Example: Dragons in Our Midst
Note: This article will be as major spoiler-free as possible, but it will be diving into this story quite deeply, so read at your own risk!
One of the best, overtly Christian novel series is Dragons in Our Midst by Bryan Davis. While this series is technically designed for teenagers, it is a thrilling and fantastical adventure of brave knights, daring damsels, dragons, good-vs.-evil, salvation, and the supernatural. And it spares nothing of its faith from the audience. The story is blunt in its Christianity without for a second feeling like it is preaching at the reader or using the Bible as a cudgel to get some kind of vaguely Christian point across. It is not perfect, but it is excellent and one of the best examples of overt Christian storytelling out there.
Dragons in Our Midst series primarily follows Billy Bannister and his friend, Bonnie Silver, as their lives are turned upside down with a millennia-spanning conspiracy involving Excalibur, dragons in human form, the spiritual realm, demons, angels, long-lost family members, anger, despair, hope, salvation, self-sacrifice, and, ultimately, faith. The series’ primary message switches somewhat between faith and salvation depending on which of the characters is the focus, marrying the two theological concepts together as they should be. The story also makes zero apologies for how overtly Christian it is. While a few things are presented with a more symbolic approach — there are few crosses mentioned, but Excalibur can only be wielded by those with faith and can only be wielded in proportion of their faith — for the most part there is no mistaking the fact that the only true force for good in the entire book series is God, and the main protagonists are instruments of His will (although not to the point of being boring automatons).
The story expertly avoids sermonizing by tying every single minute faith element to one of more of the characters. Billy had his own spiritual journey from faithless to lukewarm to coming into his own as a knight of the High King where, at each step, he faced impossible odds and had to build his faith up. At no time did any of the people bolstering his efforts “stop talking to him and turn to the audience” to make their case or expound on a piece of Scripture. Everything in how they each encouraged him in his faith journey (or tempted him away from, in the case of the antagonists) was tailored specifically for Billy in order to help him make his decisions and mold his faith into what it needed to be.
Now, the trick with this is that Billy is also incredibly relatable. He is, in essence, just some kid who ends up knee-deep in the realm of knights, dragons, demons, and witches. He struggles with a host of problems every kid struggles with, he resents his father for leaving him (it’s a long story involving dragon heritage), he questions what he is doing and why, he doubts himself, he even doubts God’s plan for him. Even as someone who is not the target audience, Billy’s story resonates because it is the story of faith. Because the audience can see themselves in his shoes, the message speaks to them as well, without the weight of sermonizing.
Bonnie Silver, on the other hand, had a slightly different faith journey, where she was already a firm believer at the start of the book series, but was also filled with doubts about what she was called to do. She was one of the ones that helped guide Billy wherever he was in a faith rut and prayed for him when she could see he was struggling, but at no point did she feel out of place in the story. Even as she was literally singing hymns, it felt natural for her to do so; the Psalms she sung were not “forced into a story to make it more Christianlike”, Bonnie sang out of faith and love for God. Her worship and reliance on God felt incredibly natural to the character.
The closest the story got to crossing into sermonizing territory was with the kids’ teacher, Mr. Hamilton. He regularly did get a little preachy and was definitely more on the blunt side when it came to faith, but even that fit into the story because he was preaching at Billy and Bonnie. His mini-sermons, prophesies, and wisdom was directed at the children he was in charge of, so at no point was the audience burdened with sermonizing. What he had to say was what the main characters needed to hear.
The story’s foundation also lends itself to a highly overt message. While there is much in the way of Arthurian legends, even those were manipulated to be symbolic of Christian elements and Scripture. Merlin was a Godly prophet, not a wizard; Morgan the wife of a fallen angel (referencing Genesis); Excalibur could be wielded by anyone of the faith, in proportion to their faith. An overt Christian message made perfect sense in a world which has a foundation of God. Every struggle was not simply good vs. evil, but God vs. demonic forces. Every victory had to be won not by the characters’ own strength, but by the strength given to them by their Heavenly Father. Every song, message, and prophecy within the story linked directly back to God.
The Dragons in Our Midst series is overt Christian messaging done exceptionally well. Not handled lightly, not falling into sermons or pulling the audience out of the story with its message, but expressing an unavoidably spiritual and Scriptural foundation. Other stories that do this well include The Trail Ends in Texas by T.W. Lawrence and C.S. Lewis’ The Space Trilogy, both of which tell rich, spiritual adventures through the use of both symbolism and overt messaging.
