Harry Potter

Press Release at I-News.

(I-Newswire) – La Crosse, WI.  Even though A.R. Horvath’s Fidelis has been available since 2006, positive reviews still are arriving.  These arrive in the midst of rumors that Fidelis is going to be released in hard cover for the Christmas season.

Though openly a Christian author, Horvath argues that he considers himself to be an author who is a Christian and not an author creating Christian literature.  That said, Ms. Heimann’s review makes it clear that Christians will approve of many of the themes percolating within his book.

For example, she writes: Put quite simply, Fidelis depicts the battle of good vs. evil. Similar in nature to the writings of C.S. Lewis and JRR Tolkien, Fidelis bears a Christian theme, includes Scripture passages, and is rich in Christian symbolism.  Other comparisons are invoked merely in the title of her review:An Alternative to Harry Potter.

Though the Christian symbolism is clear in many cases, Ms Heimann adds, Both Christians and non-Christians alike will find Fidelis enjoyable, as it focuses on man’s universal struggles of good vs. evil and truth vs. propaganda. Fidelis is an action- packed, imaginative fantasy that subtly instructs, entertains, and intellectually provokes the reader. It is fascinating reading.

This sentiment is echoed in another favorable review that is recorded on Horvath’s discussion forum posted by a secular humanist, Full of fascinating characters, replete with Tolkeinesque battle sequences and poetical songs, woven with biblical themes and tied up with some extremely fine writing Anthony Horvath’s ‘Fidelis’ is a must-read for fans of the genre which he has single-handedly created with his first novel. Quite an achievement.

Horvath says that this reaction is exactly what he wanted to generate. I wanted to produce a story that just about anyone would enjoy but would allow me to explore themes that are important to me from a perspective that is important to me.  As the later books are released, I think these themes will continue to be fleshed out, and if I am as successful with them as I seem to be with Fidelis people will enjoy the yarn, whether they agree with me or not.

Horvath is available for interviews, seminars, and lectures and can be reached best at his email address at author@ birthpangs.com. Heimann’s review can be found at her blog at http://catholicfire.blogspot.com/2007/10/book-review-harry-potter-alternative.html or by by visiting A.R. Horvath’s web page at http://www.birthpangs.com.  Horvath maintains a Christian ministry site at http://www.sntjohnny.com

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I was pleased to learn today that Jean Heimann at the Catholic Fire blog had reviewed my book, Fidelis and posted it to her site. Jean writes and reviews from a distinctly Christian point of view so it is no surprise that she caught onto many of the Christian themes in the book, as well as some that I thought I had reasonably well buried. That I am a Christian becomes obvious to anyone who knows me and that Fidelis has Christian overtones and undertones is clear to anyone that knows to look for them. And yet it pleases me that it can be read and enjoyed by non-Christians as well. As Jean says on her review, “Both Christians and non-Christians alike will find Fidelis enjoyable, as it focuses on man’s universal struggles of good vs. evil and truth vs. propaganda.” And a long time atheist friend of mine reviewed and enjoyed my book showing that Jean is right (to read his review, click here, but NOTE: there are SPOILERS).

I might ask my atheist friend how it comes that there are universal values that humans can mutually relate to…

This is the second reviewer that I’ve noted compared Fidelis to Harry Potter. Obviously, that makes me happy, because that puts me in good company. At least in Fidelis (what later books might be like, I won’t say) it seems to me that there are more affinities to the Lord of the Rings series than the Harry Potter ones, but one can certainly see both (Jean does). The magic in Fidelis is of a different sort than that in Harry Potter, but certain themes certainly are shared: loyalty, courage, virtue, self-discipline, good is superior to evil- even if good ‘loses’ (which it never does!). It would be fair to say that Fidelis is not meant to be a knock off of Harry Potter, or the Lord of the Rings, or any other fantasy type series you might envision but that Fidelis is deeply inspired and influenced by such series is definitely true. In fact, the astute reader may see that the inspiration runs deeper then one might expect.

At any rate, for Christian readers out there who may have read my open letter to Christian Muggles, you can confident that when Ms. Heimann titles here review as an alternative to Harry Potter, she does so correctly. Feel free to buy my book instead of the Harry Potter books all you like.

In conclusion, Ms. Heimann makes this interesting comment: “There is a prophetic message presented in this first book of seven in the BirthPangs Series. …. Fidelis only hints at the possibilities, but it certainly poses a relevant concern for the future.”

Relevant, indeed. Boy, I can’t wait until I can talk freely about all of this!

As an author that is a Christian, I have followed the discussion about Harry Potter’s relationship to Christianity with interest but have stayed out of it, at least in public. I have long believed that there were Christian themes percolating in the books, a belief that led me to accurately predict the fates of Snape and Malfoy. How intentional and deliberate Rowling was when exploring these themes I won’t speculate upon because that is something that she herself is in the best position to answer. However, her explicit exclusion of two Scriptures “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” and “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (#7, pgs 326 and 328, Matt. 6:21 and 1 Cor 15:26) suggests to me that anti-Harry Potter Christians would do well to re-consider their opposition and re-think their position.

The numerous nods to Christian themes in Rowling’s books are explored by many others so I won’t dig into them here beyond what I’ve already said, but I will take just one moment to respond to the charge that anything ‘magical’ is forbidden and of the devil. Certainly the Scriptures are not to be ignored on the point. In retort, it is often pointed out that there is ‘magical’ content to Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, and in retort to that retort, it is given “But yes, those are Christian authors,” apparently ignorant that Rowling is herself a Christian. Intuitively, most of us recognize a difference between the ‘magic’ in these worlds and the sorcery rejected by the Scriptures.

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Yea, ok, that was a long time ago now, but I’ve been WAAAAAY too busy to come in here and mention it. Here below is the link to the feature article that was done on me and appeared in a couple of the local papers.  Below the link is the full text to the article.

http://www.holmencourier.com/articles/2007/04/19/features/01author.txt

Holmen author A.R. Horvath  Tony to his friends found inspiration for his debut novel on the road. by Adam Bissen

There is plenty of precedent for that in the American literary tradition, but Horvath didn’t look to racing speeds, madcap adventures or the freedom of the highway when he plotted out his story.

No, when Horvath conceived the trajectory of a planned seven-novel series, he was a professional truck driver, kept away from his family for 10 days at a time as he drove across the country.

After half a year as a truck driver Horvath came off the road, returned to Holmen and wrote Fidelis, book one in his Birth Pangs series, in just four months. Fittingly, it is about one man’s struggle to return to his family after being stranded halfway across the country with obstacles in his path.
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