Tahn: From Blood Stained to Blood Washed - A Guest Post by D.T. Powell
I am just thrilled to pieces to have so many wonderful guests stopping by to make February is Fantasy Month so epic!
Not gonna lie, it’s also really nice not to have to write 21 blog posts in a single month…
And I’m so excited to be learning about some epic-sounding fantasy books I’ve never heard of before. This one sounds really intriguing… but I’ll let my guest tell you about it!
Please join me in extending a warm welcome here at Safe Return Doubtful to D.T. Powell!
Tahn: From Blood Stained to Blood Washed
By D. T. Powell
Fantasy allows us to visit places we never otherwise could. A common reason people cite for reading fantasy is that it allows them to escape life, but I believe the best fantasies of all are the ones that help us see our own world more clearly.
L. A. Kelly’s medieval fantasy novel, Tahn, is one of those fantasies that vividly reinforced truth for me, both when I first read it nineteen years ago, and more recently when I revisited it in 2016. Tahn follows a man trained to kill. He’s murdered innocent and guilty alike on the order of his master, but when he’s sent to dispatch the widow of one of his earlier kills, instead of taking her life, he kidnaps her, beginning the most soul-searching journey of his life.
Adventure, romance, faith, self-sacrifice, Tahn has all of it and much more.
Now, those of you who know me are aware that I’m not one for romance in media. It’s just never been of interest to me. But the love shown in this book was far from shallow. It wasn’t based on emotion or physical appearance. It was one person reaching out and loving the broken soul of another human being—not for personal gain, but out of a genuine desire to see someone else become whole. This love, given to Tahn by another person, was an echo of the divine Love God also wanted to show him. Because of that, I’ve never considered Tahn a romance, and I still don’t. Instead, I call it a book about Love—the enduring kind.
Through this story, I watched the redemption of a man too many would have labeled unsaveable. I don’t lightly call this my favorite book of all time. Few stories have the power to bring me to tears, and Tahn’s is one of them. As a thirteen-year-old who, only the previous year, had discovered the joy of my salvation, this man’s struggle to let go of the past and accept the truth of God’s saving grace was so powerful it pulled me into the story, and for the second time in my life, I understood what it meant to long for someone else’s redemption. That persistent ache in my heart, that urge to reach out with my own hands and put the broken pieces of a life back together and then watch the cracks disappear: almost two decades later, I still remember it.
There’s something special about the stories we find in those magical years between four and fourteen. They define us in ways we often don’t understand until much later. And some connections we never make at all. In the pages of Tahn, I found reinforcement of my Christian faith, and I got to glimpse again the truth that God can save anyone, even a man who’s shed innocent blood.
If you’re looking for a fantasy book that steers clear of topics revolving around Christianity, Tahn isn’t for you. In fact, if you try to read it, it’s likely you won’t finish it. If, however, you want a story that will resonate with you in a way that prompts you to stop and thank God for His never-ending mercy to people who have made far too many mistakes, Tahn is a must-read addition to that ever-growing TBR pile. Though this book is marketed to adult readers, I would recommend it to any Christian over the age of twelve.
Stories are powerful, and Tahn is one of those truly beautiful tales that helped clear my vision, so I could begin to see through eternal eyes.
About the Author
D. T. has loved stories since before she can remember, and it was love for one of those many stories that prompted her to start writing. She’s worked in the fanfiction community since 2013 and continues to contribute to it regularly. While she pursues publication for her novel-length and short-form original fiction, she spends time reading, playing pickleball, and playing the occasional video game.
Her work has been published by Writer’s Digest, Clean Fiction Magazine, and Cadence Writing. You can keep in touch by signing up for her newsletter via her website, www.dtpowellwrites.com, or you can follow her on social media: Instagram @dtill359, Facebook @D. T. Powell, Author, and on Goodreads and Amazon.
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