The Pagan Night: The Hallowed War 1 (Long Winter) by Tim Akers
Tim Aker's novel, North Carolina heritage and theologian hinging that his father has inspired him to create this, the first in a series of novels about the wars between the church and others pagan beliefs. Burn Cycle and The Horns of Ruin and other novels, but The Pagan Night is the first in a series with The Hallowed War, The Iron Hound build for much later in 2017.
Three people stood between good and evil as the people are hunted by devils, the Inquisition try to slaughter them even though they grow to become greater numbers. Malcolm, Ian and Gwendolyn have to stop the carnage, but it isn't easy to trust anyone when friends could easily also be the enemy.
Suhdra and Tener are run by the church who replaced the old religion of the Tenerran. The spirit lines in the six warriors of legend who each have a tattoo of marks on them, murdered by Greenhall's men. Life is hard for the people there, even under the duke who has them work for nothing, while he gets to have his wicked way with their daughters, tended by Tenenan people who struggled while the lord's tables were fat with produce. Malcolm, a duke in the North has, along with his kin been asked to a celebration in Heartsbridge as part of the Celestial church though some , like Ian have no intention of going. He remembers the days when he was a much younger man, but his weathered face and the shocks of grey in his hair show that he is a man hurt by the ravages of war and less than happy with the news that the high elector would be wanting them. The high elector knows of Malcolm's name, Reaverbane, and his fighting spirit, but the high elector needs Malcolm and Ian to go with him to Greenhall and Duke Halverdt's court.
At first, Malcolm thinks that they are to be reprimanded for not wanting to got to the Celestial arch's behest, but the reason is something else. Even if he is the hero of the Reaver War, Malcolm has his own beliefs, that he will sort out the problems of his people, but he can't do this alone, he needs Ian and Gwen Adair to help him if they are to be successful. To search for the truth, one has to look beyond the lies, and this is the sort of book that tells readers to open their eyes to the possibility that even those who are devout to their own religion can and will be tolerant of others pagan views and practices, even in today's society.
