Review: Wolf of the Tesseract by Christopher D. Schmitz

Wolf of the Tesseract

by 

Christopher D. Schmitz

In a world underneath our own reality, magic & science are two sides of the same coin. After merging with her copy from an alternate reality, college student Claire Jones is thrust into a setting beyond imagine and must fight alongside Zabe, an inter-dimensional guardian. Together they must stop an evil warlock from shattering the laws of existence who, above all else, seeks Claire's blood as the key to controlling the all-powerful Tesseract.

As they flee his wrath, Claire must decide what her romantic feelings for her protector mean... apocalypse-bringing sorcerers aside, Claire's mission is to rescue the woman Zabe loves... even if Claire has likewise fallen for the selfless soldier. 

My Take:

Claire Jones is about to marry the man of her dreams. Excessively wealthy, attractive, and famous, James represents the pinnacle of the best husband one could land. She is head over heels in love with him, and yet... something about him just seems a trifle 'off'.

A homeless person named Rob tries to warn her about James, but his warning sounds crazy. If Rob were telling the truth, reality is just one of many dimensions, and James is actually a sorcerer trying to get a powerful locket her father gave her, one that will allow him to rule all the dimensions. That's the bad news. The worse news is, it will require her blood to activate.

As Rob and Claire flee the wrath of the warlock, an invading force of his minions give chase, and Claire  begins to realize that the stakes are much higher than she anticipated: the existence of all the dimensions.

Content:

Drug Content:

PG - One of the characters in this book is a drunkard, and several of the villains. An astral projection scene may involve drugs to achieve a heightened state. Some homeless people are sedated heavily while their blood is slowly drained.

Violence:

PG-13 - One of the characters regenerates rapidly, and goes through horrific damage and is ok later. A man is blown up, another is set on fire, by magic.

Language:

G - squeaky clean.

Adult Content:

G - There's some love interest between the Princess Bithia and Claire and Zabe the wolf-man, but it's tame.   

Christian content:

While Wolf of the Tesseract makes no claim to be a Christian Fantasy, there are some elements of faith in it. The worlds were created by the Architect King, and there is a discussion about Satan, God, and Shlogath, who appears to be an anti-god, equal to God in power though he does not, exactly, exist. Astral projections and dream-walking occur a few times, and the villains use these methods to pursue and track. There is a dimension that is similar to hell.
So, while this novel has some basic references to a Creator and Sustainer, who is self-sacrificing, and the existence of Jesus and Satan are mentioned, there is some content that is cross-grain to the basics of the bible. There is a lot of positive faith-based content here, though. Bithia prays often and has faith the King will see her through somehow. There is self-sacrifice, loyalty, and a clear depiction of good vs. evil.

Final analysis:

Wolf of the Tesseract was a gripping fast-paced fantasy with believable characters and outlandish settings. The stakes could not be higher, the plot is well-thought out. I found this a barn-burner page-turner,  Five Stars!

About the Author:

Christopher D Schmitz is the author of fiction and nonfiction as well as a regular blogger. 

Following completion of his first fantasy novel in the early 2000s he began working on lots of short fiction in order to refine his craft and went on to publish many pieces from 1,000-15,000 words in a variety of genres and outlets as writing exercises. Putting fiction away for a while, he pursued post-graduate work where he received a new appreciation for nonfiction, wrote Why Your Pastor Left, and then returned to his love for fiction, writing several new books.

Schmitz attained a Biblical Studies degree and a Youth Ministry minor from Trinity Bible College in 2003 and went on to gain a Masters of Arts in Religion from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in 2014.

Other: he is generally known as a decent guitarist and played/sang in a rock band for several years. Schmitz is also an ungraded bagpipe player and has been known to pop up in random places and play them--sometimes while dressed as a pirate... because normal is boring.