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ONCE UPON A TIME TRAVELER:

Name: ONCE UPON A TIME TRAVELER:
Author: Joshua Light
ISBN: 978-1-4196-8563-7

THE RELUCTANT TOURIST AND THE HITCHHIKER

by Joshua Light ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

Highly imaginative proselytism.

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Quantum Leap meets Stargate in this exciting–but thoroughly Bible-based–sci-fi romp through time.

Marcus Journey and Scott McNeal are supertalented physicists on the verge of making the scientific discovery of the century. Working with cutting-edge methods, the pair uses extremely powerful superconductors to tear holes in space, creating rifts, or portals, that allow for travel to other places and, more importantly, other times. On the other side of the world, Dr. Colin Patterson makes a startling archaeological discovery. In a cave in Peru, Patterson finds relics from a long-dead race of giants–a pile of human bones that evidences a massacre of epic proportions and a mysterious ancient construction site with frightening powers. Light eventually weaves these two threads together in a fantastic but believable tapestry. Even though the author’s narrative jumps between time and place–both in the contemporary world and in the distant past–he manages the quick shifts with remarkable dexterity, never losing the reader. Light’s handle on the sci-fi genre is sure, and he dazzles us with his technological detail and daring leaps of fancy. However, the reader gets an inkling that the book is not standard science-fiction fare on the first page, when Light dedicates his novel to the â€œglory and blessing” of Jesus Christ. The suspicion grows when McNeal, addressing a crowd of students, offers an â€œobjective” defense of the so-called â€œyoung earth” theory–which corroborates the biblical narrative in suggesting that the earth is thousands, and not billions, of years old. (He later uses the Genesis story of creation to describe how some starlight could have been present at God’s creation of the world.) As it turns out, much of the science in Light’s novel is fueled by Christian doctrine and hence, for many, highly questionable. By book’s end, we realize that Journey has become a time-traveling missionary, going back into the past to save souls for Jesus. It’s all well and good–unless readers don’t like their science-fiction steeped in conservative Christianity.

Highly imaginative proselytism.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: 978-1-4196-8563-7

Page Count: -

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

RELIGIOUS FICTION

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THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS

by C.S. Lewis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1942

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These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942

ISBN: 0060652934

Page Count: 53

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943

Categories:

RELIGIOUS FICTION

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ALL MY ROAD BEFORE ME
by C.S. Lewis

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PRESENT CONCERNS
by C.S. Lewis

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BOXEN
by C.S. Lewis

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THE CHOSEN

by Chaim Potok ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 28, 1967

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This first novel, ostensibly about the friendship between two boys, Reuven and Danny, from the time when they are fourteen on opposing yeshiva ball clubs, is actually a gently didactic differentiation between two aspects of the Jewish faith, the Hasidic and the Orthodox. Primarily the Hasidic, the little known mystics with their beards, earlocks and stringently reclusive way of life. According to Reuven's father who is a Zionist, an activist, they are fanatics; according to Danny's, other Jews are apostates and Zionists "goyim." The schisms here are reflected through discussions, between fathers and sons, and through the separation imposed on the two boys for two years which still does not affect their lasting friendship or enduring hopes: Danny goes on to become a psychiatrist refusing his inherited position of "tzaddik"; Reuven a rabbi.... The explanation, in fact exegesis, of Jewish culture and learning, of the special dedication of the Hasidic with its emphasis on mind and soul, is done in sufficiently facile form to engage one's interest and sentiment. The publishers however see a much wider audience for The Chosen. If they "rub their tzitzis for good luck,"—perhaps—although we doubt it.