Friday, January 16, 2015

Max Discovers His Ren; And Thereby Hangs A Tale -- Review of Jennifer Eifrig's "Shadow King"

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Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258
January 16, 2015
Max Discovers His Ren; And Thereby Hangs A Tale
Review of
Jennifer Eifrig Shadow King (Create Space, 2014)
400pp $14.20 ISBN: 978-1503133921
Reviewer: Forrest Schultz
      At the opening of this story Max Ambrosine (aka Osiris) is languishing in paralytic inactivity until his lifeless spirit is rejuvenated by a dramatic encounter with Christ! Yes, Christ Himself is a character in this tale, not a Christ-figure, but Christ Himself !! (AND Christ is rightly depicted as a virile and interesting person, which is often not the case in literature written by Christians!) AND it is the spiritual rejuvenation Christ produces which causes Max to discover his "Ren", which is his "true name", i.e. his nature and his vocation. AND it is this discovery which prepares Max for the series of heroic tasks which comprise the bulk of the tale in this, the second book in Jennifer Eifrig's Discovering Ren series.
      Eifrig is not only a good story teller, but also has a scholarly background and museum experience which has provided her with the Egyptological knowledge needed for the world building in the story. And her boldness in having Christ come into this world produces quite a thought-provoking theological experience! Information on the author is available on her website www.jennifereifrigauthor.com
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Monday, January 5, 2015

A Sherry Thompson Potpourri: Stories, Bio Snicppets, and Writing Plans: Review of her "Tree House Tales"

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Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258
January 5, 2015
A Sherry Thompson Potpourri:
Stories, Bio Snippets, and Writing Plans
A Review of
Sherry Thompson Tree House Tales (Scroll Chamber Press, 2014)
228pp $9.95 ISBN: 978-0692348444
Reviewer: Forrest Schultz
      An anthology consisting of (or including) short stories is almost always impossible to review because of the variety. Let me just say that I loved the Indian tale ("The Luckiest Hunter -- Ever") and that I have no space for comment on the others or on the bio snippets. As a reviewer, and great admirer, of Thompson's Narenta tales, I will restrict the rest of my remarks to them.
      Those who are interested in Narenta can read (1) her plans on page 2, which involve revisions of the books covering the first two tumults plus the long awaited book on the third tumult plus a prequel to the tumults plus an interpolated tale betwixt the first and second tumults; and (2). the third section of the anthology titled "Extracts From Five Narentan novels". I look forward to the revision of Seabird so I can read again about Cara Marshall (one of my favorite characters in all of literature) and the revision of Earthbow to read again about how his memory of Cara inspired Harone-The-Awaited. Sherry's Cara has inspired me to create my character Cara Coer, who has appeared in two of my Cyano short stories (Cyanorod-2 and Cyanoring-5).
      For information on Sherry Thompson, your can visit her blog http://scrollchamber.blogspot.com.
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Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Believable Humans; Unbelievable Aliens -- Review of Robert J. Sawyer's "Rollback"

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Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258
December 23, 2014
Believable Humans; Unbelievable Aliens
A Review of
Robert J. Sawyer "Rollback" (Tor, 2007)
                 327pp   $12.99   ISBN: 978-765-31108-5
Reviewer: Forrest Schultz
      After reading this book it is easy to understand why its author has won so many science fiction writing awards. It deftly combines two of the most interesting SF themes: SETI and biological rejuvenation, which is the process indicated by its title. The attempted rollback of the elderly couple who are the main characters of the story is only partially successful -- the process is unable to rejuvenate the wife, who is the top SETI scientist. (The psychological impact of this upon the couple immediately reminded me of a similar situation in an old Twilight Zone episode.) The result sets the stage for a great tale well thought out and well written. The SETI facet of the story, however, is only partially successful: the communications sent by the aliens are believable but NOT their biology: we have to suspend our disbelief; and Sawyer, as a great novelist, enables us to do so. This confirms what Asimov said a very long time ago about the impossibibility of creating a believable alien, which is why he never had aliens in his stories. Sawyer chose the tougher way -- writing so well that the reader forgets their unbelievability and gets enthralled in the story. I wish to thank Sherry Thompson for recommending Sawyer to me. As C. S. Lewis said, one of the greatest things someone can teach you is recommending which authors to read.
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Tuesday, December 16, 2014

How To Conduct Scientific Research in Plain Sight --- A Review of the SF Element in Stephen King's "Revival"

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Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

December 16, 2014
How To Conduct Clandestine Scientific Research In Plain Sight
A Review of the Science Fiction Element in
Stephen King Revival (Scribner, 2014)
                       $17.04     405 pp     ISBN: 978-1476770383
Reviewer:  Forrest W. Schultz    

      Stephen King's Revival is a horror novel with an important science fiction element involving a man who is able to keep his electricity research secret by conducting it under the guise of a faith healing ministry: the sick are not being healed by the Holy Ghost, but by a hidden electrical gizmo he devised for that purpose. No one suspects anything because this man is not a scientist or a medical doctor, but a former Methodist pastor. Although King lets the reader in on this secret, he does not tell us anything about the scientific basis underlying the character's gizmo: the only thing he notes about the source of his character's ideas is several arcane books from the remote past, which sound more like mysticism than science! And, indeed, the horror atmosphere of the story is not akin to science fiction, as usually considered, but to stories like those of H. P. Lovecraft. My purpose in this review is only to note what I have just mentioned about the science fiction element, so I shall not say anything more about King's book except to say that it is one of his best.

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Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Hyper-Complexity In Today's Christian Fiction -- A Review Of Harry Kraus's "A Heartbeat Away"

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Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258
October 14, 2014
Hyper-Complexity In Today's Christian Fiction
A Review of
Harry Kraus A Heartbeat Away (David C. Cook, 2012)
384 pp $13.20 ISBN-13: 978-1434702579
Reviewer: Forrest Schultz
There are many excellent qualitities in this book by Harry Kraus (which I applaud), which you can read in the reviews of this book already written. Please consider them as included by reference here so I can focus my attention on one serious flaw which almost everyone seems to be overlooking, which was also overlooked by all but one reviewer of Sue Dent's Forever Richard. This flaw can not be understood without a knowledge of the historical background of the mainstream Christian fiction immediately preceding our time.
It is not clear to me whether or not the typical Christian fiction of this period of time was as simplistic as is usually supposed, but it is clear that many Christians writing today wish to disassociate themselves from it for that reason: they do not wish for their fiction to be regarded as simplistic. This is good, but there is a danger of overrection by producing fiction that suffers from hyper-complexity. The book by Sue Dent referred to and the book under review here both are characterized by this hyper-complexity, which is very unfortunate because it is a blot on otherwise good stories. For instance, A Heartbeat Away deals with a very interesting phenomenon -- cellular memories in transplanted hearts. But soon this fascinating cellular memories phenomenon becomes choked by the weeds of the ever more hyper-complex plot which develops concerning the identity of the heart donor and the crime which led to the death of the donor.
The solution to this problem will not be reached until Christian writers are able to discern that this hyper-complexity is a pseudo-sophistication, not a true sophistication.
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Saturday, August 2, 2014

Mystery On A Spaceship -- Review of Pauline Creeden's "Abiding Flame"



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Friday, August 1, 2014

Natural Versus Artificial Clash in Latest Gannah Story -- Review of Yvonne Anderson's "Ransom in the Rock [Gannah #3}


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