The Next C S Lewis !!!  Great Book !
347039
From the Back Cover
Everything was going so well for a change. . . . Sadie and Saskia Dopple, those troublesome twins, have been adopted by their loyal friend, the writer Muzz Elliott. And their friend Erik Morrissey Ganger is finally on his way to becoming a full-fledged detective. But when an anonymous note threatening Muzz Elliott arrives, the twins suddenly find themselves on an express train to danger. Awhirl in a series of crimes stolen right off the pages of Muzz Elliotts own mystery novels, the twins need to figure out whos behind this twisted plot, or Muzz Elliott will be framed for her own greatest literary invention: the theft of the Great Mogul Diamond.  Meanwhile, Erik speeds through the countryside in a lightning-fast convertible with private eye Dorcas Potts, racing the clock to find the twins and outwit a gang of robbers. At the end of the road (if he ever gets there), he and the twins will have to get their hands on the diamond first . . . even though Erik, the former thief, has sworn never to steal again.  What do you do when you aren't sure whats right? Sadie, Saskia, and Erik face this question head-on in the third installment of The Dopple Ganger Chronicles, by New York Times bestselling author G. P. Taylor.

My Review

My 11 year old read this book and I have as well.  It is written for ages 9-12 but it is a fun read for anyone.  The book is part 3 of a series involving 3 young detectives V Sadie, Saskai and their friend, Eric.  They have uncovered a great mystery and the adventure takes them and the reader on a journey of discovery involving what to do when you aren't sure whats right.  The style of writing grabs the readers attention immediately.  There are fast car rides, train rides, escapes from scary situations.  There are wonderful illustrations and photos within the book as well as pages that are black pages with white writing.  Children seem to like that today V like Diary of a Whimpy Kid 

Several other reviewers have stated that G. P. Taylors style of writing reminds me of C. S. Lewis and I wholeheartedly agree.  They both write stores that kids love to read while teaching them Christian values at the same time.  In this book you come to realize the spiritual message in the book on your versus the author spelling it out V again like C. S. Lewis.

This book is a good book for both boys and girls, young and old.  If you're looking for a fun read that is also a quick read V this is the book for you.

I received this book from Tyndale Blog Network.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255.
1455927
After reading the first book,  I just had to go on.  Once again, C.S. Lewis puts a magnificent tale in our hands.  This is a tlae of two sisters and brothers who are living with an old professor.  The youngest sister Lucy finds a _______ in a wardrobe while playing hide and seek.  They then  venture on amazing adventures even I cannot describe, so read this book  yourself.
693195
What a happy surprise this book is! I was delighted to learn that C. S. Lewis rejected Darwinism in all its forms  certainly not a given in his day, before the modern creation-science movement had begun amassing evidence that the Genesis account of our origins is true. Dr. Bergman has done a masterful (and highly entertaining) job of documenting Lewiss unfolding thoughts on the subject, and proving that he was indeed an increasingly belligerent opponent of evolution theory.

In the process, Dr. Bergman has peppered his report with fascinating facts to address virtually any readers interests.

We learn, for instance, that Arthur J. Balfour (whose Balfour Declaration paved the way for the restoration of the nation of Israel in 1948) was a Christian apologist and anti-Darwinist whose ideas permeate the first five chapters of Lewiss book Miracles.

We find that Lewis posed an important question long before the oft-cited you cant figure out where a PC came from by examining it advice of modern apologists: You have to go outside the sequence of engines, into the world of men, to find the real originator of the Rocket, he wrote. Is it not equally reasonable to look outside Nature for the real Originator of the natural order?

We see that Lewis understood only too well the motives of evolution theorys original champions: Does the whole vast structure of modern naturalism depend  simply on an a priori metaphysical prejudice? he asked. Was it devised not to get the facts but to keep out God?

And we learn that Lewiss hostility towards evolution theory grew over the years, to the point where he released a public attack on it, albeit pseudonymously, in the form of a mocking poem entitled Evolutionary Hymn (1957).

Ever since I stopped studying Lewis and started studying the Bible what seems like a lifetime ago, I have had major problems with certain aspects of Lewisian soteriology. But Dr. Bergman has made me appreciate Lewiss writing once again  and, for the first time, his view of our origins.
1172558
Loved The Great Divorce! It C.S. Lewis that is not written over our head. Still has great insight and could make a great discussion or small group read.
1257368
C.S.Lewis has the ability to teach us why Christianity makes sense and why God Himself, makes sense. In words we can all understand he lays out the various reasons to accept Christianity and why it is right and intelligent to do so.

