Ask the Author: James C. Dobson and Kurt Bruner

Latest project: Fatherless (978-1-455-51311-6, $24.99, Jan. 15).

Publisher: FaithWords.

Fatherless has politics, agenda-driven journalism and romance. Will those themes be part of the additional books in the series, Childless and Godless?

Dobson: Yes, each storyline builds on the previous theme with an entertaining mix of political intrigue, spiritual warfare, futuristic speculation and educated conjecture about the kind of world our children will face. Like other dystopian novels such as The Hunger Games and Brave New World, the series contains disturbing themes. But it is also filled with suspense, romance and heartwarming beauty. We tried to create a fictional account of what current demographic, sociological and cultural shadows portend while celebrating God’s design for families, which retains a resilient beauty and redemptive power that the forces of hell cannot destroy. 

What led you to launch this series?

Bruner: A happy home is the highest expression of God’s image on Earth. Marriage and parenthood echo heaven, something hell can’t abide. In 1977, Dr. Dobson founded what became a worldwide ministry dedicated to the preservation of the home. I joined his team in 1985. That effort placed us in one cultural skirmish after another, unwittingly confronting forces much darker than we knew. We don’t pretend to comprehend what occurs in the unseen realm. But we know that we all live in what C.S. Lewis called “enemy-occupied territory.” The Scriptures tell us Satan will “go out and deceive the nations” at the end of history. A central focus of that deception will be, we believe, the final stage of an assault that began when Lucifer decided to spoil or destroy God’s image on Earth as seen in marriage and parenthood. 

You’ve set the story in 2042. Why then?

Bruner: In roughly 30 years, America will join the rest of the developed world in the economic and cultural fallout of a rapidly aging population. Our economic pyramid will flip when the old and feeble outnumber the young and productive. Recent declines in marriage and parenthood are fueling the most dramatic reduction in fertility in human history. We are already seeing the impact in places like Europe, Japan and Russia. Social and financial collapses invariably accompany depopulation. This series depicts tomorrow’s conflicts rooted in today’s demographic realities. 

How did you choose to characterize the marital relationship between Congressman Tolbert and his wife? What rating would you give this book?

Dobson: Kevin and Angie Tolbert embody the beauty and power of marital love in a world that has made it ugly by severing sex from marriage and family. Certain depictions of their loving union would probably be classified as PG or PG-13. That’s because, contrary to the typical Hollywood portrayal, marital intimacy should be celebrated as beautiful and exciting rather than drab and boring. It seems we did that well if you believe one 19-year-old reader who said that reading about Kevin and Angie made him want to get married!

If you had to describe Fatherless in two or three words, what would you say?

Bruner: Prophetic. Disturbing. Beautiful.

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