In the Hall of the dragon King

Today I am rereading In the Hall of the Dragon King again.  I finally got the other two books, so I thought I'd reread the first one before I went on.

I'm amazed (again) by how much I like Stephen Lawhead's writing.  I like how he weaves in God through his high fantasy.  I think that that's a difficult thing to do.  How do you write of God in a book that is taking place in a made up world?  I think that it would be easy to come across preachy if it wasn't done well.  Or, the spiritual element could be nonexistent, which almost is just as bad. 

Everyone (even characters in a book) has thoughts of God, faith, and immortality.  If you eliminate that from your characters' thoughts, it could make them flatter, and less real.  And, for a Christian writer, there should be elements of God and characters that have found the hope of God, because they should be trying to keep God in the center of their writing lives.  

Anyway, I thought that Lawhead wrote about God very well.  He made Him seem real to the culture and the setting of his book, and it added another depth to it as well.  I can't wait to read the next two!

-Aylin