Six Degrees: From Glaurung to The Oath

Hear ye, hear ye! Six Degrees hath returned and this day we shall be speaking of dragons. Verily, muchly different dragons, to be sure. But dragons, my friends... here there be dragons!When speaking of dragons, it is best to use a few more archaic turns of phrase, this mollifies the creatures a bit. As do songs, riddles, and lovely young maidens. It is best not to anger a dragon, even the best of dragons are large, fire-breathing, and more than a mite dangerous. But today, dear Reader! Today we speak of evil, villainous dragons!Last week, DJ introduced us to a lesser known work of J.R.R. Tolkien, and the dragon Glaurung. Whom he described as: "so powerful and wicked he makes Smaug look like a sleeping saint. Like most dragons he has a way of using his words to enthrall people and trick them into believing what he wants them to." Well, this put me in mind of an extremely different, but no less evil, dragon from a book by Frank Peretti, which is titled "The Oath."The dragon in this book is unnamed, though the famous line about it in the story is "If this is sin, let sin be served." And the dragon itself is a giant, silver, demonic manifestation of sin itself. I think this dragon could probably give Glaurung a run for his money when it comes to evilness and villainy.An allegorical fantasy/horror novel, The Oath is another book on my list of all-time favorites... though I would caution you not to read it at night... at least, not the first time you read it!There is a host of excellent characters to choose from in this story. There is Cliff Benson, who comes to the town to investigate the suspicious death of his brother: Steve Benson. Authorities claim he was mauled by a bear, but Cliff doesn't believe it. Cliff is an avid outdoorsman, just like his brother was, and he believes that the story of his brother's death has far too many holes in it. Cliff is a decent, stand-up guy, who believes in his wits and his own prowess, and is serious about getting to the bottom of things. He doesn't believe much in religion and is skeptical of anything that smacks of the supernatural, but that gradually changes when he comes up against something his gun can't hurt and a series of unexplainable circumstances in the little town of Hyde River.Evelyn Benson is Steve's wife, and she survives whatever killed her husband, though she is found in the woods half-crazed and covered in blood. She isa gentle, kind soul, with an unwavering faith even in the face of horrific circumstances.In Hyde River itself, the characters become even more interesting. Les Collins is the sheriff, who has no interest in finding out the truth, and appears to be attempting to sweep the whole matter under the rug. He is abrupt and unhelpful, swift to pin the death of Steve on a rogue bear. However, his deputy, Tracy Ellis is not so sure. She has seen too many deaths in Hyde River go unexplained, and so she agrees to help Cliff get to the bottom of whatever is going on. Beautiful, capable, and brave, Tracy is the one who informs Cliff about the townspeople's belief that there is a dragon in the woods who is responsible for the mysterious disappearances, though Cliff finds this very hard to believe.Meanwhile, Harold Bly, the owner of the mining company that keeps the tiny town afloat (though just barely) is doing everything he can to get Cliff to leave their town in peace. Cliff feels that Harold knows more than he is telling, but Harold is one of those sly, scheming villains, who smiles pleasantly at your face while he watches one of his hired thugs stab you in the back.As he searches for answers, Cliff meets Levi Cobb, who is kind of considered to be the town loon. He is tolerated because he was born there, but he has no friends. He takes in Maggie Bly (Harold's wife) when Harold kicks her out and nobody else will have anything to do with her. Levi is the only other person in town willing to help Cliff. He reminds Cliff a lot of his sister-in-law, as Levi is pretty much the only Christian in town, and his unwavering faith and steadfast belief in the supernatural help lead Cliff to the truth about what is going on in Hyde River.The Oath is a truly fascinating, gripping, chilling, spine-tingling read. If any of these characters made you think of a character in another book, we'd love to hear about it! For details about the Six Degrees series and how to join in on the fun, as well as a list of all the fabulous books we’ve featured thus far, be sure to visit the Six Degrees home page.