As a previous Athiest, his commentary on why we should believe as he does is even more umnderstandable as he takes it from concept to certainty. Very well written by a very smart guy. Written during WWII in England it is also a commentary on the war, in some parts, in relation to good and evil.

Another book that should be read by all believers and non-believers alike is "I don"t have enough faith to be an Athiest" written by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek. For the believer it is all you need to make sound arguments for why you believe and for the non-believer I challenge you to continue in non-belief after you read the definitive evidence in these pages.
3969140
I loved this book!  It can difficult at times to read but the struggle is worth it.  Check out The Great Divorce also by C.S. Lewis.
3177897
Lately I have been reading "The Quotable Chesterton" by Kevin Belmonte. I absolutely love this book. It is in alphabetical order with topics that start with "A" to "Z". One of my favorite quotes in the beginning on this book is under "Aphorisms" and it says "It is always simple to fall; there are an infinity of angles at which one falls, only one at which one stands".  G.K. Chesterton influenced C.S. Lewis' spiritual journey. I can see why. Those two are some of my favorite reads. you may have to read it a couple times for it to thoroughly soak in, but it's wonderful. The way it is divided up makes it for an easier read. Deep, thought provoking, and definitely a must for your bookshelf.
2622327
C.S. Lewis writes for the masses.  This is just one of my all-time favorite books.  He puts into words what most of us have felt, but cannot describe.
3324129
Alister McGrath is an excellent writer and I appreciate his insight on C. S. Lewis' life. Lewis was indeed a reluctant prophet and I often wonder how he would react to all the books that have been written about him.
1336807
This book is perfect for the life-long Lewis fan, or the new Christian.  It seems more like a gift book that you place on the shelf in a public place, and do your "hammer and tongs" stuff with the paperbacks.

The only problem I have with this book is the order of the contents. |The book does not have a rhyme or reason to the selection.  There is a precise internal logic to  So get the book, and then read it in this order:

1. Start with THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS. This gives you a broad overview to Lewis's intellectual leitmotifs, his voice, and his typically wicked British sense of humor.

2. The next book is ABOLITION OF MAN, which is a preface to Mere Christianity, and makes Lewis's case for moral absolutes.  It is a mere three chapters long, but, like a good German chocolate cake, it is dense and filling

3. MERE CHRISTIANITY is probably Lewis's second most famous book, and continues his discussion of moral absolutes, and the "mere" or "essential" elements of Christianity.

4. PROBLEM OF PAIN is a smaller theological work and is the standard Christian work on dealing with this trick and sensitive issue.

5. MIRACLES is a thicker and more esoteric books dealing with another "tricky" issue of Christianity.  If you find this book too thick, then skip over it and come back to it later.

6. After reading THE GREAT DIVORCE for the first time, I was surprised that more dictatorships have not banned this book. It is so true it hurts.  It is about the divorce from God and life in Purgatory, and has nothing to do with marriage counseling.

7. A GRIEF OBSERVED seems a bit out of place in this collection. I think it was included as a tie-in to the film "Shadowlands."  The book makes more sense when you actually are grieving than as a detached philosophical work.

If you loved what you have read so for, then I suggested the following books for you next reading binge:

* WEIGHT OF GLORY, which is a selection of scholastic papers, including his essay "Learning in Wartime."

* GOD IN THE DOCK, which is British for God in the Docket, God Takes the Stand, or God on Trial.  It is also a selection of many of his cultural essays, so it has a "fruit salad" or smorgasbord taste to it.

* CHRISTIAN REELECTIONS is the last of his collected papers dealing with various issues.

