Arx Publishing, LLC P.O. Box 1333 Merchantville NJ 08109, USA Email: info@arxpub.com

Christians seeking fantasy alternatives to Harry Potter

Bristol, PA—J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter may have enchanted the popular culture, but a sizable groundswell of “Potterphobia” has cropped up among traditional Christians. Casting about for alternatives, many are beginning to take hold of Niamh and the Hermit (Arx Publishing, June 2003), a fanciful yarn by Emily C. A. Snyder that hit the streets at the same time as the new Potter book.

Snyder is among the new breed of young writers just breaking into the mainstream. Though only in her mid-twenties, she has been published twice in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Sword and Sorceress Anthology and MZB Fantasy Magazine as well as other venues. What’s more, she’s not shy when it comes to her religious influences, counting C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien among her major inspirations. “Fantasy is the wonderful marriage of truth and storytelling,” she opined in a recent interview. “It is the splendor of God’s creation, but through a glass darkly.” Synder is also the creator of the “Christian Guide to Fantasy” web site which offers review and commentary on the genre from a Christian perspective.

Written in an evocative lyric style, Niamh and the Hermit is a wonderfully authentic revival of the classic fairy tale. “This is not a fairy tale for kids,” said Snyder, “This is not Hansel and Gretel. There’s not a big bad wolf. Well, that’s not true … but it’s not the one you think.” And Niamh and the Hermit has already garnered some impressive endorsements in advance of publication. Professor Joseph Pearce, author of Tolkien: Man and Myth, commented that Niamh and the Hermit, “takes us through Celtic mist to a world of mystic wonder….Imagine Tolkien’s true north sailing west….”

Title: Niamh and the Hermit    Author: Emily Snyder    Pub Date: June 2003    Retail Price: $14.95
Page Count: 280    Illus.: 21 + maps, music    ISBN: 1-889758-36-1    Binding: Trade Pb

Publisher:     Arx Publishing, LLC • PO Box 1333 • Merchantville NJ 08109, USA
Phone: (856) 486-1310 • Fax: (856) 665-0170 • Email: info@arxpub.com • website: www.arxpub.com