I’ll admit I had my doubts when I started listening to Wolf Soldier on audiobook. James R. Hannibal was not being subtle in the slightest when it came to including Christian values in his story. The main character is a shepherd boy who joins an academy to become a Lightraider, a servant of a god very much like my own who sent his son to die to save his people. I recognized many Bible verses woven into the story and I struggled to see how this story could be accepted by people.
I discovered Wolf Soldier by James R. Hannibal by attending the Realm Makers Christian Writing Conference last summer. It’s been going on for years and I didn’t know about until 2023 when a literary agent I pitched to suggested it to me. Before Realm Makers, I had a lot of discouragement. I researched on my own on how to get published and queried over 100 literary agents because that’s what I read online that you needed to do. You needed a literary agent to get published. All those agents I queried rejected me. I continued my research and searched for an agent that would be my story’s perfect fit, but all I found was agents that wanted LGBT+ or underrepresented writers. They wanted risky. They wanted dark. They wanted stories that pushed morale boundaries. I remember the Zoom calls I had with a couple agents that I pitched to. When I told them I was a Christian writer, I lost some of their interest.
Fast forward to January 2025 and I’m listening to Wolf Soldier by James R. Hannibal on audiobook. Here is a published author with so many parallels to the Bible in the story that I lost count of them all. Here is a story with scripture stamped within it. A story that has thrown subtly so far out the window that it might as well be lost in space. The more I listened to Wolf Soldier, the more I loved it. The story paints a great picture of what it means to be a Lightraider, a Christian, and it made me want to be more of a Lightraider too. Through the actions of the characters, you see what it means to hold scripture in your heart. To have faith and to not be afraid. You see how important it is to look out for one another and why even your enemy deserves grace.
Wolf Soldier restored a lot of hope for me. Hope that I finally found a place were my own novel can fit in. Maybe it’s with the “cool kids of fantasy” as that agent called them, at Realm Makers. The more I progressed through Wolf Soldier, the more I started to notice some parallels to my own novel. I believe I can use Wolf Soldier as a comparison novel to my manuscript for when I pitch to publishers again. Lord willing, my own story can make an impact on someone like Wolf Soldier did for me. Wolf Soldier is a part of the Lightraider Academy series. Bear Knight is the second book. Unfortunately for me, my library does not have Bear Knight, yet. Somehow, I will get my hands on it.
I want to thank James R. Hannibal for his story and the hope it spreads. If you are a Christian reader, I strongly recommend reading it.
nikki diekemper 