His autobiography SURPRISED BY JOY was helpful, and should be read before PILGRIMS REGRESS.  And after reading all of this, you can finally move on to the NARNIA books and the SPACE TRILOGY.
4171214
Wow!  This was a *great* book.  I don't exaggerate when I say this is the best Christian Sci-Fi I have ever read.  I enjoy Lewis' Space Trilogy very much, perhaps more than Dream Thief, but, while the Space Trilogy is technically Sci-Fi, Lewis' writing style and his understanding of science, even for when he wrote it, makes Lewis' works read more like Fantasy.  Lawhead is the first Christian author I have ever read who has a believable future- true science fiction.  Though I've read only four of Lawhead's works so far, I far prefer his Sci-Fi to his Fantasy.
It is great to see that we (Christians) still exist in the future.  In every other book I have ever read, and I have read a lot of science fiction, the Christians are not ever mentioned, as if a plague came and wiped all of us out sometime in the late 21st century. Religion in Sci-Fi is given short shrift in general, but, if mentioned, it seems to usually be anything but monotheistic.
This isn't a Christian dogma book, where everything is allegorical- Christians, and God, are simply an integral part of the storyline, and there is a Christian worldview behind it.  Yet there are many non-Christians who play important roles as well, including a number of the key protagonists and heroes.  A non-Christian should not feel intimidated in picking up this book- it is a very good read.  The story line catches you, moves quickly, and it's almost as if you're out of breath waiting for the next event.  Though the one disappointment I had was sometimes it felt like sections of action were skipped and only referred to after the fact, I stayed up a couple nights till 2 or 3 in the morning till my eyes could no longer focus and my brain kept rereading the same paragraph.
And Lawhead doesn't even go for easy answers with his Christians.  They aren't conservative/fundamentalist, as Christians are commonly portrayed as all being, but clear and logical thinkers.  Christianity isn't presented as a Western religion, which is accurate, as it has not been in numbers since the 70's, now that most Christians are in the 2/3rds world, and if the Nestorians are included, it was primarily an Asian religion until 1000 AD.  Indeed, the primary Christian in the book is from the largest Baptist state in the world, Nagaland, India.  Christianity also isn't shown as just a moral belief with an idea of some great deity we can pray to, but with an excluded middle.  This is a God who can and does work miracles- amazing, believable ones- just as He does in real life.
Would that this were a genre, rather than, as it would seem, the only book of it's kind out there.  The biographical conversion story is an old, valuable format in Christian literature.  Here now it has been merged with science fiction in an engrossing and believable way.  And in an inspiring way.  Too often when I read science fiction I come away with a sense of hopelessness.  Often the underlying worldview of the author, seeping through the pages of his or her work, is one without hope, in the sense of expectant joy about the future.  This was not the case in Dream Thief.  The reader gains a strong understanding that God is working all things together for the good of those who love Him.  One identifies with the main character feeling a number of times that all is lost, and the situation too dire to be saved.  But when looking back throughout the experience, retrospectively God's hand can not be ignored.  I could easily recommend this to friends to read so that they might draw closer to truly understanding and being one with God.
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Would you like to learn a little more about C. S. Lewis from someone who has done a great deal of studying of C. S. Lewis? Alister McGrath has done well doing this.  This book was insightful and helped me understand more of looking through another person eyes. Good read and kept my attention.
4404928
Insightful and relevant observations, C.S. Lewis does not disappoint.  Someone told me these were not truly actual letters Lewis Wrote to his relative, but that it was just a construct he made up to convey the material.  I don't know if that's true, but even if it is I didn't find the idea detracted from what he had to say and the relational way he had to say it.  Highly Recommended.
2828863
C.S. Lewis in a Time of War by Justin Phillips was excellent.  As a longtime fan of Lewis, I was pleased to learn so much new about him and his remarkable contribution to understandings about Christianity and what Christians believe.  This book explains how Lewis was engaged by the BBC to give several series of radio talks during World War II, and how those talks became the basis for Lewis's all-time best seller, Mere Chirstianity.
4386999
Love C. S Lewis.  A lot of information packed into this small book.  Have to read everything two or three times to make sure I absorbed everything he was saying.  It helped me to gain insight into my spiritual path.  We are having a 6 week book review on Mere Christianity at Fairhope United Methodist Church, lead by our head pastor.  Surprised how many people are enthusiastically attending.
2104484
a neat book to read, i have long liked C S Lewis as a religious thinker, he is able to explain the Christian theology very well. the Mere Christianity should be given out at churches as the first book along with the Bible to read to explain what it means to be Christian. i seem to have just bought a whole handful of Lewis's books this month, and i will read them all for the rest of this year.
779211
Lewis is brilliant and this book should be read by everyone! Great book for parents to read to younger children too!