Flashpoint: Adrenaline infuse roller-ocaster ride

An adrenaline infused, roller-coaster ride into a future where a belief can cost you a brain-washing and even your life, this science-fiction novel reminds me most of the best of the "Indiana Jones" movies in its pacing and level of excitement.

The belief that can cost you a `cleaned' mind is the Word of God, which has been outlawed. The Global Government has determined that `fundamentalism' has caused wars and misery. Therefore, it has decided to use war and misery to stop fundamentalism.

Elementary, eh!

In "Flashpoint", a Christian family and their like-minded friends living in an underground network are captured and herded off to a concentration camp of sorts. The son and daughter, however, are not caught, and are determined to rescue their parents with the help of an even more secretive and powerful league of Christian warriors.

If you should turn up your nose at the infusion of Christians in science-fiction because you aren't a believer, I encourage you to change your mind. Solid science-fiction is solid science-fiction whether it's about Christians or Klingons, and you'll only be denying yourself a bunch of rollicking fun.

If you should turn up your nose at the infusion of science-fiction because you are a believer, I encourage you to change your mind as well. Frank Creek's theology is sound, and riding on roller-coasters is allowed!

In particular, I like that Creed hasn't written one dimensional Christians, but has created an interesting ensemble of fully developed people who are as imperfect as the people who are trying to suppress them. He's also said exactly what he wished to without preaching; this is a real novel, not a sermon disguised as one.

In short, Creed has written a fast paced adventure novel that can and should be enjoyed by everyone. I can't wait for the second installation!

"Flashpoint"
(Book One of "The Underground")
by Frank Creed
$9.95, 190 pages
ISBN: 978-1-934284-01-8

Reviewed by Michael G. Lail at amazon.com

League of Superheroes has a home

www.christiansuperheroes.com


Stephen Leon Rice's Christian sci-fi/ superheroes books have a brand new home.

Do check out the website and make sure you click on the "Author" button!

The website creation is by Grace Bridges; I think you'll agree that she did a bang-up job.

Do it! Go now!

Hard Sci-Fi & Time Travel in Leaps of Faith

In this, the final installment of our feature on Leaps of Faith, we focus on two more types of science fiction: time travel and hard SF.

Click on the links to take you to excerpts from some great science fiction stories that are respectful of Christian beliefs.

Hard Science Fiction:

An astrophysicist finds the face of God in the stars of the universe in “The Smile.” (Greg Beatty)

God is a proven fact in “The Faith Equation,” leaving the question of the role of belief. (Peter Bell)

“The Relics of Venice” combines genetic engineering and love to create a miracle. (Leslie Brown)


Time travel:

In “Tampering with God’s Time,” time travelers find they cannot change the timeline, but are themselves changed as they encounter Christ personally. (Karina Fabian)

In “Moses Disposes,” King Solomon deliberately uses time travelers to bring the Bible to future generations in an idiom they can understand. (Frank C. Gunderloy)

Encountering Alien Life: Leaps of Faith

Part II of our focus on Leaps of Faith looks at another aspect of science fiction: encountering alien life.

Of course, the whole concept of Christian novelists including aliens or sentient non-humans (that/ who aren't later discovered to be demons) in their fiction is controversial.

Just last week the topic was discussed at Speculative Faith: E. Stephen Burnett summarizes the arguments around the existence of extra-terrestrial life, as related to Christian belief, and concludes: Thus, any speculation outside of Scripture needs to be clearly disclaimed for what it is. But I would argue that even Christians speculating — even in fiction — must conform to God’s Word.

Given that many Christians agree that scripture based- and Biblical based-logic argues against the existence of aliens or Christian non-sentient beings, the concepts explored in several of the stories in Leaps of Faith appear controversial.

In “Lost Rythar,” evangelists seek to bring the Word of God to long-forgotten human colonies. (Colleen Drippé)

In “Sometimes We Lie,” evangelism takes a bizarre turn when a native-born being tries to spread an ancient human faith. (Barton Paul Levenson)

Fr. Wren wonders if a sentient tree-creature can marry into the Catholic Faith in “The Convert.” (Susanne Marie Knight)

Fr. Travener faces persecution by ministering to sentient androids in “Comprehending It Not.” (Cherith Baldry)

Why not read these stories for yourself before dismissing the possibility that Christian fiction can speculate about sentient non-human life and conform to God's word?

Review of League of Superheroes by Stephen Rice

When it comes to Christian superheroes, I'm really more of a Larryboy fangirl, myself. It's very hard to make a Bible-quoting superhero work, in my humble opinion. Bibleman, for example--could anyone take that show seriously? Batman meets a revival of stereotypical proportions. I wouldn't even bother showing that to my kids--they'd laugh and not for good reasons like with Veggie Tales cartoons.

