The Quest for Truth by Brock Eastman

The Quest for Truth series follows the Wikk children – 17 year old Oliver, 15 year old Tiffany, and 11 year old twins Mason and Austin – as they travel through space to locate and rescue their parents. Archaeologists Elliot and Laura Wikk are being held captive by villainous Ubel soldiers who want to exploit their discoveries and claim for themselves the secrets of eternal life on the planet Ursprung (a veiled reference to the Biblical story of Abraham; the series is full of references like these). The Wikk siblings follow clues and breadcrumbs left behind in their mother’s e-journal in pursuit of their parents, and in so doing, explore new and diverse worlds (the Wikks traverse ice planets, dense jungles, underwater worlds, etc). As the Wikks meet mysterious characters, make daring escapes, and try to outwit the Ubel, they also begin to uncover the Truth about Ursprung that many in power have tried to suppress: that there is a path to eternal life, but it may not look like what the Ubel expect.

The truth eventually revealed in The Quest for Truth is the ancient truth of Christianity. The author has envisioned a future where this truth has been suppressed or hidden, so the quest to find Mr. and Mrs. Wikk also becomes a spiritual quest for all four Wikk children.

Reading Level: 10+
Read Aloud Age: 8+

Placing The Quest for Truth in your child’s hands is indeed a safe choice in that there is no objectionable content whatsoever. You will find no cursing or bad language; the children do not even call each other names! The majority of the violence is of an action-based yet low-stakes variety; even the villains mostly use stun guns (with one notable exception where a girl gets shot by a bullet; she recovers). The eldest Wikk, Oliver, develops a love interest halfway through the series, and the two teenagers are already planning their lifetime commitment to each other with only a brief mention of a hug. Most compelling toward this point is that as the Wikk children proceed on their galactic journey, they begin to learn the truth about “Creator”, “Rescuer”, and “Helper” (the Trinity) and the books become progressively more direct in their gospel presentations.

An additional positive aspect of the book series is that parents and grandparents could initiate interesting ethical discussions using plot points of the books. For example, in a future where some humans seem to have limitless “enhancements” to their bodies with the help of biotronics, how can we discern between human and humanoid? Or if your child, like the Wikk children, had to choose between leaving a villain in a dangerous spot or rescuing them, what would they do? Ethical quandaries such as these pop up frequently in the series.

That being said, The Quest for Truth is a book series I can only share with caveats. While the premise of the series has so much potential (children exploring space and having adventures!), the execution falls flat. The author relies on caricatures (“the impulsive one”, “the quiet one”) rather than character development (I’m still scratching my head over a character named Coolz from the urban planet Enaid, who wears a purple sequin suit and cooks barbecue). The plot borrows liberally from other books and movies; the reader will recognize elements from stories like Avatar, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Jurassic Park. The Quest for Truth does promote Christianity, celebrate Truth with a capital T, and establish the young protagonists as hard-working, family-oriented, and courageous role models. However, the writing itself is wooden; the books are cumbersome and in need of editing; the children’s dialogue is implausible; and even the action sequences feel dull as they are loaded down with too much detail.

This review is written by Good Book Mom contributor, Nancy. To learn more about Nancy, click HERE.

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