It really is. And although the books are being released by an "evangelical Christian" publisher, there's nothing preachy or obvious about them. There are hints and flashes of things that could be taken as allegorical, but really nothing you could point to and say, "Aha, this is where the obvious parallel to Christianity comes in." There's just this overpowering passion for beauty and art that permeates the whole story -- Overstreet really reminds me more of George MacDonald, in that sense, than of Lewis or even Tolkien.