Well, if you'd like your kids to read about Christian superheroes they can identify with, I recommend Steven Rice's League of Superheroes. Here's a fun easy read about a band of teenage kids (plus one little sister) who meet a cyborg supergenius online. Genie gifts them with supersuits based on their favorite comic book heroes, setting them up for trouble with the mega-corporation who created Genie and intend to keep her--and any of her inventions--for their own nefarious purposes.

Oh, did that read like a comic book plot? It should. Steve was very obviously having fun with the comic book stereotypes, as well as the unbelievably intelligent-yet-doomed-to-endure-high-school cast of teens. He nonetheless crafts an enjoyable read and keptt he characters from becoming perfect geniuses, a la Wesley Crusher. I especially liked Rod's misadventures with his suit. The heroes at times strayed into unbelievable goodness, yet still had some of the common foibles of teenage boys--a certain disdain for little sisters, a penchant for getting into trouble, and the like--that kept them from becoming caricatures rather than characters.

If you like plausible technobabble, you'll love this book. Steve is very careful to give scientifically possible methods for each one of the supersuit's capabilities--and does a good job of explaining them. Makes me want to go back and check out a quantum physics book. He also gave each suit a limitation, which I appreciate. Can you imagine how insufferable a teenage boy with the perfect supersuit could be?

Steve also does his best to represent a tapestry of Christian beliefs, as the characters are Catholic, Baptist, Assembly of God and non-denominational, and he does a fair job of representing all the beliefs in a valid and positive light. Since the story is told from Tom's point of view, it has a decidedly Protestant angle. I found some of the religious dialogue and events a little heavy-handed for my taste, especially toward the end, but not enough to call it sermon-in-a-story. (One of my pet peeves.)

Steve has a nice, straightforward writing style that's good for the middle reader--I'd recommend this book for 4th or 5th grade and up. Plus, Steven, on occasion, comes up with a killer line: I felt like a Biblical character who had just received a patriarchal blessing—honored, mature, strong, and above all, so scared that I needed to use the bathroom. He also has a lot of skill with ending a chapter in such a way that you want to turn the next page, so watch out if you read this as a bedtime story to your kids.

Review by Karina Fabian, www.fabianspace.com

Christian Book Expo - The Expo for Christian Publishers?

There is still quite a bit of buzz about CBE (Christian Book Expo.) Every publisher who produces fiction that doesn't offend your basic Christian reader probably wonders if it's worth their time and money to go.

This information might help you. I visited a blog recently that claimed CBE expected a large turn out of "ECPA publishers and publishers from the general market who produce Christian fiction." I commented that I thought this wording was odd. ECPA and CBA came into existence to monitor work produced by affiliated publishers, "Christian Fiction" that could go into affiliated bookstores without offending a particular demographic of Christians, a market no general market publisher had yet to address according to CBA and ECPA.

In response to my comment I was told that "there are a bunch of general market publishers who do Christian books (HarperCollins owns Zondervan and HarperOne, Random House owns Waterbrook and Multnomah, Hachette owns FaithWords, Simon & Schuster owns Howard, etc). They'll all be there. And the parent companies will all be at BEA."

Do I really have to state the obvious? The publishers named above are all owned by general market publsihers but are not general market publishers themselves. They are all ECPA or CBA affiliated and serve that specific demographic CBA and ECPA were set up to serve.

So, if you're wondering about what Christian publishers will attend, so far it seems only CBA or ECPA affiliated ones. General Market publishers who produce books that appeal to the general market, Christians included, will be attending BEA of course or whatever other expo suits their demographic. ;)

Also noted was that CBE, under the leadership of Michael Hyatt of CBA affiliated Thomas Nelson, would most likely do well enough to replace International Christian Resource Show started by CBA themselves.

Well it certainly seems likely now doesn't it?

Great Reviews for League of Superheroes!

Just look at some of the review excerpts Stephen L. Rice received from the FIRST Wildcard tour!

". . . a super-fun read! This group of geeky teens must save the world with their unique skills…and try not to get caught by their folks!"

". . . a highly entertaining story with some terrific spiritual lessons explained along the way! It sounds like there are more adventures ahead for this unusual group, so if you like superheroes, then Stephen Leon Rice is someone you need to look into further!"

". . . a really great book. when I first started reading it it reminded me a bit of Maximum Ride....but MUCH BETTER! seriously...you guys should get a copy to read of this book!"

"I'm hooked. Very creative and enjoyable. I plan on passing it on to my niece and nephew next. They're picky readers, but I think this is one they'll enjoy."

". . . funny, dynamic, and a real thriller. I can't wait to see the next adventures of the League of Superheroes!"

"Rice writes with humor and heart. I was laughing so loud during the scene when Rod acquires his suit, I was afraid that my family would think I was crazy. Rice taps into the insecurities that come with adolescence and gives each boy a strong individual personality. The plot moves whiplash fast, and the story is compelling."














League of Superheroes
Stephen Leon Rice
Christian Science Fiction
Young Adult
ISBN: 978-1-934284-0-56
TWCP; October 2008; $9.95; 216 pg.