A UNIVERSE OF STORIES TO CAPTIVATE AND INSPIRE
New! Crossroads of Awakening Memory an Editor's Pick!
New! Interview with Tricia Goyer, July 22, 2024
New! Interview with Dr. Paul Reeves, Impact Radio USA, June 19, 2024
New! Interview with Dr. Paul Reeves, Impact Radio USA, May 22, 2024
Because Fiction Podcast with Chautona Havig, November 11, 2023
Interview with Tricia Goyer, Aug 31, 2023
Interview with Alisha and Scott of Latter-day Lights, Aug 20, 2023
Kindred Star wins 3rd Place for Sci-fi : Aliens and Alien Invasion in the Spring 2023 BookFest awards
The Barabbas Legacy named a finalist for the Chaucer Award
The Barabbas Legacy wins three Fall 2022 awards at The BookFest!
1st Place - Biblical Fiction
2nd Place - Audiobook
3rd Place - Christian Historical Fiction
BOOKS
CROSSROADS OF AWAKENING MEMORY
To young trainee Rain Barynd, becoming a Council Guard in bucolic New Haven will secure a positive future that involves neither farming nor any real fighting. Impressing ...
THE BARABBAS LEGACY
In this poignant capstone to the trilogy, the man called Barabbas—infamous former thief, murderer and prisoner turned Christian—and his wife Chanah continue their mission of spreading the gospel across the known world as cauldrons of political and military chaos boil across the Roman Empire ...
SOPHIA: DAUGHTER OF BARABBAS
After her miraculous rescue by the angel Raphael, Sophia, daughter of Barabbas and Chanah, sets out with the former slave Onesimus to find the elusive and itinerant apostle John. Once they find him ...
PILLARS OF BARABBAS
The man they called Barabbas has come a long way from the wretched prisoner released by Pontius Pilate in lieu of Jesus of Nazareth. He and his wife Chanah are growing in regard among the leadership of Christ’s fledgling ...
THE SERVANT OF HELAMAN
While a mighty nation reels following the assassination of its chief leader, its greatest enemy prepares to launch another bold invasion aimed at the subjugation of the free people of Nephi, about fifty years before the Savior’s long-prophesied advent to the world ...
PATRIOT STAR (SCI-FI)
It doesn’t get much worse than the prospect of a three-way civil war, and in a global superpower grown arrogant and complacent in its prosperity, only one influential man leads the peaceful charge against . . .
I WAS CALLED BARABBAS
We know precious little of the man called Barabbas, a contemporary of Jesus of Nazareth. He is variously described in the historical record as thief,murderer, rebel, and notable Roman prisoner. His release by. . .
KINDRED STAR (SCI-FI)
Intelligent life on another planet. Human intelligent life. Many Toryllians had long thought it possible, but seeing these people for the first time—these Earthlings—was challenging to process ...
AMULEK: REVENANT
For a prosperous businessman in the Ancient American city of Ammonihah, God is good, but not top of mind. Until God’s call becomes more insistent and memories of productive faith rise from the ashes of spiritual indolence ...
THE BARABBAS COMPANION: Volume 1
The groundbreaking new imagining of the life of Barabbas - the violent, notable prisoner released by Pontius Pilate in the place of Jesus of Nazareth, now has a study guide ...
SHADOW HUNTERS OF HELAMAN
Agitated. All the time. Such is Kihoran’s state of mind after learning of the disappearance of his betrothed. Signs point to the band of murderers and thieves led by ...
In The Press
NEW FROM BOOKLIFE REVIEWS ... Crossroads of Awakening Memory
House invites readers into a richly imagined world where the mundane meets the magical, as young trainee Rain Barynd—who dreams of becoming a Council Guard in his serene town of New Haven on the continent of Rega—works to secure a future away from farming and active combat. Rain’s primary concerns revolve around impressing his girlfriend's skeptical parents, dealing with a few bullies among the trainees, and managing the stern demeanor of his trainer, Master-at-Arms Ileom Mystrevan, a distinguished war hero from the East. But when a rare and brutal bandit attack shatters the peace of his hometown, Rain embarks on a path filled with unimaginable adventure.
Rain is a likable hero, forced to make up for his family’s lower status as farmers with hard work and determination, and his fears of failing beat a steady refrain throughout his journey, driving him to overwork and overachieve compared to his peers. When the attack on New Haven grants Rain an immediate promotion—and leads him to a strange woman who gifts him a magical talisman—he discovers his own latent magic, shocked at his ability to now travel between worlds and encounter mythical creatures like griffons and dragons. House (author of Amulek: Revenant) envisions an astonishing expanse of elves, dwarves, and strange metal beasts, skillfully melding fantasy with reality, as Rain encounters not just magic but “a strange planet” called Earth.
