in Thomas's case, the Bible.

The story starts off in North America, and works its way miraculously to Europe where the major battle between good and evil is eventually fought.

A fellow reader, who does much more reading of fiction than I do, told me, after reading the series, that she sees some similarities in concepts also noticed in the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (especially when Thomas introduces some evil creatures); Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time (a cloak that hides one from the enemy and the ability to split one's sub-conscious into two in order to mentally pursue various aspects of what is going on in different places while remaining physically in another); and to Hannah Hurnard's Hinds' Feet on High Places (the idea of one  being taken on a difficult journey, and after arriving at their destination, being sent back in order to bring others there as well).

But best of all, it is a Trilogy of life and hope based on faith and obedience. It helps us understand that anything worth pursuing takes work and patience and perseverance, and in many cases total dependence on something outside of us, perhaps even Someone outside of time.

These books will make you think about why you are here, what you can expect (and ignore if you so wish), and how to conquer what really matters.  Highly recommended.

-- Ken B. Godevenos, Toronto, March 1, 2021.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.