LEAPS OF FAITH, by Rob and Karina Fabian is an anthology of faith in action, and in science fiction. It is an interesting work, much like INFINITE SPACE, INFINITE GOD, which they also compiled. Written by different writers of varying degrees of public exposure, I'm sure you'll find something in here that you'll like. If you're like me, you'll probably find this a bit "too Catholic". Don't get me wrong. I truly believe that if a Catholic has called upon the Lord then they are saved, or born again, whichever term you'd like to use. I did find the exclusion of other denominations a bit disturbing, and some of the traditions of the elders that have displaced the teachings of the Catholic Church have also bothered me. However, having said all of that, at least 75% of these stories show, not only great story writing, but good, solid Christian teachings.My favorite is, well, I had a couple running neck and neck. I'll only give you one of them though. "God's Gift", by Greg Beatty, who incidentally has 2 stories in this work, both of which I found great merit, is the story I'm going with for my favorite. Here is a man working on FTL transportation (that's faster than light), and he's come up against a wall. When he experiments with it he gets up to a certain point and then there are all kinds of terrible results. Given the ultimatum of success or being the next person to travel in his FTL machine, the scientist works feverishly at overcoming the problem. What happens next is beautiful. A failure turns into a victory. To tell you more would be to take the story away from you, and I don't wish to do that. This story is so good that you've just got to get this book if only to read this one story. It's that powerful, wonderful and marvelously written.
Funny thing is, this story reflects true life more than we'd like to admit. I've heard preachers say, "We raise our hands because it's a sign of surrender. And that's what we must do, surrender to the Lord." I've found in my own life that it's when we come to the end of ourselves that we frequently find ourselves nose-to-nose with God. He's been there all the time, but our pride has hidden our ability to see Him. There's a song where the writer suddenly realizes why God has taken so much away from them, "Because You cannot fill hands that are already full." So do a spiritual check of your life. Are there things in there that are keeping you from enjoying the fullness of God? I'll be the first to say "Yes". So what are we going to do about it? Do we dare go on like this, carrying our burdens as if we were meant to do penance of some sort, or do we drop them at the Cross and let Jesus take them. The choice is ours. It may not be the difference between salvation and damnation, but it very well may be the difference between enjoying the full blessings of coming into God's presence as His child, and being cut off from His fellowship...sort of like a "time out". You see, God disciplines the children He loves. So if you aren't getting disciplined then there's a good chance that you aren't His child. In fact Scripture says you aren't.
David Brollier
Don't forget to visit Rob and Karina's site at:FabianSpace
Purchase Leaps of Faith at
The Writer's Cafe Press.
and at Amazon
Check out these other member blogs this week for more
info.
By the way, I know of at least one of these sites that will be having multiple posts, including a live interview with the compilers of this anthology. I'm not going to tell you who it is. You're going to have to find that out for yourself. After all, this is a game of Tag.
8 comments:
Thanks, David,
Greg is a superior writer. Interestingly, he didn't write hard SF until he attended a writers workshop (Clarion, I think) and the instructor encouraged him to try. He said in an interview that he resisted the idea at first, but it pulled at him. He started learning science by reviewing science books written for the layman. We're so glad he did!
Blessings,
Karina Fabian
www.fabianspace.com
Just a note--the cover you have up is from the 2002 e-book. Incidentally, it won a Dream Realms award for best sci-fi cover. Nonetheless, the new cover is far cooler. Check it out at www.leapsoffaithsf.com. The Writers Cafe Press has some talented illustrators!
Leaps itself was an EPPIE finalist in 2002 for best anthology.
I'm glad Greg writes SF, because he's so good at it. He may think he writes on an elementary level, but it feels as though he writes from a far more academic level than I could write, yet makes his stories easy to understand. Thanks.
Also, my apologies to everyone. The confusion over the cover art is due to the fact that there is actually two versions of the artwork in existence PLUS the fact that I run 2 blogs. In the beginning of setting up the posts for the other blog Karina told me about the new cover (which is way cooler. You can check it out on the other sites and the CFRB main page) I changed the existing posts I'd written, because I write them early and they are posted at a proper time. I had forgotten about this site. That is why I have the old cover. In any event you will be able to see what the 2002 cover art looked like and how much better the cover art is now. I apologize to Karina and her husband for putting the wrong one here, but perhaps you viewers will notice an evolution of sorts in the presentation of this book. It is really great, far better than INFINITE SPACE, INFINITE GOD which I also liked. Rob and Karina are doing some splendid work. I feel blessed just to know them.
David
Thank you for taking the time to post on your personal blog David. "God's Gift" is a powerful story, I agree, although my personal favourite is "Sometimes We Lie."
By the way, here is the link for the actual
Leaps of Faith cover. It will really help if readers are able to recognize the cover (and keep TWCP out of trouble with the e-publisher and copyright holder of the 1st edition cover image).
FYI, I am artist of the original, award-nominated cover. Sorry you don't think it is as "cool" or as good as the new one. It is enough you are posting it without my permission, you must insult it as well?
KL
FYI KL if you return . . .
I have the utmost admiration for your cover and can see why it was nominated. Yes, I like the new cover, but yours, IMO, is much more artistic . . . hence the reason I oculd not make up my mind about whether or not to contact you (until you initiated it).
On behalf of TWCP, I also apologize for the appearance of it in the wrong context.
Cynthia MacKinnon
Dear KL,
We all have our personal preferences, and while I thought the old cover (yours) was good, I personally thought the new one was better. I was not trying to insult you. I'm sorry if you felt that way. I also was unaware of the conflicts involved in publishing it on this site. I have removed it, at the editor's request, and had I seen your post earlier I would have removed it earlier out of deference to you.
You must remember that writing is an art as well, and none of us wants to have someone putting things up without our say so. Again, I apologize for the infringement. Don't take my personal preference as an insult. I hate Picasso and my art teacher loved him. In any event I would be a fool to say he wasn't a genius. Be please with the achievements you have made and don't let an old fogy like me bring you down.
David Brollier
Hey, Kat,
Sorry if you thought I was insulting your cover art. I like it—and you know I told you that when you made it. I just happen to think the new one is cooler. It's not an insult to your skills, just a preference on my part. Rob incidentally, prefers your cover to the new one.
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