by: Beth Goddard

Dancing Word Reviewer

Title: Outriders

Author: Kathryn Mackel

Publisher: WestBow Press

ISBN: 1-5955-4039-3

Genre: Inspirational/Fantasy

The first book in Kathryn Mackel's Birthright Project takes the reader on an incredible ride into an extraordinarily imaginative world. The first clue that Mackel's creation is no ordinary Christian novel occurs when we travel with Niki, an Outrider, through a frozen land to wait for a whale to break through the ice.

The creature delivers husks containing people, or rooks, it transported from a hidden ark. The ark remains secret because it harbors the science and technology that mankind destroyed during the Endless Wars. The Outriders' mission: to reclaim their birthright—God's creations that have remained part of His original creation—that haven't been mutated or “mogged.”

While Niki struggles to escort the rooks to safety, Brady and other Outriders battle the leader of a genetically mutated Earth, Baron Alrod. While Brady is able to thwart Baron Alrod's hope for a glorious victory, he creates a powerful enemy. Mackel's futuristic Earth is brimming with unique and thought-provoking creations—gargants, hoonars, and a spinning wheel that spins “manna for this dark time”--fibers woven into a shroud that possesses an “out-of-time” side and a “here-and-now” side.

Woven subtly throughout the plot is God's great mercy for all creation and His desire for those lost to hear His truth. Mackel tackles moral issues such as euthanasia when an outrider does not take the life of a “mogged” human even though he begs for death. The Outrider claims “I do not have the right.” 

Mackel's creation is fueled with suspense as we learn that one of the Outrider's camps has lost contact with the ark and becomes a captive of supernatural darkness. Outriders is a science fiction that echoes with fantasy, intrigues with the supernatural, and scares with thoughts of what Earth could become with continued genetic engineering. Mackel definitely thinks outside of the book with her creation of this series.