The Barren Fields: Christianity in Dark Times
The Overview: Barren Fields by Valicity Elaine is a Christian-Apocalypse story about faith through implausible trials and catastrophic events. It all starts with a summons home from God himself. RaShonda returns home from Spain. When she touches down in America for the first time in years, something goes off, and the apocalypse happens. Best of all, she has a broken hip.
Erik is a depressed boi. He lost his entire family during the apocalypse, got stuck, and proceeded to piss everyone off. He hates God. And is not afraid to tell everyone that they are hair-brained and hopeless for believing in him.
When RaShonda decides that she has had enough with dumb survivors and strict rules of the compound. She decides to brave the Barren Fields and look for her family. Her trust and faith in God lead her to a small scavenger group. This group has Erik, who managed to get in huge trouble and is now assigned to be Rashonda’s guide.
The book takes you through the adventures of these two. Not just the physical journey through the radioactive wasteland of America, but also the spiritual journey they take. This book is not your typical Christian novel. This book addresses hard topics such as grief, family death, rape, cannibalism, teen pregnancy, death, and animal death.
My Thoughts: I love this book. It’s another of my favorites, but not for the faint of heart. This is my favorite for the same reason Tender Is the Flesh is a favorite of mine. It challenges people's beliefs and how they see the world. I love post-apocalyptic books because, if written correctly, they seem really real. And they could be real.
Barren Fields does this and brings in two real sides of Christianity. The highly devoted disciples who will do anything that God tells them, and the other one. The one who will argue that got doesn’t care or exist to death. And then Valicity decided to shove them together.
Valicity does a great job of giving realistic scenarios that you never hope become true. She also does a great job of giving you false hope, real hope, and no hope all in like three paragraphs. I highly recommend this book to anyone, but this book isn’t for the weak of heart. There are some pretty hard scenes that I had to put it down. But it is a really inspiring journey about faith and family.
The Graph:
Explicit Material - 35%: So, there is mention of abortions, teen pregnancy, attempted rape, and rape. The rape is not detailed; the aftermath and the emotions behind it are very real, and the guy is a jerk.
Violence - 20%: There are a lot of fighting scenes/people are trying to survive.
Blood and Gore- 20%: There is a lot of blood and not overly detailed, but detailed enough that it is creepy. There are cannibals.
Non-problematic- 25%: Overall, a great book. I love the rough and spiritual nature of this book. It gives people a realistic outlook on Christianity
Name meanings: RaShonda: African-American/Arabic meaning "rightly guided," "wise," or "intelligent". Shonda means: "God is gracious" or "good spear"
Erik: Old Norse meaning "eternal ruler," "ever powerful," or "sole ruler".
Links:
Spoilers
There is a dog… but they die. Thanks, Erik: Erik committed the worst crime possible before he even came on the page. There was Jay, a sweet doggo that wasn’t affected by the radiation…. Then Erik took her on a supply run, and Jay died.
Thank you so much! For reading my rantings and my random links. I loved this book and the spiritual side of it. It’s nice to have a Christian book that isn’t completely sissy la-la. What is your favorite post-apocalyptic book?
Keep turning pages. Bard out!
This was quite the clash of topics, but enjoyable nonetheless! Fantastic review!