This is an accomplished narrative of chaos and doubt, where Rain must collaborate with an ancient order to unravel a series of long-foretold prophecies—and help determine what Earth’s role is in saving Rega. As he grapples with the growing complexity of his situation, he faces the challenge of understanding his place within the unfolding madness. House’s lush descriptions, coupled with the very real inner turmoil of the story’s central hero, make this unique fantasy a truly epic read.
Takeaway: Fantastical realm where personal growth and epic quests intertwine.
Comparable Titles: Christopher Paolini’s Eragon, Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A
BookLife (part of Publishers Weekly), July 2024
FROM KIRKUS REVIEWS ... A historical novel focuses on an enigmatic figure in the Book of Mormon.
Drawing on two chapters of the Book of Mormon, House puts flesh on the outline of the man known only as “the servant of Helaman.” The servant at one point thwarted an assassination in the kingdom of the Nephites in the first century B.C. and killed the evil Kishkumen.
The author opens the story on a thrilling note, with Kishkumen approaching a nemesis in the Nephite city of Zarahemla, intent on violence against the “mealy-mouthed, self-righteous Pahoran the Younger,” who “occupied the judgment seat and continued to press the cause of the greedy, wealthy Christians on the good people who represented the long-suffering, fair-minded backbone of Nephite success.” This brutal act caps years of increasing tensions since the Great War between the Nephites and the Lamanites, and it throws Zarahemla into chaos.
The ensuing narrative examines the young scout and adventurer Kihoran, called Kai, who gets caught up in the march of armies and the broader events drawn from the Book of Mormon, becoming the servant of Helaman and moving inevitably toward his great destiny.
House, an experienced historical novelist, overcomes the main obstacle to this tale—the fact that many readers are unfamiliar with the underlying writings being expanded here—very smoothly. The volume’s extensive amounts of exposition are worked organically into the narrative, to the point where those readers who are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will easily follow the tale and appreciate the drama. This process is helped enormously by the author’s decision to make Kai both fallible and immensely likable, an experienced but humble young hero. When Kai is told the spirit of God is clearly helping him, for instance, he privately doubts the clearly part.
The result is a very enjoyable foray into fictionalizing the intriguing material in the Book of Mormon, something just begging for more such ventures on the part of House.
A richly textured and involving spiritual tale about an unsung hero.
Kirkus Reviews, August 2022
“From the moment I started reading this Barabbas Series, I was drawn into early church history. The world and the people came alive to me in amazing ways. Beautifully written, these stories stayed on my mind and heart long after I closed the books. Highly recommended!”
Tricia Goyer, bestselling author of 80 books, including From Dust and Ashes
Why I Think This Guy Makes Biblical Fiction Come Alive, by Chautona Havig
Biblical fiction, first-person perspective. The books have everything against them, but M.D. House got me excited about reading The Barabbas Trilogy before we’d spoken for five minutes. House offers us a look at what could have been based on what we know of what was. Just reading the “Look Inside” on Amazon gives you a hint of where House’s Barabbas came from and where he’ll go on his redemptive journey.
From what I’ve read, these books might make my top books of 2021 list!
A few years ago, I finally read a Biblical Fiction book that I liked. My favorite part was that the series was about Biblical places and their effects on people’s lives rather than about specific people. I figured that I had finally found “my” kind of Biblical fiction. And I probably did! However, after chatting with M.D. House (a.k.a. Mike), I discovered that there are other sorts of Biblical fiction that intrigue me. Seriously, listening to Mike talk about his process in writing his most recent release, Pillars of Barabbas, all I could think of is, “WOW!” And “BUY IT NOW.” So I did.
Mike spent hours and hours reading every word of Paul’s epistles, taking hundreds of lines of notes, and really immersing himself into just who Paul was in order to… get this. GIVE US A POV character in his book. From Paul. Chatting with Mike was great because as we talked, I could hear the passion he has for the church, for God’s people, and for the Lord. The man loves God’s Word, and it comes out in every word he speaks, practically.
While I’m anxious to read these first two books, listening to him talk about what he’s doing with book three… EEEP! Guys. The Destruction of Jerusalem. It’s about to hit the page. Personally, I can’t wait.
Chautona Havig - June 2021
https://chautona.com/because-fiction-70
Here are some SAMPLES
THE SERVANT OF HELAMAN Audio Book Sample
THE SERVANT OF HELAMAN eBook Sample
THE BARABBAS LEGACY Audio Book Samples
THE BARABBAS LEGACY eBook Sample
PILLARS OF BARABBAS Audio Book Sample
We know precious little of the man called Barabbas, a contemporary of Jesus of Nazareth. He is variously described in the historical record as thief, murderer, rebel, and notable Roman prisoner. His release by the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate was part of the supernal plan for the Christ to offer himself as the ultimate blood sacrifice, but it’s doubtful Barabbas understood any of that at the time...
I WAS CALLED BARABBAS Audio Book Sample
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